Formula 1: Monaco GP Overview

Mark Webber makes it six winners in six races

The Monaco Grand Prix itself might not have set pulses racing but 2012 on the whole is shaping up to be a classic season - six different winners from six races has left the title wide open and anyones for the taking. 

Mark Webber drove an impeccable race around the streets of Monte Carlo to take his first win of the year and his second in the small Principality, the first Australian ever to do so. What was most impressive about his race was the cool head and calm demeanour he kept under the immense pressure of having Rosberg, Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton and Massa all breathing down his neck in the closing stages. Added to that the ever present, if anticlimatic, threat of rain, the rapidly degrading tires and the closeness of the barriers, it can't have been easy keeping it all together in the Red Bull cockpit.

On the whole though, this year's Monaco Grand Prix was fairly processional and dull. Could we have expected anything less on a track with such little room for overtaking? Probaly not, as that's Monaco for you. It's not so much a race but a dance to see you can keep it out of the wall. It's safe to say that the next race in Canada will be the complete flipside of Monaco, a prospect that is positively mouthwatering. 

In true Monaco fashion, the start was chaotic and ridden with carnage. A consetina effect caused by a slow starting Lewis Hamilton caused contact between Alonso and Grosjean, the latter also squeezing Schumacher into the wall and spinning into the path of a soon-to-be-airborne Kamui Kobayashi. Apart from Maldonado and de la Rosa, it was surprising that so many behind the collision got through unscathed.

It was a frustrating and premature end to the race for Grosjean who had done well to out-qualify team-mate Kimi. For others, like Vettel, the start was a close shave that turned out to be a blessing; the German had managed to get ahead of Raikkonen by diving across the run-off at St. Devote. It was lucky for Vettel as it meant he didn't have to spend his race stuck behind the Finn and Schumacher. Vettel would end the race a solid fourth.

Someone who had a quiet, albeit impressive, race was Nico Rosberg. Keeping Webber in sight from start to finish, the young German admitted post-race that he had the pace to win but couldn't find a way past the Australian. He took a well deserved second, keeping him in the picture for the title. Likewise, Alonso did well in a rapidly improving Ferrari to finish third. He put in some fantastic laps to get ahead of Hamilton at the stops and from there managed his tires to the end. 

Contact between Grosjean and
Schumacher at the start of the race

Hamilton must feel grieved to only come away with fifth after such a promising qualifying. He got a terrible start and was lucky to not be demoted by Alonso there and then. From there he kept the leaders in sight and would have no doubt been a contender (as would have Vettel and Alonso) had the predicted deluge reached the harbour. He'll hope for better in Canada, the track where he took his maiden win, in two weeks time.

On the flipside, Button seems to be going backwards more and more as the season goes on. Stuck behind Kovalainen's Caterham, Jenson must feel like his win in Australia was a long, long time ago. Will he bounce back? Only time, and development on that Mclaren, will tell. 

Speaking of, Kovalianen and Caterham did a fantastic job in Monaco. Astutely defending his position from Button and Perez, the Finn brought his car home in 13th, a great finish for the team. Petrov had a contrasting end to the race, a mechanical issue leading to retirement.

A double points finish for Force India was good to see, as was a point for Bruno Senna in the Williams. Raikkonen had a disappointing race and trailed home ninth.

The Monaco Grand Prix has come and gone then for another year. A great drive from Webber has ignited his title bid and thrown him right into the mix with Vettel, Alonso and Hamilton. Should he build on this result, the Australian could soon be back to his 2010-best, an exciting prospect indeed. Roll on Canada!