Although leading for the opening 10 laps after claiming back-to-back pole
positions for the first time in his career, the German was soon swallowed up
after the first round of pit stops.
As for Hamilton, the Briton started to go backwards from lap one as he was
initially outmanoeuvred by Vettel into turn one, and then by Alonso a few
corners later.
Formula One these days has become all about tyre conservation, with Hamilton’s
frustration coming to the fore just before the halfway stage of the 66 laps.
At that point, with Hamilton having plummeted to 15th, the 28-year-old dropped
behind Williams’ Pastor Maldonado.
Turning to the radio, Hamilton said: “And now I’ve been passed by a
Williams!”
When Hamilton was told soon after to look after his left-rear tyre, he then
replied: “I can’t drive any slower.”
That has become the way of it in the sport at present, with Pirelli too much
of a controlling force, even though they have spiced up the show.
Ultimately, it was Ferrari’s pace that held sway, allowing Alonso to move
within 17 points of Vettel who was 38 seconds down come the fall of the
flag, with Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber fifth.
Rosberg managed to hold Force India’s Paul Di Resta off for sixth, with the
Scot again the best of the Brits for the second successive race as McLaren’s
Jenson Button came home eighth ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.
Bizarrely, although Perez closed on Button over the closing laps, he was given
a radio message to conserve his tyres which forced him to back off, which
could be interpreted as a team order, something team principal Martin
Whitmarsh claimed did not exist within McLaren in Bahrain three weeks ago
following a fall-out between his drivers.
There were plenty of other incidents, initially sparked by Romain Grosjean in
his Lotus whose right-rear suspension gave way after eight laps, forcing him
to limp to the pits where he retired.
Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde had only three wheels on his car when he
returned to the garage a lap after his pit crew had failed to fit correctly
his left-rear that came loose following his second stop.
Shortly after Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Jean-Eric Vergne in his Toro Rosso
collided in the pits – with the former exiting his pit box from a stop and
the latter entering his to make one – a Pirelli tyre again suffered another
failure.
For the fifth occasion this season the tread shredded on a tyre, this time on
Vergne’s car, which will lead to another Pirelli investigation.
In taking the victory, and starting from fifth on the grid, Alonso set a new
record at this track as no driver had previously won from below third, with
21 of the prior 22 triumphs from the front row.
After savouring the roars of the crowd, Alonso said: “It’s very special
winning at home, it doesn’t matter how may times you do, it’s always like
starting from zero.
“The last laps are very long because you want the race to finish as soon as
possible, but I’m very happy for the team.”
Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali echoed the satisfaction felt as he said:
“For sure, very, very happy. It was a good day for the team.
“The win was for the people who are working hard at the factory.”
(Edited by Nick Pearce)