Kimi Raikkonen dominated the 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix leading from Pole Position, retaining his lead during his sole pitstop and took the chequered flag just under 14 seconds ahead of his nearest rival. It was an inch perfect drive from the Finn just two weeks after his dominant Spanish Grand Prix triumph. Nick Heidfeld finished in second position for BMW Williams just ahead of team-mate Mark Webber who secured his first career podium and a big points haul for the team.
Behind the winning McLaren Mercedes driver the battle for the remaining points positions was however anything but predictable and in many ways the story of the Monaco race was not about Raikkonen's stunning pace at the front, but Renault and their Michelin tyres.
Fernando Alonso started the race alongside Raikkonen but such was Raikkonen's pace, the Championship leader found himself falling back from the rear wing of the McLaren as the rear Michelin's began to wear excessively.
Right behind Alonso at the time Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld bided their time thought the second round of pitstops when Heidfeld picked off Webber, before both passed the ailing Renault in the closing stages of the race. Alonso hung on to finish in fourth position thereby stopping Raikkonen making up too much ground in the championship battle.
Nick Heidfeld's second position was fully deserved as he shadowed team-mate Webber and Alonso for much of the race never once looking like he was over driving. With the patience of a Saint he remained behind Webber until deciding to make his second and final stop. Pitting one lap before Webber, Heidfeld made that lap count and took the position and then made a very clean pass on Alonso for second position into the Chicane at the exit of the tunnel. Webber too made the same move but it took two attempts to pass the very defensive Alonso and then the podium was set.
Starting back in 16th position, the Monaco Grand Prix seemed all but over for Juan Pablo Montoya even before it began. However the Colombian drove a canny one stop race, biding his time in the first half of the race before picking his way through the order late in the race. Montoya crossed the line in fifth position just a tenth behind Alonso to bring more points to McLaren in what is Mercedes' 200th Grand Prix and move the team into second position in the Constructors' Championship.
Ralf Schumacher was another racer to start at the back of the field on a one stop strategy. The Toyota driver drove a strong race to take the sixth position just ahead of the battling Ferrari's of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello.
It all seemed lost in terms of points for the 2004 Champion mid race. Christijan Albers spun his Minardi across the circuit blocking the track in the process. David Coulthard arrived on the scene and braked hard with Schumacher hitting the rear of the Red Bull Cosworth and losing his front wing. With the Safety Car on track, Schumacher made his pitstop and rejoined the race just behind Raikkonen a lap down.
A string of fast laps from Schumacher plus a very determined lunge past Barrichello as the chequered flag came out rewarded him with two points. If nothing else, Schumacher has proven he will fight as hard for lower points as he will for Championship success.
Felipe Massa finished the race in an unhappy ninth position in his Sauber Petronas. His run in the points came to an end when Jacques Villeneuve lost patience and tried to pass his team-mate into Ste Devote. The move was never on and with brakes locked up the former Champion slid nose first into the tyres, leaving Massa no where to go but the escape road. Valuable points lost for Sauber.
Jarno Trulli finished in tenth position on a day when he could and should have scored solid points for Toyota. Battling with the grip- less Giancarlo Fisichella, Trulli made a dive down the inside of his countryman late in the race, bumping heavily across the kerbing in the process. He made the move stick but was soon in the pits to have the handling of the TF105 looked at. Tenth position is very little reward after such a good drive.
Jacques Villeneuve was fortunate to finish in 11th position while Fisichella was the second Renault driver to suffer from a lack of rear end grip. To compound matters his race was effectively ruined when he pitted directly behind team-mate Alonso when the Safety Car was on track, therefore having to wait for Alonso to finish his fuel stop before he could begin his own. It was a tactical blunder from Renault and there was nothing Fisichella could do late in the race when running fifth, the field caught and passed him.
The remaining two finishers were Tiago Monteiro in the Jordan Toyota three laps adrift and Christijan Albers five laps down in his Minardi.
Of those who failed to finish, Red Bull Racing came off worst with David Coulthard forced to retire after being hit from behind by Schumacher when Albers blocked the circuit with his PS05 and Vitantonio Liuzzi who seemed to brush the wall when defending his position from none-other than the recovering Michael Schumacher.
Patrick Freisacher, so impressive for most of the Monaco grand Prix weekend for Minardi, lost control exiting the tunnel and clouted the barriers while Narain Karthikeyan had problems with his Jordan Toyota from the outset and was soon out of the race.
The Formula One circus packs up and head to Nurburgring where practice begins next Friday. Joining the 18 racers next weekend will be Jenson Button and Takuma Sato as BAR Honda get its 2005 campaign back underway. Kimi Raikkonen will be looking forward to the next race as it seems he has the pace in his McLaren to win at will.