2015 Monaco Grand Prix

Championship standings

Rosberg’s win in Spain is his first of the season and closes the gap to Hamilton, who enters Monaco with a 20-point lead.

Previous race

Rosberg won in Spain with Hamilton second and Vettel third. Hamilton made a poor start and was immediately under pressure from Vettel, putting him on a three-stop strategy that could not overcome Rosberg’s clean race from pole. Rosberg’s victory was his ninth career win and the first time in 2015 a non-Hamilton Mercedes driver took victory.

Between-race developments

Mercedes announce they have extended Lewis Hamilton’s contract for three additional years, keeping him at the team through the end of the 2018 season.

Track changes

Revisions to the Tabac corner at the harbour section shorten the circuit by three metres compared to previous years, making the corner slightly tighter and slower; the change follows a race-stopping accident at the same spot in 2013. The barrier on the right of the swimming pool chicane is moved back with new kerbs to improve sightlines. Much of the circuit has been resurfaced ahead of the event. As in Australia, the pit lane speed limit is reduced to 60 km/h.

Tyres

Pirelli supplies the soft compound as the prime tyre and the super-soft as the option — the first use of the super-soft compound in the 2015 season.

Practice

The Monaco schedule runs the first two practice sessions on Thursday rather than Friday. After storms on Wednesday night, the morning session begins on intermediate tyres before drying. Rosberg clips his front wing on the exit of the revised Tabac corner early in the session but does not sustain major damage. Hamilton and Rosberg swap places at the top for much of the session before late improvements push Rosberg down to ninth. Verstappen surprises the paddock by finishing second, two-tenths behind Hamilton on his first visit to Monaco.

The afternoon session is red-flagged ten minutes in when Roberto Merhi crashes on the exit of the tunnel. Rain falls during the stoppage and drivers manage only limited running in damp conditions when the session resumes. Hamilton finishes fastest; Toro Rosso confirm their pace with Sainz and Verstappen in sixth and seventh.

The Saturday morning session is halted midway when Räikkönen crashes at Sainte Dévote. Vettel sets the fastest time before the red flag, ahead of the two Mercedes cars. Hamilton reports a handling problem believed to be caused by over-pressured tyres. All four Renault-powered cars from Red Bull and Toro Rosso finish in the top ten.