MONACO, May 25: McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton battled to a masterful Monaco Grand Prix victory on Sunday despite hitting the barriers on an afternoon of mayhem on the principality’s slippery streets.

The Briton’s sixth win in 23 starts, and second of the season, catapulted the 23-year-old to the top of the standings – three points clear of Ferrari’s world champion Kimi Raikkonen who took ninth place after a wet and crash-strewn race.

Poland’s Robert Kubica was second for BMW Sauber, 3.0 seconds behind, with Ferrari’s Brazilian Felipe Massa in third after starting on pole position.

The race, glamour highlight of the Formula One season, was ended after the two hour mark was reached with 76 of the 78 scheduled laps completed.

Hamilton made a great start, taking Raikkonen for second place into the first corner, but had to pit on lap seven with a deflated right rear tyre after a brush with the barriers at the harbour-side Tabac corner.

The Briton rejoined in fifth but still with everything to play for on a circuit where the slightest mistake carries a heavy penalty.

Ironically, the early pit stop played into Hamilton’s hands as others literally slipped up, with Massa sliding off at the Ste Devote corner and handing the lead to Kubica for a long stretch before the pitstops.

Hamilton’s victory made up for the disappointment of finishing runner-up in a McLaren one-two last year and allowed him to emulate his late boyhood hero and champion Ayrton Senna as a Monaco winner.

In a race turned into a lottery by rain and crashes, with accompanying safety car interventions, Australian Mark Webber finished fourth for Red Bull with Germany’s Sebastian Vettel fifth for Toro Rosso.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was sixth for Honda, his first points since 2006, with Japan’s Kazuki Nakajima seventh for Williams and Finland’s Heikki Kovalainen eighth for McLaren after starting last from the pit lane.

Hamilton’s friend Adrian Sutil provided the heartbreak and tears, the German starting 18th for Force India but enjoying the race of his life in fourth place until Raikkonen misjudged his braking and shunted him out at the tunnel exit with the chequered flag less than 10 minutes away.

Results:

1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 2:00:42.742; 2. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber +00:03.064; 3. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 00:04.811; 4. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull–Renault 00:19.295; 5. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso–Ferrari 00:24.657; 6. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 00:28.408; 7. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams–Toyota 00:30.180; 8. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren 00:33.191; 9. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 00:33.792; 10. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1 lap; 11. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1 lap; 12. Timo Glock (Germany) Toyota 1 lap; 13. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1 lap; 14. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 4 laps.

Retired: Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India–Ferrari 8 laps; Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams–Toyota 17 laps; Nelson Piquet (Brazil) Renault 29 laps; Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India–Ferrari 38 laps; David Coulthard (Britain) RedBull–Renault 69 laps; Sebastien Bourdais (France) Toro Rosso–Ferrari 69 laps.

Fastest lap: Kimi Raikkonen, 1:16.689, lap 74.—Reuters