Sebastian Vettel has done it again, this time at the prestigious principality of Monaco. The reigning World Champion who received his winner’s trophy by Prince Albert himself finished the 78-lap race about a second ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. Jenson Button of McLaren made it an all-champion podium with his third place.

The Monaco GP which is known to host boring races due to the lack of overtaking opportunities gave fans a rather eventful race this season. Vettel who started from pole maintained his position through Turn 1 at the start of the race while it was not as good of a news for Schumacher who started from fifth. The German who almost stalled on the grid dropped to tenth before making an interesting pass on Lewis Hamilton for ninth place.

As leader Vettel started Lap 2, it was Button and Alonso in second second and third respectively. This was followed by Webber, Rosberg, Massa, Maldonado, Petrov, Schumacher and Hamilton. On Lap 11, Hamilton wowed the spectators when the former World Champion overtook Schumacher for ninth place at St. Devote. The latter then pitted the next lap, likely due to tyre graining. The next battle was for fifth place, when Massa made a move on Rosberg in the other Mercedes car.

Vettel made his first pit stop at about Lap 16 but Red Bull mechanics were taking time with the tyres. Webber pitted at the same time as well, but had to wait for his turn a quite a long time. As the dust settled, Button who pitted earlier than Vettel was leading ahead of the German, followed by Alonso, Massa and Maldonado in fifth. Down the grid both Mercedes drivers, Rosberg and Schumacher were running in 14th and 15th and the latter made a nice move on his team mate at a hairpin.

The SLS AMG Safety Car made its first mid-race appearance this season following a crash involving Massa as he crashed onto the side barrier towards the end of the tunnel while fighting for position with Hamilton. At the same time, Schumacher called it a day as well following a mechanical problem. Green flags were waived on Lap 39 of 78 and just moments later, Hamilton was handed a drive-through penalty, as the stewards ruled that Hamilton caused the accident with Massa.

By the Lap 45, it was Vettel who was back in the lead ahead of Button and Alonso. Sutil, Kobayashi, Webber, Maldanado, Patrov, Hamilton and Heidfeld filled up the top ten. As more laps passed, leader Vettel started to receive pressure from Alonso. Button was right behind the Spaniard. With just a few laps remaining, the Safety Car was deployed again as Petrov and Buemi both hit the barriers. The Safety Car situation was then converted to a red flag as more time was needed to get Petrov out from this Lotus Renault. With the red flags deployed, all cars had to stop on the grid.

The race restarted under Safety Car conditions on Lap 73, with about five laps remaining. Hamilton caused yet another scene as he hit Maldonado and ended the Williams driver’s race. All eyes were on Vettel, Alonso and Button as the top three were battling each other out for the ultimate prize, with Alonso setting fastest lap times of the race multiple times. When the checkered flag was drawn, it was Vettel who emerged victorious with Alonso and Button maintaining second and third.

The championship situation now looks even better for Vettel. With 143 points, he is 58 points clear of Hamilton. Webber is close behind in third, with 79 points, followed closely by Button with 76 and Alonso with 69. Red Bull has scored 222 points thus far in the Constructors’ Championship with McLaren in second, thanks to 161 points. Ferrari is third with 93 points, 43 points more than Renault and 53 points more than Mercedes.

Please click here for the full results. The Canadian GP is next, on 12th June in Montreal.

World Champion Sebastian Vettel is on pole for tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix, ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button and teammate Mark Webber. Lining up beside last year’s winner on the second row is Fernando Alonso for Ferrari.

Michael Schumacher is fifth for Mercedes GP Petronas while Massa is sixth. Lewis Hamilton will face a tough task tomorrow as he lines up seventh, next to Nico Rosberg. Williams rookie Pastor Maldonado did very well to enter Q3 and should not be ashamed to be last among those who completed the shootout. He is consistently outperforming veteran teammate Barrichello (12th), who should retire sooner rather than later.

Vettel’s fastest lap of 1:13.556 was set before the biggest moment of the day, when Sauber’s Perez got into a big accident. The session was red flagged with 2 minutes and 20 seconds to go. When it was finally cleared, the whole field rushed out for one hot lap to settle it. Hamilton was first out as he didn’t set a time prior to the pause. There was only time for one lap, and it didn’t quite work out for the Brit, who is a former winner here.

Seven minutes into Q3, the crash of the day happened. Sauber’s Sergio Perez was wide exiting the tunnel when he lost control and slammed into the side barriers, propelling him sideways into the barrier that divides the track and the escape road. Mercedes GP Petronas’ Nico Rosberg also crashed at the same spot in practice – could it be ripples on the uneven tarmac or dust? Jenson Button also had a similar crash here in 2003.

Replays showed that Perez put his hands to support his head before the impact. News from the paddock say that he’s conscious and talking, but with pain in his legs. Let’s hope that the young Mexican recovers fast. It will be an unlikely miracle for him to race tomorrow.

Fresh from a court battle where they failed to stop Team Lotus from using their name, Lotus Renault GP won’t be too happy with qualifying, as both Petrov and Heidfeld failed to make the top ten shootout, although Heidfeld will be the more disappointed man – he’s 16th, five places behind Petrov in 11th.

At the back, unlike in the previous race, both Team Lotus drivers didn’t make it out of Q1 – Kovalainen was 18th fastest, one spot above teammate Trulli, who has tasted victory here before. Behind the pair is Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari, but he’s only down here because he collided with a Sauber at Rascasse, with damage on the front wing forcing him to pit.

The last four are the usual cars from Virgin and HRT. The HRTs didn’t set times and will not feature tomorrow. Click here to see the full timing sheet.

UPDATE: Sauber’s Sergio Perez has managed to avoid serious injuries. He had suffered concussion and a sprained thigh, but no broken bones and other damage were found.

Championship leader Sebastian Vettel has held off Lewis Hamilton to win the Spanish GP. The McLaren man gave everything he had and put up a great challenge but Vettel kept a cool head to claim the chequered flag six tenths ahead of Lewis. Jenson Button stopped one time less than the front runners to complete the podium for McLaren.

Pole sitter Mark Webber will be disappointed with fourth. He was jumped by Vettel and Alonso at the start and never was in contention after that. Home favourite Alonso sensationally leaped both Red Bulls at the start, but surrendered the lead to Vettel after the second round of pit stops. He finishes fifth, a lap down.

Michael Schumacher finishes sixth, just ahead of Mercedes GP Petronas teammate Nico Rosberg and Nick Heidfeld. Rosberg looked faster than the multiple champ in many phases of the race, but just couldn’t get past. Quick Nick on the other hand drove a great race from 24th on the grid to eighth – he didn’t set a qualifying lap yesterday. Rounding off the points paying spots are the Sauber duo of Sergio Perez (9th) and Kamui Kobayashi (10th).

There were plenty of overtaking for Catalunya standards, helped by this year’s KERS, DRS and Pirelli tyres. There was action from the start, where Webber dived in to block Vettel, only to see the Ferrari of Alonso take both from the inside. Others that had a good start were Schumi (up to 6th) and Trulli, who jumped Team Lotus teammate Kovalainen despite starting three places behind.

The soft Pirellis don’t last long, and Vettel was the first of the leaders to pit at Lap 10. He came out behind the Schumacher train and immediately overtook Button and Massa in style. Alonso and Webber pitted the next lap, but the order remained. As the others dived in the pits, Trulli and Heikki were up to 7th and 8th at a point, surely the highest they’ve ever been, albeit temporarily.

Vettel started the second round of stops on Lap 18. Alonso followed two laps later but came out behind the Red Bull. The Spaniard was now being chased by Webber, who found it very hard to pass. This two went on battling for a long time, letting the McLarens jump them in the process. Around Lap 36, Button, who was on soft tyres (others had to use their hard rubber) really turned on the pace to overtake the duo.

In the final stages, Hamilton got very close to Vettel, Massa retired after a poor race and Heidfeld mounted a profitable late charge. The race didn’t turn out as wished by Team Lotus – Kovalainen crashed out on Lap 51 and Trulli finished 18th, two laps down and only ahead of the Virgins and one HRT.

Click here for the official time sheet. Next week, F1 goes to Monte Carlo!

It was a qualifying session of firsts at Catalunya, where Mark Webber beat teammate Sebastian Vettel to pole position, something no driver has managed so far this season. Further down the grid, Team Lotus got into Q2 and for the first time, qualified ahead of a few midfield cars.

Q3 was a two horse race for pole. Both the Red Bull drivers only did one hot lap. World champ Vettel went first with a 1m21.181s (without KERS) before Mark topped it with a 1m20.981s (his KERS was working). No one looked to be capable of touching those times, so the Bulls spent the last minutes of qualifying relaxing. The second row will be filled by Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in fourth.

Further back, McLaren’s Jenson Button lines up alongside Vitaly Petrov for Lotus Renault GP. The Russian did a good job, but teammate Nick Heidfeld wasn’t even part of qualifying – his R31 burst into flames in morning practice caused by an exhaust failure. They couldn’t fix his car in time.

The rest of the top ten reads Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa, Pastor Maldonado and Schumacher. The Williams man drove well to enter Q3, balancing the mood from the other side of the garage – a gearbox problem means Rubens Barrichello qualified 19th.

Team Lotus made the progress it was talking about, as Heikki Kovalainen took his updated T128 to 15th place on the grid. That’s ahead of the Force Indias of di Resta and Sutil. Then came Trulli in 18th place ahead of Rubens’ sick Williams. While it’s great to see Team Lotus competing in Q2 and placed ahead more than just the usual four cars, it has to be qualified that Force India opted to use hard tyres in Q2, saving the faster soft Pirellis all for tomorrow’s race.

Webber was fifth in Australia, fourth in Malaysia, third in China and second in Turkey. Will he be first in Spain? Here’s to a great race day tomorrow. Click here to view the qualifying time sheet.