Webber sparks Red Bull 1-2 romp

MONACO – Mark Webber won the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday to lead a Red Bull 1-2 finish at the famous street race.

Webber’s fourth career win moved him top of the Formula One standings ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel, who overtook Robert Kubica of Renault from the start to finish 0.4 seconds behind. Both Red Bull drivers have 78 points from six races, but Webber leads thanks to his two race wins.

“To win here is a very, very special day,” said Webber, the second Australian driver – after Jack Brabham – to win the iconic seaside race. “This place is such a test for two hours.”

Kubica held on to third place, while Felipe Massa of Ferrari was fourth ahead of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.

Five-time race winner Michael Schumacher passed Fernando Alonso at the last corner, just after the safety car had come in, to finish sixth. But the two former world champions could swap places since the pass goes against safety-car deployment rules. The incident is being investigated.

“The cars were removed. There was no further need” for the safety car, Schumacher said. “So I took my opportunity.”

Alonso, who benefited from a timely pit stop early on to storm through the field and overcome a last-place start, is third in the overall standings with 73 points for Ferrari.

“I’m not 100 percent on the rules, but I trust my team,” Alonso said. “My team was saying no overtaking on the last lap.”

Webber became the first Australian since Alan Jones in 1980 to win back-to-back races after taking last week’s Spanish GP from pole. He was worried late on as he watched Jarno Trulli’s Lotus fly over the top of Karun Chandhok’s HRT car at La Rascasse corner in the closing stages.

“I thought: ‘What the hell is going to happen here?”’ said Webber, who had to endure four appearances by the safety car. “I just hoped I had some options to go on the inside.”

Red Bull appears to have put reliability issues behind it as it scored its second 1-2 of the season after taking a sixth straight pole position to also take the constructors’ championship lead.

“All in all it was a very good day for us,” said Vettel, who wasn’t completely satisfied with his car. “We can sleep well tonight.”

Defending F1 and Monaco champion Jenson Button’s day ended on his second lap when his McLaren’s Mercedes engine blew out, while Alonso started in the pit lane because his Ferrari couldn’t take part in qualifying due to a crash in practice.

Massa’s 71 points put him one up on Button, while Hamilton and Kubica share 59.

Actors Michael Douglas and Jennifer Lopez were among the celebrities who watched the French Riviera race get off to a dramatic start with Nico Hulkenberg’s opening-lap crash.

The rookie Williams driver slammed into the barrier inside the Tunnel – the fastest section of the narrow course – after running wide. Button’s engine started spewing smoke with the safety car out.

Alonso immediately pitted for a mandatory change of tires that he would run to the close on.

Before that, Webber had defended his pole position cleanly while Kubica didn’t on his start, as Vettel moved up the inside to go second around the first corner. Both Red Bulls pulled away from the field from that point, despite the safety car bunching the field back several times.