A Win And A Retirement For McLaren

The big question on every body's lips yesterday was 'can Vettel race wheel for wheel against his opponents?' Well the answer was no as Vettel failed to secure a podium for the first time this season. The news before the race began was that Buemi would start at the back for illegally changing his fuel substance.

Webber hasn't been able to maintain the lead from pole and he failed to do it again yesterday as Hamilton over-took the Red Bull. Alonso had over-taken Vettel into third and Button had slipped right down to tenth. Heidfeld and Di Resta collided on turn three, causing both drivers to fall to the back of the pack. Alonso went off track on lap two and surrendered third place to Vettel but Alonso managed to regain the place on lap eight. Lap eleven saw Heidfeld get squeezed off the track by Buemi and the Renault crashed out, causing Buemi a tyre puncture but the Toro Rosso was able to continue. Barrichello also retired around the same time with an engine failure. Massa secured fifth place on the same lap by over-taking Rosberg.

The first set of pits saw Webber pit a lap earlier and it paid dividends as he was able to overtake both Alonso and Hamilton to lead the race after Massa had also pitted. Massa's pit-stop was also beneficial as he managed to come out before Vettel and take fourth place. The second set of pits saw Webber again pit earlier but this time it didn't work as Hamilton took the lead and Alonso second. Button had to retire for the second consecutive race on lap thirty-six with a hydraulics problem. Liuzzi also retired four laps later. Vettel was able to steal fourth place on the final lap when he came out of the pits quicker than Massa. Result in full:

1.Hamilton (McLaren), 2.Alonso (Ferrari), 3.Webber (Red Bull), 4. Vettel (Red Bull), 5.Massa (Ferrari), 6.Sutil (Force India), 7.Rosberg (Mercedes), 8.Schumacher (Mercedes), 9.Kobayashi (Sauber), 10.Petrov (Renault), 11.Perez (Sauber), 12.Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), 13.Di Resta (Force India), 14.Maldonado (Williams), 15.Buemi (Toro Rosso), 16.Kovalainen (Lotus), 17.Glock (Virgin), 18.D'Ambrosio (Virgin), 19.Ricciardo (Hispania), 20.Chandhok (Lotus) DNF: Heidfeld (Renault), Barrichello (Williams), Button (McLaren), Liuzzi (Hipania).