Ricciardo wins Monaco Grand Prix, overcomes car trouble scare

Monte Carlo, May 27 (IANS) Australian Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) crowned his great weekend at the Monte Carlo circuit by winning the Monaco Grand Prix.

Despite dominating the three free practices, getting pole position and setting a new track record for good measure, Ricciardo did not sail into an easy victory, as a power issue caused his lead to shrink with two-thirds of the race to go, reported Efe.

"I felt a loss of power and I thought the race was done," Riccirdo said after his seventh career win.

"This was two years in the making, I finally feel like this is redemption!" he added.

Ricciardo beat out Germany's Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) and Britain's Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), a year after a pit stop error cost him the 2017 Monaco GP.

With only six of eight gears working, Ricciardo still managed to stay in front, thanks in part to the nature of the circuit that complicates overtaking, but Vettel kept nipping at his heels until the end of the race while Hamilton slid further behind.

"Daniel had the answers the whole time," Vettel admitted, following his second-place finish.

Reigning world champ Hamilton said "Big congrats to Red Bull and Daniel. It would've been nice to have been second, but I did all I could."

The 2018 Monaco Grand Prix had more good news for Red Bull, as its other driver, Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, finished ninth after starting the race from last.

Verstappen had crashed out of the third free practice as his car hit a wall, and could not fix it in time to take part in the qualifying session.

Spain's Fernando Alonso (McLaren-Renault) saw the dark side of the race, as he was forced to drop out in the 53rd lap while in eighth place due to a mechanical problem that saw smoke coming out of his car.

This was the first race of the season that the two-time world champion was unable to complete.

After the race, Hamilton retained his lead in the 2018 Driver Standings standings with 110 points, ahead of Vettel and Ricciardo, who hold the second and third spots respectively.