He was never really challenged from there, and controlled the race from start to finish by leading every single lap. The real star of the day, however, was easily Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. After starting at fifth on the grid, the Spaniard fought his way through the ranks to end the race in second.
With McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button attempting to get the better of one another just in front of Alonso at the start of the race, the Ferrari driver was able to pass Hamilton after the first lap and then went on overtake Button just three laps later.
Alonso then went on to chase Webber. The Aussie originally looked like a comfortable second, though some issues with his KERS on lap 20 meant he was down on power on the straights and this saw Alonso close the gap and eventually overtake on lap 48. Despite succumbing to Alonso’s challenge, Webber did a great job of fending off Hamilton to finish third.
Behind him Hamilton finished in fourth and Button took out fifth. Finishing sixth was Ferrari’s other driver, Felipe Massa, who had also started at sixth.
The rest of the points earners were Lotus’s Kimi Räikkönen in seventh, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg in eighth, Lotus’ Romain Grosjean in ninth and Williams’ Bruno Senna in tenth.
Thanks to his latest win, Sebastian Vettel extends his lead slightly in the Drivers’ Championship to 240 points, while Fernando Alonso is only 13 points behind on 227. Kimi Räikkönen now has 173 points, making him a distant third.
In the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull Racing remains the clear leader with a massive 407 points, followed by Ferrari with 316 points and McLaren not far behind with 310 points.
As there are still three races remaining in the 2012 Formula One season, the challenge for this year’s crown is still very much alive. The next race is the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which takes place this coming weekend.
