Carlos Sainz believes he and Toro Rosso produced a "perfect" weekend as he matched his best result in Formula 1 with a sixth place in Monaco.

The junior Red Bull team had been near the top of the timings since first practice on Thursday and the Spaniard once again showed his prodigious talent, capitalising on the opportunity and holding off Lewis Hamilton in the closing laps to score eight important points.

“What a result, what a perfect weekend,” a delighted 22-year-old declared afterwards. “We need to enjoy this moment, because it’s not usual to achieve a faultless Grand Prix on the streets of Monaco – and this time we did.

“We put in good laps in practice, in yesterday’s qualifying session and, in today’s race, we were able to keep a world champion in a faster car behind and finish sixth, so it definitely feels so good.”

The result moved Sainz upto eighth place in the Drivers standings and also helped Toro Rosso in their battle for fourth in the Constructors' championship, as Force India failed to score for the first time this season and Felipe Massa only finished ninth for Williams.

“We’ve also been quicker than the rest of the midfield throughout the whole weekend and I’d like to thank the whole team for this,” Sainz continued. “They gave me a very good car to drive. I really enjoyed today’s race.

“Now it’s time to celebrate this well-deserved result with the team before starting to think about the Canadian GP, which is up next.”

Sebastian Vettel produced a number of fast laps during the pit-stop phase to move ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and claim victory in Monaco.

The German slid in behind the Finn on the run to the first corner, holding off a tentative attack by Valtteri Bottas, and when given the clear track to push, found more than enough pace in his used tyres to go on and claim his third win of 2017 and second in Monte Carlo.

While it was questionable why Ferrari pitted Kimi early, although those behind has also begun to pit, it was simply the extra pace Vettel had that proved decisive and allowed him to come out ahead three laps later in the lead.

Daniel Ricciardo mirrored Vettel's pace and strategy and he too benefitted, clearing team-mate Max Verstappen and Bottas' Mercedes to jump from fifth to third before going on to complete the podium for Red Bull.

Another man to watch was Lewis Hamilton, as the second Mercedes driver looked to make up ground from 13th on the grid. Though he would pass Stoffel Vandoorne at the start, he like many endured a processional race behind Daniil Kvyat.

That was until the pit-stops when the Briton was able to make the most of clear air as others pitted and move up to seventh after switching to the supersoft tyres.

The order looked mostly set, until the only Safety Car period was called following a scary collision between Pascal Wehrlein and Jenson Button, which left the Sauber on its side against the barrier on the exit of Portier.

Thankfully, the German appears OK, although the incident did see what is likely to be for sure Button's final race in F1 end in the escape road with suspension damage.

What it did allow for, however, was several drivers, including Verstappen, to change back to the ultrasoft tyres for a final sprint to the finish. Though that would have little impact in the battle at the front, it did cause trouble behind as Sergio Perez looked to make up for lost time having fallen behind Lance Stroll after pitting early.

Firstly, the Mexican moved up the inside of Stoffel Vandoorne at Saint Devote at the restart, pushing the Belgian into an area with a lot of debris as the tarmac broke up and resulting in the McLaren driver crashing into the wall. Later, the Force India looked to make a move on Kvyat at Rasscasse but contact saw the Russian forced into retirement and dropped Perez down the order and out of the points. 

It also gave Hamilton the chance to attack Kvyat's team-mate Sainz for sixth but it would be a fruitless chase as the Spaniard completed an impressive weekend for Toro Rosso.

Behind Hamilton in seventh, Romain Grosjean claimed eighth for Haas with Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen benefiting from Perez and Kvyat's demise to complete the top 10.

Focusing back on Vettel, he now moves a full 25 points clear of Hamilton atop the Drivers' championship with Ferrari, after their first win in Monaco in 16 years, taking command in the Constructors' standings with a 17-point cushion heading across the Atlantic to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix in two weeks time.

Daniil Kvyat has scolded Sergio Perez for the collision that ended his race and dropped the Mexican out of the points late on in Monaco.

In a race with very little wheel-to-wheel action, Perez was attempting to make a late switch to ultrasoft tyres work by coming through the field after dropping the order following a first pit-stop much earlier than many around him.

However, coming up to the Russian at Rasscasse, the podium sitter from the same race 12 months prior dived down the inside resulting in contact and leaving Kvyat with suspension damage.

"I was already just doing my job, just going to the finish, after all that happened this weekend I would be very happy with P9,” the Toro Rosso driver said explaining his race until that point.

“I obviously knew he [Perez] had fresher tyres, I saw what he did to Vandoorne and I thought 'okay, this guy really is desperate’.

"So I was just covering my line, to be honest, all the time and then he tried to go from really far away, I didn't even see it coming. What I felt was just a hit, and my race was over.

"He just tried to, you know, lean on me like it was PlayStation, and it doesn't work like that," he continued.

"So, very, very disappointed, I think it was a completely desperate move from him. The guy with so much experience was fighting for the podiums is doing such stupid moves.

"I think I was just doing my job today, simple as that, was doing a good race, very calm, bringing the points and then you always find the one guy who f**** your whole day, and it is Perez.”

The incident also signalled the end of the former McLaren driver's streak of 15 consecutive races in the points, a run that saw him finish top of the midfield drivers last year and currently hold the same seventh place after six races this season.

"Basically it was a bit of a nightmare, my race, starting with Lap 1," Perez said afterwards. "I had a little touch with my front wing, which compromised my whole race.

"We managed to recover, I overtook [Lance] Stroll and I overtook [Jolyon] Palmer, I had to risk a lot to overtake. Then I found myself with new tyres at the end and around two seconds a lap quicker than Kvyat and [Romain] Grosjean."

Giving his view on the incident with the Toro Rosso, he added: "I saw a gap. I went for it, unfortunately, there wasn't enough room and we slightly touched, which meant it ruined his race and my race as well.

"But to be totally honest, when I found myself in P10 on new tyres, I knew I wasn't going to go home happy if I didn't try. So I had to try everything."

Expect the Monaco Grand Prix to be Jenson Button's final goodbye from Formula 1, after he claimed Saturday's qualifying would be his "last".

The Briton, standing in for Fernando Alonso this weekend at McLaren, had earlier not ruled taking up on a contract he has for a full-time return with the British team in 2018.

But after proving he hasn't lost any of his speed, making Q3, the tones of the 37-year-old were one of a man content to call it a day.

“To be P9, I'm very happy and I've enjoyed the weekend a lot," Button said."It's my last qualifying session, and probably one of my most enjoyable.

"I haven't missed F1, I've had such a good six months, then I get back in the car and absolutely loved it.

"I was told to have fun and enjoy it and I definitely have - not just driving the car, but the whole F1 atmosphere."

Despite his strong performance, Button admits it is hard to draw conclusions on how much potential the McLaren really has.

"I really don't know where the limit of the car is, and you can't find the limit around Monaco, you need to feel where the limit is on an open circuit," he explained.

"I've definitely been driving within myself, which is a shame, but you have to around here because [otherwise] you're in the wall.

"It's very difficult for me, but I enjoyed it immensely.”

The big disappointment after scoring the Woking outfit's second Q3 appearance of the season is the realisation of a 15-place grid penalty that drops Jenson to the back of the grid.

"It doesn't matter how many races you've done or not, it still hurts," the 2009 champion conceded.

"They told me yesterday - I was so excited about qualifying because Thursday went really well.

"We both got penalties, Stoffel [Vandoorne] will start 12th because he gains my position and I'll start last.

"We would have both started in the points, so it's a shame," he added. "But hey, it's never easy, is it?”

Daniel Ricciardo believes his third place finish in Monaco was what Red Bull deserved after a better weekend in the Principality.

The Australian had looked set for a dull drive to fifth in the first half of the race but used a similar strategy to race winner Sebastian Vettel by staying out longer than team-mate Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas and setting a series of fast laps, jumping up to third after his eventual pit-stop.

The result followed what was a disappointing qualifying for the man who claimed his first Formula 1 pole in Monte Carlo last year, later blaming his team for "silly mistakes".

“The first few laps were tricky but I’m just happy to be on the podium,” Ricciardo commented post-race.

“Also happy because it’s a reward for myself and the team, happy that we showed pace today and showed more of our potential around these streets.”

Sunday also marked the 27-year-old's second consecutive podium this season and also his third in Monaco since joining Red Bull in 2014, however, it was almost taken away with 12 laps to go as he smacked the barrier exiting Sainte Devote at the restart following the only Safety Car period.

“I touched the wall, that was pretty unexpected because I didn’t brake late or anything,” Ricciardo said explaining the incident.

“I felt like I was quite cautious but as soon as I turned I was like ‘the car’s not turning, it’s not turning’, then I hit it, and I was like surely I’ve damaged the front wing or something.

“So I’m kind of worried about damage then I see Valtteri a little bit in my blind spot, so I’m like, ‘well, don’t let him get passed!’.”

As for team boss Christian Horner, he was equally delighted with the performance of Ricciardo.

“From a team point of view, to have beat the Mercedes fair and square today, to have had good pace when we were in clear air, it has been a great day for the team," he claimed. “We’ve scored a podium not through attrition, just on performance."

As for Verstappen, though he achieved his first race finish in Monaco on Sunday, he was left disappointed after being unable to pass the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas for the entire 78 laps, resulting in a fifth place result.

The decision to be the first of the five cars at the front to pit also bewildered the Dutchman, but Horner revealed several minor factors caused the undercut attempt to fail.

“We could see that the cars were coming up to some traffic, and Max put himself into a great position, unfortunately, we lost about a second through the pit lane, through the stop, the getaway, just the positioning that we are compared to Bottas, the positioning of the car.

“And that would have been enough to, combined with Max’s out lap, to have got the jump on Bottas,” he said.

Daniel Ricciardo hit out at his Red Bull team after poor timing severely hurt his final run in Q3, meaning he will start fifth for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.

The Australian was hoping to capitalise on a more competitive weekend for the Anglo-Austrian team, as he looked to repeat his pole from 12 months ago. Instead, he and team-mate Max Verstappen only benefitted from Lewis Hamilton's problems as Red Bull remained the third best team.

Explaining where his team got it wrong, Ricciardo said: "We knew we needed to go hard on the out-laps, to get a clear lap out of the pits to warm the tyres up.

“[But] We came out in traffic, basically, so I couldn't push on the out-lap on the last run."

Later it emerged that traffic situation could have been avoided, with the 27-year-old adding: "It seemed like we had 20 seconds to Perez behind me so I don't know why we didn't go in that gap.

"Why we went out in traffic when we knew we needed a hard out lap, that was a pretty obvious mistake.

"I don't know why we didn't wait to put me out in clear air - unless the time was going down and we weren't going to make it, which I don't think was the case.

"I believe we had all the time we needed. It just seemed like we made a stupid, silly error.”

For Ricciardo, there was an eery sense of deja vu after a communication error meant his tyres were not ready for a pit stop 12 months ago, costing him a very likely race win.

"It seems like sometimes the intensity of Monaco makes you lose a bit of concentration and make what seem to be pretty obvious errors," Ricciardo lamented.

"It's not intentional, it's just frustrating. We underachieved way too much and this race is an opportunity for us to do much better than that.

"We could have challenged everyone, but that means nothing now because we're not there. We were very far from the potential, so that's the frustrating part.

"This is the one that you don't want to make silly or simple errors at. You want to put more emphasis on Saturday than Sunday here, it's not the day you want to make those errors.”

A joyful Lewis Hamilton admitted seventh place was better than he was expecting having started from P13 on the grid at the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver made a place on Stoffel Vandoorne, the man who's crash ended the Briton's qualifying early, at the start, before staying out later than the cars ahead and using the clear air to move up the order as he looked to limit the damage.

Though the result actually matched his worst without retiring since the start of the V6 hybrid era, Hamilton was pleased with how the race panned out.

“I feel really good, I feel very positive. I feel really happy,” he claimed.

“I came here today a lot further back and I had no idea what was going to happen. The beginning of the race was quite boring and then when I got in that clear air, I had a lot of fun.

“The team said in the strategy meeting this morning that 10th was the best I could get, which really would have sucked. But really happy that I was able to leapfrog those guys as you can't overtake on track.

“Six points. The gap's big, for sure, but not impossible to close. I come away I would say from one of the most difficult weekends that I've had for a while. Still lots of positives to take from it. Just let my guys know that we never give up and we keep going.”

Moving forward, Hamilton will be very keen to see tyre and set-up issues, that appeared at their worst in Monaco, solved and can expect a chance to start recouping some of the lost ground in the championship at one of his strongest circuits in two weeks time.

“Well I mean, it was hard to close up to where I was coming into this weekend,” he said, referring to how the gap to Vettel was likely to significantly increase after the bad qualifying. “25 points is a long way, but I've got some incredible support here, back home, all over.

“The team I know are going to work as hard as they can to make sure we're ahead of the Ferraris, and I'm going to work as hard as I can to make sure that a weekend like this is not repeated.

“Montreal, we're going to have to seriously bring it there,” he concluded.

Lewis Hamilton isn't taking much hope into Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix after a horrid qualifying session left the Briton 13th on the grid.

Problems with tyre temperatures once again badly impacted the performance of his Mercedes during the first run of Q2 before a crash for Stoffel Vandoorne exiting the Swimming Pool in the final minutes of the second segment meant the three-time world champion was unable to improve.

Though he gained a place by virtue of Jenson Button's penalty and factors such as Safety Cars could help Hamilton recover into the points, the 32-year-old was pessimistic about his hopes.

“I mean that's pretty much the weekend done,” he claimed immediately after stepping out of the car. “Tomorrow I'll just be driving around in whatever position outside of the top 10.

“I'll try and get up as high as I can but it's hard to overtake here as you know. It's going to be a nice Sunday drive tomorrow I imagine.”

Problems optimising tyre performance have hampered Mercedes throughout 2017 and particularly Hamilton who had a similar lack of pace in Russia, while team-mate Valtteri Bottas was able to find a solution.

"At the moment it is a big unknown but a lot of analysis will go into trying to understand it. It is a tyre issue, I didn't get the grip from the tyres," said Hamilton. “I'm not really sure [what happened]."

As for Monaco specifically, he added: “The opportunity wasn't really there for me. I just struggled with the car. I don't really have much to say at the moment. Deflated, but I'll keep pushing tomorrow.”

Across the garage, Bottas was able to give Mercedes some hope just missing out on the pole and settling for third behind the two Ferraris.

“I think we should be able to fight with them here," the Finn said rating his chances in the race.

“Normally at some time there is always a Safety Car and if that happens it will create opportunities. Hopefully, we can follow them and then use any situation to create opportunities.”

Ferrari has denied claims the decision to pit Kimi Raikkonen early equated to team orders aimed at benefiting Sebastian Vettel during the Monaco Grand Prix.

The issue of number one and number two drivers has rumbled throughout 2017, as the four-time world champion and Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes become embroiled in a fight for the title.

Previously, that conversation had mostly reverberated around Mercedes, in Monaco, however, it was the Italian team under the spotlight after Raikkonen claimed his first pole of the season with Vettel alongside and Hamilton down the order.

As the race played out, the German was able to produce a number of fastest laps after the Finn had pitted, emerging ahead when he changed tyres three laps later and going on to take the victory.

“We don’t give team orders,” team boss Maurizio Arrivabene insisted when asked if Vettel's win had been planned. “For us, today’s result is what our company wants, what’s in our DNA.

“The guys are free to fight on track. Today, they were free to fight and they did. Sebastian was very quick on used tyres today. But leaving this aside, let me say that the guys did a great job, and we have a great car.

“Don’t forget that Kimi got pole position yesterday! He is not with us just to give a contribution, but also to race for himself. Yesterday he had done his own qualifying, today he has done his own race. They both did a great job, Kimi and Sebastian.”

The 29-year-old also dismissed the notion of the team purposely hampering Raikkonen, saying after the race: “The plan was to try and pull away which we did. Then Valtteri [Bottas] had really good pace. I think we were both struggling a bit with our rears, and at that point, the window opened.

“As soon as Valtteri pitted, I think Kimi responded. For me, I think I still had a bit of a gap, nothing to lose in P2, so I tried to push as hard as possible. Within two laps I was surprised myself to be able to pull a gap to come out in front.”

As for Raikkonen himself, he was left disappointed after finishing second and clearly more sceptical of the team decisions.

“I don't know why they pitted me then, I just finished the race,” the 2007 champion said. “Obviously they had reasons, as in any other race, but I cannot really answer that.

“Those are the rules and we all know it. We go with those but obviously, I don't know what happened other than we had 1 and 2, I got a less good result that I was hoping.”

Kimi Raikkonen secured his first pole position since France 2008 in a dramatic qualifying session for the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Finn showed incredible commitment through the middle sector en route to a 1m12.178s, just enough to beat team-mate Sebastian Vettel by 0.043s as Ferrari claimed their second front-row lockout of the season.

Any disappointment for the German is likely to be short-lived, however, as a disaster for Lewis Hamilton in Q2 saw the Mercedes driver only 14th fastest, though he will move up to 12th on the grid thanks to grid penalties in front.

Valtteri Bottas was able to salvage third for the world champions beating the Red Bulls, as Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo disappointed somewhat in fourth and fifth.

Indeed, Carlos Sainz proved Toro Rosso's pace in practice was no fluke, only a tenth slower than Ricciardo in sixth. Sergio Perez maintained his strong form around the streets of Monte Carlo in seventh for Force India, asRomain Grosjean used the Q2 mayhem to take eighth in the Haas.

For McLaren, it will be a story of 'what if?' as Jenson Button claimed ninth for his one-off return. However, a 15-place grid penalty for the Briton for taking new engine components will demote him to the back of the grid.

Stoffel Vandoorne had arguably his best and worst qualifying session as he made it out of Q1 for the first time. A crash exiting the Swimming Pool in Q2, however, while meaning he made Q3 and ended Hamilton's session, was somewhat disappointing for the Belgian. His own three-place grid penalty for hitting Felipe Massa in Spain drops the former GP2 champion to 13th for the race.

Daniil Kvyat will be the biggest beneficary as the Russian moves up to ninth of the grid. Traffic issues hurt the Toro Rosso on his best lap as well as Vandoorne's crash meaning he was unable to match his team-mate's performance.

Nio Hulkenberg will be positively surprised to start 10th, after the problems Renault have had all weekend while Kevin Magnussen, like Kvyat, will have hoped for more in 11th. Hamilton and Vandoorne will take row six with Felipe Massa highlighting Williams' struggles around Monaco in 14th.

Force India did an excellent job to get Esteban Ocon out for qualifying, following the Frenchman's crash in final practice, sadly a lack of confidence hurt the 20-year-old as he slipped to 15th.

Otherwise, it was the usual suspects towards the back, as Jolyon Palmer had a puncture early in Q1 and couldn't find enough time on his last run as he finished 16th. He will line-up alongside Lance Stroll's Williams once again, as the pair continue to flounder against their respective team-mates..

The two Sauber's of Pascal Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson completed the grid but both will move up one place thanks to Button's grid penalty.