Felipe Massa qualifies in pole on the glamorous roads of Monte Carlo despite his dislike for the world famous course The course, the cameras and the Casino are ready, with Briton Lewis Hamilton of McLaren starting in third on the grid The paddock begins to fill with celebrity Formula One fans making the short trip from Cannes, including film director Quentin Tarantino Other famous attendees, including former tennis champion Boris Becker, take in the pre-race parade of style, wealth and motor-oil With Kovalainen starting from the pit, Hamilton benefits at the off, jumping to second place behind Massa's Ferrari Jensen Button, who usually thrives in wet conditions, slides in to the back of Heidfeld's BMW and looses his front wing on the first lap Hamilton's McLaren strikes a barrier on lap six, punctures his back right tyre, and is forced in to an early pit stop Felipe Massa of Brazil and Ferrari leads by 13 seconds early on, driving steadily as the drivers behind him find difficulties in the wet Alonso skids in to the barrier at Massenet, as does David Coulthard, and then Sebastian Bourdais in to the back of Coulthard The pile-up brings out the safety car and allows the pack, including Raikkonen and Kubica, to catch Massa Raikkonen is penalised during the race for having his tyres on too late and a drive-through penalty puts him back to sixth Back in the lead, Massa misjudges the first corner of lap 16 at Sainte Devote, snags his front left wheel and allows Kubica through BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica pits as part of a two-stop strategy to take on shallow groove wet tyres and Massa retakes the lead Having pitted early after his scrape, McLaren Mercedes' Hamilton overtakes both Massa and Kubica as they pit Hamilton sets the fastest lap of the race, stretches his lead to 25 seconds, takes on soft tyres and still comes out of the pits in the lead Nico Rosberg of Williams and Germany wipes out coming in to the Swimming Pool on lap 62 and the safety car is out once more Adrian Sutil of Germany and Force India is unlucky not to be among the points, having a great race until he is rear-ended by Raikkonen Owing to stoppages and the wet conditions the race reaches its two-hour limit and is reduced to 76 laps with Hamilton in control Hamilton emulates his hero, Ayrton Senna, by winning the Monaco Grand Prix and takes the lead in the drivers' championship Massa's third place finish keeps him third in the drivers' championship though Ferrari maintain a 16-point lead over McLaren
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Report: Hamilton wins thrilling Monaco GP
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