Rain showers, safety cars and incidents aplenty in an unpredictable yet memorable Monaco Grand Prix. Yet it seemed the gods were on the side of McLaren-Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who won his first ever Monte Carlo Grand Prix at the wheel of a Formula One car.

Scuderia Ferrari was unable to match their storming one-two positions of Saturday qualifying. Felipe Massa initially held a comfortable lead from pole, yet two hours later he would be crossing the line in third. Despite claiming the fastest lap of the race, Kimi Räikkönen’s race weekend finished outside the points following one drive-though penalty and several on track incidents.

Lewis Hamilton became the first Englishman to win Monaco since 1969 on Sunday, when he drove a stunning race to beat all-comers and finish Ferrari’s run of four consecutive victories. Robert Kubica was second in his BMW with Felipe Massa third, while World Championship leader Kimi Raikkonen had a shocking day and failed to score. This means that the four men are now all covered by just six points in the Drivers’ World Championship, with Hamilton in the lead with three points more than Kimi. Massa is one behind his team-mate and Kubica two behind him.

Felipe Massa takes 150th victory for the Shell technical partnership with Ferrari and leads Raikkonen in Ferrari One-two

Scuderia Ferrari clinched its third one-two finish of the season at the French Grand Prix this weekend, with Felipe Massa and defending World Champion Kimi Räikkönen taking first and second place respectively. Felipe Massa’s triumph marked the 150th time a Ferrari has taken victory powered by Shell, starting with José Froilán González’s historic win at Scuderia Ferrari’s first race, Silverstone 1951.

 Massa won the eighth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship from second on the grid after using a medium-medium-soft compound Bridgestone Potenza tyre strategy in the French Grand Prix at Magny Cours.

BP Ford Abu Dhabi team driver Mikko Hirvonen has won Rally Turkey after a nail-biting finale that went right to the end of the final stage.

Hirvonen successfully defended his overnight rally lead, fending off enormous pressure on the final 31km Olympos stage from his team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala, and Citroen Total driver Sebastien Loeb.

A maximum 10 driver points for Mikko moves the Finn back into the lead of the 2008 championship, with a margin of three points over the man in second place, Sebastien Loeb.

“It’s fantastic!” said Hirvonen at the finish line. “But that was close!. My front tyres are finished and I had a puncture for the last few kilometres - I wasn’t sure I’d done enough!”

Felipe Massa took his third consecutive Turkish Grand Prix victory today, after a tense and thrilling race in Istanbul. The pole-sitter kept his nerve, relegating Lewis Hamilton to second, with team-mate and defending World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen, in 3rd place

The race began with a bang. Massa took the lead but Kimi Raikkonen was slow away. This meant that at the first corner the field was bunched up somewhat and suddenly cars were flying around. The first contact was made between Raikkonen and McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen, who had also made a poor start because the two men were on the dirty side of the track. This brush damaged Raikkonen’s front wing and sent Heikki to the pits to have a slow puncture on his left rear fixed. He did not realise immediately because the race was neutralised almost immediately with a Safety Car, as a result of what happened behind them. Jarno Trulli was badly held up and behind him a bottle-neck developed until Giancarlo Fisichella arrived on the scene, going so fast that there was no hope of stopping in time. It was the end of an inglorious weekend for the Roman veteran, who flew into, and over, Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams before crashing down in the tarmac with such violence that the car went no further. Nakajima went to the pits but there was too much damage to fix.

The maiden win for the young team turned out to be a double victory when Robert Kubica crossed the line ahead of his team mate, Nick Heidfeld, at the Canadian Grand Prix. Kubica now leads the drivers’ championship. In the constructors’ standings the BMW Sauber F1 Team is second, three points behind Ferrari.

New faces graced the Formula One podium ceremony at the Canadian Grand Prix, as Robert Kubica took his maiden victory and in doing so handed BMW Sauber their first ever win. His team mate Nick Heidfeld, brought the car home in second position also adding the first one-two victory to BMW Sauber’s statistics’ book.

Traditionally a Grand Prix with a high attrition rate, this year’s action at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve stayed true to form. Kimi Räikkönen was one of the unlucky drivers not to finish the race, after the McLaren-Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton crashed into the rear of his Ferrari at the pit lane exit. Whilst both the Ferrari and the McLaren were forced to retire, Felipe Massa drove his F2008 through the 70 laps to fifth position.

The young British Driver gets his maiden home Grand Prix crown after a brilliant performance in a rain-soaked thriller

British summer time lived up to its reputation in Silverstone, as the heavens opened over the Northamptonshire circuit. In a race which saw seven retirements and numerous spins, it was Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton who drove through the incessant spray to win his first home Grand Prix in front of a capacity crowd, ahead of Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber F1 Team) and Rubens Barrichello (Honda Racing).

The fastest lap of the race was awarded to defending World Champion Kimi Räikkönen and his fourth place finish was enough to bring him to the head of the Drivers’ table. Fortune did not smile on team-mate Felipe Massa; an unhappy three days for the Brazilian saw his weekend end outside the points.

Sebastien Loeb and his co-driver Daniel Elena won the 2008 Acropolis Rally of Greece this afternoon to move into the lead of the Drivers’ World Championship.

The Total-Citroen team pair had no problems through the last day of the event, and crossed the finish ramp in Athens with an overall lead of 1min 9sec.

The victory is Loeb’s second on the Greek round of the WRC series - which he last won in 2005 - and his fifth from the seven rallies of the season so far. Another maximum score in the drivers’ contest moves Loeb one point ahead of the pre-rally leader Mikko Hirvonen, and closer to his goal of a fifth consecutive World Title.

“It was a tough and long weekend but in the circumstances it was almost a perfect rally,” said Loeb. “It’s been hard for all of us driving in such rough conditions. It wasn’t just a question of going fast; instead it was all about knowing where to push and where to slow down. But we had a good speed overall and I’m very happy with the feeling of my C4. In the past we’re struggled to catch the Fords on this rally, but not this year.”

Surprise as Nelson Piquet gets second place, while Massa manages a third spot

Formula One entered the second half of the season the race weekend in Germany, with Scuderia Ferrari collecting valuable points thanks to a third place by Felipe Massa, behind Lewis Hamilton of Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes and Nelson Piquet of Renault F1 Team. Kimi Räikkönen finished in sixth place.

Felipe Massa’s podium sees him move into second place in the FIA Formula One Drivers’ World Championship with 54 points, behind Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on 58. Kimi Räikkönen sits in third with 51 points. Scuderia Ferrari retains its lead at the top of the Constructors’, ahead of BMW Sauber F1 Team and Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes in second and third respectively.

Defending World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb has won the 2008 Rally d’Italia - Sardegna - and with it his 40th WRC victory.

The Total Citroen team driver negotiated Sunday’s short final stage without incident to complete the event with an overall lead of 10.6sec. A maximum 10 championship points gives him a new total of 40 and keeps him second in the 2008 title contest.

“It’s been a difficult rally but we’re here!” said Loeb at the finish. “I’ve had to push all the way for this result, but it was important for me to get good points. Mikko will still lead the championship, but okay, I’m happy - and of course win number 40 is nice for me.”

Mikko Hirvonen of the BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team has won the inaugural WRC Jordan Rally.

The 27-year-old Finn and his co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen completed the final day with a rally lead of 1m 15.7sec. The result moves Hirvonen into the lead of the 2008 drivers’ championship, five points ahead of Sebastien Loeb.

“It’s fantastic! And very good news for our title fight,” said Hirvonen. “But that last stage was so nerve racking; I had no split times on Dani and no idea how fast he was going. I’m really happy to win and take the 10 points - it makes up for my result in Argentina. Sebastien is still a big threat though. He was very fast here, so we need to find some more speed for the next events.”

Second place went to Dani Sordo of the Total Citroen World Rally Team, who was lucky to survive a spin near the start of the final stage. “I tried my best and pushed as hard as possible today,” said Sordo. But the gravel was the worst of the event, and my wheels were just spinning in some places. We lost time with a spin at the start of the last stage, and then all we could do was drive to the finish. But I’m very happy to get eight championship points.” The result moves Sordo up one place to fifth in the drivers’ championship.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen became the eighth consecutive man to win the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position, when he dominated Sunday’s race at the Circuit de Catalunya

The Finn shrugged off two safety car periods - the second when compatriot Heikki Kovalainen crashed his McLaren heavily after a front-end failure pitched him off the road in Turn Nine at an estimated 180 mph - and led home team mate Felipe Massa, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica. They finished 3.2s, 0.9s, and 1.5s apart respectively.
It may not have been a classic race, but it increased Raikkonen’s championship score to 29 points and his lead to nine over Hamilton (20), while Massa jumps up to fourth on 18, one behind Kubica (19).

The Kovalainen incident occurred on the 22nd lap, possibly as a result of something causing the front-left tyre and rim to separate. It took a while to stabilise the Finn at the accident scene, but he gave a thumbs up as he was taken by stretcher to the medical centre. Later he was flown to hospital for precautionary checks, and his condition was described as stable.

Felipe Massa needed a win in Bahrain, and all weekend he looked like a man who had come to get it. When the red lights went out at the start, he lit off from the front row of the grid, and that was all she wrote as he dominated in style for Ferrari

BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica lost second place to Kimi Raikkonen on the third lap, and from then on, pit stops apart, it was an easy one-two for Ferrari.

The start also set the pattern for McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. He was very slow away, and ended the opening lap in 10th place. Then he clobbered the back of Fernando Alonso’s Renault, and the resultant pit stop for a new nose put him into a cycle of running a heavy fuel load in traffic for the rest of a frustrating afternoon in which he took only 13th place and lost his world championship points lead.