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DRAMA: Williams driver Nico Rosberg was just one of many crash victims in a race littered with accidents. -- PHOTOS: AP
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MONTE CARLO - LEWIS Hamilton hit a barrier but still realised a childhood dream when he won a wet Monaco Grand Prix yesterday to gain the upper hand in the fight for the Formula One world title.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen now trails the McLaren star by three points on 35 after he finished ninth, and out of the points.
Teammate Felipe Massa finished third behind BMW's Robert Kubica despite starting on pole in his Ferrari.
As a boy, Hamilton grew up watching his hero, Brazilian Ayrton Senna, win the famous race around the streets of the principality six times for McLaren.
In the 66th edition of the race, he did it himself. But the race was littered with incidents and accidents and was finally shortened from the usual 78 to 76 laps so that it could be finished within the mandatory two hours.
Hamilton passed Raikkonen at the start, going into second from third. But, after just six laps on the slick roads, he hit the barriers, almost wrecking his right rear wheel.
But the early pit-stop worked to his advantage. When Kubica and Massa made the first of their routine stops, Hamilton was able to gain the lead on Lap 33, one he did not relinquish.
With enough fuel, he was also able to stay out until the 54th lap before his next stop, by which time the track had dried sufficiently for him to be at no risk when the team put him on dry tyres.
'That was a fantastic job as always,' he told his team over the radio. 'I apologise for hitting the barrier. Let's go party tonight.'
After the race, he said: 'This is the highlight of my career, and it will be the highlight for the rest of my life. It is unreal for me and to be on top of the championship again is all too much.
'I said it would be an eventful race, but I didn't expect this.'
Massa blamed Ferrari's decision to switch to a one-stop strategy in mid-race for his defeat.
'I was so quick in the first stint,' he said. 'Then suddenly, we changed to one stop and that was a big mistake because the track was getting drier and we expected some more rain but it didn't come.
'I wanted to stop again and we took too long to change the tyres. It was a shame.'
The first big crash happened on Lap 9, when David Coulthard sent his Red Bull into a barrier.
Seconds later, his stationary car was hit from behind by Sebastien Bourdais after the Frenchman lost control of his Toro Rosso, forcing the safety car into action.
Then came confirmation of a foolish mistake by Ferrari prior to the race start. Raikkonen had to incur a drive-through penalty because the team did not fit his tyres fully by the three-minute signal prior to the start of the race.
With barely 20 minutes remaining, Nico Rosberg crashed spectacularly into a barrier.
With a wrecked car and debris all over the track, the safety car was brought out for the second time. It whittled Hamilton's 40-second lead down to nothing with 17 minutes to go.
Six minutes later, the safety car pitted.
But there was still more drama as Raikkonen lost control of his car and ran into the back of Force India's Adrian Sutil, who was in fourth place at the time and on course to give the minnows their first points of the season.
With that, the Finn wrecked his, and Sutil's race, and the German was forced to retire.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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