Perhaps the most spectacular crash saw one of the oldest drivers, David Coulthard, lose control on the wet track surface and smash his Red Bull car into the Armco barrier, only to be rear-ended by one of the newest drivers, Sebastien Bourdais, in the sister Toro Rosso. Both cars had to be lifted out by cranes. Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton ran a nearly flawless race that was blemished by only one incident when the young driver smacked his right rear tire on the close barrier, slashing his tire and forcing him to pit early. The emergency stop, however, enabled Hamilton to take on enough extra fuel to last him through the rain, optimizing his out-time before switching to the dry slicks. A stroke of good luck, then, coupled with brilliant driving and well-adjusted strategy for the McLaren front-man. His team-mate Heikki Kovalainen suffered poorer luck, stalling on the grid and later messing up behind the pace car.
Robert Kubica aptly demonstrated that BMW Sauber is a force to be reckoned with, holding down the fort with a commanding second place while Nick Heidfeld in the second Bimmer rounded out the field of finishers in fourteenth, just behind the Toyotas of Trulli and Glock. Ahead of them Jenson Button took eleventh behind two-time world champ Fernando Alonso, who followed Raikkonen and Kovalainen. Williams' Nakajima put in a thoroughly respectable effort for an eighth place points finish behind Barrichello's Honda. STR was proud of its wunderkind Sebastian Vettel who came in fifth, behind Red Bull's Mark Webber in fourth.
With all the crashes, the race was under the yellow flag and behind the safety car for an inordinate amount of time, cutting short at the 2-hour mark instead of running the full race distance. When the checkered flag waved over the finish line, Lewis Hamilton collected a well-deserved win, propelling him into first place in the drivers' championship, with 38 points to Raikkonen's 35, Massa's 34 and Kubica's 32.
2008 Monaco Grand Prix
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
2. Kubica BMW Sauber
3. Massa Ferrari
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault
5. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari
6. Barrichello Honda
7. Nakajima Williams-Toyota
8. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes
9. Raikkonen Ferrari
10. Alonso Renault
11. Button Honda
12. Glock Toyota
13. Trulli Toyota
14. Heidfeld BMW Sauber
Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:16.689
Not classified/retirements:
Sutil Force India-Ferrari
Rosberg Williams-Toyota
Piquet Renault
Fisichella Force India-Ferrari
Coulthard Red Bull-Renault
Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari
World Championship standings
(after six rounds)
Drivers:
1. Hamilton 38
2. Raikkonen 35
3. Massa 34
4. Kubica 32
5. Heidfeld 20
6. Kovalainen 15
7. Webber 15
8. Alonso 9
9. Trulli 9
10. Rosberg 8
11. Nakajima 7
12. Vettel 4
13. Barrichello 3
14. Button 3
15. Bourdais 2
Constructors:
1. Ferrari 69
2. McLaren-Mercedes 53
3. BMW Sauber 52
4. Williams-Toyota 15
5. Red Bull-Renault 15
6. Renault 9
7. Toyota 9
8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6
9. Honda 6
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