Formation lap: Fourth-fastest qualifier Heikki Kovalainen is left on the grid: mechanics push him to the pits.

Lap 1: On pole position for the first time in Monaco, Felipe Massa leads away well on a damp track. Lewis Hamilton outruns Kimi Räikkönen into second and Robert Kubica grabs fourth from Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg (who clips Alonso at the hairpin), Jarno Trulli, Timo Glock, Nick Heidfeld, Kazuki Nakajima, Mark Webber, David Coulthard, Rubens Barrichello, Sébastien Bourdais, Nelson Piquet, Adrian Sutil, Sebastian Vettel, Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen. Jenson Button pits after losing his nose against one of Heidfeld’s rear wheels at the chicane.

Lap 2: Massa leads by 1.3s. Webber passes Nakajima. Sutil passes Piquet.

Lap 3: Rosberg pits for a fresh nose. Sutil passes Bourdais.

Lap 4: Massa laps in 1m34.600s to lead by 2.6s. Glock spins and pits for a new nose. Vettel passes Piquet.

Lap 6: Hamilton clips the barriers at Tabac and pits with a damaged right rear wheel. Massa leads Räikkönen by 12.0s. Hamilton drops to fifth.

Lap 7: Bourdais passes Sutil.

Lap 8: Alonso crashes at Massenet and makes it back to the pits. Coulthard and Bourdais go off at the same spot – permanently, in both cases. Piquet passes Vettel. The safety car is deployed.

Lap 11: Restart. Räikkönen is handed a drive-through penalty because his tyres were not fully fitted when the three-minute board was shown on the grid. Massa leads by 3.0s from Räikkönen, Kubica, Hamilton, Heidfeld, Webber and Alonso. Piquet passes Sutil. Kovalainen passes Fisichella.

Lap 12: Alonso passes Webber at Mirabeau. Rosberg and Glock pass Fisichella when the latter skates across the chicane.

Lap 13: Räikkönen serves his penalty. Button passes Fisichella.

Lap 14: Alonso pushes Heidfeld into a spin at the hairpin. Webber rams Alonso and most of the midfield comes to a halt. Alonso and Rosberg pit at the lap’s end. Sutil vaults from 11th to seventh.

Lap 15: Trulli passes Barrichello.

Lap 16: Massa spins at Ste Dévote. Kubica leads.

Lap 17: Heidfeld slows and heads for the pits. Trulli and Barrichello pass Nakajima.

Lap 18: Fastest lap to Kubica: 1m34.529s.

Lap 19: Massa posts a 1m34.002: he trails by 1.4s. Rosberg, 17th, laps in 1m33.273s.

Lap 20: Rosberg goes faster again: 1m33.214s.

Lap 21: Kubica laps in 1m33.218s. Vettel passes Piquet.

Lap 22: Massa sets fastest lap: 1m32.703s. The gap is 1.9s.

Lap 23: Massa goes faster again: 1m32.163s. The deficit is down to 1.7s as the track dries. Kovalainen passes Piquet and Vettel.

Lap 24: Kubica 1m31.805s, Massa 1m31.749s: gap 1.7s. Piquet and Vettel swap places again.

Lap 25: Kubica posts a 1m31.156s.

Lap 26: Kubica pits.

Lap 27: Räikkönen goes straight on at Ste Dévote: his front wing is damaged and he pits at the end of the lap. He drops to sixth. Massa leads Hamilton by 16.5s.

Lap 28: Massa laps in 1m30.749s. He leads by 17.3s.

Lap 31: Fastest lap to Hamilton: 1m30.553s. He trails by 16.0s. Webber then beats it: 1m30.388s.

Lap 32: Massa posts a 1m30.896s, Webber a 1m29.880s.

Lap 33: Massa pits and rejoins second, ahead of Kubica. Webber laps in 1m29.535s.

Lap 34: The new leader Hamilton laps in 1m29.428s. He leads Massa by 13.2s. Kovalainen pits.

Lap 36: Webber posts a 1m29.368s, Sutil a 1m29.292s. Vettel repasses Piquet.

Lap 37: Webber posts a 1m29.055s, Sutil a 1m29.043s. Trulli pits.

Lap 38: The lapped Glock spins into the tyres at Mirabeau and pits at the lap’s end. Fisichella pits to retire.

Lap 40: Hamilton laps in 1m28.665s. He leads by 18.0s.

Lap 41: Hamilton laps in 1m27.385s: the lead is now 21.6s. Barrichello posts a 1m27.168s.

Lap 42: Barrichello goes quicker still: 1m26.978s.

Lap 43: Hamilton leads Massa by 24.9s. Kubica is another 6.1s back in third. Webber, fourth, laps in 1m26.921s. Sutil and Räikkönen complete the top six. Rosberg passes Button.

Lap 44: Webber laps in 1m26.727s: he is catching Kubica. Alonso pits and takes on dry tyres.

Lap 46: Hamilton posts a 1m26.546s. Massa is 28.1s adrift. Webber loses 3.0s to Kubica because of traffic. Piquet pits. He plumps for dries and crashes soon afterwards, at Ste Dévote.

Lap 47: Kubica laps in 1m26.371s. Alonso appears to be struggling on dries.

Lap 48: Webber pits, opts for dries and drops off the pace. Rosberg posts a 1m25.256s. Glock pits.

Lap 49: Kovalainen pits.

Lap 52: Alonso, two laps adrift, is now going as quickly as those on wets.

Lap 53: Hamilton leads Massa by 37.6s. Alonso sets fastest lap: 1m24.767s. Kubica and Sutil pit for dries.

Lap 54: Hamilton pits: he rejoins, in the lead, on dries. Massa sets a personal best – 1m27.161s – on intermediates. Button spins at the chicane after a nudge from Kovalainen. Barrichello pits.

Lap 56: Hamilton leads by 15.4s. Massa pits and rejoins on super-soft dries. He almost loses control as he rejoins behind Kubica. Kovalainen is presently the quickest driver on the track: 1m22.648s.

Lap 57: Hamilton leads Kubica and Massa. Räikkönen pits from fourth and loses a place to Sutil. Webber lies sixth. The rest, headed by Vettel and Barrichello, are lapped. Kovalainen, 11th and a lap in arrears, posts a 1m20.801s.

Lap 62: Rosberg crashes heavily at the Swimming Pool. With debris all across the track, the safety car is deployed again. Hamilton leads Kubica, Massa, Sutil, Räikkönen and Webber. Vettel, Barrichello, Nakajima and Kovalainen are one lap down. Alonso, Glock and Trulli have been lapped twice. Heidfeld is still running right at the back.

Lap 68: Restart. Räikkönen almost loses it at the tunnel exit and rams Sutil at the chicane. He pits for another front wing; Sutil is forced to retire. On cold tyres Hamilton sets a personal best: 1m21.147s.

Lap 69: Hamilton posts a 1m19.992s…

Lap 70: …and a 1m19.006s. He leads Kubica by 3.4s. Kovalainen laps in 1m18.897s.

Lap 71: Räikkönen, now ninth, laps in 1m18.008s.

Lap 76: The race ends two laps early due to the two-hour time limit. Hamilton wins by 3.064s from Kubica, Massa, Webber, Vettel, Barrichello, Nakajima, Kovalainen, Räikkönen and Alonso.