Mark Webber wins Monaco Grand Prix from pole position

Mark Webber is expecting plenty more twists and turns in this most unpredictable of seasons after the Red Bull racer landed his second Monaco Grand Prix victory.

The Australian speedster, winner there in 2010, was constantly looking over his shoulder around the streets of the principality as the top six were separated by just a few seconds.

Webber was closely followed home by Mercedes’ flyer Nico Rosberg, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, reigning champion and team-mate Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton of McLaren and the second Ferrari in Brazilian Felipe Massa.

And his determined drive made it six different winners in the opening six races - the first time that’s happened in Formula One’s 62-year history.

And, while Webber wants Red Bull to find the consistency that led them to the past two constructors championships, the 35-year-old reckons the Canadian Grand Prix in two weeks’ time could be up for grabs too.

“[Qualifying] has been up and down and the races hard to predict so even for us how to judge how the Grand Prix is going to unfold is not straightforward,” Webber said. “So it’s sometimes frustrating for us because we like to push the limits and get the most out of what we have.

“Maybe we’ll have seven different winners after Montreal, you never know. But hopefully we can get a bit of routine now. It’s rewarding because we won with the least competitive car over the last three seasons, in a way.”

It wasn’t the most exciting race in history, despite the closeness of the leading six cars, although it began with a bang, with Romain Grosjean colliding with Michael Schumacher to then cause a chain of hits including Kamui Kobayashi, Pastor Maldonado and Pedro de la Rosa.

And, as the rain didn’t arrive until 15 minutes after the finish, there was obvious delight and relief from Webber, who confirmed: “I feel incredible. It was a very interesting race, reasonably straightforward at the start, just managing the gap to Nico.

“But then the weather was threatening at the first pit-stop window, but Nico went for it, and people had to react. The second half of the race was very strange because it was very hard to get the soft tyre warmed up. I’m really glad to have won here again, a great victory for me.”

Rosberg was equally as happy with his second place, saying: “After the start it was about tyre management. I was surprised how strong we were, not only in qualifying but also the race. It didn’t quite come together perfectly, but I’m very happy with second. I’m very pleased.”

Alonso, who now leads the championship standings by three points from Vettel and Webber, added: “Our strategy was to finish in front of Sebastian and Lewis, and we did that. If you go race by race then the next one to look at will be Mark, but with every race there is the prospect of constant surprises. But here I felt good, I felt competitive, and I’m happy with that.”