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The Mercedes crew did a fantastic job in two stopping the seven-time world champion as he beat Championship rival Max Verstappen who finished second and Valtteri Bottas in third.
Charles Leclerc had a fantastic race with the Monegasque finishing fourth ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez in fifth. Daniel Ricciardo crossed the line in sixth ahead o Carlos Sainz in seventh, Lando Norris in eighth, Esteban Ocon in ninth and Pierre Gasly in 10th.
Starting Grid
Lewis Hamilton claimed his 100th career pole position as he started first ahead of Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas in second and third respectively. Charles Leclerc claimed fourth with Esteban Ocon in fifth.
The second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz qualified sixth, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. Sergio Perez disappointed as he could only manage a lap time good enough for eighth ahead of Lando Norris in ninth with Fernando Alonso rounding off the top 10.
Lance Stroll was 11th ahead of the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly in 12th. The second Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel followed in 13th with Antonio Giovinazzi in 14th and George Russell in 15th. Yuki Tsunoda started in 16th, Kimi Raikkonen in 17th, Mick Schumacher in 18th, Nicholas Latifi in 19th and Nikita Mazepin at the back of the grid in 20th.
As It Happened
Verstappen got a fantastic start as he launched into turn one as the leader. He got his elbows out and was able to get in front of pole-sitter Hamilton. Behind the Championship battling duo, Leclerc moved up to the podium places as he was able to swoop his Ferrari around the outside of Bottas at turn three.
In the opening lap, Ricciardo and Perez were the big gainers as they made up two places from the start at the expense of Ocon and Sainz.
The AlphaTauri of Tsunoda stopped at the side of the track as the Japanese driver lost power which meant he had to retire from the race. This meant that the Safety Car was released and the field was bunched up again.
After we returned to green light racing, Stroll was able to move up into the points after a move on Alonso down at turn four.
Gasly was awarded a five-second time penalty after he was out of his grid slot at the start of the race. The Frenchman served that penalty and switched to the medium tyre in the process.
On lap 25, Verstappen pitted for fresh tyres which released Hamilton into the lead of the race, for the time being. Four laps later, it was the Mercedes’ turn to pit with the Dutchman ahead of the Brit but, on five lap older tyres.
At the halfway point, Verstappen led the race ahead of the two Mercedes of Hamilton and Bottas in second and third. Leclerc was fourth ahead of Riccairdo in fifth, Perez in sixth, Sainz in seventh, Raikkonen in eighth, Ocon in ninth and Norris rounded out the top 10.
Ocon and Norris then moved ahead of the Alfa Romeo of Raikkonen as the Finn was yet to pit and was still driving on an old set of tyres.
On lap 43, Hamilton and Mercedes pulled off a strategic masterstroke as they put the seven-time world champion on a fresh set of medium tyres which would see him go and chase Verstappen for the race lead.
After many attempts, Perez was finally able to get ahead of Ricciardo down into turn one and up to fifth place. The McLaren man and Sainz then both pitted leaving them in eighth and ninth.
Norris let Ricciardo by as the two were on completely different strategies but in doing so the Brit was overtaken by his old teammate, Carlos Sainz, as the Ferrari moved up to eighth.
The two Mercedes swapped positions with Hamilton having to force his way past Bottas and up to second as he chased down the Red Bull of Verstappen.
Hamilton completed his comeback on lap 60 as he overtook the Dutchman and controlled the race until the end. Bottas completed the podium positions after he overtook Leclerc in the latter stages of the race.
What’s Next?
The drivers will now get a two-week break to recharge the batteries and get ready ahead of a huge test around the streets of Monte Carlo.
Monaco will see the drivers go all out in qualifying as a good place at the start sets you up for a good race with overtaking extremely hard around the circuit.
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