F1 Paddock Notebook - Monaco GP Sunday

With a final recap of all the action in Monaco following Daniel Ricciardo's victory on Sunday, Crash.net F1 Editor Luke Smith brings you his paddock notebook.

- Daniel Ricciardo’s victory came on Red Bull’s 250th grand prix appearance since its debut at the 2005 Australian Grand Prix. The team has made a habit for celebrating anniversaries with victories, having also won its 100th and 150th grands prix.

- The success marked Ricciardo’s seventh F1 victory, with 2018 being the first season since 2014 in which he has taken multiple race wins. It was also his first win at a race where he has started higher than fourth on the grid.

- Ricciardo admitted after the race the victory was all the sweeter following his agonising defeat in 2016 after a Red Bull pit stop error. “I feel like we got some redemption now. I can put 2016 behind me once and for all,” he said after the race.

- As is tradition for Red Bull wins at Monaco, Ricciardo celebrated by jumping into the swimming pool on top of the Energy Station ‘floaterhome’ marooned in the Monaco harbour. Ricciardo said he would happily jump in as otherwise he would be pushed in, wanting to “save the embarrassment”.

- Sebastian Vettel returned to the podium for Ferrari after three races away, with his last rostrum coming at the second race of the year in Bahrain. With Lewis Hamilton finishing the race third, Vettel trimmed the gap at the top of the drivers’ championship down to just 14 points.

- Ferrari also made a five-point gain in the constructors’ championship, leaving the team 22 points behind Mercedes in the teams’ standings after six rounds.

- Esteban Ocon recorded his best finish of the season with P6 for Force India, having only picked up a solitary point previously this year at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Ocon had a somewhat lonely race, only coming under a bit of pressure from Pierre Gasly in the closing stages.

- Gasly was able to charge to his second points finish in F1 for Toro Rosso with P7, running his Hypersoft tyres for more than triple the laps of Lewis Hamilton. The strategy meant he had a fresher set of Supersofts for the final stint, meaning he could fend off late charges from Nico Hulkenberg and the recovering Max Verstappen.

- Teammate Brendon Hartley was hit with a five-second time penalty mid-race for speeding in the pit lane, but never served it after being taken out by Charles Leclerc while running 11th.

- Leclerc’s first home grand prix ended in retirement after he suffered a left-front brake failure, with the FIA stewards agreeing the driver was not at fault in causing the collision with Hartley, taking no action for the clash as a result.

- Sergio Perez was left to finish outside of the points following an issue at his pit stop, leaving him P12 at the chequered flag. 

- McLaren experience its first point-less race of the season as Fernando Alonso was forced to retire while running P7, with Stoffel Vandoorne finishing 14th following a late pit stop. Alonso had been one of just three drivers to score at every race so far this season; Vettel and Hamilton are now the only two to boast that record.

- Alonso was the only official retiree in the race, with Leclerc and Hartley completing enough laps to be classified. Ricciardo’s slow pace at the front of the pack as he nursed the issues on his car also meant the top 13 cars all finished on the lead lap.

- Monaco attracted its usual hubbub of celebrities including Game of Thrones stars Kit Harrington, Liam Cunningham and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, NFL icon Tom Brady, reality TV figure Kris Jenner, actor Hugh Grant and model Bella Hadid.