LEWIS HAMILTON withstood lap after lap of intense pressure on worn tires to win a nail-biting Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday in a triumphant tribute to his Mercedes team’s late Formula One great Niki Lauda.

The Briton now has 77 career wins and a 17-point lead over teammate Valtteri Bottas of Finland in the championship.

The five-time world champion held on, taking the chequered flag for his fourth win of the season and third in Monaco, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, the runner-up after a time penalty demoted Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to fourth.

Bottas, who was involved in a pit-lane collision with Verstappen on lap 12 that led to the Dutch driver’s penalty for an unsafe release, finished third.

“That was definitely the hardest race I’ve had,” said Hamilton.

“I really was fighting with the spirit of Niki.”

“I know he will be looking down and taking his hat off. I was trying to stay focused and make him proud,” he said of the Austrian, a triple world champion and nonexecutive chairman of the Mercedes team who died May 20, aged 70.

Mercedes, who extended their winning run to six, lead Ferrari by 118 points in the constructors’ standings. Hamilton has 137 to 120 for Bottas, with Vettel moving up to third place on 82.

Hamilton and Verstappen finished under investigation after they banged wheels going into the chicane at the tunnel exit two laps from the end when the Dutchman tried to pass, but stewards took no further action.

The Briton was forced to cut the corner but kept his advantage.

Hamilton, who started on pole, had earlier had some anxious and angry exchanges with his team who admitted they had made a mistake with their tire selection.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking by keeping these tires on, man. You need to hope for a miracle,” Hamilton said, with Verstappen on longer-lasting hard rubber and doing all he could to pass.

The “miracle” means Hamilton wore a retro red helmet with the name of Niki Lauda to pay tribute to the Austrian F1 legend.

“That was an incredible drive. There was no one else who could have done that,” Mercedes chief strategist James Vowles told him over the radio.  (SD-Agencies)