MERCEDES F’S UP AND HANDS NICO HIS THIRD CONSECUTIVE VICTORY IN MONACO!

A terrible error of judgement by his Mercedes team cost Lewis Hamilton victory at the Monaco Grand Prix and handed it gift-wrapped to his team-mate and rival Nico Rosberg.

A win was all but assured for the reigning Formula One world champion as the race came to a close only for Hamilton’s race engineers to choose to pit under the safety car allowing Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel to pass.

It saw Hamilton blow what would have been a second success on the streets of Monte Carlo and allowed Rosberg to secure a bonus third successive win at the Circuit de Monaco as Vettel’s Ferrari followed home second.

This astonishing turnaround gave Rosberg his third victory in a row in Monte Carlo. He could hardly believe it, screaming over the team radio.

Rosberg said: “I’m very, very happy. I know also that it was a lot of luck today. Lewis drove brilliantly and he would’ve deserved the win for sure. But that’s the way it is. I’m extremely happy and going to make the most of it.

^{Dejected: Hamilton holds his head low on the podium}

“I have no idea [about pit stops], sorry. We’re in the car and it’s very difficult to judge what decisions are being made.”

Vettel added: “It was a bit of a turnaround at the end, but we were there when it mattered. We were just ahead of Lewis when he came out of the pits. It was close but I was confident I was ahead.”