Fernando Alonso delivered McLaren’s 150th grand prix triumph around the streets of Monaco today, as the Silver Arrows utterly destroyed the opposition to lay down an ominous marker for the remainder of the campaign.
After leaving their rivals trailing in their wake for the majority of the weekend, there seemed little doubt this race would turn into a McLaren-Mercedes demonstration as soon as the lights went out, and so it was to prove. But if it was a demonstration, dull it most certainly was not.
As the rain that had threatened for much of Saturday held off on race day, one more variable was removed from the equation, and with
McLaren having locked out the front row in qualifying and Kimi Raikkonen’s costly smash in Q2,
Ferrari knew it was going to have its work cut out if it was to prevent the silver steamroller from walking away with proceedings in the race.
As the lights went out, though,
Lewis Hamilton was taking no chances, immediately cutting across to prevent any attack from
Felipe Massa behind, and allowing team-mate Alonso to safely maintain his pole position advantage as the two McLarens negotiated Ste Dévote for the first time line-astern. Behind them Massa held third place, with
Giancarlo Fisichella also retaining his grid spot in fourth.
Nick Heidfeld in the BMW-Sauber made up for a disappointing qualifying performance to nip past
Nico Rosberg and
Mark Webber into fifth, with Honda’s
Rubens Barrichello also displacing the Australian to run eighth.
By the end of the opening lap alone, it was already looking like turning into very much a McLaren-Mercedes benefit, as Massa dropped away in third and Fisichella held a similar advantage over Heidfeld and Rosberg behind. Indeed, such was the McLarens’ searing pace right from the word go, Heidfeld in sixth place was a full five seconds adrift after just one lap.
