Lewis Hamilton has claimed his fourth win of the Formula 1 season after leading from start to finish in the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix.

With the reigning champion having to defend his position against a stubborn Max Verstappan, he eventually crossed the line first, finishing ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and teammate Valterri Bottas. Verstappen crosses the line second, but was handed a five second penalty for an unsafe release in the pits earlier in the race, dropping him down to fourth.

It was a frustrating day for 2018 Monaco Grand Prix winner and CAMS ambassador Daniel Ricciardo who finished the day in ninth after an early pit strategy didn’t pay off.

“I got called in … as soon as they (Renault) said ‘box’ I got no time to react or react differently but obviously it wasn’t the right call,” Ricciardo told Skysports post-race. 

“I’ll settle and we’ll sort it out as a team what we can do better.

“We had a great start … had a good turn one and got into fifth and that was really our place so it’s a shame. We could have had a big result today.”

While Ricciardo’s former Red Bull Teammate Verstappen had the chance to pass the leader on the penultimate lap, he wasn’t able and Hamilton hung on to a well-deserved victory – the Brit dedicating it to F1 great, Niki Lauda, who passed away last week. 

“That was probably the hardest race I’ve had,” Hamilton revealed.

“I really was fighting with the spirit of Niki. Niki’s been such an influential person in our team, helping to get us where we are. So I know he’ll be looking down and know he’d take his hat off today. I was trying to stay focused and trying to make him proud.

“[With Max] it was close. It was a bit of a late dive. Luckily I saw him at the last minute. His front wing was alongside my rear wheels, so he wasn’t really fully past. It was a light touch and I move on.”

The Formula 1 Championship will have a week to recover before heading to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix on 10 June.