F1 MonacoGP: Mercedes goof-up costs Hamilton win, Rosberg triumphs

Nico Rosberg of Mercedes won his third straight Monaco Grand Prix - only the fourth driver in F1 history to do so - from Lewis Hamilton after the

Nico Rosberg became only the fourth driver in F1 history to win three consecutive editions of the Monaco Grand Prix, joining Graham Hill, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. (PIC: Mercedes AMG F1)

Mercedes made the decision to pit Lewis Hamilton for fresh tyres during the safety car period following Max Verstappen\'s crash was made thinking his rivals would pit too, which led to embarrassingly going from first to third. (PIC: Ferrari Media)

Red Bull-Renault had was probably their strongest race of the season with Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo finishing fourth and fifth. (PIC: Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool)

Nico Rosberg closes to within ten points of Lewis Hamilton who still leads the F1 drivers\' championship. The Brit is likely to be more concerned about his team\'s mistake that cost him a certain win. (PIC: Mercedes AMG F1)

Nico Rosberg of Mercedes won his third straight Monaco Grand Prix - only the fourth driver in F1 history to do so - from Lewis Hamilton after the German squad mistakenly called the defending champion into the pits late in the race when a safety car period ensued following Max Verstappen's scary collision with Romain Grosjean (both drivers were uninjured).

Hamilton had led the race from pole position that he won against Rosberg and seemed to be in control of the race at the front as the German focused more on being pursued by a Ferrari driven by his compatriot Sebastian Vettel, the former four-time F1 champion.

With just 14 laps left in the 78-lap race around the tight and twisty 3.37 km street circuit; 17-year-old Verstappen who was chasing Grosjean for tenth place got too close to the right-rear tyre of the Frenchman's Lotus-Mercedes, which ended the race for both drivers.

It was Verstappen's Toro Rosso-Renault that came out the worse for wear though as it ploughed into the barrier on the outside of the first corner of the circuit.

The safety car saw defending F1 constructors world champions Mercedes make the baffling decision to call Hamilton into the pits to change his car's tyres from soft compound Pirellis to the faster super-soft compounds.

It was a decision that was for naught, though, as it meant Rosberg and Vettel both ended up ahead of Hamilton as the safety car picked up the F1 field and lead it around while track workers cleaned the resulting debris from Verstappen and Grosjean's crash.

When the race was restarted with just six laps left, Hamilton's bid to get ahead of Vettel's Ferrari were to no avail as he had to resign himself to third.

Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull-Renault, 2007 F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari, Sergio Perez of Force India-Mercedes, 2009 champion Jenson Button of McLaren-Honda, Felipe Nasr of Sauber-Ferrari and Carlos Sainz Jr. of Toro Rosso-Renault rounded out the top ten, points scoring places in the provisional standings.

The eighth place finish for Button was the first points for the McLaren-Honda partnership since the Japanese manufacturer announced that it would be allying itself with the team with which it shared record breaking success in the late '80s and early '90s. Another McLaren returnee, Fernando Alonso, had to retire, however, due to a failed gearbox on lap 41.

F1 Monaco Grand Prix – Results(Top 10)