Nico Rosberg led an incident-packed Monaco Grand Prix from start to finish to score his second career victory.
However Mercedes are under protest after it emerged they conducted a three-day tyre test following the previous round in Spain.
Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber joined Rosberg on the podium. Both jumped ahead of Lewis Hamilton during the first pit stop, which came during a safety car period.
It followed a heavy crash at Sainte Devote for Felipe Massa which was very similar to the one he had during final practice. The Ferrari driver hit the barrier driver on the left then suffering a second impact at the corner itself. He was taken to hospital for checks.
Rosberg held the lead after the race restarted but on lap 45 it was red-flagged following another crash. Max Chilton and Pastor Maldonado collided at Tabac, sending the Williams flying into the barriers.
The shunt dislodged one of the barriers and Jules Bianchi hit it, damaging his front wing. The race was immediately red-flagged.
The drivers took advantage of the the interruption to put fresh tyres on, which made for a tense final sprint to the chequered flag. It was interrupted by another safety car deployment when Romain Grosjean crashed into Daniel Ricciardo at the chicane.
Sergio Perez moved up to fifth but dropped out with brake failure after tangling with Kimi Raikkonen. The Lotus driver was forced to pit, but having fallen to the back of the field recovered to take the final point at the last lap.
Adrian Sutil passed Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button on his way to fifth place. Jean-Eric Vergne finished eighth ahead of Paul di Resta.
2013 Monaco Grand Prix
- Rosberg voted Monaco GP Driver of the Weekend
- Glamorous Monaco fails to gain high rating
- 2013 Monaco Grand Prix fans’ video gallery
- Ricciardo told Grosjean “you’re an idiot” after crash
- New video shows how barrier blocked track after Chilton-Maldonado crash
Image © Daimler/Hoch Zwei
Mariano (@mariano)
26th May 2013, 15:48
Flawless victory from Rosberg. Very well deserved.
Illusive (@illusive)
26th May 2013, 15:52
Flawless,yes………….well deserved, when the car behind is not racing purposely to preserve tyres, then its just walk in the park, no challenge at all for Rosberg.
DaveW (@dmw)
26th May 2013, 16:11
Flawless all weekend. I suspect the people who discount the victory are among those who hailed Alonso’s victory in Spain when those behind similarly were slowed by degradation.
He may owe Lewis a bit for the hold up at the stops when the team inexplicably did not pit the cars in response to the obvious imminent SC period. But I guess they are even now after Bahrain.
dkpioe
26th May 2013, 17:42
what hold up?? rosberg was in first because he had race position because he qualified highest. no team orders here, the team still owes him. rosberg has respond to the team orders by getting 3 poles and a win. good on him
faulty (@faulty)
26th May 2013, 18:14
If I may add to your argument dkpioe, it was by Lewis’ own fault that he lost third place.
Eddie (@wackyracer)
26th May 2013, 15:49
Too bad for GRO, he better sort his mind out before it’s too late
sumedh
26th May 2013, 15:50
Mercedes win after an illegal tyre test would be a more appropriate title.
Taking nothing away from Rosberg though, he did a flawless job. But he did it in an illegal car.
minnis (@minnis)
26th May 2013, 17:03
“It is very simple. We were asked by Pirelli, Mercedes. We asked the FIA are we allowed to do this. The FIA confirmed it and said ‘yes’ so therefore we did the test. I think other teams have been asked too.”
Please, explain how something the FIA confirmed was legal can possibly be against the rules.
Get over it. The test was legal, the car is legal.
sumedh
26th May 2013, 17:17
The test was allowed. FIA gave permission to the ‘team’ Mercedes to run ‘a’ car. The rules clearly specify that a 2013-car is not allowed for this test.
Ferrari did a test in Bahrain too using their 2010 car. No questions were raised because that was legal. This isn’t.
Mike (@mike)
26th May 2013, 18:07
I believe the problem is that Pirelli wanted to test a current car, this is understandable as they are under significant pressure to get the tyres ready for next year.
When they went to the FIA, as I understand it, the FIA was aware that they’d be using the 2013 car.
Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey)
26th May 2013, 15:50
Really happy for Rosberg. He deserved this win. Controlled the race and kept his head amidst the chaos. Clearly driver of the weekend, by far.
Disappointed for Perez not getting a good result after his racy afternoon. Di Resta deserves credit for scoring points for 15th, while Sutil pulled off some great moves to score solids points too.
As for Romain Grosjean, well. What a terrible, terrible weekend. I’ve completely ran out of patience for him now and if I was Boullier, I would seriously consider putting someone else in the car for Canada at the very least after that awful showing this weekend.
faulty (@faulty)
26th May 2013, 18:26
Isn’t Boullier RoGro’s manager, too?
OmarR-Pepper (@)
26th May 2013, 18:56
yes, esspecilly because having just one good driver damages lotus’ expectatives for the constructors championship, but today kimi was grosjean-esque too, so bad he damaged his chances in the championship for not letting Perez pass… it will be very bad for Kimi in the long term, especially considering his first rival today was Alonso and not Vettel, who was covered by Webber and Hamilton
OmarR-Pepper (@)
26th May 2013, 18:57
this was to @magnificent-geoffrey
carbon_fibre (@carbon_fibre)
26th May 2013, 15:54
Is anyone else annoyed that Rosberg didn’t set the fastest lap? He topped the FP sheets, got pole position, won the race without ever losing P1 ,only the fastest lap was missing! You rarely get the chance for such a perfect weekend. Damnit, Nico!
DaveW (@dmw)
26th May 2013, 17:15
No. FLAP is now completely meaningless for the reasons you gave. A Marussia with three wheels can set fastest lap at the end of the race in the current regime.
David-A (@david-a)
26th May 2013, 17:18
Statistically, though, it means no grand chelem (Alonso and Vettel have done Grand Chelems).
HUHHII (@huhhii)
26th May 2013, 16:01
What an amazing comeback by Kimi, from P16 to P10 during the six final laps of the race. So glad he salvaged a point whereas madman Perez was left with zero points.
DC (@dujedcv)
26th May 2013, 16:13
Such a shame for Perez, he really deserved a top 5 finish. Although it was his fault for being too eager to overtake.
Can’t wait for Canada and UK.
DaveF1 (@davef1)
26th May 2013, 16:17
New Rosberg was gonna win, very pleased for him.
Force India had a good race, especially Sutil. Shame Perez didn’t get any points considering he was one of a few drivers actually racing.
Amateurish racing from the likes of Massa, Alonso, Raikkonen and Chilton. Suppose Chilton can be excused considering he’s a rookie around Monaco but there’s no excuse for the other 3. Alonso and Raikkonen will be kicking themselves seeing Vettel got a nice 18 points in the bag.
DaveF1 (@davef1)
26th May 2013, 16:18
*Knew :S
David-A (@david-a)
26th May 2013, 16:25
The New Rosberg wins at Monaco just like the Old Rosberg!
Guilherme (@guilherme)
26th May 2013, 16:35
@davef1 I’m sorry Dave, but Raikkonen amateurish? Perez went for a gap he had no right to claim. He was 100% behind Raikkonen when he closed the door, he should have backed off. Perez was driving well up to when he caught Raikkonen, but his two overtaking attempts on him were painful to watch. Raikkonen would be only 10 points behind Vettel if it wasn’t for that.
DaveF1 (@davef1)
26th May 2013, 17:02
@guilherme
Dunno, it looked liked he tried closing the door on Perez at the last possible minute and it backfired. Granted Raikkonen is usually one of the cleanest drivers and Perez was very far back but I still think it was more of a racing incident rather than 100% Perez’s fault.
OmarR-Pepper (@)
26th May 2013, 18:59
+1
Puzano (@puzano)
26th May 2013, 16:22
Choosing the left side while Raikkonen defended that line for the last 10 laps was an idiotic move by Perez. There was never any room… 10-place grid penalty for Canada. Moron.
OmarR-Pepper (@)
26th May 2013, 19:08
you are lucky the “report user” button is gone. Give your opinion in a better way.
Rodney
26th May 2013, 19:33
There is nothing wrong with what he said. Get off your high horse.
His views were repeated by several drivers and team bosses. Perez acted like a nut today.
Theres a difference between going for an overtake and feeling that others should let u through like the position belongs to you. Perez was the latter today
Calvinette
26th May 2013, 19:46
Kimi’s interviews are getting more and more fun to watch though. I’ve only seen him post-race in Finnish on MTV3 today, and he kept his poker face saying that Perez had been ‘aggressive AND stupid’, then went on to describe his Perez’s driving and said again how STUPID the man was. Kimi didn’t sound his usual grumpy self though, it was more like he was sincerely trying to get his head around how anyone could be so stuuupid.
What a wonderful race for Rosberg! Keke must have been so proud.
I have to add that although everyone seems to be complaining about the tyres, I would much prefer tyre-induced excitement to the crash mayhem of today!
Nick (@npf1)
26th May 2013, 16:25
Happy for Rosberg, but what on earth was going on with Alonso? You’d figure he’d find out his lines and approach weren’t working when he saw Button nearly overtake him, but he really drove a lackluster race.
Chilton and Perez have been playing F1 by Codemasters online. I like racy drivers, but not leaving any room in the chicane there isn’t really as much racy as it’s edgy. Didn’t really agree with the stewards handing a spot to him in the Alonso move, but his moves on Button and Kimi could have ended worse as well.
Chilton’s move on Maldonado was awful. A lot of odd, feeder series stuff today.
tmax (@tmax)
26th May 2013, 17:58
Well Done Nico… Nice Win. It was a deserved one.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
26th May 2013, 20:06
Fantastic win for Rosberg, but Alonso had a shocker. :(
moarpheus (@moarpheus)
29th May 2013, 20:16
Get used to it Lewis :)