Pace but no prodium for Webber and Raikkonen.

Although several drivers failed to see the chequered flag in Monaco due to mechanical failures, two drivers in particular were heartbroken to see potential podium finishes disappear amidst the fire and smoke of their cars.

Indeed, Kimi Raikkonen and Mark Webber were the main pretenders to what appeared to be Fernando Alonso's race from the start, the duo hounding the Spaniard until they retired within two laps of each other.

It was a situation that angered both Raikkonen and Webber, with the Finn choosing not to face the team by going to spend time on his yacht in the harbour and the Australian venting his frustration by throwing his steering wheel back into his car in full view of the camera.

Up to that point, Webber had been a wry bet for a potential win, having fuelled his car up to pit later than Alonso and Raikkonen directly in front of him, but when his Cosworth engine cried enough on lap 48 he had to admit defeat.

Once again let down by the reliability issues that have blighted Williams' year so far, Webber doesn't believe that he and Nico Rosberg, who retired when an open throttle pitched him into the barriers, produced the results that showed the true pace of the car.

"I am very disappointed of course, it felt like we deserved something today, but reliability has let us down," Webber said. "There is no rewind button and all the hard work we did over the last few days is invisible now. We were quick here, I was going a lot longer than Fernando in the second stint and Juan-Pablo wasn't really a threat, so the podium was there.

"Aside from the start, when I got on the brakes a sniff late into Ste Devote and lost the place to Kimi - who was on new tyres - it was an hour of running at qualifying pace and I just had a bit more to go and it would have been a great result."

Raikkonen meanwhile was sure that he was on course for victory until the safety car came out, but was left to contemplate was could have been when the heat shield problem that causes him to stop in practice came back to haunt him.

"Things just didn't go my way today. Our strategy would probably have meant that I would have been able to take the lead after the second series of pitstops, but we really lost out when the Safety Car came out.

"Then there was a small fire caused by a heat shield which damaged a wiring loom and that was the end of the race for me. It's always disappointing to retire both for me and the team, but it's particularly hard when you all know that you are in with a good chance to win."