Red Bull pilot Mark Webber took the checkered flag at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, just ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel of Germany.

The win on Monaco's winding urban track was Webber's second in a row and puts him at the top of the leader board with 78 points in six races.

"Absolutely incredible; for sure, this is the greatest day of my life," Webber told reporters.

Vettel finished second, a mere 0.4 seconds behind, followed by Renault's Robert Kubica in third and Ferrari's Felipe Massa in fourth. Lewis Hamilton finished fifth for McLaren.

Defending world champion Jenson Button, Hamilton's teammate at McLaren, retired early with engine trouble in a race marred by crashes and four safety-car escorts, including the last three laps.

Webber opens new chapter in Aussie racing

Webber's win made him the first Australian to win the Mediterranean circuit in half a century.

The last Australian to win in Monaco was Jack Brabham in 1959, and the last Aussie to lead the world championship standings was Alan Jones in 1981.

Webber never looked back after making a clean start from pole position, while Vettel managed to overtake Kubica at the first corner to move into second, the spot he defended to the finish line.

Formula One legend Michael Schumacher of Germany, in Mercedes, passed Ferrari's Fernando Alonso on the final lap to snatch sixth place at the finish line, only to have it taken away from him two hours later after stewards deemed his maneuver illegal.

Schumacher was handed a 20-second penalty, pushing him out of the points into 12th place. The decision lifted Alonso into sixth, while Schumacher's teammate Nico Rosberg was bumped up to seventh.

Germany's Adrian Sutil and his Italian teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi, both driving for Force India, completed the top 10 spots.

gb/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Martin Kuebler