14.00 The mechanics lean against the Armco to make way for the cars to start the formation lap. Everybody is away cleanly as the grid is cleared. The drivers are doing their best to get heat into the tyres and Webber has got a long way ahead and back onto the pit straight. Alonso is ready in the pits. Webber has been sat there for a long time as the final cars make up the grid.

13.58 The spare and wet tyres are being wheeled off the grid now as the cars are fired up and the tyre blankets come off.

13.56 The safety car has left the grid, so it's time for the very final preparations.

13.55 Support for Webber from Angela in Australia: "Mark is driving at his best this year. we are so proud of him here in Australia. go aussie go"

13.52 The drivers are now getting into their cars and making sure everything is just right for that tight first corner. In the GP2 feature race young Briton Max Chilton hit the back of Adrian Zaugg's car, taking them both out of the race. Things can go so wrong so easily there.

13.51 Reports of problems with Michael Schumacher's pit to car radio before the race.

13.47 Fernando Alonso has been out for a sighter lap and returned to the pits where he will start the race from. The Ferrari mechanics have set up camp at the end of the pit lane with tyre warmers and a started motor.

13.46 Sebastian Vettel is staying away from the reporters and is in deep discussion with his team boss Christian Horner.

13.44 The grid is absolutely packed, with barely enough space to move for the drivers, celebrities or TV crews.

13.40 Who says Bernie Ecclestone never does anything for F1 fans.

13.38 Karun Chandhok: "Bit relieved this morning - engineers found a problem with the differential in my car that explains the problem in quali and gap to Bruno"

13.37 Jennifer Lopez is among the celebrities watching from trackside today.

13.35 Mike Gascoyne of Lotus gives an insight into race strategy: "Should be a one stop race, predicting most cars to start on the option and switch to prime around lap 20-25"

13.34 The cars are now heading to the grid and the drivers will just be checking that everything feels as it did yesterday in qualifying.

13.30 The weather is bright and sunny at the moment. There are still some reports of rain in the afternoon but chances are we are in for a dry race from start to finish. Wet weather would make things a whole lot more interesting but we shouldn't underestimate how difficult it is to drive 78 laps of this cricuit in the dry. If you cast your mind back over recent years we've seen plenty of incidents here, including bizarre ones in the tunnel and behind safety cars.

13.28 As always if you have any questions or want to make any observations, you can send them to me by clicking here.

13.22 Welcome to Monaco for one of the most eagerly anticipated races of the season.

Mark Webber is on pole and it would be a brave person who betted against him after his pole time was 0.3 seconds up on Robert Kubica in second. Sebastian Vettel is third and couldn't quite find the same rhythm as Webber around this tight 2 mile track yesterday.

One of the most exciting drivers to watch will be Fernando Alonso, who is starting from the pit lane after crashing out of final practice and missing qualifying due to the damage to his chassis.

Lap 1

Good start by Vettel, gets ahead of Kubica and Webber holds onto the lead. So, the Red Bull's lead, Kubica third and Massa fourth. Yellow flag somewhere on the track.

Hulkenberg has crashed coming out of the tunnel in a big way and that will be a safety car. Alonso takes the opportunity to get his mandatory pit stop out of the way.

Lap 2

A replay shows Hulkenberg got on the dirt on the outside of the tunnel and had an accident all by himself. Meanwhile, his team-mate Barrichello is up to sixth as Rosberg drops to eighth.

Lap 3

Button is out of the race with what looks like an engine failure. It looks as though the engine overheated as a result of driving around this tight track without enough airflow.

Lap 4

Hulkenberg's car is wheeled down the hill to be lifted away at the Nouvelle chicane, so another lap behind the safety car at least.

Button walks back to the pits with his helmet still on.

Lap 5

Mike Gascoyne: "Lots of people asking if we will let alonso through. Absolutly not, if it is for position we race everyone, no matter now quick"

So far Alonso has got past Senna and the two retirees, but he has made a pit stop.

Webber informs race director Charlie Whiting that there is still debris in the tunnel.

It looks like we are in for another lap of the safety car as the track is cleaned.

Lap 6

Hamilton asked his team to check that his front wing wasn't damaged after that first lap. He's told that it is not.

Safety car in this lap, which is good news for the drivers whose brakes and tyres will be very cold now.

Lap 7

It's as they were on the restart, Vettel made no attempt to pass Webber.

Webber timed the safety car's dive into the pit svery well to ensure the gap was big.

Lap 8

The top five have broken away from Barrichello in the Williams.

Alonso is past Chandhok but is struggling to get past di Grassi. That Virgin looks like a handful, but di Grassi is staying on top of it.

Lap 9

Webber has extended his gap to 1.6 seconds over Vettel. Kubica is 1 second off Vettel.

Even through the tunnel the Virgin looks twitchy and di Grassi is locking his tyres under pressure from Alonso.

Lap 10

Webber extends his lead by another 0.2 seconds.

Alonso is getting angry behind and eventually gets past into the Nouvelle chicane. di Grassi got sideways coming out of the tunnel and Alonso slipped by under braking.

Lap 11

Webber is easily the fastest man out there and now has a gap of 2.4 to Vettel as Kubica gets within a second of Vettel.

Alonso gets past Trulli a lot more easily. The Lotus driver got off the throttle to let him by into the chicane. It's crucial that Alonso gets past so that he can pass other cars in the pits later on.

Lap 12

Webber continues to extend his gap, it's up to 3.6 seconds now.

Alonso is now behind Glock. But like the other Virgin, Glock is not letting Alonso by.

Lap 13

Alonso makes the move into the chicane on Glock.

Lap 14

Webber is now 5.3 seconds clear of Vettel. He's lapping nearly a second faster than Vettel at the moment, very impressive.

Lap 15

Button reports the car "overheated on the way to the grid" and it would have been OK had the safety car not come out.

Alonso is now behind Kovalainen and could have another fight on his hands by the looks of the Lotus's driving.

Lap 16

Alonso's car is sliding around behind the Lotus but he finds a way around the outside into the chicane. A bit risky but Kovalainen kept his head and backed off.

Lap 17

7 seconds is now the gap at the front, with Kubica 2.4 off Vettel. Hamilton pits from 5th and gets away well. He comes out in a gap in the traffic but has Alonso behind, they have both made the same amount of stops. McLaren covering off Alonso there.

Lap 18

Webber is still the quickest but Alonso's times in clean air aren't too far off.

Lap 19

Barriochello, Schumacher and Rosberg are going slowly, with the two Mercedes bottled up behind the Williams. Alonso may be able to leap frog them.

Massa, Schumacher and Liuzzi pit to hold off the threat from Alonso.

Lap 20

Barrichello also pitted and Schumacher got ahead with some tidy pit work. They have all coe out behind Hamilton and Alonso though.

Lap 21

Rosberg goes very quick with the fastest lap and is staying out on those tyres to try and leap frog Schumacher and Barrichello.

Hamilton is stuck behind Alguersuari now and that won't help his attempt to stay ahead of Roberg in the pits. The Mercedes driver has a lot of clear air and is going very quickly.

Lap 22

Kubica pits from third and Alguersuari comes in too, freeing up Hamilton.

Lap 23

Vettel pits too, a quick stop and he comes out ahead of Kubica.

Lap 24

Webber pits from the lead. He stays in the lead ahead of the charging Rosberg who hasn't pitted.

de la Rosa retires after a very long pit stop that saw smoke billowing out of the back of his Sauber.

Glock's race looks over too, it looks like he hit a barrier and has pulled off in the swimming pool.

Lap 25

Rosberg is now bottled up behind Webber and needs to pit if his strategy is going to work.

Kubica us within a second of Vettel and is attempting to put the pressure on.

Lap 26

And Rosberg's team is ready in the pits, will he get back out ahead of Schumacher?

Kobayashi is holding up Massa, Hamilton and Alonso now, so if Rosberg can keep a good pace it might be beneficial for his to stay out on track.

Lap 27

Yellow flag... not sure where yet.

Massa, Hamilton and Alonso have all passed Kobayashi now, maybe he made a mistake. The yellow flag has stopped being waved now.

Lap 28

Di Grassi is out of the race, he parked the car at Portier. 20 seconds after Virgin tweeted it's all up to you now.

Lap 29

Rosberg has now pitted and come out behind Schumacher, it was close but he didn't quite make that strategy work. Overall he has lost a place to Alonso but gained one on Barrichello in those stops.

Lap 30

Now Massa, Hamilton, Alonso, Schumacher and Rosberg are closing on the battle between Vettel and Kubica.

Lap 31

Alguersuari just ran wide at Sainte Devote after losing the rear under braking.

Webber's lead is now a mighty 11.4 seconds. He is in a league of his own today - just like in Barcelona.

Lap 32

Saftey car out because Barrichello has crashed at Massenet. Front and rear wings missing as well as broken suspension.

It looked as though he had a failure of the left rear tyre / suspension going up the hill and became a passenger in the accident as his car snapped away.

Lap 33

The Williams has now been removed and the safety car is coming in this lap.

Will Vettel have a dig at Webber into turn one, I doubt it.

Lap 34

Petrov has lost out there and is a lap down and out of position.

Webber crossed the line 0.7 up on Vettel on the restart as they all have to heat their tyres and brakes up again.

Lap 35

Kubica has a big gap to Massa, maybe the out-of-place Petrov held the Ferrari up a bit.

Lap 36

Randy says: "Replays show Rubens throwing his steering wheel out of the car and getting it hit by Buemi(?) or Hamilton(?). Shouldn't that be grounds for a penalty?"

I think it hit an HRT (I was typing at the time) and yes that should be a penalty.

Webber again exerting his dominance around here and has the gap up to around two seconds.

Lap 37

The field is quite evenly spread now, Schumacher is within a second of Alonso but that's as close as it gets in the top ten.

Lap 38

Hamilton told to look after his front brakes and move the bias backwards.

He's not happy and responds: "Do you want me to race these guys or park the car"

Webber looks completely under control and is still ahead of Vettel by 2.5 seconds.

Lap 39

Alonso is significantly slowe than the cars in front and has dropped to 2.8 off Hamilton. He is probably looking after those tyres, he's attempting to make them last a whole race.

Lap 40

Vettel sets the fastest lap and lowers the gap slightly on that last lap. 2.3 seconds now, but he may just be keeping Kubica at bay rather than attacking his team-mate.

Lap 41

Kubica is now the fastest man out there, so he and Vettel are getting into a little scrap. 1 second is the gap there.

Lap 42

Webber now goes even faster 1:16.828, these laps are likely due to the tyres coming up to full temperature and, of course, the fuel loads going down

Lap 43

Massa also finding a rhythm in the Ferrari as he takes a few tenths out of Kubica.

Another safety car is out. Not sure why yet...

Lap 44

A drain cover is loose at Turn 3, bringing out the safety car. That is near where Barrichello had his accident. Welding a drain cover back could be lengthly procedure.

Safety car is in this lap, the marshals have had a look at the drain and are happy with it.

Lap 45

Kubica told he was catching Vettel before that safety car, so will be looking to do the same after it.

Lap 46

Webber leads the pack, Kubica made a slight lock up and has fallen back towards Massa and Hamilton.

No changes in position down the field as the race gets back underway.

Lap 47

Webber immediately resumes a 1.9 second lead over Vettel at the front.

Massa missed the kerb at the Nouvelle chicane but probably won't be penalised.

Lap 48

From third to tenth is covered by just six seconds, so it's close out there at the moment.

Lap 49

The cars are staring to spread out again and its Alonso and Schumacher who are closest in the top ten. Just 0.7 splitting them.

Lap 50

Webber gets back into the 1:16s so has his tyres up to temperature.

Lap 51

Vettel now joins Webber in the 1:16s, as does Kubica and Massa. They are all going quickly now as the fuel burns off and the cars become lighter.

No close battle are emerging down the field unfortunately.

Lap 52

Massa told his tyres are in good condition but that he should use the front wing flap adjuster if he feels he needs to.

Lap 53

Webber now sets a 1:16.285 and increases his lead to 3.5 seconds over Vettel.

On-board footage shows that Webber is still leaving himself plenty of margin for error with the barriers. But it's not slowing him down and he now sets a 1:15.999.

Lap 54

if it stays like this Webber and Vettel will be joint leaders in the championship. But that's quite a big 'if' as we still have 24 laps to go.

Lap 55

Schumacher has now dropped to 1.6 off Alonso so he isn't going to challenge him from back there.

Lap 56

Webber's lead is 4.3 over Vettel, who is 1.3 up on Kubica.

Lap 57

Massa is very fast in the first sector up the hill but is not able to match the cars in front in the tighter sectors two and three.

A slow motion replay shows some tyre degradation on Alonso's front left tyre.

Lap 58

Webber keeps chiselling away at his lap times, now he has set a 1:15.906.

Lap 59

Senna had his car a bit out of shape heading down into the Nouvelle chicane. He is currently running 15th, 1 lap down.

Kubica is keeping Vettel in sight and the gap is down to a second.

Lap 60

Another fastest lap from Webber increases his gap over Vettel to 4.7 seconds.

Kubica is taking about 0.1 out of Vettel in each sector on this lap.

Lap 61

Kubica has now got the gap to Vettel down to 0.7, he is just reminding him that he is there.

Lap 62

Traffic has allowed Kubica to close right up on Vettel. But Vettel extends it a touch more as they hit clear air.

Lap 63

Senna has parked his car in the garage, that's the end of the race for him.

Massa isn't too far off the back of Kubica either so this could develop into a three-way fight. It would require a mistake for a change of position though.

Lap 64

All the traffic has allowed Webber to extend his lead to 6.9 seconds.

Lap 65

Hamilton has dropped to 5.8 off Massa now as he looks after his brakes.

Webber is also told over the radio to keep an eye on brake wear.

Barrichello says he is not sure what the reason for his crash was but the team is analysing the data.

Lap 66

Lotus confirm that Kovalainen had a gearbox problem and that is why he is still on the pits. The team is trying to get him back out again.

Lap 67

Vettel has closed the gap at the front to 5.7 seconds now. But we know Webber is monitoring his pace out there.

Lap 68

A photo from the start of the race shows that Hulkenberg's wing was damaged before he crashed in the tunnel. That would explain the understeer.

Lap 69

Webber has settled down into a 5.6 second lead over Vettel.

Lap 70

Hamilton has dropped to 9.5 seconds off Massa but is till 4.1 ahead of Alonso. Massa is going quickly and has taken 0.3 out of Kubica on the last two laps.

Lap 71

Vettel is 1.5 ahead of Kubica, who is 2.0 ahead of Massa.

Lap 72

Vettel has now clocked the fastest lap with a 1:15.192, taking nine tenths out of Webber. The gap is still 5.1 at the moment, so no need to worry quite yet.

Lap 73

The gap is now down to 4.3 seconds between the top two, but Vettel is also having to respond to fast laps from Kubica and Massa behind.

Lap 74

This time the gap drops by just 0.2 seconds and with just five laps remaining, Webber appears to be pacing himself well.

Vettel is still going hell for leather though.

Big crash at La Rascasse, Trulli went over the top of Chandhok and the cars are piled up in the corner.

Lap 75

Saftey car out and the race could end behind it.

There were a couple of flash fires from the HRT and Lotus but the marshals quickly extinguished them.

Lap 76

A replay shows Trulli attempted to go up the inside into Rascasse and touched wheels, seeing the Lotus jump up on top of the HRT. The roll-hoop did it's job protecting Chandhok's head but it would have been pretty scary for him.

Lap 77

Safety car is still out as the wreckage is cleared. Just two laps remaining so this will end behind the Mercedes SLS.

Lap 78

Webber starts his last lap and as long as the car hold together behind the safety car he will win. The safety car will come in on this lap but I don't expect anybody will attempt a move.

Webber comes through and takes the chequered flag with the order staying the same behind him.

He takes the applauds of the fans on his slow-down lap a great race.

Webber is delighted and gets a big hug from Christian Horner.

My mistake, Schumacher passed Alonso in the last corner, a very brave move but it should count as they had passed the safety car line. So Schumacher beats Alonso to sixth.

Webber parks his car on the pit straight and Vettel and Kubica pull up alongside.

Webber is handed his Bridgestone hat and more importantly, the winner's trophy by Jackie Stewart and the Prince of Monaco.

Vettel and Kubica are given their trophies too and the national anthem of Australia rings out.

Webber gets his hands on the champagne and heads straight to his team to celebrate.

A brilliant race for Webber, if it lacked a little overtaking action further down the field. Thank you for joining us and we will b back in two weeks time for the Turkish Grand Prix.