Monaco: Hamilton Wins for Niki Lauda

Lewis Hamilton’s most emotional victory: The Briton won the first race after the death of his mentor Niki Lauda. Sebastian Vettel gained second place in Monaco.

Sixth Mercedes victory in a row! Lewis Hamilton won the Monaco Grand Prix in a fire-red Lauda helmet.

“That was a victory in Niki’s style,” cheered Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff on the box radio. The Austrian referred to Hamilton’s race that ended almost in disaster. Hamilton drover with softer tires than the competition and had to manage his lead cleverly against storming Verstappen behind him.

At the finish, an emotional Hamilton showed off his Lauda-designed helmet and said:

“I fought with the same spirit as Niki. He would have pulled the cap off today. I wanted him to be proud of us.”

Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari, who benefits from a penalty from Max Verstappen scored a second place. Vettel:

“A nice result for the team. We still have a lot of work to do. We are not fast enough, yet. Niki would have been satisfied today. My thoughts are with his family and with him.”

Valtteri Bottas completed the podium in third position for Mercedes.

Race result

Drivers’ standings

Constructors’ standings

*This article was first published in German at autobild.de/motorsport.