Kimi Raikkonen dominated the Monaco Grand Prix today to up the pressure on world championship leader Fernando Alonso.
Raikkonen won easily from pole position as Alonso faded. The Renault driver could do nothing about Raikkonen's relentless march to victory and now sees his championship lead over the Finn cut to 22 points after finishing fourth.
Alonso suffered tyre wear problems which slowed him late in the race and allowed the Williams pair of Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber to register career-best results with second and third respectively.
McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya recovered from starting 16th following a penalty for a practice crash to fight his way through the field and take points for fifth while Toyota's Ralf Schumacher did likewise to take sixth.
World champion Michael Schumacher suffered another day to forget with a mid-race incident ruining his chances and leaving him to come home a frustrated seventh after overtaking Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello on the last lap.
Raikkonen made the perfect getaway at the start despite a heavy fuel load to keep Alonso at bay while behind them Webber slipped back.
The Williams driver has been beset by slow starts this season and suffered again, dropping from third to fifth as Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli flew by.
Narain Karthikeyan retired on lap 22 for the first major incident of the race but a more significant one was just around the corner.
Two laps later chaos reigned at Portier when Christijan Albers spun on the blind bend and caused a traffic jam.
David Coulthard and Schumacher were the first to reach the incident and the world champion lost his nose cone running into the back of the Red Bull. Coulthard was forced to retire.
Jacques Villeneuve and Barrichello were also caught up behind Albers' stricken Minardi, giving stewards no option but to call out the safety car.
Albers had been able to resume after his spin but team-mate Patrick Friesacher was less fortunate, losing control on the exit of the tunnel and slamming into the barriers on lap 31.
