Its the Pits For Hamilton and Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton's hopes of a first win at Monaco in seven years was dealt a cruel blow by a disastrous strategy call which gifted Nico Rosberg his third consecutive win at the street circuit.

Hamilton had controlled the race from the start

Hamilton had been in total control of the race and was 15 seconds ahead of his Mercedes team-mate going into the final 15 laps.

The race was then turned on it's head when Max Verstappen crashed out and brought out the safety car.

Verstappen was fighting back into a point-paying position after an earlier lengthy pitstop and was cleverly using Sebastian Vettel as he passed through the back-markers to gain positions.

Vettel had come up to pass Romain Grosjean at the Fairmont Hairpin and Grosjean was aware of Verstappen's tactics thanks to radio communications. Grosjean took the inside line into the hairpin, forcing Vettel to pass him around the outside and close the door on Verstappen.

The 17 year old Dutchman was on softer tyres and was looking to get past Grosjean's Lotus going into the first corner. Grosjean braked early and Verstappen didn't react in time to avoid him. Verstappen ran into Grosjean's right rear and gathered speed as he clipped the curb before burying the front nose cone into the barrier.

Verstappen's collision with Grosjean brought out the pivotal safety car

The crash initially led to a Virtual Safety Car period but the actual safety car was quickly dispatched from the pit lane. Jenson Button had a nice cushion to ninth place, Felipe Nasr, and pitted for new tyres. Mercedes also thought Hamilton had a big enough cushion to pit and called him in.

Hamilton, who had earned his first Monaco GP pole position a day before, had reported that his tyres were losing temperature and was called in for a new set. Mercedes had expected Ferrari to pit Vette but, with a lengthy safety car period and the finish line in sight, Vettel was never going to change tyres.

Lewis Hamilton (left) came out of the pits in third

Rosberg hadn't seen Hamilton pit and was surprised to be the first one behind the safety car. He looked in his mirrors to see Vettel and Hamilton wheel-to-wheel up the hill but the second Mercedes car had to yield to the Ferrari after Vettel had crossed the safety car line moments before.

Triple consecutive Monaco winners: Rosberg, Prost, Graham Hill & Senna 

Hamilton was on quicker tyres compared to the two cars in front but the tight nature of the Monaco track prevented him from making any gains. Rosberg must have been grinning from ear-to-ear as he drove down the final few laps and won to become only the fourth driver to win three consecutive Monaco GPs.

This year's truimph is, however, a hollow victory, but the result now sees him cut the deficit to 10 points between him and championship leader, Hamilton. The result ensures that the season is now more closely poised since previously thought after Rosberg trailed his team mate by 27 points after Bahrain.

Third place trophy is little consolation for Hamilton 

Rosberg won last time around in Spain after Hamilton's slow start and an even slower pit-stop forced him to pit one extra time than Rosberg. It still remains to be seen whether the German can beat Hamilton this season in a straight fight.

Hamilton had earlier said to his pit crew that "we've lost this haven't we guys" and the desolated Hamilton momentarily stopped at Poitiers during the parade lap to gather his thoughts and to possibly avoid the parc femme celebrations of Rosberg and his crew.

With this being the cramped confines of Monte Carlo, Hamilton was unable to avoid Rosberg's jubilations as the cars stopped on the start and finish straight. Hamilton's frustrations were clear to see as he didn't stop in time to avoid hitting the third place sign which ironically toppled over towards the finish line.

Hamilton's despair on the podium was evident

His time on the podium allowed Hamilton to gather his thoughts for the post race interview where he professionally answered Martin Brundle's questions by saying that he races together with the team and that he will just have to go and win the next one.

Rosberg won his second consecutive race of the season at Monaco

Such a statement shouldn't be taken lightly by Rosberg as Hamilton will have the wick turned up when he returns to Canada and races on the track where he got his first F1 career victory eight years ago.

In the meantime, Toto Wolff, Nikki Lauda and Paddy Lowe will have to preside over another team inquest after the Brackley based team have once again shot themselves in the foot.

McLaren were back in the points with Button's 8th place

A much happier team down the pitlane will be McLaren. Monaco was targeted by the team as being an ideal opportunity to get their first points of the season due to the deficiencies of their Honda engine being less of a hinderance at the street circuit.

Button was on course to make it into Q3 of qualifying for the first time this season but was prevented by yellow flags being waved at the start of his final hot lap. Grid penalties for Grosjean and Carlos Sainz saw Button start the race in 10th and drove confidently to finish in 8th. 

Alonso looks on at another retirement

Fellow McLaren driver, Fernando Alonso, had an eventful start after nudging Nico Hulkenberg into the barrier and was later penalised with an extended pit stop. The two-time World Champion was running in the points when a gearbox issue brought his race to an end.

The Renault powered Red Bulls improved to finish behind the podium with Daniil Kyvat in fourth and Daniel Ricciardo in fifth. Kimi Raikkonen had a forgettable day to finish sixth whilst Sergio Perez drove well for seventh place. Sauber's Felipe Nasr and Torro Rosso's Carlos Sainz rounded out the top 10.

Traffic proved to be an issue as the leaders came through the pack

Despite the safety car coming in with less than 10 laps to go, both Manor drivers and Felipe Massa's Williams were lapped by Rosberg.

It was a day to forget for Williams as Valteri Bottas finished a place ahead of Massa in 14th whilst Hulkenberg (11th) and Grosjean (12th) were prevented from winning points after falling victim to poor decisions other drivers. Sauber's Marcus Ericson finished behind them in 13th place.

Alonso sent Hulkenberg into the barriers but the German recovered

Monaco is a circuit that requires consideration at all times as one simple mistake can catch you out. These mistakes are usually punished by the driver hitting the barrier but the blow Hamilton received as he came out of the pits in third would have been just as painful.

Last year showed that Hamilton is able to overcome adversity but I feel, without assistance, 10 points is as close as Rosberg can get to Hamilton.

Drivers' Standings after Round 6 of 19:

1. Lewis Hamilton       126 points
2. Nico Rosberg           116
3. Sebatian Vettel        98
4. Kimi Raikkonen        60
5. Valtteri Bottas         42
6. Felipe Massa            39
7. Daniel Ricciardo       35 
8. Daniil Kyvat             17
9. Felipe Nasr              16
= Romain Grosjean       16
11. Sergio Perez           11
12. Carlos Sainz Jr.       9
13. Nico Hulkenberg      6
= Max Verstappen          6
15. Marcus Ericsson       5
16. Jenson Button         4

Constructor's Standings after Round 6 of 19:

1. Mercedes        242 Points
2. Ferrari            158
3. Williams          81
4. Red Bull          52
5. Sauber            21
6. Force India      17
7. Lotus              16
8. Torro Rosso     14
9. McLaren          4

Hamilton Leads the Way in Soggy Sepang

Lewis Hamilton took pole position in a rain-delayed qualifying session for the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang.

The session was stopped for half an hour before the final round of qualifying began and Sebastian Vettel was able to split the two Mercedes with a time just 0.074 seconds behind Hamilton.

Nico Rosberg admitted in the post-qualifying press conference that he was "annoyed" by not "driving well enough" and was a second behind his team-mate on the first run of final qualifying. Hamilton was improving on his second run but had to back off after passing a slow Rosberg through Turns 7 and 8 and Hamilton remained coy afterwards when he couldn't recall the incident during the press conference.

Vettel showed skill in the rain to split the Mercedes pair

Traffic had earlier cost Kimi Raikkonen a likely second row grid slot after Marcus Erikkson slowed Raikkonen going round the final corner and the 2007 World Champion couldn't improve on 11th when the downpour curtailed the second qualifying period.  

The qualifying session had started in tropical sunshine and McLaren continued their fight at the back of the grid. Fernando Alonso returned behind the wheel this weekend following his pre-season accident in Barcelona that Alonso blamed on a car steering issue. The double world champion also rubbished wild rumours of the concussion he suffered after the accident. Alonso had the measure of his team-mate, Jenson Button, all weekend but a mistake caused Alonso to run wide and allowed Button to out-qualify his team-mate with a time of 1 minute 41.636 seconds. This underlined McLaren's lack of pace with a time that was almost 2.5 seconds off Hamilton's time at the top of the Qualifying One timesheets.

Manor hit the tarmac in Malaysia for the first time this season 

Manor returned to the track after not racing in Australia but only Roberto Mehri could post a time after Will Stevens suffered a fuel system problem. Mehri's time was outside the 107% classification rule but stewards cleared the team to race after Manor had earlier posted practice times that was within 107% of the fastest driver's time. 

Felipe Nasr was unable to continue his form from Australia and finished half a second behind the cut-off point and didn't progress into the second round of qualifying.

Tropical storm clouds gather over the Sepang circuit

Rain can often be a great equaliser and the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Dannil Kyvat qualified in 4th and 5th in a turbulent week for the Milton Keynes-based team.  Renault chief Cyril Abiteboul told Friday's press conference that Renault may quit the sport after earlier accusing Red Bull Technical Director, Adrian Newey, of lying about their engine performance. 

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said Abiteboul was "brave" to sit between him and Torro Ross team boss, Franz Tost, at the press conference as the two teams are unhappy about the quality of their Renault engines.

Unhappy couple - Renault's Cyril Abiteboul and Red Bull's Christian Horner

Abiteboul said that Renault "are looking at a lot of options, including getting out of Formula One" as well as purchasing a team. Horner joked that Renault's lack of power had left him "depressed" and contemplated the possibility of Red Bull being "forced" out of the sport if they cannot find an engine supplier. Despite achieving four consecutive Constructor's and Driver's titles, Horner conceded it's now "worrying times" for the Red Bull brand in F1.

It's also worrying times for the future of the German Grand Prix with the announcement on March 20 that owners of the Nurburgring have backed out of staging the race. The German Grand Prix had been alternating between Nurburgring and Hockenheim and it had been hoped that Hockenheim could step in but track officials were unable to come to an agreement with F1 commercial boss, Bernie Ecclestone.

Hockenheim officials may have been hesitant in promoting a race in just four months after last year's race brought low crowds. It's hard to understand why the Germans have quickly turned away from F1 after the success of German drivers, Michael Schumacher and Vettel, still fresh in their minds. The current German combination of Rosberg in a Mercedes racing for the championship should inspire the imagination of German motorsport fans but it hasn't.

There has been a German Grand Prix every year since 1960 and it's removal from the calendar once again highlights race entrance fees and the disappearance of F1's European race tracks.

Max Verstappen showed maturity beyond his 17 years by qualifying 6th in Sepang and, not only equalled his father Jos' best grid position, but he became the first teenager in 54 years to qualify in the top six. Williams drivers Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas will line up on Row 4 after Lotus' Romain Grosjean received a two-place grid penalty after queue jumping in the pit-lane before the start of the rain affected second qualifying period.

Drivers line up in the pit lane below the oncoming storm clouds

The second of the 19-race 2015 season will see Hamilton looking to continue his successful start but Vettel and Rosberg will have other ideas going into Turn One.

Grid for Malaysian Grand Prix:

Hamilton (Mercedes)             Vettel (Ferrari)

Rosberg (Mercedes)              Ricciardo (Red Bull)

Kyvat (Red Bull)                   Verstappen (Torro Rosso)

Massa (Williams)                  Bottas (Williams)

Ericsson (Sauber)                 Grosjean (Lotus)*

Raikkonen (Ferrari)              Maldonado (Lotus)

Hulkenberg (Force India)      Perez (Force India)

Sainz (Torro Rosso)              Nasr (Sauber)

Button (McLaren)                 Alonso (McLaren)

Merhi (Manor)                      Stevens (Manor)  

* After two-place grid penalty