When the jewel in Formula One's crown fails to shine

We know that Daniel Ricciardo was robbed of the victory in Monaco by the mistake his team made in the pits. We watched, we gasped, we felt all the feels.

There’s no doubt that it was the decisive moment in the race, but with Hamilton and even Sergio Perez benefitting from the misfortune of others, the question I’ve been wrestling with after the race is this – to what degree should we celebrate a driver’s victory when it is highly fortuitous?

Last year’s Monaco Grand Prix saw Lewis Hamilton denied victory after a questionable pit call by his team, and in some ways this result has been seen as ‘righting the wrongs’ one year on.

We all have a sense of when a driver is ‘robbed’, although some fans of a particular Mercedes driver act as though they need a refresher course.

But when should we recognise that by avoiding mistakes and errors a driver has proven they were by definition the best driver on the day, and when should we cast doubt on their achievement, when is it fair to say they were gifted the result?

Think back to races like the Austin Grand Prix, where Nico Rosberg took pole position, looked like the fastest man on the track and was leading comfortably until he made a mistake on one corner. This allowed Hamilton through to take a victory that sealed the drivers’ championship (ironically his last win until this weekend’s race, another controversial result).

In Austin, by virtue of the fact that Rosberg made a mistake, albeit minor, Hamilton could rightfully claim that he was the best driver on the day. Even the staunchest Rosberg-fanboy would have to begrudgingly agree.

But this weekend it was a different story. Although Hamilton’s qualifying run was less than optimal he didn’t qualify on the front row, however judging by his performance against regular pole-sitter Rosberg, you’d have to concede that Ricciardo was simply the fastest man on track.

From P3 Hamilton inherited one place when his teammate allowed him to pass following a request from the team.

Hamilton protested that he doesn’t usually ask the team to issue team orders in his favour.

“It’s very, very rare that I’ve ever asked to be let by,” he said after the race, presumably forgetting the penultimate race of last season, where he complained so vociferously about his inability to overtake, a message that the British Formula One media amplified to such an extent that the team was forced in the final race to abandon their usual ‘equal treatment’ approach. This allowed Hamilton to vary from their usual race strategy.

Besides, Hamilton would have passed Rosberg anyway, or so he humbly claims. “I was going to take him in Turn 3 around the outside, which not many people do but that was the place.”

But I digress, having gained P2 following a ‘gentlemanly’ act by his teammate, he then claimed the victory after Ricciardo’s 13-second pitstop (enough to complete roughly four standard pitstops) blunted the Australian’s challenge.

It’s not my goal to disparage Hamilton’s achievement. Simply completing a race distance at Monaco in wet conditions is no simple task, as a number of drivers demonstrated, without even considering that he pushed his tyres beyond the expected window of performance.

Yet somehow, his victory feels empty. How anyone, let alone seasoned members of the Formula One media, could seriously think he deserved ‘Driver of the Day’ (which, I’ll grant you is a meaningless label) is completely beyond me.

Even worse was his defensive driving, especially his effort during the incident that was investigated by the stewards. They might have considered it a racing incident, but after missing the entrance to the Nouvelle chicane and trying to put Ricciardo into the wall after he had easily half of his car alongside the Mercedes, I would not have hesitated to throw the book at Hamilton.

At least the fans got it right by voting for Perez as Driver of the Day after taking his sixth career podium, right?

I’ll admit that the result gives a swag of points to a team that is struggling financially, and like Hamilton’s effort in mixed conditions, it’s clear that Sergio’s was the result of a very talented driver. However, like Hamilton, Perez was out-qualified by his teammate and benefitted by a fortuitous pitstop that saw him jump not only his teammate but Sebastian Vettel and Rosberg.

If he’d made an overtake, just one, I might feel more obliged to join the chorus of praise for the Mexican. But ultimately, I can’t ignore the fact that it should have been Nico Hulkenberg standing on the podium, receiving some long-overdue recognition of his talents.

Force India have announced that they will investigate how their leading driver wasn’t given the optimal strategy (a situation that Ricciardo knows all too well).

So at every turn the Monaco podium has sorry tales to tell, yet Hamilton leaves Monaco a very rich man in more ways than one. A fantastic race? Hardly.

And don’t even get me started on Bieber.