Sebastian Vettel wins Monaco Grand Prix
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Redbull Action
Alonso finished second for the first time in 2011, with Button third and Red Bull's Mark Webber fourth.
Vettel had taken his first pole in Monte Carlo during a qualifying session which had been overshadowed by Sergio Perez's heavy crash which kept him out of the race.
Button, who started alongside Vettel on the front row, tried to play a decisive card in the race when he triggered the pit stops on lap 15.
Vettel had no choice but to respond and came in for his first stop on the following lap, but his crew of mechanics in the Red Bull garage did not have the tyres ready. The resulting delay saw Vettel return to the track in second place.
With a clear track ahead of him, Button quickly built a lead over the world champion. But while a clever strategy call helped McLaren and Hamilton win in China, this time their attempt to out-think Red Bull backfired.
Button was on a three-stop strategy and when he came in for a second time Vettel regained the lead, and Button dropped to third after his final stop. The Englishman refused to blame his team's strategy for failing to deliver him his first win of the season.
"We had to take the risk and go for more stops so we shouldn't be upset with what we did," said Button. "The team did a great job this weekend and I was happy with our strategy. We had to try to do something different to beat Vettel, it was working but it didn't work in the end."
Alonso had muscled his way past Webber and up to third with a typically aggressive start and the Spaniard gained another place thanks to a two-stop strategy.
Vettel looked in real danger as his one-stop strategy meant he had to nurse his tires for more than 60 laps. But the restart after the second safety car meant the three leading cars were able to change their tyres and Vettel comfortably cruised to the line.
Alonso said: "Seven days ago we were two minutes behind the leaders and now we are fighting for victory. "The car is identical to Barcelona so [this result] is just related to Monaco's unique circuit.
"It is also true that the car is working well on the supersoft tyres. They will be available for the next two races so hopefully we can repeat this performance."
Hamilton had a rollercoaster of an afternoon and was constantly in the thick of the action. After a tussle with Michael Schumacher's Mercedes, Hamilton received a drive-through penalty after he bumped Massa in a three-way battle with Webber at the hairpin.
To the end of the Grand Prix the reappearance of the safety car released the pressure on Vettel, and when the race resumed 20 minutes later with the three leaders all having changed their tyres, Vettel comfortably held off Alonso and Button to add the Monaco title to his growing collection.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said it had been particularly pleasing to win after the team had experienced a series of unexpected problems during the race.
"We had problems at Sebastian's first stop, we had radio issues and didn't get the tyres on that we wanted, so we had to change our strategy," said Horner.
"The main thing was that we didn't panic. We tried something a bit different, which was very aggressive, but Seb was making it work - that was what won him the race today."He was pretty confident, kept talking to his engineers, focusing on areas he could be quick."
Content credits: BBC F1
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