SEBASTIAN VETTEL won a Grand Prix thriller in Monte Carlo.
The German raced home just seconds ahead of two world champions to win the biggest race on the Formula 1 calendar.
The statistics will show a fifth win in six races as his domination continued but it was far from a routine triumph.
In fact it was probably the hardest of his career as he went to the line shadowed by two previous winners for the last 18 laps.
Fernando Alonso was second thanks to a clever strategy and Jenson Button somehow conjured a third place from a race-winning position after pitting three times.
In a season of spectacular races under the new rules this was the best yet.
But the other McLaren driver, Lewis Hamilton, will not believe that.
A man who could have started from pole and scored his second victory was consigned to a series of dramas all weekend.
In qualifying he was blocked by Felipe Massa and his best lap then wrecked by a crash to start ninth, making it a Mission Impossible to win this one.
Then in the race things just went from bad to worse.
He clashed again with Massa and was hit with a drive through penalty.
Then he was in the thick of things when Jaime Alguersuari piled into the back of his car, shortly after Petrov crashed triggering a re-started.
Even then his misfortunes were not over. Off the start he collided with Maldonaldo at the first bend and ended the race sixth but under investigation by stewards.
Fate played into Vettel’s hands.
Having opted on a single start he headed for the final dozen laps with Alonso and Button hanging on his rear wing and his tyres shot.
But the accident that forced the re-start came just when he needed it most and with a five lap final re-started sprint on fresh tyres there was to be no beating him.
He took his fifth win in six races to take a 58 point lead in the world championship.
Sixteen points separate the next four places occupied by Hamilton, Webber, Button and Alonso
“Unbelievable to win here. The race today was pretty entertaining from the inside of the car,” said Vettel.
“It was good to have a break with the safety cars. “
“We were going to pit with 33 laps left but then I said ‘Let’s one stop’. The only chance to win was to stay out.”
“At one point I was in P2 and 15 seconds behind and the win seemed far away.
“But it’s a crazy race and the roulette wheel kept spinning and eventually it came up with our number.”
“Seems like it is all going my way but we learned from last year how quickly things can change. We are trying to take each race as it comes.
“We took the risk and we deserved to win.”
“It’s an extreme honour to join Jenson and Fernando on this trophy.”
Button was philosophical.
“It was disappointing but we didn’t do anything wrong. We didn’t put a foot wrong. We just did the strategy we did. Things just didn’t go our way,” said Button.
There had been a fascinating battle for victory almost from the start.
Having failed to get Vettel off the start line Button made a strategy gamble with an unexpectedly early pit stop on lap 16 and his team slipped on another set of super soft tyres.
Vettel thundered in a lap later and went on to hard tyres.
But the pit stop was a disaster and a lap later when Alonso pitted Button was in the lead of the sport’s greatest race.
McLaren had their own problems as Hamilton came in next and surprised his mechanics.
The result was a lengthy 9.7 second stop and another blow to his chances that were holed when he cut the chicane in qualifying and was pushed down to ninth by stewards.
After he ran out of rubber on his soft tyres Button was forced to surrender the head but opted for another set of softs before half distance
The tension grew as the strategies unfurled.
Vettel, still in the lead, was chased by Button and McLaren radioed their driver “If you want to win this race you’ll have to do it on the track.”
Vettel’s team had told him that Button’s tyres would only last another 10 laps and he would be safe after that if he kept the lead.
Rather than kicking on Button’s response to his opportunity was to thunder into the pits and make what was surely his last stop.
But as the laps ticked by Vettel failed to make his stop even though the mechanics rushed out into the pit lane.
Hamilton’s weekend went from bad to worse as he tried to get down the inside of Felipe Massa at Loews, who had blocked him in qualifying, and was slapped with a drive through penalty.
Paul Di Resta had suffered the same fate earlier on as he’d tried to muscle down the inside of a Toro Rosso and the car’s collided.
Two corners later through the tunnel the McLaren muscled ahead of the Ferrari and Massa lost control of his car and, parts flying off it, he came to a halt just beyond the tunnel.
In an ironic echo of his infamous parking incident at Rascasse Michael Schumacher’s car pulled to a halt in the pit lane entry.
Of course it was nothing to do with a blown Mercedes engine. The smoke from the engine was caused by a “airbox fire”.
As the second stops unfurled Alonso ended up ahead of Button on Vettel’s haunches and set up a thrilling final 16 laps.
Vettel on ancient tyres was shadowed by Alonso on fresher rubber and Button was on the Ferrari’s haunches with even younger and better tyres.
There was one late drama as Vitaly Petrov crashed forcing out the safety car and instead of battling with exhausted tyres Vettel took the re-start on fresh rubber and thundered home in the lead.
Petrov became the second man in as many days to end up in hospital after being knocked unconscious.
Before the start doctors said that the victim of a 170mph qualifying smash, Sergio Perez would remain in hospital an extra day for more observation.
“It’s good to see that Vitaly is ok and we have two drivers who have walked away from accidents, especially after we were in that mayhem,” added Button.
For all its reputation there have been few Monte Carlo Grands Prix like this.
The German raced home just seconds ahead of two world champions to win the biggest race on the Formula 1 calendar.
The statistics will show a fifth win in six races as his domination continued but it was far from a routine triumph.
In fact it was probably the hardest of his career as he went to the line shadowed by two previous winners for the last 18 laps.
Fernando Alonso was second thanks to a clever strategy and Jenson Button somehow conjured a third place from a race-winning position after pitting three times.
In a season of spectacular races under the new rules this was the best yet.
But the other McLaren driver, Lewis Hamilton, will not believe that.
A man who could have started from pole and scored his second victory was consigned to a series of dramas all weekend.
In qualifying he was blocked by Felipe Massa and his best lap then wrecked by a crash to start ninth, making it a Mission Impossible to win this one.
Then in the race things just went from bad to worse.
He clashed again with Massa and was hit with a drive through penalty.
Then he was in the thick of things when Jaime Alguersuari piled into the back of his car, shortly after Petrov crashed triggering a re-started.
Even then his misfortunes were not over. Off the start he collided with Maldonaldo at the first bend and ended the race sixth but under investigation by stewards.
Fate played into Vettel’s hands.
Having opted on a single start he headed for the final dozen laps with Alonso and Button hanging on his rear wing and his tyres shot.
But the accident that forced the re-start came just when he needed it most and with a five lap final re-started sprint on fresh tyres there was to be no beating him.
He took his fifth win in six races to take a 58 point lead in the world championship.
Sixteen points separate the next four places occupied by Hamilton, Webber, Button and Alonso
“Unbelievable to win here. The race today was pretty entertaining from the inside of the car,” said Vettel.
“It was good to have a break with the safety cars. “
“We were going to pit with 33 laps left but then I said ‘Let’s one stop’. The only chance to win was to stay out.”
“At one point I was in P2 and 15 seconds behind and the win seemed far away.
“But it’s a crazy race and the roulette wheel kept spinning and eventually it came up with our number.”
“Seems like it is all going my way but we learned from last year how quickly things can change. We are trying to take each race as it comes.
“We took the risk and we deserved to win.”
“It’s an extreme honour to join Jenson and Fernando on this trophy.”
“It was disappointing but we didn’t do anything wrong. We didn’t put a foot wrong. We just did the strategy we did. Things just didn’t go our way,” said Button.
There had been a fascinating battle for victory almost from the start.
Having failed to get Vettel off the start line Button made a strategy gamble with an unexpectedly early pit stop on lap 16 and his team slipped on another set of super soft tyres.
Vettel thundered in a lap later and went on to hard tyres.
But the pit stop was a disaster and a lap later when Alonso pitted Button was in the lead of the sport’s greatest race.
McLaren had their own problems as Hamilton came in next and surprised his mechanics.
The result was a lengthy 9.7 second stop and another blow to his chances that were holed when he cut the chicane in qualifying and was pushed down to ninth by stewards.
After he ran out of rubber on his soft tyres Button was forced to surrender the head but opted for another set of softs before half distance
The tension grew as the strategies unfurled.
Vettel, still in the lead, was chased by Button and McLaren radioed their driver “If you want to win this race you’ll have to do it on the track.”
Vettel’s team had told him that Button’s tyres would only last another 10 laps and he would be safe after that if he kept the lead.
Rather than kicking on Button’s response to his opportunity was to thunder into the pits and make what was surely his last stop.
But as the laps ticked by Vettel failed to make his stop even though the mechanics rushed out into the pit lane.
Hamilton’s weekend went from bad to worse as he tried to get down the inside of Felipe Massa at Loews, who had blocked him in qualifying, and was slapped with a drive through penalty.
Paul Di Resta had suffered the same fate earlier on as he’d tried to muscle down the inside of a Toro Rosso and the car’s collided.
Two corners later through the tunnel the McLaren muscled ahead of the Ferrari and Massa lost control of his car and, parts flying off it, he came to a halt just beyond the tunnel.
In an ironic echo of his infamous parking incident at Rascasse Michael Schumacher’s car pulled to a halt in the pit lane entry.
Of course it was nothing to do with a blown Mercedes engine. The smoke from the engine was caused by a “airbox fire”.
As the second stops unfurled Alonso ended up ahead of Button on Vettel’s haunches and set up a thrilling final 16 laps.
Vettel on ancient tyres was shadowed by Alonso on fresher rubber and Button was on the Ferrari’s haunches with even younger and better tyres.
There was one late drama as Vitaly Petrov crashed forcing out the safety car and instead of battling with exhausted tyres Vettel took the re-start on fresh rubber and thundered home in the lead.
Petrov became the second man in as many days to end up in hospital after being knocked unconscious.
Before the start doctors said that the victim of a 170mph qualifying smash, Sergio Perez would remain in hospital an extra day for more observation.
“It’s good to see that Vitaly is ok and we have two drivers who have walked away from accidents, especially after we were in that mayhem,” added Button.
For all its reputation there have been few Monte Carlo Grands Prix like this.
