Like father, like son as Rosberg rules Monaco

Nico Rosberg won Formula One's showcase Monaco Grand Prix for Mercedes yesterday, 30 years on from his world champion father Keke's triumph on the streets of the Mediterranean principality.

The pole-to-flag win, after two safety car deployments and a 25-minute stoppage caused by Pastor Maldonado crashing his Williams, was only the second of the German's career - as it was for his Finnish father in 1983.

Red Bull's triple world champion Sebastian Vettel made it a German one-two to extend his championship lead to 21 points over Finland's Kimi Raikkonen - who finished 10th - after six of the 19 races.

Rosberg's success, on the familiar streets of a town that has been home since his early years, made him the first son of a Monaco Grand Prix winner to win the most glamorous race on the calendar.

"It's amazing. This is my home, I've grown up here all my life and it's really special," he said. "The whole weekend went perfectly.

"The car was really good, the tyres held on and that was the key to the victory. I am ecstatic."

Australian Mark Webber, last year's winner and Vettel's teammate, was third ahead of 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton in the other Mercedes.

Raikkonen scrambled to his 23rd successive scoring finish - one short of Michael Schumacher's all-time record - after making up three positions on the last lap just when it seemed his hopes had been dashed by a collision with McLaren's Sergio Perez.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso also fell back in the title challenge after finishing seventh, with Force India's Adrian Sutil fifth and Jenson Button sixth for McLaren. Vettel has 107 points, Raikkonen 86 and Alonso 78.

The day had started with controversy, with Red Bull making an official protest after discovering that Mercedes had taken part in a secret tyre test with Pirelli in Spain last week, and uncertainty after the German team had failed to convert their previous poles into wins.