CLEAR NUMBER TWO
L
ewis Hamilton told reporters after that
the Monaco Grand Prix that it is now
clear to him that Sebastian Vettel will
get number one treatment from Ferrari in this
year’s title battle, as the German led home
his teammate Kimi Raikkonen in Monte
Carlo.
Hamilton said, “It’s very clear Ferrari
have chosen their number one driver and are
pushing everything to make sure Sebastian
will maximise his points. It is very hard for
the leading car to get jumped unless the
team decide to favour the other car.”
The Briton was alluding to the fact that
Raikkonen led the first half of the race, but
he was called in early and Vettel allowed to
stay out and rack-up a series of very fast
laps which enabled him to lead after his pit
stop.
Vettel stayed ahead, unchallenged,
to take his third victory of the season and
extend his lead at the top of the standings
to 25 points. Raikkonen was second,
his disdain plain for all to see when he
‘celebrated’ on the podium.
Hamilton does not believe that Mercedes
need to copy their rivals, “I haven’t spoken
to the team and I don’t really plan to. Valtteri
has been doing a great job and I don’t
currently feel we have to favour one or the
other.
“It is really important we collectively work
as a team more than ever before, as we
have been, because our work is to beat the
Ferraris in the constructors’ but there might
be some things along the way positioning-
wise that might become valuable.”