Fernando Alonso led from start to finish to extend his lead over Mark Webber in the Championship standings. A controversial over-take from Sebastian Vettel fall from second to fifth after the stewards brandished a 20-second penalty after the race. This meant that Jenson Button gained second with Kimi Raikkonen finishing third for team Lotus.
The news from the start of the race was that Sergio Perez was demoted to 17th due to impeding Raikkonen in qualifying. Mark Webber was also demoted to eighth on his 100th race for Red Bull, where he would finish, due to a gearbox change. The Australian had a very quiet race, looking very anxious for the most part as he seemed to struggle with grip.
The start was largely a clean one apart from Felipe Massa losing his front wing and Romain Grosjean going off track. Button had got himself up to fifth and Webber had moved into seventh. Massa, Grosjean and
Bruno Senna would find themselves in the pits at the end of the opening lap.
Lewis Hamilton's 100th Grand Prix was virtually ended when he received a puncture from Massa's debris that had been left on the track on lap three. He immediately called for a retirement but the team disagreed and got him back out once he had made it back to the pits. Button's attacking race began on lap eight when he overtook Nico Hulkenberg into fourth before getting in front of Michael Schumacher three laps later.
After the first set of pit-stops, Webber had to over-take Pastor Maldonado to regain ninth place on lap-20. Raikkonen overtook Schumacher a lap later to take fifth in a Lotus car that improved as the track got hotter. By lap-35, Hamilton had been lapped by the leaders but a fresh set of tyres meant he was able unlap himself against Vettel. This angered Vettel but it also allowed Button to catch the front two. It also helped Hamilton who was ushered into 16th courtesy of following Alonso past the further back markers.
Button then got his man on lap-42, over-taking Vettel on the pit exit after the McLaren had pitted a lap earlier than the Red Bull. Hamilton's race was over on lap-58 when they decided to retire him since he wasn't going to get anywhere. The controversy came on lap-66 when Vettel battled back and managed to get level with Button going into an apex. Vettel had the edge but needed to go off the track to complete the over-take. This move angered Button and the stewards duly sided with the McLaren, rewarding Vettel with a 20-second penalty, demoting him to fifth. Race result:
1.Alonso (Ferrari), 2.Button (McLaren), 3.Raikkonen (Lotus), 4.Kobayashi (Sauber), 5.Vettel (Red Bull), 6.Perez (Sauber), 7.Schumacher (Mercedes), 8.Webber (Red Bull), 9.Hulkenberg (Force India), 10.Rosberg (Mercedes), 11.Di Resta (Force India), 12.Massa (Ferrari), 13.Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), 14.Vergne (Toro Rosso), 15.Maldonado (Williams), 16.Petrov (Caterham), 17.Senna (Williams), 18.Grosjean (Lotus), 19.Kovalainen (Caterham), 20.Pic (Marussia), 21.De La Rosa (HRT), 22.Glock (Marussia), 23.Karthikeyan (HRT) DNF: Hamilton (McLaren)
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