Hamilton ducks parties as Rosberg offers sympathy

Lewis Hamilton was conspicuous by his absence on Monday as bleary-eyed reports of the post-race parties after Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix were shared over strong coffee on the Cote d’Azur where, so unexpectedly, his Mercedes team-mate and rival Nico Rosberg had been given a gift-wrapped victory.

The two-time world champion and current series leader is said to enjoy a “party lifestyle” between races, but he made a quick exit to his local apartment home after his team’s spectacular tactical blunder had cost him a comfortable victory.

After performing his essential media duties with dignity, he ducked out of the annual hubbub to rest and recover. Nobody argued.

Even Rosberg, who was one of the star attractions at the Amber Lounge event at the Beach Plaza hotel after completing a rare hat-trick of successive wins on his <g data-gr-id="26">home town</g> street circuit, was sympathetic to his title rival’s plight.

He said he was as surprised as anyone that the team had called the race leader in for new tyres, during a Safety Car intervention, with 15 laps remaining.

“Stopping wasn’t on my mind at all,” said Rosberg. “There were just a few laps to go so I just did not consider it.

Instead, it was - for me - a big, big surprise... And I just thought ‘where the hell did he go?’ 

“Then, all of a sudden, I saw wheel-banging behind me between a Mercedes and a Ferrari, and I thought ‘what the hell is going on there?’” 

What Rosberg saw was the brief battle between Hamilton and four-time champion German Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari after the Briton had returned to the fray following his pit-stop.