The Monaco Grand Prix 2014 was the 6th round of the 2014 F1 season, and took place at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, on May 25th.
Nico Rosberg won the race from the pole, followed by Lewis Hamilton, and Daniel Ricciardo completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 27 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 23-28: 18 stops
The fastest pit stop was Jean-Éric Vergne's, stopping the clock at 19.385 seconds during his pit stop on lap 37, while the slowest one was was Sebastian Vettel's, who stopped the clock at 1 minutes, 6.065 seconds, 46.680 seconds slower than Vergne, during his pit stop on lap 4.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
We saw a variety of options in terms of pit stop strategies during this race, however most drivers chose a 1 stop. Only 4 drivers tried a 2 stops, and 2 drivers tried a 3 stops.
The race winner, Nico Rosberg, was on a 1 stop strategy.
1 stop
-
-Adrian Sutil
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16Sebastian Vettel
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6Jenson Button
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2Esteban Gutiérrez
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12Jules Bianchi
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-Nico Rosberg
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-Lewis Hamilton
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-Daniel Ricciardo
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1Fernando Alonso
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2Kevin Magnussen
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6Nico Hülkenberg
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3Valtteri Bottas
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9Felipe Massa
2 stops
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6Romain Grosjean
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7Kamui Kobayashi
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11Marcus Ericsson
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10Jean-Éric Vergne
3 stops
-
5Max Chilton
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6Kimi Räikkönen
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy gained 3.56 positions on average, the ones on a 2 stops strategy gained 8 positions on average, while those on a 3 stops strategy lost an average of 0.5 positions.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 2 stops strategy was the best option, even if Nico Rosberg managed to win the race making 1 stop.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Circuit de Monaco, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
The reace did not end without incidents... 8 drivers out of the original 22 who started did not managed to cross the finish line.
These included, Esteban Gutiérrez, and Adrian Sutil, both had to retire due to an accident, Valtteri Bottas, and Jean-Éric Vergne, both suffered an engine malfunction, Daniil Kvyat, who suffered from an unidentified mechanical problem on lap 10, Sebastian Vettel, who had a turbo failure on lap 5, Sergio Pérez, who retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars on lap 0, and Pastor Maldonado, who withdrew on lap 0.
Accident
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Esteban GutiérrezLap 59
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Adrian SutilLap 23
Engine
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Valtteri BottasLap 55
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Jean-Éric VergneLap 50
Mechanical
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Daniil KvyatLap 10
Turbo
-
Sebastian VettelLap 5
Collision
-
Sergio PérezLap 0
Withdrew
-
Pastor MaldonadoLap 0
Qualifying
Nico Rosberg managed to get the pole position by 0.059 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:15.989. Lewis Hamilton was right behind him, helping Mercedes score a one-two and monopolize the first line of the grid.
The second line fo the grid was dominated by Red Bull, with Daniel Ricciardo in third position, and Sebastian Vettel in fourth.
But the team pairings didn't stop there, as the two Ferraris were right behind them, with Fernando Alonso in fith position, and Kimi Räikkönen in sixth.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and 13 out of the 15 drivers that took place in Q2 were able to improve their times.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that 8 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.