Lewis Hamilton's F1 World Drivers Championship bid is back on track after a brilliant win in Monaco. The young Brit now leads nearest rival Kimi Raikkonen by three points after round six of the 2008 season.

On Friday, Hamilton had been quickest in practice only to be overtaken in Saturday's final qualifying by Ferrari duo Felipe Massa and Raikkonen. This was bad news for Hamilton who would find it hard to overhaul his main rivals on the narrow streets of Monaco from the second row of the grid. Overtaking on this very difficult Grand Prix has caused many a collision over the years and Hamilton had to make sure he avoided the Ferraris in any move he made.

Avoid them he did, as the young Brit eased past Raikkonen right from the start when the reigning world champion was slow to get away. Hamilton moved up to second behind Massa but was forced into the pits with a puncture after clipping a wall when he lost it in the wet weather. The British fans must have thought that was it for their hero – I did! But the McLaren team used the stop to give Hamilton enough fuel to gain an advantage over his rivals.

‘This win meant so much for Hamilton and he was delighted at his performance, even having time to apologise to his whole team for his slip-up early in the race’


Hamilton said after the race that the pace of the McLaren car was exceptional and gave him a fantastic advantage over most of his rivals – just think how quick he could have gone without the wet conditions. The speed and the strategy meant Hamilton was way superior to Massa, only for the safety car to keep coming out and making the race even more interesting.

I am so pleased Hamilton won in Monaco and it’s even sweeter that his main rival, Raikkonen, could only finish ninth after numerous mistakes. Maybe Massa will be Hamilton's's biggest threat this season, or even BMW's Robert Kubica. Hamilton had slipped back since his victory in Australia in the opening race of the season but he is now on top of the pile again.

This weekend's Grand Prix showed again how the McLarens and Ferraris perform differently on each track, and that should make for plenty of twists and turns in the remainder of the season.