Live Commentary: Monaco Grand Prix - as it happened

Afternoon all! We're 30 minutes away from the one of the glitziest events in sport - the Monaco Grand Prix.

Although the racing is often not that exciting in terms of overtaking, the race on the coastal streets of Monte Carlo really is something to behold. The track is narrow and the backdrop breathtaking.

For many of the drivers this is their 'home' Grand Prix as they live in the Mediterranean principality. Mercedes teammates Hamilton and Rosberg live just a moment's walk away from each other!

To remind yourself of the lineup on the gird after yesterday's qualifying, you'll find it in our qualifying report here.

Formula 1 always attracts A-list celebrities but if there's one race where there's more than any other it's Monaco.

So far on the grid we've spotted the likes of Cameron Diaz, Michael Douglas, Andre Villas-Boas and, erm, Amanda Holden.

Felix Baumgartner, the man who leapt off that balloon in space for Red Bull, has just told Sky Sports F1 that he plans to be a helicopter pilot now.

PREDICTION! As the Monaco national anthem is played out over the grid, it's time for my prediction on the race. I can't look past our polesitter Mr Rosberg who has been sublime all weekend. Can Mercedes maintain their pace in the race though?

There will be 78 laps today as it's a relatively short circuit. Ten minutes to go.

WEATHER WATCH! We had a bit of rain during qualifying yesterday but it's a beautiful sunny day today.

Amazingly, we're yet to see the safety car in the opening five races of 2013. The likelihood of seeing one today is very high though because of the narrow track with barriers either side.

If you want to remind yourself of the drivers' standings ahead of the start, click here. Vettel leads Raikkonen by four points, with Alonso a further 13 back.

FORMATION LAP! The silver arrows of Rosberg and Hamilton set off on one circuit of the track before we begin. The drivers will rev their engines and frantically turn the steering wheels to get their car in as good a condition as they can. Marussia's Bianchi doesn't get going and he's getting rolled back to the pit.

GO GO GO! The five red lights illuminate and then go out and we're underway in Monaco!

Rosberg and Hamilton maintain the lead.

Contact between the two McLarens a little further back as Rosberg pulls away from Hamilton and Vettel.

Maldonado and Van der Garde have problems with their front wing and they're in the pits.

Further back and there hasn't been too many changes. DRS will soon be turned on.

Rosberg isn't pulling away too much from the Hamilton-Vettel fight at the moment. Down in seventh and eighth and Button is moaning about teammate Perez "turning in on" him.

The pace of the two Mercedes is not that impressive and the queue that's forming behind is getting longer and longer.

The silver arrows know that it's so, so hard to overtake here and they're driving like this to try and conserve their tyres.

Rosberg's lead back to Hamilton is around 1.7s and it's all very nice at the moment. The drama will start when the first pit stops take place. Who will blink first?

Raikkonen is closing up on Webber as Alonso falls back from the Finn and is now under pressure from Perez.

FIRE! Pic's engine is on fire and he leaps out of the car, which is parked just at the entry to the pit lane. No safety car out at the moment. The stewards are just extinguishing it now.

Button is now ahead of Perez and closing on Alonso. The Englishman will certainly have words with his Mexican teammate after he cut him up at the chicane.

Meanwhile, Hamilton has pulled two seconds clear of Vettel as Webber continues to come under pressure from Raikkonen.

TOP 10 UPDATE! 1 Rosberg 2 Hamilton 3 Vettel 4 Webber 5 Raikkonen 6 Alonso 7 Button 8 Perez 9 Sutil 10 Vergne

So the only person who's made any move up the field in the top 10 is Button, who started ninth.

This slower pace is because the teams want to achieve a one-stop strategy. We're thinking that we might see the first stops in the mid-20s on the lap count.

Into the 20th lap we go and it's still very processional in Monte Carlo. What we're waiting for is the first of the frontrunners to duck into the pits.

Rosberg is told to pick up the pace a little and he sets his fastest lap of the race with a 1:21.1. That's about eight seconds slower than the qualifying lap he won pole with yesterday. That just shows how easy they're taking it today.

Bottas and Ricciardo pit and that is making some gaps in the middle of the field that will alert the race leaders. Can they make sure that they pit to put themselves into fresh air.

The Red Bulls are trying to close up on the Mercedes as Webber sets a new fastest lap of the race.

WEBBER is the first to pit and he puts on a brand new set of softs.

Further back and Di Resta goes down the outside of Massa for 15th place.

And now Raikkonen pits as well, coming out behind Webber in 10th place. Button also pitted and he's behind the two above.

Neither Mercedes pits and nor does Vettel. Which of the first three will come in first?

Rosberg sets a new fastest lap of the race with a 1:19.2 and he's now three seconds clear of Hamilton as Alonso comes in for his soft tyres. It's a good stop from Ferrari but he comes out behind Raikkonen as before.

CRASH! Massa smacks into the same barrier at Sainte Devote where he crashed yesterday. No indication of the safety car at the moment.

Replays show that it was exactly the same sort of crash as yesterday as he locked the front wheel and smacked into the barrier at the side before sliding into the tyre wall.

The two Mercedes come straight in for a double stop, it's effectively a free pit stop as the safety car has to wait for Rosberg.

BAD news for Hamilton! The Red Bulls were released early on behind the safety car and they've jumped the Englishman who is now back in fourth. Rosberg still leads.

Off the track and Massa is now wearing a neck brace and not looking too comfortable. The safety car is still out as the debris of Massa's Ferrari is cleared.

TOP 10 UPDATE! 1 Rosberg 2 Vettel 3 Webber 4 Hamilton 5 Raikkonen 6 Alonso 7 Button 8 Perez 9 Sutil 10 Vergne

Vettel must be absolutely thrilled with that sequence of events while Hamilton, now back in fourth, well, I don't want to know what's going through his head. He would have thought that he had a slim chance of victory in second but now might not be on the podium.

The safety car is still out there but should be coming in after the next lap I think.

But no, the silver Mercedes safety car continues on its merry way.

The safety car will be COMING IN at last at the end of this lap. Can anyone get the jump as the race restarts?

BACK UNDERWAY! No overtakes as they hare back down the main straight.

Hamilton is challenging Webber very closely as Alonso also looks to make a move on Raikkonen.

Both men are trying their hardest but it's just so hard to overtake at this track.

SO CLOSE! Hamilton tries to duck inside the inside of the penultimate corner and almost makes it happen on Webber but can't quite accelerate clear. Superb wheel-to-wheel racing.

Alonso goes wide around the hairpin and Button almost sneaks up the inside but has his front wing tapped by Alonso's back-left tyre.

OVERTAKE! Whoa, what a pass from Perez on teammate Button. He shoots up the inside out of the tunnel and makes it stick around the angular chicane. Fabulous stuff.

And now Perez tries the same move on Alonso and the Spaniard has to cut the corner to stay ahead of the youngster. Will he have to surrender that place now?

Rosberg's lead back to Vettel is 2.4s.

RED FLAG! The race is briefly postponed because of big Maldonado crash.

The Venezuelan collided with Chilton and then shot up into the air before smashing the barrier at Tabac, the corner just after the chicane after the tunnel. That's where Bianchi then smacked into the Williams.

Maldonado walked away from the crash seemingly unhurt which is good.

This stoppage means that the drivers will be allowed to change their tyres once more. That's great news for the Red Bulls, especially Webber who was the first to pit and had tyres about five laps older than the other frontrunners.

McLaren principal Martin Whitmarsh tells Sky Sports News is confident that the FIA have told Alonso that he will have to give up his place to Perez because of that incident at the chicane.

The officials have to give a 10-minute warning for when the race will restart. No news yet.

RACE WILL RESUME IN 10 MINUTES! Just as I submit that last post the stewards announce that the race will restart at 3.35pm local time, that's 2.35pm UK time.

The race will restart on the grid as it does at the start. It offers drivers the chance to jump ahead. It's very important that Rosberg stays ahead of Vettel.

Hamilton will also be keen to make up at least a place at the start. He was looking very comfortable in second until the pit-stop phase saw him drop a couple of places.

The cars at the top have now put on the super-softs apart from Raikkonen, who is on the softs.

We're back underway as the safety car leads them round the track before they are let loose once more.

BACK UNDERWAY! Rosberg backs up the cars behind before bolting ahead and we're racing again.

Yet again Rosberg pulls nicely clear early on as Hamilton gets right up behind Webber.

No overtakes as yet since the restart. Hamilton looked at diving down the inside of Webber at Sainte Devote but just couldn't make it happen.

Hamilton is looking really good at the moment but just can't get his car past Webber's. The Aussie is defending very stoutly.

Chilton was given a drive-through penalty for causing that Maldonado crash, by the way.

Sutil ducks down the inside of Button at the hairpin for eighth place and Button is back where he started the race.

Perez seems to be the only man bold enough to bolt down the inside of the chicane after the tunnel and he tries his luck on Raikkonen but they both have to cut the corner.

Hamilton is told to think about his tyres but responds by saying: "I'm just trying to get past [Webber] , man."

OVERTAKE! Another great move at the hairpin from Sutil as he gets up the inside of Alonso for seventh place.

Another crash down at turn one as Bianchi locks up the tyres and slides into the far barrier. A safety car shouldn't be needed for that as it's away from the track.

DRS is re-enabled after that Bianchi incident.

CRASH! Big crash coming out of the tunnel as Grosjean smashes into the back of Ricciardo. The Aussie's race is over but Grosjean limps back to the pit and is able to resume the race. Yet another crash caused by the Frenchman and Telegraph journalist Oliver Brown tweets: "Grosjean, that "one-lap nutter" (copyright Mark Webber), drives straight into back of Ricciardo. Safety car deployed again."

As the marshals frantically clear the track where the crash took place, Grosjean comes into pit and retires from the race. More questions will be asked of the Frenchman in the fall-out of this race.

The safety car will be coming in at the end of this lap. Will anybody take a risk to try and gain a place?

BACK UNDERWAY! Rosberg shoots away once more but there's no daring passes from anybody.

Hamilton reports back to his team that his "left front is graining heavily". Will the Englishman suffer problems as we enter the final stages of this race.

TOP 10 UPDATE! With 10 laps to go, here's how they stand: 1 Rosberg 2 Vettel 3 Webber 4 Hamilton 5 Raikkonen 6 Perez 7 Sutil 8 Alonso 9 Button 10 Vergne

Rosberg has moved 2.3s clear at the front as Perez AGAIN tries down the inside after the tunnel but this time he's squeezed up against the barrier by Raikkonen but somehow carries on.

PUNCTURE! That contact has led to a slow puncture for Raikkonen who has to pit and that's his race over surely.

Button gets up the inside of Alonso on the final corner, very opportunistic by the McLaren man.

The top four are now a long way clear of the rest as Hamilton again closes up on Webber for a place on the podium.

Sutil is now the meat of a McLaren sandwich and Button is challenging the German for sixth place.

As we go into the final five laps Perez appears to have suspension problems and that's his race over as Sutil and Button get past. The Mexican was trying to zip across to the pit lane but teammate Button was in his way so he had to pull across into the run-off area.

Now just three laps for Rosberg to claim his first ever victory in Monaco. Will anyone go for broke in these final stages?

FINAL LAP! Rosberg crosses the line for the penultimate time and, barring a major error, this race is his.

A mighty weekend from the German, who topped all three practice sessions, qualifying on Saturday and all 78 laps today.

FINAL TOP 10! 1 Rosberg 25pts 2 Vettel 18pts 3 Webber 15pts 4 Hamilton 12pts 5 Sutil 10pts 6 Button 8pts 7 Alonso 6pts 8 Vergne 4pts 9 Di Resta 2pts 10 Raikkonen 1pt

Rosberg's victory mirrors that of his father, Keke, 30 years ago. They become the first father-son combination to win in Monte Carlo.

A crash-filled race that took over two hours then. For a brief recap, read our report here. Thanks for joining Sports Mole this afternoon. Be sure to come back for the next race in Canada in two weeks' time.