Rosberg wins chaotic Monaco Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg has won the Monaco Grand Prix, the second win of his career and his first of the 2013 season. Leading from the start, Rosberg took the chequered flag in a race which saw the Safety Car for the first time this year not once, but twice, and a red flag which stopped the race approximately mid-way.

Unable to convert the Mercedes one-two qualifying into a finish, Lewis Hamilton placed fourth overall whilst the Red Bull’s of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber took second and third respectively.

Despite worries of tyre degradation going into the race, Rosberg was able to maintain his lead in Monaco throughout the race, demonstrating true pace and tyre preservation. Lewis Hamilton lost his second place during the first round of pit stops under the first Safety Car and would be unable to regain the position as the Red Bull held strong. The Safety Car interruption was caused when Felipe Massa had almost an identical crash from his free practice at Sainte Devote. Complaining of neck pain, Massa was taken to hospital for routine checks, though is expected to be fine.

The first Safety Car meant that all those who hadn’t yet pit quickly did so, prompting organised chaos in the pit lane. Hamilton was forced to wait for behind Rosberg for a pit stop, thus allowing the Red Bull’s of Vettel and Webber to jump him. Hamilton would then spend the remainder of the race chasing on Webber, but unable to actually pass.

At the mid-way mark of the race, Max Chilton’s Marussia came into contact with Pastor Maldonado’s Williams, causing a heavy shunt for Maldonado which resulted in a red flag; a stoppage in the race allowing time to have the track safely cleared and re-built as the Armco barriers had shifted. Maldonado was unhurt in the crash; Chilton would receive a drive-through penalty for causing a collision but would ultimately go on to finish the race in fourteenth, ahead of main rival Giedo van der Garde in the sole remaining Caterham. Van der Garde’s teammate Charles Pic retired from the race when his engine caught fire.

Un-phased by the race stoppage in which saw many drivers actually step out of their cars to recuperate, Rosberg would cruise easily to victory in front of Vettel, Webber and Hamilton, whilst more action took place behind the four car pack.

Force India’s Adrian Sutil found himself back in the points when he passed both Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso. The manoeuvre put the German into fifth overall, with Button and Alonso finishing behind in sixth and seventh.

The Button / Perez in-team rivalry continued throughout the Monaco Grand Prix as Perez cut the chicane early in the race to hold off the passing attempt from Button. Complaining over the team radio, Perez would ultimately have to give Button the place back. Perez then took the place back from Button on the next lap at the same place, this time fairly.
Perez had a chicane run-in with Fernando Alonso too a few laps later, Alonso was told to give the place back to Perez as the race was re-started.

Perez would not finish the race though, issues with the car brought his day to a premature end and he was forced to retire. Alonso lost out to Button when he got caught up behind the dying car of Perez which was pulling off track in front of him.

Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso placed eighth as a steady points run for the Frenchman continues, whilst di Resta successfully converted a seventeenth place race start into a ninth place finish. Kimi Raikkonen’s points run continued when a last lap effort found himself propel his Lotus from thirteenth to tenth to finish within the points.

The other notable incident of the day came when Romain Grosjean ran into the back of Daniel Ricciardo at high speed exiting the tunnel, causing the final safety car of the day. Again, both drivers walked away unharmed. Grosjean recovered to the pits for a new nose cone, only to retire a lap later.

Jules Bianchi also failed to finish the race when he slammed his Marussia into the barrier at Sainte Devote. His car had sustained damage from debris on track caused by the Chilton / Maldonado incident.

Sebastian Vettel’s second place finish puts the triple World Champion 21 points ahead of second placed Kimi Raikkonen, with Fernando Alonso in third but only 29 points adrift of the lead. Red Bull Racing leads the Constructors’ Championship 39 points ahead of Ferrari.

The Formula 1 calendar resumes two weeks from now on the weekend of June 07 – 09, for the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2013.

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