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Race
 The
forecast had been for rain, but the start was dry, if overcast. Senna
once again converted pole position as he left the grid with Mansell
and Alboreto behind, and Prost alongside Cheever. Further back, Berger
struggled to get going and was thumped by Tambay, with Johansson also
caught up. The Arrows and the Renault were out on the spot (while Tambay
had gone no further than in 1984, at least he wasn't injured this time)
while Johansson visited the pits to see if anything could be done before
throwing in the towel. The other Ferrari was going much better, Alboreto
scrabbling past Mansell at Ste Devot on the start of the second lap,
and setting out after Senna, with Prost and Cheever soon passing the
Williams as well.
 Cheever
soon slowed with electrical trouble, losing out to de Angelis, Rosberg
and Mansell before pulling off, shaking his head in fury. Further back
there were two little groups battling away - Boutsen, de Cesaris and
Warwick fighting for 7th, and Patrese in 10th fending off Lauda, Piquet,
Laffite and Fabi. Senna's lead would only last until lap 14 as his Renault
engine broke, the legacy of over-revving in the morning warm-up. This
left Alboreto leading by about five seconds from Prost, and looking
very assured while doing it.
 However,
he would lose the lead after four laps through no fault of his own.
Patrese's Formula Ford tactics had already irritated Lauda, but the
World Champion had got past and scampered away after the Williams pair.
Now Piquet was getting more frustrated and on lap 17 managed to get
a good run up the inside of the Alfa Romeo, at which point Patrese simply
moved across and shoved his former Brabham team-mate into the armco
on the inside of the run to Ste Devot in a shower of sparks. The pair
of them slid disintegrating towards St Devote, a brief flash of flame
appearing as the Alfa Romeo's oil tank went up, and had they have been
anywhere else on the circuit the consequences could have been even more
lurid. As it was, the main result was for both cars to shoot into the
escape area, and cover Ste Devot with oil and debris.
 Laffite,
following closely, span avoiding them but managed to get going, while
Fabi ground to a halt before continuing. Alboreto was soon on the scene
and also slid to a halt. He kept the engine running and eventually set
off, but the delay allowed Prost to nip into the lead. Lauda was even
unluckier, skidding to a halt. He admitted himself that by the time
he had registered the car had stopped before thumping a barrier he had
stalled, and was left to retire an undamaged McLaren that was just starting
to come into the race. Having survived the incident unscathed, Fabi
then had to stop when the Hart engine broke a turbocharger.
 Alboreto
was only a couple of seconds behind Prost despite the spin, and soon
wiped out the gap. At the start of lap 24 he then simply drove around
the outside of Prost at the first corner, and then began to pull away.
However, he never managed to get more than a handful of seconds in hand,
and then halfway round lap 32 Alboreto slowed midway through the swimming
pool complex, allowing Prost back in front. The Ferrari had picked up
a slow left-rear puncture in the Piquet/Patrese debris, and reported
to the pits accordingly. The delay dropped him to 4th after something
of a panicked stop.
 Prost
now had a comfortable lead over de Angelis, who himself had a handy
margin over the impressive de Cesaris, making good use of the revised
Ligier to give Pirelli their best showing so far. Behind Alboreto came
Warwick and a brake-troubled Rosberg, with the similarly-afflicted Mansell
being caught by the recovering Laffite. Alboreto set a new lap record
and soon dropped Warwick and moved up to de Cesaris' gearbox. He only
spent a lap there before bravely diving up the inside at Mirabeau, and
then set off after de Angelis.
 He
caught the Lotus on lap 61, and managed to squeeze past at Ste Devot
as the Lotus car's brakes began to fade, but Prost was simply too far
away. The skies began to darken and the last few laps saw a few drops
of rain come down, but not enough to seriously affect anything. Prost's
car began to smoke thanks to a broken wastegate burning excessive oil,
and Alboreto started to take huge chunks of time out of the McLaren,
but it never really looked like being more than a futile gesture. Third
place behind them kept de Angelis in the championship lead, while de
Cesaris was delighted with 4th. Warwick opened his 1985 account in 5th,
while Laffite managed to get past Mansell a few laps from home to put
both Ligiers in the points. Rosberg came behind his team-mate after
a stop for tyres, with Boutsen, Brundle and Palmer all finishing despite
various problems - remarkably for Monaco, Lauda had posted the final
retirement, sixty laps from the end.
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