Australian Mark Webber contributed to Formula One history on Sunday when he steered his Red Bull to victory at the Monaco Grand Prix. Webber's win meant six different drivers have won the opening six races of this season — the first time this has happened in the history of the world championship.
Webber's second win in the principality — and the eighth of his career — also marked Red Bull's third successive win at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Webber, 35, started from pole position and controlled the race almost throughout as the local micro-climate delivered its usual capricious weather, moving from sunshine and blue skies to rain for the closing laps. But driving with great control and judgement, he finished six-tenths of a second clear of Nico Rosberg of Mercedes, with two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso third for Ferrari.
Sebastian Vettel was fourth for Red Bull ahead of Lewis Hamilton of McLaren and Felipe Massa, came home sixth in the second Ferrari. A mere 1.3 seconds separated the top four, as the race finished in dramatic fashion.
Webber's first race win this season lifted him to joint second in the drivers' standings alongside teammate Vettel — both three points behind leader Alonso on 76. Hamilton is fourth on 63 and Rosberg fifth with 59.
Briton Paul di Resta came home seventh ahead of his Force India team-mate German Nico Hulkenberg, Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus and 10th placed Brazilian Bruno Senna of Williams.
Webber made a clean and controlled start to turn the 10th pole position of his career into a comfortable early lead ahead of Rosberg with Hamilton also running clear of the field in third. It was a different story, however, for the men behind the leading trio as Frenchman Romain Grosjean, starting fourth, was touched by the charging Mercedes of sixth-placed Michael Schumacher and spun before the first corner. This allowed the Ferraris of Alonso and Massa to move into fourth and fifth places ahead of the mayhem where Pastor Maldonado crashed out in his Williams after making contact with Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa's Hispania.
The results : 1. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) 1hr 46min 06.557sec, 2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) +0.643sec, 3. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) +0.947, 4. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) +1.343, 5. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) +4.101, 6. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) +6.195, 7. Paul di Resta (Force India) +41.537, 8. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) +42.562, 9. Kimi Raikkonen (+Lotus) 44.036, 10. Bruno Senna (Williams) +44.516, 11. Sergio Perez (Sauber), 12. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso), 13. Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham), 14. Timo Glock (Marussia), +1 lap, 15. Narain Karthikeyan (HRT) +2 laps, 16. Jenson Button (McLaren) +8 laps.
DNF: Romain Grosjean (Lotus) 1 lap, Pastor Maldonado (Williams) 2 laps, Pedro de la Rosa (HRT) 3 laps, Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) 6 laps, Vitaly Petrov (Caterham) 16 laps, Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) 64 laps, Charles Pic (Marussia) 65 laps, Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) 66 laps.
Overall standings:
Drivers: 1. Fernando Alonso 76pts, 2. Sebastian Vettel 73, 3. Mark Webber 73, 4. Lewis Hamilton 63, 5. Nico Rosberg 59, 6. Kimi Raikkonen 51, 7. Jenson Button 45, 8. Romain Grosjean 35, 9. Pastor Maldonado 29, 10. Sergio Perez 22, 11. Paul di Resta 21, 12. Kamui Kobayashi 19, 13. Bruno Senna 15, 14. Felipe Massa 10, 15. Nico Hulkenberg 7, 16. Jean-Eric Vergne 4, 17. Daniel Ricciardo 2, 18. Michael Schumacher 2.
Constructors: 1. Red Bull Racing 146pts, 2. McLaren Mercedes 108, 3. Ferrari 86, 4. Lotus 86, 5. Mercedes 61, 6. Williams 44, 7. Sauber 41, 8. Force India 28, 9. Toro Rosso 6.
