Mark Webber column: Winning in Monaco is always special

They're handing out grand prix victories a bit more sporadically this year than has been the case recently, but there is no doubt I've grabbed the right one so far.

Winning in Monaco is always special. That track has always been good to me. I won there in Formula 3000, battled for the victory with Williams in 2006 and now I've won two of the last three grands prix there.

When you drive at the limit in Monaco, the margin is so fine. It's about having the confidence to go to that limit and backing yourself that you are not close to a mistake at any point.

You try to ignore the barriers to a large degree and just treat them like white lines that you can go up to but no further.

Another big skill there is staying on top of the changes in the track - which happen every two or three laps.

It was a very well-executed weekend by the whole Red Bull Racing team.

You need to be confident and committed around there. It's a very long afternoon if you're staring at gearboxes in Monaco and that's good motivation on Saturday to get as far up as you can.

They don't hand grid positions out for free. You've got to deliver on Saturday afternoon and it went well for us. I think we got the best out of the package.

Obviously Michael Schumacher beat us to fastest time but we took up the pole because of his penalty and he retired from the grand prix itself anyway.

Monaco is not always the most spectacular race to watch, but it's a real test for us guys.

The race is very repetitive, there is no respite and you have to be very careful not to get complacent with that. There's a lot of concentration required.

The race was about control - pacing yourself to eke out the tyres a lot of the way.

It would have been nice to have a slightly bigger lead and I could have pulled out a bit, but you're worried about overworking the tyres.

That meant I had Nico Rosberg's Mercedes and Fernando Alonso's Ferrari right behind me when it started to rain in the last few laps.

The leader always has to be a bit more cautious in that situation because you're the one who can look like an idiot. You arrive first and the guys behind can learn off you.

What made the race more difficult was that there was a huge amount of marbles - bits of discarded rubber from the tyres that are incredibly slippery.

That meant the line through Casino Square changed very early in the race - and I wasn't happy with that because I like to use a slightly different line. That's the sort of thing you have to cope with.

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