Princely Hamilton Wins in Monaco

All through his childhood Lewis Hamilton watched Ayrton Senna, his hero, winning the Monaco grand prix. Yesterday, in the most demanding circumstances a racing driver can face, he got his own hands on the trophy after overcoming a track streaming with rainwater in the opening stages, a minor accident that befell him on the sixth lap and, not least, the two Ferraris starting ahead of him on the grid.

"I wanted to win at Monaco more than anywhere else in the world," the 23-year-old McLaren-Mercedes driver said last night. "This has got to be the highlight of my career and I'm sure it will remain the highlight for the rest of my life. Even if I win here again, which I plan on doing, this will always be the best one."

Hamilton won his first race around the winding streets of the principality in a formula three car in 2005 and repeated the victory in the GP2 series a year later. Last year, making his first visit as a fully fledged grand prix driver, he was forced by team orders to finish second behind Fernando Alonso. The lasting sourness of that experience made yesterday's triumph taste all the sweeter.

Afterwards he was surprised to learn he had become the first Englishman to win this most glamorous of motor races since Graham Hill took the last of his five victories in 1969. The result restores him to the top of the world championship, after six of the season's 18 races.

An incident-strewn race was halted after 76 of the scheduled 78 laps when the maximum of two hours had been exceeded. After Hamilton had opened up a 40-second lead on a drying track the second appearance of the safety car closed up the field. At the end, however, he was holding a steady three-second lead over the BMW-Sauber of Robert Kubica, with Felipe Massa close behind.

Nothing could stop Hamilton on a day when his boyhood dream came true. Watched by a motley bunch of celebrities including Sir Cliff Richard (possibly on hand to serenade the crowd in the event of a real cloudburst), he was even able to overcome an early puncture after brushing a wall. Standing where Senna once stood, taking the cup from the hands of a Grimaldi and holding it high, he had conquered Monaco.