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May
26th

F1 Monaco: Nico Rosberg claims controversial win

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Nico Rosberg has finally managed to turn Mercedes' impressive qualifying pace into victory, after claiming top spot in this afternoon's Monaco Grand Prix.

But the win has sparked controversy, since it was reported Mercedes conducted a secret three-day with Pirelli between the Spanish and Monaco grands prix. Rivals Red Bull and Ferrari have lodged a protest.

The weekend is also symbolic as it is 30 years since his father, Keke Rosberg, managed to win around the principality streets behind the wheel of a Williams.

In a race which was characterised by two safety cars and a red flag, the German driver managed keep his cool to claim his second career victory ahead of the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

Rosberg's teammate, Lewis Hamilton, finished fourth due to losing ground in the first safety car period which came out during the first pitstop phase as a result of Felipe Massa's crash at Saint Devote; a shunt which was a mirror image to the Brazilian's crash in yesterday's third free practice session.

Hamilton was forced to queue behind his teammate as the drivers who were scheduled to pit around that point did so immediately.

The race was later red-flagged due to Pastor Maldonado's accident, which was caused by Marussia's Max Chilton after the Brit swerved into the Venezuelan's path coming out of the chicane.

This shattered the Williams' front wing and sent Maldonado flying over it and into the barrier, thus halting the race until the debris was cleaned up.

Adrian Sutil finished fifth, one place ahead of Jenson Button in the best-placed McLaren.

The Force India driver also managed to pull off some well calculated overtaking manoeuvres against Button and the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso into the Loews hairpin.

Button's teammate, Sergio Perez, had an eventful race which eventually saw the Mexican parking his McLaren in the latter stages of the race following contact with Raikkonen's Lotus.

Despite this, the 2007 world champion still managed to salvage a point after overtaking Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber on the last lap.

Perez had also made light contact with Button on the opening lap and overtook the Briton by cutting the chicane. However, he was later made to give it back, but then managed to retake the position later on in the same place.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso had a subdued afternoon and finished a quiet seventh after having a similar incident with Perez at the chicane.

Jean-Eric Vergne finished eighth after a solid weekend ahead of Paul di Resta's Force India.

Romain Grosjean had another eventful race after shunting against Daniel Ricciardo's Toro Rosso.

Other incidents of note also include Charles Pic's Caterham catching fire at the pit entry, and Jules Bianchi crashing as a result of the accident between his teammate and Maldonado.


Race results* - Monaco Grand Prix
1 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 78 laps
2 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 3"8
3 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 6"3
4 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 13"8
5 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 21"4
6 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 23"21
7 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 26"7
8 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 27"2
9 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 27"6
10 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 36"5
11 - Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 42"5
12 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 42"6
13 - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 43"2
14 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 49"8
15 - Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'02"5

Fastest lap of the race: 1'16"577 by Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull

Retirements
Lap 73 - Sergio Perez
Lap 63 - Romain Grosjean
Lap 61 - Daniel Ricciardo
Lap 58 - Jules Bianchi
Lap 44 - Pastor Maldonado
Lap 28 - Felipe Massa
Lap 7 - Charles Pic

Drivers' championship
1.Vettel 107; 2.Raikkonen 86; 3.Alonso 78; 4.Hamilton 62; 5.Webber 57; 6.Rosberg 47; 7.Massa 45; 8.Di Resta 28; 9.Grosjean 26; 10.Button 25; 11.Sutil 16; 12.Perez 12; 13.Ricciardo 7; 14.Hulkenberg 5; 15.Vergne 5.

Constructors championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 164; 2.Ferrari 123; 3.Lotus-Renault 112; 4.Mercedes 109; 5.Force India-Mercedes 44; 6.McLaren-Mercedes 37; 7.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 12; 8.Sauber-Ferrari 5.

*Unofficial
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