Nico Rosberg wins the Monaco Grand Prix 2015

It was an emotional and unexpected end to the otherwise sleepy Formula One race held in Monaco on May 24.

Race favourite Lewis Hamilton, who started in pole position (in front of everyone else at the starting line-up), had been comfortably leading the race for the past 63 laps. 

Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes racing car (credit: Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licence)

The drama started on the 64th lap out of 78, when Dutchman Max Verstappen tried to overtake but rammed into the back of Romain Grosjean's Lotus. Verstappen then crashed hard into the red and white barriers at the first corner and scattered bits of his Toro Rosso around the track.

The safety car was called out.

The safety car leads the competing cars at a limited speed when there is an obstruction on the track. Competitors are not allowed to pass the safety car or other competitors and may resume racing only when the safety car leaves the track.

Hamilton, then in a 25-second lead, was suddenly, inexplicably called in by his Mercedes team engineers for a pit stop. A pit stop is where a racing car stops in the pits during a race for refuelling, new tires or mechanical adjustments. Hamilton had no need for any of that.

When Hamilton finally came out from the pits, he found himself in third place, behind team-mate and rival Rosberg and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

Nico Rosberg's Mercedes racing car (credit: Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licence)

When the safety car finally went off the track, Hamilton did put his pedal to the metal but had only a few laps left to try and get past Vettel and Rosberg on one of the most demanding circuits in F1. 

A hairpin turn on the Monaco GP track (credit: Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licence)

So it was an elated Nico Rosberg who clinched his second win of the season at the Monaco GP, a circuit which he has now won three times in a row. And it was a despondent Hamilton who slowly climbed out of his car at the end of a race he was supposed to have won.

Nico Rosberg (credit: Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licence)

Featured image of the 2015 Malaysian GP opening lap (credit: Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licence)