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F1's Daniel Ricciardo a Monaco spoiler? 'I run those streets'

MONACO - Daniel Ricciardo jokes that he has a new strategy for Monaco this year - no pitstops, just keep going all the way to the checkered flag. The rules do not allow him to do that, of course, but the comment underlines the lingering pain of last year when the Australian seized pole position but was robbed of victory by a pitstop bungle. "It sucks. It hurts," said the Red Bull driver, who finished second to Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, at the time. "I got to the pits and everyone's running around like headless chooks (chickens)." The pole position was the only one that escaped champions Mercedes last year, and Ricciardo took some solace when he then won in Malaysia after Hamilton suffered engine failure. Title rivals Hamilton and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, separated by just six points and with two wins apiece, will be the favorites in Sunday's showcase race around the metal-fenced streets. But Ricciardo reckons he can again muscle in on the action, even if his car's Renault engine is down on power. "Regardless of where the car is at come Monaco, I'm certainly confident going there," he said at the previous Spanish Grand Prix, where he finished third. "I certainly feel like I run those streets ... I already get excited thinking about Monaco, I love that place. It's cool," he added. "The memories of last year are still more sweet than bitter so I'm just excited to get another chance this year." MILESTONES IN MIND Both Hamilton and Vettel have their own milestones in mind on what promises to be a sunny week in the Mediterranean principality for the two multiple title winners. Vettel, the championship leader, is aiming to become the first Ferrari driver to win in Monaco since Michael Schumacher in 2001 -- almost ancient history as far as Formula One is concerned. Hamilton meanwhile can equal his late, great idol Ayrton Senna's career tally of 65 pole positions on the 30th anniversary of the Brazilian's first Monaco win. Mercedes are going for their fifth successive Monaco win, with Hamilton triumphant last year after three victories in succession for now-retired champion Nico Rosberg. The title duel, in the sixth and slowest round of the championship, will also be about absent friends and returning heroes. Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion who called it a day last year, will be filling in for Spaniard Fernando Alonso at McLaren while the double champion takes on the Indianapolis 500 on the same weekend.

Race recap: 2016 Monaco Grand Prix gets very wet, a little wild

More than at any other race, the Monaco Grand Prix question is: which combination of demolition derby, Safety Cars, and bad pit strategy will decide the podium? Last year Lewis Hamilton's late, confounding pit stop cost him victory. The year before, Nico Rosberg's qualifying "mistake" put him on pole and Mercedes-AMG Petronas' pit strategy sealed his win – good for Nico, bad for Hamilton and the rest of the field. In 2013 Hamilton dropped from second to fourth when he lollygagged in the pits. In all three years, Rosberg won. The new X factor for 2016: a Red Bull resurgence that helped Daniel Ricciardo clinch his first career pole. Nevertheless, bad pit strategy had its say in the results. Ricciardo built up a 13-second lead by Lap 15 in spite of heavy rains that forced the Safety Car to lead the first eight laps of the race. Ricciardo stopped on Lap 23 to switch to intermediate tires for the drying track, ceding the lead to Hamilton. Hamilton pitted from the lead on Lap 31 for softs, then Red Bull pulled Ricciardo in again on Lap 32 and made a snap decision to put him on ultra softs, but the tires weren't ready when Ricciardo reached his pit box. What should have been a three-second pit stop turned into a 13.6-second pit stop. Ricciardo left the pits as Hamilton came down the straight and the Aussie lost the lead into the first corner. Despite two attempts to pass later in the race, Hamilton finished first, the Aussie second. It's the second race in a row where pit strategy cost Ricciardo a near-certain win. Conversely, Force India nailed both tire strategy and pit timing with Sergio Perez. The Mexican started in eighth but got into third before half the race was done, passing four cars in the pits, and finished on the podium's final step. Otherwise the order barely changed from about half distance, with Ferrari driver Sebatian Vettel in fourth, followed by Fernando Alonso in the McLaren, Nico Hulkenberg in the second Force India, Rosberg in the second Mercedes, Carlos Sainz for Toro Rosso, Jenson Button in the second McLaren, and Felipe Massa taking the final point for tenth for Williams. Storms didn't only hover over the area, though – dark clouds hung around several teams and drivers. Mercedes' reliability is no longer so reliable. The Silver Arrows suffered engine issues on both cars in qualifying, and Hamilton's problem almost kept him from setting a time in Q3.

Top Gear drag races VW Golf R against McLaren 675LT and Porsche 911

Top Gear's latest quarter-mile drag race in the collects three very different performance vehicles: the 296-horsepower Volkswagen Golf R, 424-hp Porsche 911 Carrera GTS, and 666-hp McLaren 675LT. While each of these cars sit near the top of their segment, they each come from totally different rungs of the sports car price ladder. Spoiler alert, the Golf R doesn't win. But the final results illustrate the diminishing returns of price and performance. For example, the McLaren is only about a second quicker than the Porsche to 60 miles per hour, but the 675LT costs over 2.5 times more that the GTS. Related Video: