Jenson Button drove peerlessly around the streets of Monaco to win his fifth Grand Prix of the 2009 Formula 1 World Championship. In stark contrast defending Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton had a weekend to forget.
Button on Pole, Hamilton in the Barriers
Kimi Raikkonen produced a scintillating lap in his Ferrari to take provisional pole with just seconds remaining, but it was not to be for the Finn. He was pipped at the very end by Button and had to settle for second on the grid. Rubens Barrichello was third quickest in the other Brawn, ahead of Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull. Hamilton made a rare mistake in Q1 and crashed out, leaving the McLaren driver only 16th.
Button and Barrichello made the most of their super soft tyres, with the former keeping his lead and his Brazilian team-mate passing Raikkonen's Ferrari to claim second. Vettel was intially very quick, but his tyres soon went off and his pace dropped significantly. A frustrated Felipe Massa tried to squeeze past at the chicane, only to straightline it. While giving the position back to Vettel the Ferrari driver suffered a further setback when Nico Rosberg slipped past in his Williams.
Button and Brawn Dominate Monaco F1 Race
On lap 11 Vettel's stubborn resistance finally collapsed. Rosberg, Massa and Heikki Kovalainen all passed the young German in quick succession and the Red Bull driver had no option but to pit for harder tyres. A short time later Renault's Nelson Piquet had his race ended at Ste Devote when Sebastien Buemi unceremoniously rammed him in his Toro Rosso. The incident also forced Buemi to retire.
Ste Devote was also the scene of Vettel's demise on lap 17, when he ran out of road and crashed into the barrier. The main loser at the first round of pit stops was Rosberg, who found himself behind Massa and Mark Webber. Kovalainen's impressive drive came to an abrupt end on lap 53 when the Finn crashed heavily at the Swimming Pool section.
Amidst all this drama Button continued to circulate serenely at the front. He completed his second pit stop without any drama and reeled off the last few laps to score a comprehensive victory. Barrichello held on to second place, with Raikkonen completing the podium in third.
Massa was just behind his Ferrari team-mate in fourth position, with Webber fifth and Rosberg sixth. Fernando Alonso drove maturely to claim seventh place while Sebastian Bourdais scored his first point of of the 2009 Formula 1 season season in eighth. Giancarlo Fisichella just missed out on the points, ninth for Force India. Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima blotted his copybook when he crashed out on the final lap. Hamilton completed a miserable weekend in 12th position, a lap behind Button's winning Brawn.
Button's victory leaves the Englishamn with a 16 point lead in the Formula 1 World Championship over his team-mate Barrichello. In the constructor's standings Brawn GP's lead increased to 43.5 points over Red Bull. The next race is the Turkish Grand Prix which takes place on June 7th.
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