The palpable disappointment on Kimi Räikkönen’s face following the Monaco Grand Prix belied the reality that a Sebastian Vettel victory was inevitable, and Ferrari shouldn’t feel any remorse over its hand in the outcome.
It’s apparent that Räikkönen was demoralised by the sight of Vettel emerging from pitlane metres clear on the climb towards Beau Rivage on lap 40, subsequently dropping considerable time, though the German proved his definitive pace advantage in the crucial ‘overcut’ window following the Finn’s stop five laps earlier.
For all of the ‘number two’ bluster – not least prophesised by an increasingly partisan Sky Sports crew, had the polesitter been five seconds further up the road in the opening stint and negotiated backmarkers with greater haste, he would have been entitled to the laurels. As it transpired, the 37-year-old was unable to shake Vettel, and the ‘manipulation’ ran a seamless course as the German revelled in clean air, where his teammate hadn’t.
A recurring theme for Räikkönen in the second phase of his Formula One career has been his timidity, failing to execute race defining moves – notably at Bahrain in 2012 and 2013 against Vettel. His reluctance to place his foot down and combat lapped traffic from the outset on Sunday sealed his fate, while Ferrari required no invitation to optimise Vettel’s strategy.
As a microcosm of the season to date, playing the percentages has formed a crucial aspect of each race’s outcome. Räikkönen ran longer at previous events – most prominently at China, which harmed Vettel’s victory ambitions, and found himself compromised, yet stopping earlier at Monaco did little to alter the narrative of his campaign.
Viewing the result objectively, accounting for Valtteri Bottas’, Max Verstappen’s, and ultimately Daniel Ricciardo’s pace, Ferrari would have exposed Vettel to attack had he been contained behind Räikkönen following their respective stops. Thus, the former’s release ensured victory for the Prancing Horse, while a late-race safety car arguably sealed its one-two prospects as the rapidly diminishing field struggled to reheat the conservative Pirelli rubber.
(Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Vettel remarked of Räikkönen “you get the message to go in, you do the stop and then you push”, the 29-year-old reasoning that “when I heard the lap times of Bottas, I felt I needed to stretch myself and I was surprised I could get so much pace from the car.”
Sky Sports’ rhetoric, led by a vociferous David Croft, that the Maranello outfit’s subliminal tactics amounted to underhanded team orders spoke to its’ nationalistic allegiance, in contrast to Mercedes’ overt antics at Spain, where it suited the British contingent just fine for Bottas to slow Vettel into Lewis Hamilton’s clutches. Winding the clocks back to Bahrain, it made perfect sense for the Finn to defer to Hamilton not once, but twice, despite his own initial lead from pole position.
Contemplating Hamilton’s weekend, which concluded much brighter than anticipated with the Briton claiming seventh despite lining up thirteenth, only provides greater vindication to Ferrari’s prioritisation of Vettel’s strategy in a season which has swung in either’s direction each weekend with such marginal circumstance.
Hamilton is convinced that “Ferrari have chosen their number one driver”, the 32-year-old adding that “it’s very hard for the leading car to get jumped… unless the team decide to favour the other car”, while championing Mercedes’ alleged ambivalence towards such a philosophy.
Disillusioned drivers on the podium has become synonymous with Monaco and with good reason, yet Sunday’s outcome was just, and if Räikkönen finds himself in an unassailable position at future events, he’ll surely be extended the courtesy of a strategy which leaves no room for exploitation.
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