Monaco has always been the most celebrated Formula 1 race on the calendar and this one was no different. Monaco is all about glitz and glamour and the on track action makes it even better. Everyone expected the McLarens to run away with the race this year but the weather conditions meant it wasn’t going to be easy for them by any stretch of imagination. The qualifying sessions proved likewise with Ferraris claiming both the first and second places on the grid, against all odds. The McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen easily blocked out the second row.
The race was a wet one, the first for this season, which made things all the more exciting. Mclarens knew they got the opportunity they were looking for. The unpredictable nature of the weather meant anyone can go for a win and can overtake their rivals which was, otherwise, unthinkable on the tight and twisty Monaco circuit. McLarens had a better result compared to the Ferraris, who were looking for their first win here for a decade or so. With both their cars out in front, it certainly looked possible.
The start from pole position man, Felipe Massa, was great but the same was not the case for his team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen. Lewis snatched the opportunity and lined in behind Massa to take the second spot through the first corner. A few laps later, Lewis lost one of his rear wheels, as a result of hitting the barriers, which later proved to be a blessing in disguise. He immediately switched to full wet weather tyres and a safety car intervention meant that he was able to join the race without much of a loss.
In the meanwhile, Robert Kubica of BMW was having a great race but things were not as rosy for the championship leader, Kimi. First he was penalized for a tyre fault by the team and then he made a few mistakes of his own. The last of which caused Adrian Sutil of Force India to retire for the race. Few laps before the end and immediately after a safety car period, Kimi tried to overtake Sutil on cold tyres. He lost control of the car and hit the back of Sutil’s car, ruining his own race as well. He eventually managed a pointless 9th position.
Hamilton drove a cool and mature race and kept out of trouble to take his second victory of the season. Robert Kubica scored a second place for BMW while Massa was able to manage a face saving third place for Ferrari. Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel finished fourth and fifth respectively. This effectively means that Lewis now leads the championship from Kimi by just 3 points while Massa is 1 point behind his team-mate. The next race will be held at Montreal, Canada this weekend. The complete result from the race is as follow -
1 - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes - 76 - 2:00:42.742
2 - Robert Kubica - BMW Sauber - 76 - +3.0 secs
3 - Felipe Massa - Ferrari - 76 - +4.8 secs
4 - Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault - 76 - +19.2 secs
5 - Sebastian Vettel - STR-Ferrari - 76 - +24.6 secs
6 - Rubens Barrichello - Honda - 76 - +28.4 secs
7 - Kazuki Nakajima - Williams-Toyota - 76 - +30.1 secs
8 - Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren-Mercedes - 76 - +33.1 secs
9 - Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 76 - +33.7 secs
10 - Fernando Alonso - Renault - 75 - +1 Lap
11 - Jenson Button - Honda - 75 - +1 Lap
12 - Timo Glock - Toyota - 75 - +1 Lap
13 - Jarno Trulli - Toyota - 75 - +1 Lap
14 - Nick Heidfeld - BMW Sauber - 72 - +4 Laps
Ret - Adrian Sutil - Force India-Ferrari - 67 - Accident damage
Ret - Nico Rosberg - Williams-Toyota - 59 - Accident
Ret - Nelsinho Piquet - Renault - 47 - Accident
Ret - Giancarlo Fisichella - Force India-Ferrari - 36 - Gearbox
Ret - David Coulthard - Red Bull-Renault - 7 - Accident
Ret - Sebastien Bourdais - STR-Ferrari - 7 - Accident
