Sebastian Vettel has won the Monaco Grand Prix after starting from second position on the grid. The race was decided in the pit stop phase of the race, with Kimi Raikkonen pitting from the lead after keeping first place off the line.

Raikkonen kept his lead off the line with Vettel tucking into second. The two Ferrari's looked comfortable as they streaked away from the cars behind, pulling a three-second gap to Valtteri Bottas behind.

Raikkonen pitted on lap 45 and lost time to Vettel who set a series of fast laps. The German pitted 5 laps after Raikkonen and emerged ahead of his teammate, dominating the second half of the race to take a commanding victory.

Daniel Ricciardo secured his second podium of the year, as he too was able to do an overcut on Bottas and teammate Max Verstappen. Verstappen was not happy to be jumped by Ricciardo and crossed the line in fifth. Verstappen and Bottas pitted on lap 33 and 34 respectively, while Ricciardo was able to make up the time, and peeled into the pits on lap 39, coming out well clear of the two.

Carlos Sainz finished sixth after holding off Lewis Hamilton in the final stages. Hamilton climbed from P13 to P7 and will relatively happy after Toto Wolff said that his race would be a case of damage limitation. Romain Grosjean was eighth for Haas, securing four points for himself and his team.

Felipe Massa crossed the line in ninth while Kevin Magnussen was tenth. There was a late safety car as Jenson Button and Pascal Wehrlein came together. It was a scary moment for Wehrlein who was flipped sideways into the barriers but was relatively okay with no serious injuries and was able to walk from the accident.

Marcus Ericsson was unfortunate to crash under the safety car, putting both Sauber's out, and then both McLaren's were out as Vandoorne hit the wall at turn 1 on the safety car restart. Vandoorne was running in tenth when he crashed, denying McLaren-Honda the opportunity for points.

Ricciardo hit the barriers on the restart but was lucky to escape without any damage. Vettel began to build up the gap at the front once again, as he had an 11-second gap to Raikkonen before the safety car came out. 

Daniil Kvyat and Sergio Perez were running ninth and tenth, up until Perez went for a dive on Kvyat in the penultimate corner. Kvyat was forced to retire while Perez pitted, ending his streak of point finishes. Lance Stroll retired in the garage with 5 laps to go. Vettel now holds a 25 point lead in the championship while Ferrari leaps Mercedes in the constructor's standings.

Fergal Walsh