Monaco Grand Prix 2014: The Top 10 Readers’ Results!

The sixth Grand Prix of the season in Monaco was won by Nico Rosberg ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo. The rest of the top 10 included, in order, Fernando Alonso, Nico Hülkenberg, Jenson Button, Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean, Jules Bianchi, and Kevin Magnussen. 190 of you voted, let’s see if you followed the order of the race…

1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) – 25 points

Imperial from start to finish, despite the pressure from his teammate and the context surrounding the Mercedes team, the German regained the lead in the world championship by mastering the Monaco trap, securing pole position and winning the race, ending his teammate’s winning streak.

2. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) – 18 points

Best of the rest in qualifying, the Australian missed his start the next day, dropping to 5th position at the first restart. He was able to take advantage of Sebastian Vettel’s problem at that moment and later the contact between Chilton and Räikkönen to climb back onto the podium. Towards the end of the race, he closed in on an impaired Hamilton but couldn’t capitalize on it.

3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 15 points

Starting second and finishing second, the Briton kept the pressure on Rosberg for three-quarters of the race by staying within less than two seconds. However, he is only in third position in this ranking, a position that could have been his in the end if his vision problem had allowed Ricciardo to pass him.

4. Jules Bianchi (Marussia) – 12 points

Historic! The Monaco Grand Prix legitimately appears as the occasion for smaller teams to shine. The 2014 edition confirmed this, combining both favorable race circumstances and an incisive performance both in attack (notably against Kobayashi) and in defense (against Vergne, among others) by Bianchi, who made the Russian team part of the sport’s history.

5. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) – 10 points

Victim of Daniel Ricciardo’s poor start ahead of him, the Spaniard found himself in sixth position at the end of the first lap before also benefiting from Vettel’s retirement and Räikkönen’s puncture to climb up the hierarchy, despite a relatively unspectacular race on his part.

6. Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) – 8 points

On the provisional podium during the first stint, the Finn seemed on the verge of achieving his first convincing result since returning to Ferrari. However, a collision with Chilton under the safety car sent him to the back of the pack, amidst challenging traffic. His race ended with a daring overtake on Magnussen at the hairpin, which cost him a top 10 finish.

7. Nico Hülkenberg (Force India) – 6 points

The German, who struggled during the qualifying session, made a good start, even taking the advantage over Pérez before the latter collided with Button’s McLaren at Mirabeau. The driver with number 27 then managed his race by pulling off a brave move overtaking Magnussen at Portier and holding on at the end of the race with worn-out tires.

8. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) – 4 points

While the weekend promised to be more than challenging given the Lotus performances on the Monaco circuit, the Franco-Swiss managed to both outqualify Maldonado on his favorite track and finish the race in the points despite a pace that was far from impressive.

9. Jean-Eric Vergne – 2 points

Starting 7th, the Frenchman could harbor real hopes and, until the first pit stop, his performance allowed him to envision a top 5 or 6 finish. But an unsafe release and a subsequent logical penalty for his team later, everything collapsed, and he found himself at the back of the pack, eventually retiring due to an engine problem.

10. Felipe Massa – 1 point

After a qualifying session compromised by an overly optimistic Ericsson, the Brazilian was the only one to attempt a first long stint on super-soft tires, which allowed him to be momentarily among the top 6, thanks to the first safety car, and finally to enter the top 7 by successfully carrying out the initial strategic choice.

Readers’ Rankings from MotorsInside