2009 Monaco Grand Prix: Jenson Button, Prince Of Monaco

Jenson Button continued to dominate the 2009 season with a perfect win around the streets of Monte Carlo as Brawn take their third 1-2.

The 29 year old Brit joined the prestigious list of names to have lifted the trophy in the Principality and is now well on his way to joining some on the other most prestigious of lists, that of Formula One World Champions.

Ferrari returned to form by taking their first podium of the season through former World Champion Kimi Raikkonen as team-mate Felipe Massa followed him home in fourth. Red Bull will be disappointed with the outcome of their weekend after Mark Webber could only manage fifth and young star Sebastien Vettel could only manage the armco.

As important as qualifying is here in Monaco, it can all be undone at the lights, with many anticipating the start to be Jenson Button vs The KERS Button. Fortunately for Jenson the expected threat of Raikkonen away from the line never materialised as it was in fact Barrichello passing the Ferrari, to leave the Brawn cars out front into lap one. The run to the first corner apparently too short to take advantage of the KERS system.

The opening stint was highly entertaining as the choice of tyre compound came subject to debate. Bridgestone rumoured before the start that the super-soft would struggle to last past 14 laps, making the first stint ideal to get them out the way for those running light on fuel. So it came as a surprise to Brawn when Ferrari and the majority of the other front runners opted to go for the harder compound.

Vettel was the first to see his tyres fall off the pace, as early as lap 9, leaving him defending fourth place to a queue consisting of half the grid. Massa was first to try and pass but Vettel defended well into the chicane following the tunnel, forcing the Ferrari driver to decide between a collision or cutting the chicane.

He chose the later which pushed him ahead, and to avoid a penalty immediately lifted back, but conceded too much speed and allowed Nico Rosberg in the Williams to slip by. Two laps later and both were past the Red Bull driver as his tyres went away completely, leaving him helpless to anyone close enough to pass.

At the front Brawn were starting to show signs of the same problems, and this is where the race was won for Button, who managed the graining much better than his veteran team-mate, pulling out two seconds a lap over Barrichello and an overall lead of 16 seconds, as the Brazilian himself fell back towards Kimi Raikkonen.

Possibly trying to compensate for the time lost during the opening stint, Vettel went too hard into the first corner and ended his race, "I was braking a little too late, lost the rear, hit the wall". The mistake leaving him a full 28 points adrift of Button in the championship.

Another two cars ended up in the Saint Devote wall, Torro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi and Renault's Nelson Piquet. Colliding down the straight as Buemi ran into the back of Piquet, removing all downforce and pushing them both towards the barrier. Piquet was clearly disappointed at the incident and vented his anger straight towards the Buemi, "Vettel was holding everyone up and I was going to pass them all", "This is what happens when you bring young drivers into Formula One".

The second and third stints were the usual Monaco procession, as drivers ensured they made the finish line, with only a couple of positional changes made through pit stops, Felipe Massa jumping to fourth directly behind his team-mate as the Ferrari's tried to chase down the Brawn of Barrichello ahead.

Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso and Sebastien Bourdais rounded off the points scoring positions.

World Champion Lewis Hamilton has had a weekend to forget after Saturday's qualifying error, and finished only 12th in a race he won last year. Fortunes continue to worsen at BMW as well as pre-season favourite Robert Kubica retired mid race.