Coulthard Takes Strong Win at the Monaco GP

David Coulthard resisted incessant pressure from World Champion Michael Schumacher to score his first victory for more than a year on Sunday as he ended the Ferrari team's four-race reign in a fight to the finish at the Monaco Grand Prix.

The pair raced nose to tail around the barrier-lined streets for the final 27 laps but Coulthard held off Schumacher to give his McLaren-Mercedes team their first win of the season with his 12th Grand Prix victory proving Ferrari can be beaten.

German Ralf Schumacher, of Williams-BMW, finished third after a quiet race and Jarno Trulli scored his first points for Renault after holding off a spirited fight for fourth from Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, who finished fifth for the second race in a row.

German Heinz-Harald Frentzen completed the top six for Arrows after holding off the recovering Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello, who had a torrid penalty-filled race and failed to recover to score a point.

Coulthard made the perfect start to pass pole-man Juan Pablo Montoya into Sainte Devote and the Colombian did not fight the position but settled for second, with Schumacher's Ferrari and his Williams-BMW teammate Ralf Schumacher behind him.

Briton Jenson Button, of Renault, jumped the start but dropped to the back when he lost power after slowing and his hopes of battling through the field were ruined when he was issued a drive-through penalty.

The top four continued to race nose to tail, covered by less than two seconds for much of the early laps as Coulthard soaked up the pressure with all drivers in the lead train trading fastest laps. Scot Allan McNish, who had been confident of success in his well-performing Toyota, was the first to crash out, hitting the inside wall at Sainte Devote and ending up in the tyre barrier.

Italian Fisichella then slowed in the chicane on lap 21 and his Jordan teammate Takuma Sato passed him, but two laps later the unfortunate Japanese driver crashed in the tunnel as he moved over to let Fisichella back past.

The lead remained unchanged as the midfield battles continued, and it was two Brazilians, Enrique Bernoldi of Arrows and Felipe Massa of Sauber, who collided next, as they headed into Ste Devote. Both continued, but Massa had to pit for a new nosecone.

Tell-tale signs of smoke from Coulthard's car pointed to a possible failure, but he continued and it was, instead, Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams-BMW which gave up the ghost, forcing him out of the race on lap 47.

Before that, Alex Yoong had hit the barriers at Massenet, making it three of the five rookies to crash out of the race, and Kimi Raikkonen had been hit by Rubens Barrichello as they headed into the chicane.

That crash spelt the end of Raikkonen's race and ruined Barrichello's because he was given a 10-second stop-go penalty for the incident and then drive through penalty for speeding on his stop-go. Jacques Villeneuve posted his fourth non-finish in seven years at Monaco on lap 47, when the engine in his BAR-Honda gave up the ghost and he pulled over at the first corner.

With Schumacher already refuelled after a stop on lap 44, leader Coulthard pitted on lap 51 and, despite Schumacher's efforts to post the fastest lap of the race on Coulthard's in-lap, he failed to get past and a grandstand finish was set up.

Coulthard came out right in front of the Ferrari, and Schumacher hounded him but the Scot soaked up the pressure as the pair battled more than 20 seconds ahead of third-placed Ralf Schumacher.

Brazilian Felipe Massa had clearly not learned from his previous mistake at Sainte Devote and, on lap 66, he went straight on again, this time all on his own, and clattered into the tyre barrier, wiping off the two front wheels of his car.

Victorious Coulthard was quick to claim his prize at the end of the race and greeted team boss Ron Dennis with a hug on the podium as he celebrated a surprise victory in a season which has been tough for the Woking-based outfit so far.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS The Monaco Grand Prix Monte Carlo, Monaco; 78 laps; 262.860km; Weather: Sunny and dry. Classified: Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time 1. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1h 45:39.055 2. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) + 1.050 3. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) + 1:17.450 4. Trulli Renault (M) + 1 Lap 5. Fisichella Jordan Honda (B) + 1 Lap 6. Frentzen Arrows Cosworth (B) + 1 Lap 7. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 1 Lap 8. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) + 2 Laps 9. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) + 2 Laps 10. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) + 2 Laps 11. Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) + 2 Laps 12. Bernoldi Arrows Cosworth (B) + 2 Laps Fastest Lap: Barrichello, 1:18.023, lap 68 Not Classified/Retirements: Driver Team On Lap Reason Salo Toyota (M) 70 Accident Massa Sauber Petronas (B) 65 Crash Panis BAR Honda (B) 53 Accident Button Renault (M) 53 Accident Montoya Williams BMW (M) 48 Engine Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 46 Mechanical Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 43 Accident Yoong Minardi Asiatech (M) 31 Mechanical Sato Jordan Honda (B) 24 Crash McNish Toyota (M) 17 Accident World Championship Standing, Round 7: Drivers: Constructors: 1. M.Schumacher 60 1. Ferrari 72 2. R.Schumacher 27 2. Williams-BMW 54 = Montoya 27 3. McLaren-Mercedes 24 4. Coulthard 20 4. Renault 11 5. Barrichello 12 5. Sauber-Petronas 8 6. Button 8 6. Jordan-Honda 4 7. Heidfeld 5 7. Jaguar-Cosworth 3 8. Raikkonen 4 8. Minardi-Asiatech 2 = Fisichella 4 = Toyota 2 10. Irvine 3 = Arrows 2 = Massa 3 = Trulli 3 13. Webber 2 = Salo 2 = Frentzen 2 All timing unofficial