Hamilton wins Monaco Grand Prix

When the cars lined up at the starting grid at Monaco on a very wet Sunday morning, it was anyone’s guess who’d take the checkered flag. The grueling, wet, race conditions put everyone through their paces and a lot of accidents kept fans excited and put pressure on contenders to drive well in order to place. In the end it was 23-year-old Lewis Hamilton from Britain who managed to take first place in an altogether outstanding race.

When the cars lined up at the starting grid at Monaco on a very wet Sunday morning, it was anyone’s guess who’d take the checkered flag. The grueling, wet, race conditions put everyone through their paces and a lot of accidents kept fans excited and put pressure on contenders to drive well in order to place. In the end it was 23-year-old Lewis Hamilton from Britain who managed to take first place in an altogether outstanding race.

Hamilton left the starting grid in third place and quickly made his way to second right from the start, but then it seemed as if he’d spoilt his chances of winning when he swiped the wall six laps in and almost lost his back tire. However a quick pit stop fixed the damage and gave him the chance to do a bit of refueling, getting him back on the racing circuit in record time. His luck further turned when pole sitter Felipe Massa slipped up, giving him the chance to overtake and win the race. This brief summary of events makes the victory sound easy, but it certainly wasn’t. Persistent rain during the morning ensured that the race was slippery and there were literally dozens of crashes during the course of the grand prix. In fact, there were so many accidents that race officials eventually decided to shorten the race to 76 laps. Hamilton himself nearly saw his victory slip away a second time when his 40 second advantage was destroyed on the final 17 laps as the safety car came out. In the end he still managed to limp over the finish line in first place despite the fact that his tire was punctured by the debris left behind after Nico Rosberg’s accident. He beat Robert Kubica by only three seconds, and his victory made him the first English driver to win the Monaco Grand Prix since 1969. Felipe Massa finished in third place 4.811 seconds behind.

After a wild pit lane celebration, an overjoyed Hamilton remarked that he was “absolutely over the moon.” He also noted that this was definitely his best win yet and that he’d worked hard at keeping his cool – especially near the end when he saw the possibility of having his victory slip away from him. Hamilton finished second to Fernando Alonso at Monaco last year, and so it may seem that the win was a natural progression for him. However, it was a grueling race the whole way through and this made his victory even more spectacular.