Background image taken from a still from a SkySports F1 video
MONACO GRAND PRIX RESULTS
With the minutes counting down to FP3 for the Monaco Grand Prix, one question was first and foremost on the minds of the contestants in the Top Three Championship: would Verstappen crash, or would he qualify on the front row? With well over half the field agreeing that his teammate, the Smiling Assassin, was the favorite to win, the fortunes and potential Perfect Podiums of many would depend on whether or not the young Dutchman could keep his car out of the wall come Saturday.
The answer was no, predictably enough, and the 14 poor fools who had him somewhere on his podium were left ruing their inability to see a clear pattern, with six crashes out of six races now. For the rest, however, the fun was only beginning. With Verstappen out of the way, the question now became: Hamilton or Vettel for the second step of the podium?
In the end it was Vettel, despite a late challenge by Ricciardo's MGU-K, with Hamilton claiming the third step. It was a big moment for Ricciardo, taking his second win of the season and staking his claim as a full title contender in 2018 - but it was an even bigger moment for the Top Three Championship, with the first Perfect Podiums of the season finally being handed out! Congratulations to championship rookies
Mod Titanium and
Espo!
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First Place - 14 points
Mod Titanium, Espo
Second Place - 8 points
Remmirath, Jezza13, cm97, Jenson's Understeer, Black_Flag_11
Third Place - 5 points
Icemanjee1, Herb, robins13, Mayhem, TheDamus, Exediron
The Rest
Mod Onyx, P-F1 Mod -
3 points
Mod Blue, Flash2k11 -
1 point
CarlPotter, Bentrovato, Lotus49, coulthards chin, TypingChicane -
0 points
NOTE: Herb was initially not credited with points earned on either table. That has been corrected.
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Individual Standings - Round Six
This was the first truly high scoring round of the young season, and there are a fair number of changes as a result:
Mod Titanium and Espo shoot up the standings on the strength of their Perfect Podiums, rising all the way from 9th and 11th to sit 1st and 2nd, respectively. They are trailed by the 2016 champion robins13 in 3rd place, fully recovered from his torrid 2017 season and mounting what looks like a strong 2018 challenge at this early date.
Further down, former championship leader Mod Onyx tumbles to 4th, six points off the lead; together with Icemanjee1, Mayhem, Jezza13 and Remmirath, they form a tight group from 4th down to 8th, each separated by a single point. Rounding out the top ten, cm97 and Black_Flag_11 are tied on 14 points.
In scoring events of note outside the top ten, Exediron is no longer scoreless after putting up 5 points, and reigning champion TypingChicane is now dead last in the standings, taking up the sordid tradition robins13 began last year of the reigning champion starting the next year horribly.
Team Standings - Round Six
In the team standings, Sand Bag'n retains their position atop the standings, extending their lead to 6 points over their nearest challenger; both drivers are scoring strongly and currently sit inside the top six of the individual standings, making them the only truly bona fide top team at present.
A little bit behind, Bwaoh Steering Wheel has taken second place from Crisis in Management, relegating the defending champions Jalopy Racing to 4th position in the process. All four teams sit on 30 or more points, and have won at least once, benefiting from balanced scoring from their drivers.
Immediately behind them in 5th place is a new contender whose scoring is anything but balanced. With a teammate scoring ratio of 25:4, Management in Crisis has the highest scoring disparity on the grid, and their current position owes wholly to Mod Titanium's dominant Perfect Podium. Whether they will be able to sustain their challenge at the sharp end remains to be seen, but certainly Mod Titanium is putting up a good advertisement for his services elsewhere if the team fails to secure sponsorship and collapses.
The battle for the head of the proper midfield is led by Drive Sauber, with Remmirath leading the way, currently outscoring TheDamus by a 2:1 ratio. Last year this teammate battle went the other way - not the only one to have flipped around by a similar margin. Newly formed team The Also Rans is right behind in 7th place, with 3 points separating the two teams. Veteran Black_Flag_11 currently enjoys a 14-7 point advantage over his teammate, the inaugural champion of the competition.
In 9th place are 2015 champions No Limit Excedrin Racing, finally freeing themselves from last in the standings thanks to Exediron and Jenson's Understeer finally scoring at the same time for the first time this season. That's due in large part to it being Exediron's first points. This result puts them above Lotus-CC Racing, who had a costly and complete failure to score this round - the only team to do so.
CHAMPIONSHIP PICTURE
Every team is still within double Perfect Podium range of the leaders, but the same cannot be said of the individual standings: TheDamus, CarlPotter, Flash2k11, Exediron, Lotus49, P-F1 Mod and defending champion TypingChicane all sit outside that magical range, unable to take the lead with a single round's scoring. They will all be desperate to close the ground somewhat in Canada, lest they be left on the outside entirely.
Things are too tight at the front to call a true favorite, but it's clear that the Mods are making their presence felt this season, with Mod Titanium currently leading the championship and Mod Onyx have scored at every round since Bahrain.
NEXT RACE
Canada is next, and with it a number of upgrades. Much will depend on who correctly guesses the impact of the long-awaited Renault engine update!
Looking at past form, this will be the first Canadian GP not won by mcdo since 2015, with the veteran not taking part this season. Remmirath has shared the win at the last two, however, and must be considered a favorite to take another victory. Bentrovato has never scored points at the Canadian Grand Prix.