Starting grid - 2013 Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix
Nico Rosberg put in a superb performance on Sunday afternoon to become the only son of a Monaco Grand Prix winner to repeat the feat, matching his father Keke's 1983 victory.
Rosberg led throughout in his Mercedes after starting from pole position, and withstood pressure not just from team mate Lewis Hamilton and later the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, but also a red flag stoppage and two separate safety-car incidents.
Rosberg and Hamilton led away as the fast-starting Red Bulls found themselves with nowhere to go by the Ste Devote corner. For 30 laps the Silver Arrows held sway, but that lap Ferrari's Felipe Massa repeated his Saturday morning crash approaching the same corner and was kept by the side of the track for a while to recover from the impact.
Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus and Fernando Alonso's Ferrari, and the duelling McLarens of Jenson Button and Sergio Perez had run in fifth to eighth positions from the start and all of them, plus Webber and then Vettel, had pitted when the incident occurred. But Mercedes had to bring in Rosberg and Hamilton together, the latter losing time as a result.
That delay was enough to drop Hamilton to fourth behind the Red Bulls, and he stayed there as the leading four positions remained the same to the end of what Webber described as a 'controlled aggression' race.
Just as Hamilton was getting his second wind and really giving Webber a hard time, another incident occurred on the 45th lap. Pastor Maldonado, who had already collided at the start with Giedo van der Garde's Caterham, collided with Max Chilton. The Marussia rookie failed to see him as he moved back on to the line for the Tabac corner after the chicane and as the two cars made contact the Williams was momentarily launched before crashing almost head-on into the protective Tecpro wall.
The race was red-flagged until the debris was cleared up, and resumed on the 48th lap. Fortunately Maldonado was unharmed, and Chilton subsequently received a drive-through penalty for causing a collision.
Perez pushed hard to overtake Button and then Alonso, before Lotus's Romain Grosjean ran into the back of Daniel Ricciardo's Toro Rosso on the exit to the tunnel, and their heavy collision threw more debris all over the track and necessitated another safety-car deployment. The incident is under investigation by the Monaco stewards.
When the racing resumed on the 67th lap, Perez homed in on Raikkonen whose Lotus had lost water during the slow running. Behind them, Force India's Adrian Sutil had overtaken Alonso and Button as Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne and Force India's Paul di Resta closed in.
Perez tried to pass Raikkonen down the inside at the chicane on the 69th lap but they touched as the Finn took his line. Raikkonen had to pit with a puncture as a result but later sped back up to claim the final point. He is, however, under investigation for speeding under the safety car. After moving to fifth Perez eventually had to retire with left-front suspension damage after clouting the chicane barrier during his unsuccessful manoeuvre.
That left Button to follow Sutil home, after he passed Alonso as the traffic backed up at Rascasse on the 70th lap. Vergne and Di Resta hounded Alonso to the flag, the Frenchman taking a well-deserved eighth and Di Resta a brilliant ninth after starting way down in 17th. Further back, behind the recovered Raikkonen, Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg just headed Williams' Valtteri Bottas and team mate Esteban Gutierrez to take 11th.
Chilton recovered after his drive-through penalty and a stop for fresh rubber to grab 14th place from Caterham's Van der Garde. Other retirements were Jules Bianchi, whose Marussia was damaged in his team mate's incident with Maldonado, and Charles Pic whose Caterham caught fire early on.
The result puts Vettel further ahead in the world championship chase with 107 points to Raikkonen's 86. Alonso's 78, Hamilton's 62, Webber's 57 and Rosberg's 47. In the constructors' stakes, Red Bull have 164 to Ferrari's 123, Lotus's 112 and Mercedes' 109, with Force India on 44 from McLaren's 37.
A slight cloud hangs over Mercedes' triumph, however, as prior to the race Red Bull and Ferrari lodged a protest concerning a three-day Pirelli tyre test which Mercedes took part in following the Spanish Grand Prix.
Race results - 2013 Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 2:17:52.056 |
| 2. | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | +3.888 |
| 3. | Mark Webber | Red Bull | +6.314 |
| 4. | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +13.894 |
| 5. | Adrian Sutil | Force India | +21.477 |
| 6. | Jenson Button | McLaren | +23.103 |
| 7. | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | +26.734 |
| 8. | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | +27.223 |
| 9. | Paul di Resta | Force India | +27.608 |
| 10. | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus | +36.582 |
| 11. | Nico Hülkenberg | Sauber | +42.572 |
| 12. | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | +42.691 |
| 13. | Esteban Gutiérrez | Sauber | +43.212 |
| 14. | Max Chilton | Marussia | +49.885 |
| 15. | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham | +1:02.590 |
| Did not finish | |||
| 16. | Sergio Perez | McLaren | +6 Laps |
| 17. | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | +15 Laps |
| 18. | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | +17 Laps |
| 19. | Jules Bianchi | Marussia | +20 Laps |
| 20. | Pastor Maldonado | Williams | +34 Laps |
| 21. | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | +50 Laps |
| 22. | Charles Pic | Caterham | +71 Laps |
2013 FORMULA 1 STANDINGS
| Drivers' Championship | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | S. Vettel | 107 | 12. | S. Perez | 12 |
| 2. | K. Raikkonen | 86 | 13. | D. Ricciardo | 7 |
| 3. | F. Alonso | 78 | 14. | N. Hulkenberg | 5 |
| 4. | L. Hamilton | 62 | 15. | J. Vergne | 5 |
| 5. | M. Webber | 57 | 16. | E. Gutiérrez | 0 |
| 6. | N. Rosberg | 47 | 17. | V. Bottas | 0 |
| 7. | F. Massa | 45 | 18. | P. Maldonado | 0 |
| 8. | P. di Resta | 28 | 19. | J. Bianchi | 0 |
| 9. | R. Grosjean | 26 | 20. | C. Pic | 0 |
| 10. | J. Button | 25 | 21. | M. Chilton | 0 |
| 11. | A. Sutil | 16 | 22. | G. van der Garde | 0 |
| 2013 Formula 1 standings | |||||
2013 FORMULA 1 STANDINGS
| Constructors' Championship | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Red Bull | 164 | 7. | Toro Rosso | 12 |
| 2. | Ferrari | 123 | 8. | Sauber | 5 |
| 3. | Lotus | 112 | 9. | Williams | 0 |
| 4. | Mercedes | 109 | 10. | Marussia | 0 |
| 5. | Force India | 44 | 11. | Caterham | 0 |
| 6. | McLaren | 37 | |||
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