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MONACO. — Nico Rosberg took full advantage of one of Formula One’s greatest tactical errors yesterday to land an unexpected victory and become only the fourth man to claim a hat-trick of consecutive wins in the Monaco Grand Prix.

The 29-year-old German — who was winning his second successive race this season — came home in his Mercedes ahead of compatriot Sebastian Vettel in a Ferrari with long-time leader and Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton third.

Rosberg, who reduced the gap between himself and Hamilton in the world championship standings to 10 points after six races, trailed his teammate for 63 laps until an accident prompted a Safety Car intervention that, in turn, led the team to call the Briton in for an unexpected and unnecessary pit-stop. Obeying his team, Hamilton, who led by 21 seconds before he pitted, came out in third place and, after the race was re-started with eight laps remaining, found it impossible to pass Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari, let alone Rosberg, to claim his fourth victory of the year.

RESULTS

1. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1:49:18.420

2. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari +00:04.486

3. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 00:06.053

4. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) RedBull – Renault 00:11.965

5. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) RedBull – Renault 00:13.608

6. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 00:14.345

7. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India – Mercedes

00:15.013

8. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 00:16.063

9. Felipe Nasr (Brazil) Sauber – Ferrari 00:23.626

10. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso – Renault 00:25.056. — AFP.