• Monaco Grand Prix

Webber dominates from start to finish

Laurence Edmondson May 16, 2010

Mark Webber completed a start-to-finish victory in the Monaco Grand Prix, his second win in succession, to go joint top in the drivers' championship with team-mate Sebastian Vettel who finished second.

The pace of the race was dictated by four safety car periods, which slashed several multiple-second leads for Webber. The final caution period lasted up until the last corner and resulted in Webber leading his team-mate by just 0.4 seconds over the line. Robert Kubica rounded off a brilliant weekend in the Renault to finish third, after keeping Vettel in his sights throughout the 78 lap race.

Fourth was Felipe Massa with Lewis Hamilton fifth, but the real talking point emerged when Michael Schumacher passed Fernando Alonso for sixth in the final corner. As the Mercedes SLS pulled into the pits at the end of the final safety car period, Schumacher got better traction out of the penultimate corner and bullied his way up the inside of Alonso into the Anthony Noghes bend. After nearly three hours of delibertation, the stewards decided Schumacher was in the wrong and a twenty-second penalty saw him classified 12th overall.

Nico Rosberg had the perfect view of the incident from behind but held back from trying to follow his team-mate through. The Force Indias of Adrian Sutil and Tonio Liuzzi took eighth and ninth after the penalty had been applied and Sebastien Buemi was promoted to tenth, taking the final point.

The race revolved around tyre strategy in the early stages, with the safety car periods throwing a curve ball to the teams. The first came on the first lap when Nico Hulkenberg understeered into the wall at nearly 150 mph in the tunnel. Before the accident he had damage to his front wing and that likely resulted in him losing control. The second caution period was caused by another big shunt involving a Williams, this time the rear suspension of Rubens Barrichello's car appeared to fail as he went up the hill to Massenet.

The third was caused by a loose drain cover that the marshals quickly inspected and decided was not a threat to the running of the race. The fourth and final period was a result of the most spectacular crash of the weekend. Jarno Trulli misjudged a move on Karun Chandhok at La Rascasse and his Lotus mounted the rear of the HRT after touching wheels. Chandhok instinctively moved his hands up to protect his head but the car's roll-hoop did its job and both drivers came away unharmed. The accident happened within seven laps of the end and resulting safety car led to the controversial move by Schumacher on Alonso.

All the accidents meant only 12 cars crossed the line for the chequered flag behind Mark Webber. Among the other retirees was Jenson Button, whose McLaren's engine cooked itself just a lap after Hulkenberg's accident.

Laurence Edmondson is an assistant editor on ESPNF1

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