Sebastian Vettel took his first victory around the streets of Monaco to extend his lead at the top of the standings to 58 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Vettel has won five of the opening six races of the campaign and looks set to become the youngest man to win back-to-back titles. He was, however, fortunate to win in Monte Carlo as a safety car in the closing stages ruined the possibility of potentially the greatest finish to a Grand Prix at the principality.
The race was red flagged with six laps to go following a collision at the Swimming Pool which saw Vitaly Petrov and Jaime Alguersuari hit the wall. Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button had a first win of the season in their sights as the race unfolded, yet were denied by the introduction of the safety car and Monaco's lack of overtaking opportunities. They were second and third, respectively, but were tantalisingly close to denying a landmark victory for the world champion.
At the start, Vettel got away cleanly from pole position while Button came under attack from Alonso and Mark Webber. Unusually, Michael Schumacher suffered a terrible start and dropped from fifth to tenth but managed to catch Hamilton napping into Loews hairpin to take ninth. It took 10 long laps before Hamilton was able to get ahead of the Mercedes after a brilliant move into St. Devote, but by then he had dropped 26 seconds behind Vettel who was pulling away comfortably from Button and Alonso.
Button was the first of the leaders to pit on lap 15 and took on a second pair of the super-soft tyres. Meanwhile both Red Bulls endured delays during their stops and it cost Vettel and Webber dearly. Button, who pitted a lap before Vettel, managed to pass the leader thanks to the undercut. His choice of tyre also indicated an aggressive three-stop strategy, while Vettel and Alonso, who pitted the lap after the German, took on softs. Button managed to open up a gap of around 14 seconds to the Red Bull by the time he pitted for another set of super-softs on lap 33, but unfortunately for the British driver he was to fall foul of some rather damaging bad luck.
Ironically for Button, his chances of victory in Monaco were largely scuppered by his team mate. The safety car is commonly called upon in Monaco and today we saw it twice. On lap 35, Hamilton attempted a rather desperate move on Felipe Massa into Loews hairpin and the two made contact. Massa's car was noticeably damaged and Hamilton was able to get ahead in the tunnel, but unfortunately for the Brazilian he ran wide onto the marbles and made heavy contact with the wall.
It was clear for all to see what caused Massa's retirement and Hamilton was later given a drive-through penalty for causing the accident. Massa's wrecked car brought out the safety car which ruined Button's hopes for victory. Alonso pitted under safety car conditions, while further down the order Kamui Kobayashi and Adrian Sutil took full advantage and made their one and only stop, acknowledging the fact it would be difficult for them to be overtaken.
Vettel was hassled by Button following the restart before he made his final stop for the soft tyres on lap 49 to try and undercut the Red Bull. However, Vettel stayed out with tyres that were already 32 laps old. With Alonso unable to get past, the question was whether or not Vettel could make his prime tyres last the remaining 36 laps. He had nothing to lose by staying out, as even with heavily worn tyres he would be tough to pass. Button quickly caught the leading two to set up a fascinating finale around the principality, befitting for the grandest stage of them all. Even with the DRS activated down the pit straight, Alonso was finding it tough to get close enough to pass Vettel.
As the leading three approached a clutch of back markers all stuck behind Sutil, a crash involving Hamilton, Alguersuari and Petrov brought out the safety car. Petrov was momentarily unconscious as his car hit the wall but is thankfully okay, just like Sergio Perez who is recovering in hospital after his enormous shunt in qualifying Yesterday. That incident ruined a thrilling photo finish though; the race was red flagged and after much deliberation would be restarted once the debris had been cleared. Red flag conditions mean that drivers can change their tyres on the grid and this played handsomely into Vettel's hands. Hamilton was able to continue despite substantial damage to his rear wing. The mechanics frantically worked on Hamilton's car and were able to repair it on the grid.
Hamilton's eventful weekend showed no sign of halting after the restart and was involved in another collision, this time with Pastor Maldonado's Williams. Maldonado is something of a specialist around these streets and he was running in sixth place with just a handful of laps to go. Moreover, the Venezuelan rookie was on course to take Williams' first points in 2011. Hamilton made an ambitious move on Maldonado into St. Devote and the pair collided, with Maldonado ending up in the barriers. Rubens Barrichello finished in eighth to bring home their first points which was some consolation for the ailing team.
On the penultimate lap Webber managed to pass Kobayashi for fourth while Hamilton took sixth, despite a 20 second time penalty for his clash with the Williams. It was a crazy weekend for the 2008 world champion, who had been tipped to take pole Yesterday. Hamilton also caused a stir in his post-race interview with the BBC by heavily criticising Massa, Maldonado and the stewards. His frustrations had boiled over.
Frustration was certainly not on Vettel's agenda, though, as he took his maiden win in Monte Carlo. Nevertheless, he must know how fortunate he was. Without the two safety cars, it was more than likely that the 23 year old would have been beaten by both Alonso and Button. An enthralling race was tainted by the absence of that hotly anticipated climax, which disappeared in the Monaco barrier. Motor racing in Monaco is always magical and today's race was no different.
Monaco GP result
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 2hr 09mins 38.373secs
2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari + 1.138
3 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren + 2.378
4 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull + 23.100
5 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) Sauber + 26.900
6 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren + 27.200
7 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India +1 Lap
8 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Renault +1 Lap
9 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams +1 Lap
10 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso +1 Lap
11 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP +2 Laps
12 Paul di Resta (Gbr) Force India +2 Laps
13 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Team Lotus +2 Laps
14 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Team Lotus +2 Laps
15 Jerome d'Ambrosio (Bel) Virgin Racing +3 Laps
16 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Hispania +3 Laps
17 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) Hispania +4 Laps
18 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams +5 Laps
Not Classified
19 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault 67 laps completed
20 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 66 laps completed
21 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 32 laps completed
22 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 32 laps completed
23 Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin Racing 30 laps completed
24 Sergio Perez (Mex) Sauber Did not start
Josh.
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