A rain-soaked Monaco Grand Prix called for some tough decision-making and some calculated gambles. Former Jordan race engineer Gary Anderson watched the teams play their cards – and reckons McLaren deserved their winning hand.
"When the conditions get difficult in Monaco, it's not just in the casino that you see some big gambles. The 'Make it happen' moment of the race was a few minutes before the start when the rain began to fall. The teams won't have been surprised - they also expected another shower towards the end, which didn't come. But when the rain started, everyone had to make some tough decisions.
The drivers from 11th on the grid down have the option to change their starting fuel loads; usually, the best thing to do is to fill it up to the gunnels and maximise your options. But for the drivers from 10th and up, who are fighting for the championship and who had to set their fuel loads at qualifying the day before, it's really tough.
You've got to compliment Lewis Hamilton on his drive, although he was lucky too. After he hit the barrier, he pitted to fix the damage and added fuel at the same time. McLaren made the right decision on how much fuel to put in, and everything fell into place for them after that. The track dried out at just the right time, so that he needed to switch to dry tyres at the same time he needed to stop for fuel anyway.
That was a stroke of luck for McLaren. They might easily have chosen to give Hamilton five laps less fuel, which would have meant he would have had to refuel too early and they would have looked pretty sad. But then hindsight is everything with a race like this. On the pit wall at the time, you just have to make the best decisions you can."
