The first seven drivers on the grid had used the highly-degradable soft
Pirelli rubber in Q3, giving them an early advantage in the race, but
knowing they would be forced into pitting early.
For the six drivers behind – Button, Vettel, Nico Hulkenberg in his Sauber,
Force India duo Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil, along with McLaren’s Sergio
Perez – they all started on the medium compound.
That would give them early durability, but aware they would have to switch to
the soft tyre very late on, ensuring it would all be about position come the
closing stages.
Starting from his maiden pole for Mercedes, and the 27th overall of his
Formula One career, Hamilton at least made a sterling getaway.
But with his car being particularly hard on the soft tyre, Hamilton was hit by
a double Ferrari whammy at the start of lap five as he was passed by both
Alonso and team-mate Felipe Massa.
In many respects, such an early move, was also the most defining of the race
because Hamilton never once had an opportunity to try and regain the lead,
never mind hold on to it.
As the race unfolded, and as has become the way so far this season, it all
became about making the tyres last, pitting at the right time and knowing
when to attack and when to try and ease a little.
Ferrari and Alonso mastered that, and whilst Raikkonen had a brush with
McLaren’s Sergio Perez at one point, the Finn managed to jump Hamilton in
the third round of stops to claim the runner-up spot.
As for Vettel, his charge on the softs at the close ensured he fell just short
of a podium place, resulting in his championship lead being cut to three
points to Raikkonen, nine over Alonso and 12 to Hamilton.
There were casualties along the way, notably Sutil who was rammed into from
behind by Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez, forcing both to retire after five
laps.
As for Mark Webber, it was simply one of those weekends to forget.
After Red Bull failed to fuel his car correctly during qualifying due to a
fault with the bowser, Webber started from the pit lane rather than the back
of the grid.
That at least was the right call as it allowed the team to alter the car’s
set-up, and after a pit stop at the end of lap one to get rid of the soft
tyre, Webber was running eighth come lap 15.
That was when further disaster struck as he ran into the side of the Toro
Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne, sending the Frenchman into a spin as bits of
bodywork flew.
Webber immediately pitted for a new front wing, but he swiftly ran into
further trouble as he began to cruise, with salt rubbed into his wounds when
his right-rear wheel worked loose at the turn 14 hairpin.
There was no luck either for Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes as the German pulled
into his garage after 23 laps with a technical fault.
Behind Vettel, Button finished a creditable fifth given the still ongoing
limitations of his McLaren.
Button was followed by Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, Daniel Ricciardo in his Toro
Rosso, Di Resta, Lotus’ Romain Grosjean and Hulkenberg in 10th, with
Marsussia’s Max Chilton 17th.
Leading positions after race (56 Laps):
1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1hr 36mins 26.945secs
2 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Lotus F1 Team 1:36:37.113
3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:36:39.267
4 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:36:39.470
5 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:37:02.230
6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:37:07.772
7 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:37:09.636
8 Paul di Resta (Gbr) Force India 1:37:18.029
9 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus F1 Team 1:37:20.368
10 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari 1:37:23.543
11 Sergio Perez (Mex) McLaren 1:37:30.805
12 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:37:39.549
13 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1:38:00.806
14 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams 1:37:02.398
15 Jules Bianchi (Fra) Marussia at 1 Lap
16 Charles Pic (Fra) Caterham at 1 Lap
17 Max Chilton (Gbr) Marussia at 1 Lap
18 Giedo van der Garde (Ned) Caterham at 1 Lap
Not classified:
19 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 21 Laps completed
20 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 15 Laps completed
21 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 5 Laps completed
22 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari 4 Laps completed
(Edited by Vicki Hodges)