Juan Pablo Montoya won the Monaco Grand Prix yesterday holding off a fast-closing Kimi Raikkonen in the final laps.

　　By just 0.6 seconds, Montoya won his second career Formula One race, following his first at the 2001 Italian Grand Prix.

　　The Colombian driver also gave Williams-BMW its first victory on the tight, twisting 3.34-kilometer Monaco streets since 1983, by Keke Rosberg.

　　Montoya had the pole position here last year and seven in 2002, and never converted any.

　　"I have had chances to win. Melbourne I threw away so the pressure was on. Monza was great but this was fantastic," Montoya said.

　　In the season standings Raikkonen extended his lead over Germany's Michael Schumacher by two points. He has 44 to his rival's 40.

　　Ferrari's Schumacher, who'd won the season's last three races, was third 1.7 seconds behind Montoya, and missed tying Brazilian Ayrton Senna's record of six Monaco victories.

　　Schumacher paid for a poor fifth start off the grid, and tried to go for longer stints with heavier fuel loads.

　　"Out of fifth to arrive in third is reasonable," he said. "We tried everything but this weekend probably we were not strong enough."

　　Montoya's teammate Ralf Schumacher, who won the pole and led through the first 20 laps, was fourth, while Renault drivers Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli were fifth and sixth.

　　Raikkonen's McLaren teammate David Coulthard, who won the race in 2000 and 2002, was seventh, followed by Rubens Barrichello in the other Ferrari in eighth.

　　The top four teams dominated the top eight places throughout the entire race.

　　The only real changes of position on the track came in the opening seconds when Montoya moved from third to second past Raikkonen, and took the lead when Ralf Schumacher had a pit stop.

　　That eventually decided the race, as the rest of the changes came during pit stops. Ralf Schumacher went into the lead easily by the first corner, followed by Montoya, and was building a lead of more than two seconds at the end of the first lap of 78. However, Heinz-Harald Frentzen crashed his Sauber-Petronas and the safety car came out allowing the field to bunch up.

　　At the start of the fifth, it was Ralf Schumacher, Montoya, Raikkonen, Trulli and Michael Schumacher.

　　It stayed that way until the 21st, when Ralf Schumacher came into the pits first as his lead began to dwindle.

　　Over the next 10 laps, all the leaders pitted with Michael Schumacher the last at the end of the 31st.

　　Then, it was Montoya in first, Raikkonen second and Michael Schumacher third ahead of his brother.

　　When Montoya and Raikkonen pitted by the end of the 52nd lap, Michael Schumacher led, and stayed there until the 60th, when he had to come in for fuel band tires. Montoya led Raikkonen by about a second with 18 laps to go, and they stayed that way until Raikkonen started edging closer in the last five laps.

　　Ralf Schumacher was 28 seconds behind in fourth.

　　The Canadian GP is in two weeks in Montreal.