Rosberg appeared faintly overwhelmed at the magnitude of his accomplishment,
as he celebrated victory on the same circuit where his father Keke had
prevailed 30 years earlier, around the streets on which he used to take the
school run. Jubilant in the principality of his birth, he also emphasised
the debt of gratitude he felt to Rosberg Snr, saying: “I was very fortunate
to have a former world champion at home.”
The romance of his cathartic breakthrough still concealed the fact that the
real winner in Monaco was Sebastian Vettel, who finished second to extend
his lead at the top of the championship standings to 21 points over Kimi
Raikkonen, after the Finn faded in the late stages due to an overheating
engine.
“Overall I’m very happy and pleased with the result,” Vettel said. “We know
that it’s very difficult to overtake here” Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso
suffered a similar setback, sinking back to eighth despite attacking the
circuit with his customary audacity.
There was a further tussle in the McLaren camp, after the contretemps between Jenson
Button and Sergio Perez in Bahrain, when the Briton complained that
the Mexican wunderkind had turned into him having cut a chicane.
But the misery was perhaps greatest for Felipe Massa, who had to be held in a
neck brace by paramedics after a 150mph crash in exactly the same fashion as
his accident in the third practice session. Lotus’ Romain Grosjean was also
given a 10-place grid penalty for next month’s Canadian Grand Prix after
driving into the back of Daniel Ricciardo of Toro Rosso.