Räikkönen makes it two in a row in Monaco

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McLaren-Mercedes driver Kimi Räikkönen enjoyed another near-perfect weekend, culminating in his first victory at the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix, generally regarded as "the Wimbledon of Formula One racing".
      Räikkönen took pole position in qualifying and led the race from lights to the the chequered flag. His only moment of doubt in an otherwise commanding display of the current dominance of the McLaren team came when the safety car was brought out following a shunt on Lap 24.
     
Owing to a communications mix-up with the team, Räikkönen did not take advantage of the "free" pit-stop offered by the safety car, and there were a few anxious moments that the McLaren strategy might backfire on them. However, when the race began again, he simply destroyed the rest of the field, opening up a huge lead with a string of fastest laps.
      By the time that he did come in to refuel on Lap 42, Räikkönen's lead was already more than adequate to allow him to return to the track with the race at his mercy.
      Behind him, Drivers' Championship leader Fernando Alonso (Renault), who had been fastest in the second qualfying session on Sunday and who started next to Räikkönen on the front row of the grid, was suffering from worn tyres, and it was Alonso's travails that marked the latter part of the race.
      Alonso was passed by the Williams of Nick Heidfeld (2nd) and then by Heidfeld's team-mate Mark Webber (3rd), and the Spaniard was grateful to be able to hang on for fourth as another group of hungry drivers closed in on him in the final laps.
     
Räikkönen's team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya finished in 5th, rounding off a very successful weekend for McLaren-Mercedes. Montoya's achievement was considerable, since he started from the back of the grid on the winding street circuit, where overtaking is normally regarded as next-to-impossible.
      Räikkönen's fourth GP victory, and his second in succession, lifts him into some exalted driver company: he also joins two other Finns who have won at Monaco - Mika Häkkinen and Keke Rosberg, both of whom went on to become World Champion.
     
The Finnish driver remains 22 points adrift of Fernando Alonso in the drivers' table, but he has now moved into second place, and with the McLaren showing both speed and reliability, Räikkönen, Montoya, and the entire team must be feeling confident that more points can be had from the next event on the F1 calendar, the European Grand Prix at Nürburgring in Germany six days from now.
      In what was the 200th GP appearance for Mercedes-Benz, the McLaren-Mercedes team also closed the gap on Renault and are now just 12 points back in second place, with 51 points.
      The red Ferraris were once again a shadow of their 2004 form: reigning World Champion Michael Schumacher was 7th and Rubens Barrichello was 8th, and the team is languishing in 5th place in the manufacturers' table.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Kimi Räikkönen sweeps unchallenged to Spanish GP victory (9.5.2005)

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