Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has won the Monaco Grand Prix ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez.

The victory is Hamilton's first of the season and just as in 2008, the Brit has prevailed after starting in third.

It also means that the reigning world champion has cut his deficit to Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, who finished seventh in the race, to 24 points.

Hamilton needed a slow pit stop from Ricciardo to triumph, but the 31-year-old did have to defend 45 laps in order to triumph in the showpiece race.

Hamilton ultimately finished just over seven seconds ahead of Australian Ricciardo, who led in the wet early stages, while Perez and Sebastian Vettel made up the rest of the top four.

Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, took fifth for McLaren in their joint-best result since re-uniting with Honda.

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
3. Sergio Perez (Force India)
4. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
5. Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
6. Niko Hulkenberg (Force India)
7. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
8. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso)
9. Jenson Button (McLaren)
10. Felipe Massa (Williams)
11. Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
12. Esteban Gutierrez (Haas)
13. Romain Grosjean (Haas)
14. Pascal Wehrlein (Manor)
15. Rio Haryanto (Manor)
16. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
17. Felipe Nasr (Sauber)
18. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
19. Kevin Magnussen (Renault)
20. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso)
21. Kimi Raikonnen (Ferrari)
22. Jolyon Palmer (Renault)