| 13.30 | Welcome to F1-Live.com and live coverage of the 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix. The race gets underway in just over 30 minutes. |
| 13.32 | Felipe Massa surprised himself and many others by claiming pole position yesterday afternoon. The Brazilian freely admits he does not enjoy Monaco, but a good final run was enough to deny team-mate and championship leader Kimi Raikkonen the top grid slot with a best lap of 1:15.787s. |
| 13.34 | With an all Ferrari front row, McLaren Mercedes sweep the second with Lewis Hamilton ahead of Heikki Kovalainen. It is likely that they have slightly more fuel on board than the Ferrari duo, but with the safety car always an issue there won’t be much in it and most of the front runners will be starting on a relatively light fuel load. |
| 13.36 | Robert Kubica starts in fifth, pretty much as expected. The BMW Sauber team talked up their chances at Monaco this weekend, but on pace alone, they seem pretty much where they normally are and that is just behind Ferrari and McLaren. Weather aside, Kubica will be chasing. Nick Heidfeld starts a disappointing 13th in the second F1.08. |
| 13.38 | Nico Rosberg has impressed all weekend in his Williams Toyota. Like Kubica, he will be aiming to put on a good show and bring home a solid point haul for the team, but given a slip up at the front, will be looking to make further gains. |
| 13.40 | Fernando Alonso did a very good job to qualify his Renault in seventh position. Last year’s race winner with McLaren pushed to the limit just to make Q3 and then found more pace when it really mattered. The R28 does not look an easy car to drive as underlined by Nelson Piquet who qualified in 17th. For the Brazilian, he can forget points and try and put in an error free race. |
| 13.42 | Jarno Trulli starts eighth in his Toyota after finding a great deal of speed in qualifying. Prior to qualifying the Italian had languished down the timesheets. It remains to be seen if he can maintain position this afternoon in what will be a very tight battle in the midfield. |
| 13.44 | Red Bull Renault qualified both Mark Webber and David Coulthard in the top ten. For the latter, his car had to be rebuilt overnight following yesterday’s shunt at the end of Q2 and he will head into the race pretty unsure as to what to expect with his RB4 and also has a five position grid penalty after the team were forced to change the gearbox. He starts 15th. |
| 13.46 | Timo Glock was disappointed to miss out on a top ten qualifying position in the second Toyota, but with Coulthard’s demotion he does in fact start tenth. The GP2 champion will be looking to improve on his best result to date – a ninth position – and score his first championship point since returning to the series with Toyota. |
| 13.48 | Honda saw Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello qualify 12th and 15th. Barrichello in particular really needs a good run as he has not scored a point for the team since Interlagos 2006 and it is contract talk times. Button will be hoping to add to his three points scored so far this year. |
| 13.50 | Nick Heidfeld has had a nightmare Monaco weekend so far in the second BMW Sauber. There is talk that he is under pressure to retain his seat within the team and perhaps it is this that has triggered his latest downturn in form. A canny racer, Heidfeld normally bides his time and gains positions in the pit stop sequences. |
| 13.52 | Sebastien Bourdais starts 16th in the leading Toro Rosso, just behind Coulthard. The Champ Car star is no stranger to street circuits but like team-mate Sebastian Vettel, has struggled to get the best out of the new STR3 package so far this weekend. The team need mileage with this car ahead of Montreal. Should it rain, a finish could always bring a point... |
| 13.54 | Vettel qualified 18th in the second Toro Rosso but a five position grid penalty for a gearbox change drops him one position and promotes Adrian Sutil one position in his Force India Ferrari. Starting his 200th Grand Prix Giancarlo Fisichella starts last in 20th position having been 20th fastest in qualifying and then also picking up a five position penalty. |
| 13.56 | There was rain this morning. At the moment the circuit is damp in parts but there are plenty of dark rain clouds around and there is some very light rain in the air... There however is currently a dry line. It will be a really tough decision for the teams to make. Intermediate tyres or dry tyres? |
| 13.58 | Rain is falling but not heavy as yet. Nervous times for the 20 Grand Prix drivers. A wet race is always a challenge and a wet Monaco race is an even harder prospect. The race cannot be won at the first corner, but can certainly be lost. |
| 13.59 | The engines are firing up. |
| 14.00 | The parade lap is now underway. Looks like most are intermediate tyres. |
| 14.00 | Kovalainen is stranded on the grid and will start from the back. |
| 14.02 | Massa lines up on his pole position with Raikkonen, Hamilton, Kubica, Rosberg and the rest taking up their starting positions. Kovalainen will be starting from the pit lane. |
| Lap 1 | The 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix is underway. |
| Lap 1 | Hamilton into second ahead of Raikkonen |
| Lap 1 | A clean start |
| Lap 1 | Alonso in up to fifth. |
| Lap 1 | Rosberg clips the back of Alonso at the hairpin. |
| Lap 2 | There is now some spray |
| Lap 2 | Button pits. |
| Lap 2 | Button pits for a new wing after contact with Heidfeld. |
| Lap 3 | Button and Kovalainen run at the back but Rosberg has a broken front wing after contact with Alonso on lap one. |
| Lap 4 | Rosberg pits |
| Lap 4 | Rosberg gets a new front wing. |
| Lap 4 | Glock runs P7 but also has a broken wing. |
| Lap 5 | Glock will pit for a wing. Now he does pit. |
| Lap 5 | It is getting wetter and wetter. Glock spun exiting the final turn and broke the wing. |
| Lap 6 | Massa leads Hamilton by three seconds. Raikkonen is falling back in third. |
| Lap 6 | Hamilton clips the barriers at Tobac and has a right rear puncture. |
| Lap 6 | Hamilton pits and gets a new set of tyres. He was second but now drops to the back. |
| Lap 7 | A surprise to see Hamilton take another set of inters. It really is wet now. |
| Lap 8 | Kubica is now looking to find a way ahead of Raikkonen. |
| Lap 8 | Hamilton is actually fifth after the stop. |
| Lap 8 | Alonso hits the barriers and damages the right rear. |
| Lap 9 | Coulthard went off and was hit by Bourdais. Alonso has taken full wets. |
| Lap 9 | So Alonso, Coulthard and Bourdais all went off on the water at turn two. Alonso made it back to the pits. |
| Lap 10 | Massa has now lost his 13s lead over Raikkonen as the field closes up behing the s/c |
| Lap 10 | Button has pitted for a second time |
| Lap 11 | The race is back underway. |
| Lap 11 | Raikkonen is to get a drive through penalty for not having his tyres fitted within 3 minutes of the start. |
| Lap 11 | Raikkonen will probably try and back up Kubica now before taking his penalty. |
| Lap 12 | Alonso passes Webber for position. |
| Lap 12 | Hamilton now fourth and Alonso sixth despite problems. |
| Lap 13 | Alonso now all over Heidfeld. |
| Lap 13 | Alonso is on the full wets and much faster. |
| Lap 14 | Raikkonen is taking his penalty as he drives through the pits. |
| Lap 14 | Alonso goes down the inside of Heidfeld who just turns in and contact. |
| Lap 14 | Perhaps a lack of patience from Alonso as both cars are damaged but continue. |
| Lap 15 | Alonso pits for a new front wing. Rosberg also for a new front wing. |
| Lap 15 | Kubica is now closing on Massa. |
| Lap 16 | Massa runs off track at turn one and rejoins and now Kubica now leads. |
| Lap 16 | So a mistake from Massa and Kubica now leads Massa. |
| Lap 17 | Webber passes Heidfeld with ease. He must have damage from his contact with Alonso. |
| Lap 18 | Heifeld pits. He is getting a new front wing. |
| Lap 19 | Sutil is running sixth in the Force India... |
| Lap 19 | Kubica is about to lap team-mate Heidfeld. |
| Lap 20 | Massa is closing in on Kubica now. He wants the lead back. |
| Lap 21 | Conditions are improving slightly. Now the intermediate tyre is probably the best, a problem for Alonso. |
| Lap 22 | Webber back all run very close together |
| Lap 22 | A long long race still ahead... This is a 78 lap event but probably will stop at the two hour limit. |
| Lap 23 | There is a lot less water no on the track and it is begining to dry. |
| Lap 23 | Hamilton still runs third but is dropping back from Massa and Kubica. |
| Lap 24 | Vettel loses a position to Piquet exiting the first turn. |
| Lap 25 | Hamilton is losing time each lap. He may have taken extra fuel when he pitted with his right rear punture earlier. |
| Lap 27 | Kubica pits from the lead. Massa takes over in P1. |
| Lap 27 | Kubica exits behind Raikkonen who then runs off at turn one. |
| Lap 27 | Raikkonen has front wing damage and will be pitting. |
| Lap 28 | Kimi Raikkonen pits for a new front wing. |
| Lap 28 | Raikkonen exits behind Sutil so he is sixth. |
| Lap 29 | Out front Massa is pulling away from Hamilton at a second a lap. |
| Lap 30 | Hamilton is now responding but he is 17s behind. |
| Lap 31 | Trulli has Barrichello, Nakajima and Kovalainen right behind him. |
| Lap 31 | There is a dry line exiting the tunnel now. |
| Lap 31 | Trulli is on full wets while those behind are on the intermediate tyre. |
| Lap 32 | The times are now really dropping as it contines to dry. |
| Lap 33 | Piquet and Vettel are holding back Massa as he looks to lap them. |
| Lap 33 | Massa pits from the lead. |
| Lap 33 | Massa exits ahead of Kubica. |
| Lap 34 | So Hamilton now leads Massa, Kubica and Webber. Sutil is fifth ahead of Raikkonen and Trulli. |
| Lap 35 | Hamilton is pushing hard now. |
| Lap 35 | Kovalainen pits. |
| Lap 36 | Piquet has Vettel all over him. He is on the full wet tyre, Vettel the intermediate. |
| Lap 36 | Massa is 13s behind Hamilton and both probably have to pit again. |
| Lap 37 | Rosberg passes Alonso at Sainte Devote to take 15th. |
| Lap 38 | Alonso has now fallen behind Fisichella and Kovalainen. Not sure as why as Trulli pits. |
| Lap 39 | Glock spin and backs into the barrier. He spin turns and continues. |
| Lap 40 | Fisichella pits and retires his Force India. |
| Lap 40 | Hamilton is pushing hard still, as it may be the case Massa will not stop again. |
| Lap 41 | Glock has pitted, so that has ruined his chances. |
| Lap 41 | Webber runs fourth ahead of Sutil. They have not pitted yet. |
| Lap 42 | Hamilton pulls four seconds on that lap. A slow lap for Massa who is now 22s behind. |
| Lap 42 | Massa responds but loses another second to Hamilton. |
| Lap 43 | Barrichello loses a position to Nakajima I think as he let the lapped Massa through |
| Lap 44 | Correction it was Rosberg passing Button! |
| Lap 44 | Hamilton has a 25s lead now on Massa. |
| Lap 45 | Kubica remains third ten seconds ahead of Webber. |
| Lap 46 | Rosberg passes Piquet and then runs wide and lets the Renault back ahead. |
| Lap 46 | Alonso pits from 15th. |
| Lap 47 | Alonso has taken dry tyres and that is a big big gamble. |
| Lap 47 | Alonso has nothing to lose. |
| Lap 47 | Hamilton contines to extend his lead. He should be able to regain the lead after pitting. |
| Lap 48 | Kubica is closing on Massa as Piquet pits. |
| Lap 48 | Piquet was tenth and he is also taking dry tyres. |
| Lap 49 | A rare sight as Kovalainen gets a blue flag to let Sutil pass! |
| Lap 49 | Webber pits from fourth. He is on slicks now... |
| Lap 50 | Piquet is off at turn one as he noses the car into the tyres. |
| Lap 50 | Button pits and takes slicks, but a big risk as Piquet just showed. |
| Lap 51 | Glock pits. |
| Lap 51 | Trulli took slicks too. |
| Lap 52 | Kovalainen takes slicks as he pits. |
| Lap 52 | Hamilton leads Massa by 34s after a hot lap. |
| Lap 53 | Kubica lining up Massa... Can he pass? |
| Lap 53 | Alonso is 14th and fastest on the dry tyres. |
| Lap 54 | Kubica pits from third and takes slicks. |
| Lap 54 | Sutil, Nakajima and Rosberg also pit. |
| Lap 54 | Hamilton pits from the lead. |
| Lap 55 | Hamilton exits in the lead. |
| Lap 55 | Another stop for Rosberg... |
| Lap 56 | Button gets hit by Kovalainen and spins exiting the tunnel as Barrichello pits. |
| Lap 57 | Sutil is now ahead of Webber who did not lap fast on the dry tyres. |
| Lap 57 | Massa pits from second and takes dry tyres. |
| Lap 57 | Kubica takes second position from Massa. |
| Lap 58 | Raikkonen pits from fourth position as Hamilton now has 40s over Kubica. |
| Lap 59 | Sutil now runs an incredible fourth!! |
| Lap 60 | Raikkonen now runs fifth. |
| Lap 61 | Webber is now closing on Raikkonen. |
| Lap 61 | Hamilton laps Alonso for a second time in the tunnel. |
| Lap 62 | 20 minutes remain to the cut off so they will not quite complete 78 laps before the chequered flag. |
| Lap 62 | A big shunt for Rosberg at the swimming pool. The safety car is out. |
| Lap 62 | Rosberg was in tenth position at the time and it was a heavy impact. |
| Lap 63 | So Hamilton will lose his 38s lead over Kubica. |
| Lap 63 | Heidfeld pits again - an awful weekend for him. He runs last anyway. |
| Lap 64 | Rosberg ran wide into the swimming pool and hit one barrier which then sent him into the other on the outside. |
| Lap 64 | Rosberg is out of the car andokay. A nasty incident. |
| Lap 65 | The Williams has been removed and the race should sson resume. |
| Lap 65 | The s/c is on track still. |
| Lap 66 | Most of the lapped car have been allowed to pass, but Kovalainen has not and remains in line. |
| Lap 66 | Kovalainen is now ahead of Hamilton and should unlap himself. |
| Lap 67 | Now Heidfeld needs to do the same as they are holding up the restart. |
| Lap 67 | So Sutil in now fighting Massa and Raikkonen... |
| Lap 68 | The race is underway. |
| Lap 68 | A clean restart |
| Lap 68 | Raikkonen all over Sutil. |
| Lap 68 | Raikkonen loses the Ferrari under braking and hits Sutil. Damage for Raikkonen as he has broken his wing. |
| Lap 69 | Raikkonen pits |
| Lap 69 | Sutil has to pit too. A real real shame. He was on for fourth and he is out. |
| Lap 69 | Raikkonen has ruined Sutil's race and that is a real shame as Sutil had a flawless race. |
| Lap 70 | Hamilton leads Kubica with Massa third abd Webber fourth. Vettel is now fifth ahead of Barrichello, Nakajima and Kovalainen. |
| Lap 71 | Raikkonen runs in ninth position now |
| Lap 72 | Kovalainen is in eighth but is too far behind Nakajima to catch. Had he and McLaren known the rules he would be in the train at the restart. |
| Lap 73 | This will be a timed race. Four minutes remain. |
| Lap 73 | Kovalainen and Raikkonen are the fastest on track as they battle for the final point. |
| Lap 74 | Two minutes remain, the race is not over. |
| Lap 75 | One minute remains. |
| Lap 76 | Hamilton is heading for his second win of the season. |
| Lap 76 | Two hours are up. |
| Lap 76 | Hamilton wins the Monaco Grand Prix. |
| Lap 76 | Kubica takes second ahead of Massa, Webber, Vettel, Barrichello, Nakajima and Kovalainen. No points for Kimi Raikkonen after two big errors. |
| Lap 76 | Hamilton takes over the championship lead from Raikkonen. McLaren move ahead of BMW in the constructors' championship. |
