Race Incidents

Michael Schumacher was dropped to the back of the grid overnight after the incident at Rascasse in qualifying and so Ferrari decided to start him from the pitlane.

* Lap 1: At the start of the race Fernando Alonso goes away well with Mark Webber, Kimi Raikkonen, Juan-Pablo Montoya, Rubens Barrichello and a fast-starting Nico Rosberg leading the way. David Coulthard was seventh ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella and a slow-starting Jarno Trulli. Christian Klien is 10th. Further back Christijan Albers squeezes Tiago Monteiro into the pitwall and the Portuguese driver damages his front wing. Albers is later given a drive-through penalty for causing an avoidable accident, thus doubly penalising the MF1 Racing team. By the end of the lap Michael Schumacher is up to 18th.

* Lap 2: As the leaders go up the hill from Ste Devote Kimi Raikkonen pulls out and passes Webber for second place. At the back Schumacher passes Albers and Scott Speed to move up to 16th.

* Lap 3: As the race begins to settle down Alonso is able to stay ahead of Raikkonen but cannot pull away from Raikkonen while Webber is able to hang on. Montoya is not far behind in fourth place but Barrichello drops quickly away and is clearly on a different strategy to the men ahead of him.

* Lap 18: The order is unchanged but the gaps have altered. Raikkonen is still with Alonso but Webber has dropped back 2.8secs, mainly because of backmarkers. Further back Albers gets his drive-through penalty and drops one place to 19th.

* Lap 20: Michael Schumacher catches Jenson Button unawares at the chicane and grabs 15th place.

* Lap 21: Montoya is the first man to stop but the top four have been fast enough that he rejoins before Barrichello arrives.

* Lap 22: Raikkonen stops and that puts Webber up to second. Kimi rejoins ahead of Montoya.

* Lap 23: Nico Rosberg stops but the strategy is poor and he tumbles from sixth to 15th.

* Lap 24: Alonso stops and Webber takes the lead. Fernando rejoins in second ahead of the two McLarens.

* Lap 25: Webber stops and so Alonso goes back into the lead. Raikkonen is right with him. Webber is third but going very quickly. Montoya is third.

* Lap 27: Seventh-placed Fisichella heads for the pitlane after spending the first part of the race stuck behind Barrichello and Coulthard. This drops Giancarlo down from seventh to 15th.

* Lap 29: Sixth-placed Coulthard stops and he too suffers from being trapped behind Barrichello and tumbles back to 12th place. It looks like DC is on a two-stop strategy but in fact he has taken on a lot of fuel and will run all the way to the flag.

* Lap 31: With the two-stop runners (and Coulthard) out of the way, the race settles again with Webber moving quickly up behind Alonso and Raikkonen. The pace is such that Montoya is also able to close in on the leaders. There is a gap of half a minute back to Barrichello who leads Trulli and Christian Klien. There is then a big gap back to Nick Heidfeld, who has Ralf Schumacher, Tonio Liuzzi, Jacques Villeneuve, Coulthard, Michael Schumacher, Rosberg and Fisichella behind him. Button is next ahead of Speed and Massa. The rest are lapped.

* Lap 32: Fisichella passes Rosberg for 14th.

* Lap 34: Massa passes Speed for 17th.

* Lap 36: At the front Webber gets stuck behind backmarkers and so drops back from the other two leaders. He soon closes up again. Michael Schumacher pits, his plan being to run to the flag. He falls from 13th to 17th.

* Lap 37: Massa stops and falls from 15th to 19th.

* Lap 39: Ralf Schumacher pits. He drops from ninth to 19th. Albers also pits.

* Lap 40: Heidfeld pits and drops from eighth down to 15th. Further back Fisichella passes Villeneuve for 10th.

* Lap 41: Klien is next to stop and is so far ahead of the nearest challenger and stays seventh. Rosberg passes Villeneuve to take 11th. Button stops and rejoins 19th.

* Lap 43: Webber drops back dramatically as he tries to lap Fisichella. At the same time Giancarlo is passing Liuzzi for eighth place. Further back Michael passes Villeneuve for 12th.

* Lap 44: Coulthard goes past Liuzzi for ninth. Villeneuve pits from 13th to 17th.

* Lap 45: Barrichello and Trulli are running fifth and sixth. They both pit and rejoin in the same positions.

* Lap 49: Mark Webber retires with an engine failure. The rear of the Williams catches fire. A Safety Car is sent out. Alonso, Raikkonen and Montoya all go into the pits. Also stopping are Fisichella, Liuzzi, Rosberg and Speed. While all this is happening Takuma Sato retires with a mechanical problem.

* Lap 51: The cars are running behind the Safety Car when Raikkonen retires with an engine failure.

* Lap 52: The race restarts and almost immediately Rosberg ran into the wall at Anthony Noghes.

* Lap 57: Fifth-placed Klien retires in the pitlane with mechanical trouble.

* Lap 58: Villeneuve is given a penalty for passing behind the Safety Car and so falls back from 12th to 15th.

* Lap 60: The order is Alonso, 16secs ahead of Montoya with a big gap behind him back to Barrichello. Trulli is behind him and Coulthard is fifth. Everyone else is a lap behind. Schumacher's long second stint means that he is up to fifth with Fisichella behind him and then Heidfeld. Behind him is Ralf Schumacher and Massa.

* Lap 63: Barrichello is given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane and so drops behind Trulli and Coulthard. On the same lap Schumacher and Fisichella unlap themselves as Alonso is now cruising for the flag.

* Lap 73: Trulli retires with a mechanical failure, losing Toyota a podium. Coulthard moves up to third.

* Lap 78: Alonso wins his first Monaco GP victory was Montoya second and Coulthard third. Barrichello is fourth and Michael Schumacher fifth and Fisichella sixth. The remaining points go to Heidfeld and Ralf Schumacher but they are both a lap behind. Massa is 11th with Liuzzi 12th and Button 13th.