Webber wins at Monaco Grand Prix to give Formula One six different winners in six races

May 26, 2012


Mark Webber won the Formula One race in Monaco on Sunday. For the first time in history, six different drivers have won the first six races of an F1 season. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber won from the pole at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday to become the sixth different winner in six races this wild and crazy Formula One season.

Webber's victory was his second win in Monaco after his triumph there in 2010. This one, however, was much more difficult as it came under intense pressure from runner-up Nico Rosberg of Mercedes.

Fernando Alonso finished third and regained the world championship points lead for Ferrari.

Having inherited pole from the penalized Michael Schumacher, Webber jumped into the lead. He was pushed hard by Rosberg in the early stages, and the German made an earlier pit stop in an attempt to jump ahead. It didn't work, and he spent the rest of the race on the gearbox of the Red Bull.

Sebastian Vettel was the only driver among the front-runners to start on the soft rather than the supersoft tire, and that allowed him to run an alternative strategy with a long first stop. He jumped up to sixth at the start after Romain Grosjean and Schumacher tangled ahead and then led the middle stages of the race after those on the supersoft tires made their stops.

After he came in he had gained more ground and slotted into fourth place behind Fernando Alonso and ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Rain had threatened all afternoon, and when light drizzle came in the closing laps, the pack closed up behind Webber. The rain soon went away and Webber made no mistakes as he led Rosberg, Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton and Felipe Massa in a train of cars that was separated by just 6.1 seconds at the flag.

Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg were seventh and eighth for Force India, while Kimi Räikkönen and Bruno Senna completed the top 10. It was a frustrating race for Räikkönen, who held onto the lead group early on but then suffered badly with his rear tires.

Two world champions failed to make the flag. After being delayed in the first-lap accident, Schumacher was destined for a distant seventh before retiring with a fuel-pressure problem.

Jenson Button spent most of the race in a lowly 14th stuck behind the flying Caterham of Heikki Kovalainen. When he finally had a go at getting past, they made contact. Button spun and was then forced to stop with a tire puncture.

Monaco Grand Prix Results

Results Sunday from the Monaco Grand Prix at the 3.34-kilometer (2-mile) street circuit with driver, country, car, leader's fastest lap time and laps completed:

1. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 78 laps, 1 hour, 46 minutes, 6.557 seconds

2. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Mercedes, 78, 1:46:07.200

3. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Ferrari, 78, 1:46:07.504

4. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Red Bull, 78, 1:46:07.900

5. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren, 78, 1:46:10.658

6. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 78, 1:46:12.752

7. Paul Di Resta, Britain, Force India, 78, 1:46:48.094

8. Nico Hulkenberg, Germany, Force India, 78, 1:46:49.119

9. Kimi Räikkönen, Finland, Lotus, 78, 1:46:50.593

10. Bruno Senna, Brazil, Williams, 78, 1:46:51.073

11. Sergio Perez, Mexico, Sauber, 77, + 1 lap

12. Jean-Eric Vergne, France, Toro Rosso, + 1 lap

13. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, Caterham, + 1 lap

14. Timo Glock, Germany, Marussia, + 1 lap

15. Narain Karthikeyan, India, HRT, 76, + 2 laps

16. Jenson Button, Britain, McLaren, 70, + 8 laps, retired

Not Classfied

17. Daniel Ricciardo, Australia, Toro Rosso, 65, retired

18. Charles Pic, France, Marussia, 64, retired

19. Michael Schumacher, Germany, Mercedes, 63, retired

20. Vitaly Petrov, Russia, Caterham, 15, retired

21. Kamui Kobayashi, Japan, Sauber, 5, retired

22. Pedro de la Rosa, Spain, HRT, 0, retired

23. Pastor Maldonado, Venezuela, Williams, 0, retired

24. Romain Grosjean, France, Lotus, 0, retired

By Adam Cooper