Sebastian Vettel profited from a large stroke of fortune to win today's Monaco Grand Prix and strengthen his championship lead, beating Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button in a thrilling and incident-packed race that several drivers failed to finish.
Defending F1 champion Vettel has won five of six races for Red Bull this season, with only McLaren's Lewis Hamilton beating him in China.
"It was unbelievable, the race today was pretty entertaining," Vettel said.
"The roulette button must have stopped last night and kept on spinning."
Vettel now leads Hamilton by 58 points, his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber by 64, Button by 67 and Alonso by 74.
"We need to win three races and (Vettel) not to score," Alonso joked. "At the moment I don't think it's possible."
Vettel celebrated with team members by throwing himself into a swimming pool on top of Red Bull's 'Energy Station' - a meeting place for guests at the race. Other Red Bull staff did backflips into the pool as Vettel watched, smiling.
The German driver gambled by staying out on the same set of soft tires, turning the last 15 laps into a battle of wits as both Alonso's Ferrari and Button's McLaren were on his tail.
"Watching these guys hustle was great fun, I was waiting for the move," Button said. "Race pace, we are pretty close."
That gamble looked certain to backfire until a crash on lap 72 resulted in a red flag that suspended the session just as he was close to being caught.
That allowed Vettel to change his tires, and when the race resumed the last few laps became a procession.
"I saw the only chance to win this race was to try and stay out. I was nearly 20 laps under pressure with Fernando and Jenson behind, it was getting closer and closer," Vettel said.
Alonso's second place is the best performance of the season for the two-time former F1 champion, although Ferrari must be wondering what might have been, while Button will be exasperated at coming so close to winning again in Monaco.
"Third in Turkey and now second here, definitely a good weekend for us," Alonso said. "I think the first safety car played a big part. If not, Jenson was on his way to the victory. We gained one position with the first safety car, and maybe we lost victory with the red flag ... I had two places in mind (to attack) Vettel."
Webber finished fourth, ahead of Japan's Kamui Kobayashi and Hamilton.
Seven-time former champion Michael Schumacher, Ferrari's Felipe Massa, and Vitaly Petrov - whose Renault was involved in the late crash that halted the race - were among those who failed to finish.
The safety car was out twice even before the late red flag in a chaotic, intense afternoon of motor racing.
Vettel, starting from pole position for the fifth time this season, made a flying start under perfect blue skies. After just one lap, the German was ahead by 2.4 seconds and stretched his lead to nearly four seconds by the third.
But any thoughts that this would be a comfortable win for Vettel proved unfounded as the most exciting race of the season featured almost as many twists and turns as Monaco's famed street circuit itself.
Vettel looked certain to succumb to either Alonso or Button, but a crash involving Petrov and Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari swung the balance back in Vettel's favor.
The red flag came up, a dazed Petrov was taken out of his car, and drivers took the opportunity for much-needed repairs, and in Vettel's case, a decisive tire change.
Renault said that Petrov hurt his left ankle and was taken to hospital where checks showed there was no break.
"It was good to hear that Vitaly (Petrov) is fine," Vettel said.
While Vettel's Red Bull team was figuring out their strategy, the race behind him was increasingly fraught.
Massa clipped the tunnel wall and damaged the left side of his Ferrari just after an incident with Hamilton.
The Brazilian driver did well to bring his car to a comfortable stop, while Schumacher's Mercedes ground to halt at La Rascasse just under Prince Albert's hilltop palace with smoke billowing from the engine only moments later.
Alguersuari and Force India's Paul Di Resta bumped into each other and Di Resta was given a drive through penalty for causing the collision as the mini-battles continued behind Vettel. Di Resta also clipped a Virgin car later on, while Alguersuari collided with Petrov in the late crash.
Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello, meanwhile, was fined for speeding into the pit lane.
Button took his first pit stop on lap 15, while Vettel and Webber both came in a lap later. But both pit stops were painfully slow, with Red Bull apparently caught by surprise when Vettel came in for his stop.
"That certainly cost us the lead at that stage," Vettel said.
That played into Button's hands as he streaked ahead on the supersofts and the 2009 F1 champion led by nearly 11 seconds with a third of the race gone.
"He was pulling away like crazy," Vettel said. "If there had been no safety car it would have been difficult to beat Jenson as he was so far ahead."
Button extended his lead to 13 seconds until he decided to make his second tire change on lap 33, giving Vettel the lead again.
Soon after Hamilton and Massa got tangled up at a hairpin bend and Massa's Ferrari veered onto the dirty left side of the tunnel, with scattered debris and marbles, and into the wall. Hamilton continued despite his front wing having been clipped in the incident with Massa.
Hamilton got a drive through penalty for causing the collision, and later got another drive through penalty and a 20-second time penalty relating to another incident with Pastor Maldonado. It did not affect Hamilton's overall position.
Massa's accident coincided with the end of Schumacher's race and brought the safety car out.
Button came in for his third stop on lap 48, switching to primes, but Red Bull decided not to - banking on Vettel's ability to hold a lead on a track notoriously hard for overtaking.
"I initially got the call but I said, 'No, I want to stay out,'" Vettel said. "I thought, if I did a clean job in certain places, there is no way they can get past me."
Defending F1 champion Vettel has won five of six races for Red Bull this season, with only McLaren's Lewis Hamilton beating him in China.
"It was unbelievable, the race today was pretty entertaining," Vettel said.
"The roulette button must have stopped last night and kept on spinning."
Vettel now leads Hamilton by 58 points, his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber by 64, Button by 67 and Alonso by 74.
"We need to win three races and (Vettel) not to score," Alonso joked. "At the moment I don't think it's possible."
Vettel celebrated with team members by throwing himself into a swimming pool on top of Red Bull's 'Energy Station' - a meeting place for guests at the race. Other Red Bull staff did backflips into the pool as Vettel watched, smiling.
The German driver gambled by staying out on the same set of soft tires, turning the last 15 laps into a battle of wits as both Alonso's Ferrari and Button's McLaren were on his tail.
"Watching these guys hustle was great fun, I was waiting for the move," Button said. "Race pace, we are pretty close."
That gamble looked certain to backfire until a crash on lap 72 resulted in a red flag that suspended the session just as he was close to being caught.
That allowed Vettel to change his tires, and when the race resumed the last few laps became a procession.
"I saw the only chance to win this race was to try and stay out. I was nearly 20 laps under pressure with Fernando and Jenson behind, it was getting closer and closer," Vettel said.
Alonso's second place is the best performance of the season for the two-time former F1 champion, although Ferrari must be wondering what might have been, while Button will be exasperated at coming so close to winning again in Monaco.
"Third in Turkey and now second here, definitely a good weekend for us," Alonso said. "I think the first safety car played a big part. If not, Jenson was on his way to the victory. We gained one position with the first safety car, and maybe we lost victory with the red flag ... I had two places in mind (to attack) Vettel."
Webber finished fourth, ahead of Japan's Kamui Kobayashi and Hamilton.
Seven-time former champion Michael Schumacher, Ferrari's Felipe Massa, and Vitaly Petrov - whose Renault was involved in the late crash that halted the race - were among those who failed to finish.
The safety car was out twice even before the late red flag in a chaotic, intense afternoon of motor racing.
Vettel, starting from pole position for the fifth time this season, made a flying start under perfect blue skies. After just one lap, the German was ahead by 2.4 seconds and stretched his lead to nearly four seconds by the third.
But any thoughts that this would be a comfortable win for Vettel proved unfounded as the most exciting race of the season featured almost as many twists and turns as Monaco's famed street circuit itself.
Vettel looked certain to succumb to either Alonso or Button, but a crash involving Petrov and Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari swung the balance back in Vettel's favor.
The red flag came up, a dazed Petrov was taken out of his car, and drivers took the opportunity for much-needed repairs, and in Vettel's case, a decisive tire change.
Renault said that Petrov hurt his left ankle and was taken to hospital where checks showed there was no break.
"It was good to hear that Vitaly (Petrov) is fine," Vettel said.
While Vettel's Red Bull team was figuring out their strategy, the race behind him was increasingly fraught.
Massa clipped the tunnel wall and damaged the left side of his Ferrari just after an incident with Hamilton.
The Brazilian driver did well to bring his car to a comfortable stop, while Schumacher's Mercedes ground to halt at La Rascasse just under Prince Albert's hilltop palace with smoke billowing from the engine only moments later.
Alguersuari and Force India's Paul Di Resta bumped into each other and Di Resta was given a drive through penalty for causing the collision as the mini-battles continued behind Vettel. Di Resta also clipped a Virgin car later on, while Alguersuari collided with Petrov in the late crash.
Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello, meanwhile, was fined for speeding into the pit lane.
Button took his first pit stop on lap 15, while Vettel and Webber both came in a lap later. But both pit stops were painfully slow, with Red Bull apparently caught by surprise when Vettel came in for his stop.
"That certainly cost us the lead at that stage," Vettel said.
That played into Button's hands as he streaked ahead on the supersofts and the 2009 F1 champion led by nearly 11 seconds with a third of the race gone.
"He was pulling away like crazy," Vettel said. "If there had been no safety car it would have been difficult to beat Jenson as he was so far ahead."
Button extended his lead to 13 seconds until he decided to make his second tire change on lap 33, giving Vettel the lead again.
Soon after Hamilton and Massa got tangled up at a hairpin bend and Massa's Ferrari veered onto the dirty left side of the tunnel, with scattered debris and marbles, and into the wall. Hamilton continued despite his front wing having been clipped in the incident with Massa.
Massa's accident coincided with the end of Schumacher's race and brought the safety car out.
Button came in for his third stop on lap 48, switching to primes, but Red Bull decided not to - banking on Vettel's ability to hold a lead on a track notoriously hard for overtaking.
"I initially got the call but I said, 'No, I want to stay out,'" Vettel said. "I thought, if I did a clean job in certain places, there is no way they can get past me."