2014 Monaco Grand Prix

Championship standings

Hamilton leads the Drivers’ Championship for the first time since 2012, with 100 points ahead of Rosberg in second. Alonso is third. Vettel is fourth on 45 points, seven ahead of Ricciardo in fifth. Mercedes lead the Constructors’ with 197 points.

Previous race

Hamilton extended his winning streak to four races in Spain, holding off Rosberg in the closing laps. Ricciardo took his first career podium in third. After the race it emerged Hamilton had switched to a higher-powered engine mode not authorised for use by Mercedes in the final stint — mirroring a similar incident by Rosberg at Bahrain. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has banned both drivers from selecting their own engine modes beginning at Monaco.

Track changes

The circuit has been resurfaced from the exit of Casino corner to the tunnel entry, with small areas near Nouvelle Chicane and Tabac also treated. The pit lane barrier and debris fencing have been renewed, and the turn 12 TecPro barrier replaced. All work was carried out overnight to avoid road traffic disruption. Jenson Button predicted the new surface would create a situation similar to the 2012 United States Grand Prix, with low grip making the soft compound tyres difficult to bring to temperature.

Tyre choices

Pirelli brings the red-banded super-soft and yellow-banded soft dry compounds — the softest combination of the season.

Practice

Hamilton was fastest in the Thursday morning session with a 1:18.271, 0.032 seconds ahead of Rosberg. Red Bull’s pair followed, with Ricciardo ahead of Vettel. A hailstorm hit Monaco before the second Thursday session, leaving the circuit saturated for 45 minutes. Drivers ran initially on intermediates before switching to slicks in the final ten minutes; Alonso led that session with Hamilton fastest overall across Thursday. Ericsson hit the barriers leaving Portier and drove his damaged car back to the pit lane.

In Saturday’s session, all leading drivers struggled to find clear space around the narrow circuit as tyre warm-up took longer than usual. Hamilton set the fastest time of the weekend at 1:16.758 despite handling difficulties and a near-miss at Tabac corner. Vergne ran off at Sainte Dévote and Mirabeau. Ericsson went onto the Dévote run-off area.