Red Bull’s Mark Webber drove a controlled race to win the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, ensuring that the 2012 season is the first to have the first six races won by six different drivers, as Russia’s Vitaly Petrov retired early on.
The race ended with one of the closest finishes in years as the Australian, who slow pace suggested a technical problem, fought off five rivals for several laps to take his second win in Monaco as rain began to fall.
“Thanks very much guys. It wasn’t particularly straightforward but we’ll take it. What a great day for me,” Webber said to his crew in televised comments.
Webber’s win may yet be cast into doubt as several teams expressed concern about a hole in the Red Bull’s bodywork before the race, claiming it broke the rules, although none has yet made a formal protest.
Nico Rosberg came second for Mercedes, while Fernando Alonso’s third place for Ferrari means he now leads the championship by three points from Webber and reigning champion Sebastian Vettel, who was fourth.
Vettel ran a long first stint before stopping for tires, and almost pulled out a large enough lead to take first place, but failed to find enough pace and was forced to abandon his challenge.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton struggled for pace for much of the race and argued with his team on his way to finishing fifth, ahead of his Ferrari rival Felipe Massa, whose sixth place was the best result of the season for the under-pressure driver.
Force India secured valuable points with seventh for Paul di Resta and eighth for Nico Hulkenberg, while former champion Kimi Raikkonen scored a disappointing ninth for Lotus and Williams’ Bruno Senna took the last point in tenth.
Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne was running seventh, in line for his best-ever finish, with eight laps remaining, but took a gamble on rain by putting on intermediate tires, only to be disappointed as the track remained dry and he finished out of the points on the slow rubber.
At the start, there was immediate drama as Romain Grosjean of Lotus, starting fourth, made contact with Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes and slid across the track, forcing everyone behind to take evasive action.
The incident claimed four more victims, eventually forcing the retirement of Petrov, Spanish Grand Prix winner Pastor Maldonado of Williams, Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi and HRT backmarker Pedro de la Rosa.
Petrov ran over the wreckage of Maldonado’s front wing at the first corner and was forced to pit for new nosecone on lap four, leaving him a lap down on the rest of the field.
A technical fault, reportedly with the car’s electronics, then forced him to park his car in the Caterham garage and retire on lap 17.
With seven laps to go, 2009 champion Jenson Button collided with Petrov’s Caterham teammate Heikki Kovalainen in the harbor section of the track and spun, ending the British driver’s race.
Sauber’s Sergio Perez then made contact with Kovalainen, ending the Finn’s hopes of a rare points finish after he sustained a broken front wing.
Final classification:
1. Mark Webber (Red Bull)
2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes-Benz)
3. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
4. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
5. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
6. Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
7. Paul di Resta (Force India)
8. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)
9. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)
10. Bruno Senna (Williams)
11. Sergio Perez (Sauber) +1 lap
12. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) +1 lap
13. Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham) +1 lap
14. Timo Glock (Marussia) +2 laps
15. Narain Karthikeyan (HRT) +2 laps
16. Button (McLaren) +8 laps - spin
17. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) Retired lap 67 – technical problem
18. Charles Pic (Marussia) Retired lap 66 – technical problem
19. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes-Benz) Retired lap 65 – technical problem
20. Vitaly Petrov (Caterham) Retired lap 17 – technical problem
21. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) Retired lap 8 – damage from earlier crash
22. Pedro de la Rosa (HRT) Retired lap 1 -crash
23. Pastor Maldonado (Williams) Retired lap 1 - crash
24. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) Retired lap 1 – crash
