Nico Rosberg wins 2013 Monaco GP

Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG) has won his second Formula 1 race by taking victory in an incident-packed Monaco Grand Prix. In a nice bit of symmetry it’s 30 years since his father, Keke, won at Monaco, making them the first father-son pairing to win the iconic race.

Rosberg, starting from pole, drove a considered race that included two safety car periods and a temporary red flag. On each of the restarts Nico was able to maintain his lead and restore his gap back to second place.

The minor places were filled by the Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Vettel was unable to launch a serious attack on Rosberg and had to content himself with the fastest lap set on lap 77 of 78. Webber, too, had an incident free race, although he did have to defend his position from Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes AMG).

The first safety car period came to be after Felipe Massa put his Ferrari into the wall at Sainte Devote, in a repeat of his free practice 3 crash. It was quite a heavy impact, but he emerged from his car okay before being taken to hospital for checks.

Contact between Max Chilton (Marussia) and Pastor Maldonado (Williams) caused the red flag. Maldonado crashed heavily forcing the air barrier in front of the armco out on to the track and a temporary halt to the race was the only course of action that could be taken.

Daniel Ricciardo’s race was ruined when Romain Grosjean drove his Lotus over the top the Australian’s Toro Rosso on the exit from the tunnel. The subsequent damage forced both cars out of the race and brought out the second safety car period.

Sebastian Vettel extended his lead in the drivers’ championship thanks to poor results from Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari). Indeed, Alonso was well off his game being picked off by Sergio Perez (McLaren), Adrian Sutil (Force India) and Jenson Button (McLaren).

Having grown up in Monaco as a boy Nico Rosberg was delighted to have won his ‘home’ race. However, for now, the victory will remain under a cloud pending the result of the protest that has been lodged by Red Bull and Ferrari after the secret test Mercedes conducted with Pirelli last week.

2013 Monaco Grand Prix final placings

1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes – 78 Laps (25 pts)
2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing – +3.8 secs (18 pts)
3. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing – +6.3 secs (15 pts)
4. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes – +13.8 secs (12 pts)
5. Adrian Sutil Force India – +21.4 secs (10 pts)
6. Jenson Button McLaren – +23.1 secs (8 pts)
7. Fernando Alonso Ferrari – +26.7 secs (6 pts)
8. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso – +27.2 secs (4 pts)
9. Paul di Resta Force India – +27.6 secs (2 pts)
10. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus – +36.5 secs (1 pt)
11. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber – +42.5 secs
12. Valtteri Bottas Williams – +42.6 secs
13. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber – +43.2 secs
14. Max Chilton Marussia – +49.8 secs
15. Giedo van der Garde Caterham – +62.5 secs
16. Sergio Perez McLaren – +6 Laps

Retired/not classified
Romain Grosjean Lotus – +15 Laps
Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso – +17 Laps
Jules Bianchi Marussia – +20 Laps
Pastor Maldonado Williams – +34 Laps
Felipe Massa Ferrari – +50 Laps
Charles Pic Caterham – +71 Laps

Fastest lap
Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing – 1:16.577 (Lap 77)

2013 F1 world championship – Drivers (top 10)

1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing – 107
2. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus – 86
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari – 78
4. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG – 62
5. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing – 57
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG – 47
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari – 45
8. Paul di Resta Force India – 28
9. Romain Grosjean Lotus – 26
10. Jenson Button McLaren – 25

2013 F1 world championship – Constructors

1. Red Bull Racing-Renault – 164
2. Ferrari – 123
3. Lotus-Renault – 112
4. Mercedes – 109
5. Force India-Mercedes – 44
6. McLaren-Mercedes – 37
7. STR-Ferrari – 12
8. Sauber-Ferrari – 5