Brawn GP’s Jenson Button won the Monaco Grand Prix yesterday, capturing his fifth victory in six races to extend his Formula One championship lead.
Button finished 7.6 seconds ahead of teammate Rubens Barrichello at the famed street circuit race for his fourth start-to-finish victory of the season.
Button leads with 51 points. Barrichello has 35 and Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, who crashed out after 16 laps, is third with 23 points.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen earned Ferrari its first top-three finish of the season by taking third. Felipe Massa was fourth for Ferrari ahead of Red Bull’s Mark Webber, who took his points tally to 19.5.
Brawn GP became the first team in its inaugural season to win in Monaco since Wolf’s Jody Scheckter 32 years ago.
Defending F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 Monaco winner, came 12th after starting last on the grid.
Button ran along the track to reach the podium ceremony, waving to fans in the stands and overlooking apartment balconies before accepting the trophy from Prince Albert.
Brawn GP leads the constructors’ title with 86 points. Red Bull is next with 42.5 and Toyota has 26.5 after its two drivers finished near the the tail of the field.
Button easily held his pole position out of the start and slowly pulled away. The Briton, whose previous best result at Monaco was runner-up five years ago, maintained a double-digit advantage nearly to the end.
Barrichello breezed past the KERS-boosted Ferrari of Raikkonen to sit second after the first turn and eventually finished 5.8 seconds ahead of the Finn at the end.
Raikkonen and Massa earned 11 points for Ferrari for its best single race total this season in what has been its worst ever start.
Vettel’s championship hopes were hit by sliding into a corner and damaging his rear suspension, an identical accident to Hamilton’s on Saturday that left the McLaren driver starting at the back of the grid.
Vettel was involved in a battle with Massa and Nico Rosberg of Williams before his exit, as cars found space coming out of the Louis Tunnel II for rare overtaking maneuvers.
Rosberg came sixth, Renault’s Fernando Alonso was seventh and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais took the last point in eighth.
Robert Kubica’s miserable weekend for BMW Sauber ended after 16 laps, one of six drivers to retire. The Pole remains without a point this season.
Despite being near the Cannes Film Festival, few celebrities were spotted at the race. Star Wars director George Lucas and former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell were among the 100,000 fans.
Monaco Grand Prix Results
Results from yesterdays Monaco Grand Prix race at the 3.34 kilometre track of Monte Carlo with driver, team and time:
1 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 78 1:40:44.282
2 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 78 +7.6 secs
3 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 78 +13.4 secs
4 Felipe Massa Ferrari 78 +15.1 secs
5 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 78 +15.7 secs
6 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 78 +33.5 secs
7 Fernando Alonso Renault 78 +37.8 secs
8 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 78 +63.1 secs
9 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 78 +65.0 secs
10 Timo Glock Toyota 77 +1 Lap
11 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 77 +1 Lap
12 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 77 +1 Lap
13 Jarno Trulli Toyota 77 +1 Lap
14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 77 +1 Lap
15 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 76 +2 Laps
Not classified
Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 51laps
Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 28 laps
Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 15 laps
Nelsinho Piquet Renault 10 laps
Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 10 laps
Drivers Standings (After six races)
1 Jenson Button 51
2 Rubens Barrichello 35
3 Sebastian Vettel 23
4 Mark Webber 19.5
5 Jarno Trulli 14.5
6 Timo Glock 12
7 Fernando Alonso 11
8 Kimi Räikkönen 9
9 Lewis Hamilton 9
10 Felipe Massa 8
11 Nico Rosberg 7.5
12 Nick Heidfeld 6
13 Heikki Kovalainen 4
14 Sebastien Buemi 3
15 Sebastien Bourdais 2
Constructors Standings (After six races)
1 Brawn-Mercedes 86
2 RBR-Renault 42.5
3 Toyota 26.5
4 Ferrari 17
5 McLaren-Mercedes 13
6 Renault 11
7 Williams-Toyota 7.5
8 BMW Sauber 6
9 STR-Ferrari 5