Classy Button eases to Monaco win

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Jenson Button extended his championship lead with a fifth victory in six races as he led Rubens Barrichello to a Brawn one-two in the Monaco Grand Prix.

Button sealed his victory in the early stages of the race, when he managed the deteriorating tyres on his car far better than his Brazilian team-mate.

Barrichello was left to hold off the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, who finished third and fourth.

Red Bull's Mark Webber was fifth with world champion Lewis Hamilton 12th.

Williams's Nico Rosberg, Renault's Fernando Alonso and the Toro Rosso of Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais filled the remaining points places down to eighth.

McLaren driver Hamilton was never in contention after making a disastrous mistake to crash out in qualifying and then starting at the back of the grid after a penalty for changing his gearbox.In contrast, the man who looks increasingly likely to succeed him to the crown had a flawless afternoon.

His only mistake came after the chequered flag when he parked his car in the wrong place and had to run back along the pit straight for the podium ceremony.

Button's victory extends his world championship lead over Barrichello to 16 points - and to 28 over the third-placed man, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who scored no points after crashing out of the race.

It was Button's first win at Formula 1's most glamorous venue, and the drive of a champion in the making, taking advantage of circumstances as they unfolded to carve an unassailable winning margin.

"Before the weekend I said this race doesn't mean anything different from any other, that was more to stop the pressure building up on me," he told BBC Sport. "It's a bit of a lie really.

"We all know the truth - this circuit is fantastic.I said on the radio: 'we've got Monaco, baby'. We've got the victory and that means a lot, a one-two here is exceptional. It's going to go down in history [what this team has achieved] this year, for sure."

His team boss, Ross Brawn, added: "I'm lost for words with him because he's exceeding everything I thought possible. Stunning."

Unlike all the other front-runners, the Brawns started on the super-soft tyres, which give better initial grip, but are subject to graining, when the surface of the tyre rips and reduces grip.

Button and Barrichello both suffered the problem from about eight laps into the race but Button coped much better and was able to extend his lead by as much as two seconds a lap.

That meant that Barrichello, who was less than two seconds behind his team-mate on lap six, was 18.2secs adrift by the time he made his first pit stop on 16.From that moment on, the race was effectively over, and Barrichello was left to concern himself far more with the Ferraris behind him rather than with beating Button to the victory.

"The tyres gave us a start, but we didn't expect them to give us so much trouble in the first stint," added Brawn. "But the drivers managed it well.

"It is a special race and it's a challenging weekend. In such circumstances, to come first and second is stunning."

Constructors champions Ferrari achieved their first podium of 2009 as they bid to recover from the worst start to a season in their long history.

Though Raikkonen and Massa were evenly matched, the Finn was able to convert his second place on the grid into third place, while Massa was caught up in some frenetic action in the opening laps.

Hamilton talks up Monaco chances

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World champion Lewis Hamilton is hopeful the unique challenge of the Monaco circuit could help him have his best race of the season on Sunday.

McLaren have been off the pace in 2009 but the street track could play to its strengths and minimise its weaknesses.

"I do struggle in the high-speed corners - I'm probably losing 0.2-0.3 seconds overall," he said.

"In other areas I'm able to do a little bit better than other drivers. It gives us a fighting chance to do better." The 24-year-old was third and second fastest in Thursday's two practice sessions and while these are a notoriously poor indicator of race form, Hamilton looked genuinely more competitive than so far this season.

The McLaren car is slow in the high-speed corners - Massenet, Tabac, and the first Swimming Pool chicane - because it lacks aerodynamic downforce compared with the front-running cars of Brawn and Red Bull.

But the McLaren is reasonably strong in the sort of slower corners that abound elsewhere on the track.

The track's nature also makes it one of the few where a good driver can make up for some of the deficiencies in his car, and Hamilton's driving style is particularly well suited to the circuit.

He won here last year, and felt he was robbed of a debut win in 2007 when McLaren forced him into an earlier-than-planned pit stop while he was chasing team-mate Fernando Alonso. "Driving Monaco is a spectacular thing," said Hamilton, talking to BBC Sport.

"You can never compare it to any other circuit you go to or any other experience. It's such a huge buzz here it feels amazing.

"It gives me a much better fighting chance in terms of getting the car up there, but the others are strong, too."

Hamilton qualified only 14th for the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago after he failed to get into the third session of qualifying, the run-off for the top 10 grid places.

But he is optimistic that things should be different here on Saturday.

"Q3 should be possible," he said, "then when we get there we have to see how we can do. To beat the Brawns will be tough."

Fighting Massa eyes Monaco podium

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Felipe Massa believes Ferrari will be back on the podium at Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix as they bid to recover from their worst start to a season.

The best result so far in a disastrous 2009 for the constructors' champions was Massa's sixth in Spain, where the Brazilian spotted "some steps forward".

"I really think Monaco can be the turning point in our season," he said.

"I believe in the first podium of the season. After a start to the season we didn't expect, we've improved a lot."

Ferrari have been beset by problems this year with a number of other teams - such as Brawn GP, Red Bull and Toyota - forging ahead on the track thanks to new Formula 1 regulations which the reigning constructors' champions have struggled to adapt to.

After the Spanish GP I read that I've raised the white flag for this season - this is not the case and I want that to be clear

Felipe Massa

Off the track, they have threatened to quit the sport over the budget cap and two-tier championship proposed by governing body, the FIA, and have now filed an injunction to block the move.

Even Massa's first points of the season in Spain last time out were tinged with regret - running in fourth, he was ordered to slow down during the closing stages to conserve fuel as he faced the threat of running out.

But the Brazilian, whose team-mate Kimi Raikkonnen finished a season-best sixth in Bahrain, insists they can turn their season around.

"After the Spanish GP I read that I've raised the white flag for this season - this is not the case and I want that to be clear," added Massa, who just missed out on the title last year.

"Obviously the situation in the championship is very difficult, and it is quite realistic to say that catching up seems to be almost impossible, but that doesn't mean we've given up."

Massa trails Brawn's championship leader Jenson Button by 38 points but is adamant Ferrari will fight until the end of the season. "We'll continue working on the car and will give it our all to win races and finish the championship the best way possible.

"We showed last year we're not a team that gives up when there are negative results.

"I will fight and push with the whole team to improve things race by race.

"The time for a comeback always comes, and I'm certain it will - today more than ever - both in the constructors' and drivers' championships."