In a race very much about strategy, Fernando Alonso emerged the victor with the fastest car all race. The different strategies were there from the start with places one to seven all having to start on the soft compound with Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Hulkenberg all on the medium.
It almost paid dividends for Vettel, but he left it a lap too late to chase down Lewis Hamilton for third and had to settle for fourth. The Mercedes' pace wasn't there today and it allowed Kimi Raikkonen to take second. Nico Rosberg' season is still yet to get going after a second retirement in three races and Mark Webber's weekend also failed to get any better, resulting in he also not finishing the race. Paul Di Resta enjoyed a good race, managing to finish eighth in the Force India. Daniel Ricciardo managed to stay where he qualified, seventh, to post his best ever result in Formula One.
As per usual, both Ferraris got away the best from the start and quickly found themselves second and third. The biggest piece of drama on the opening lap saw the two Force Indias go wheel to wheel and it ended with Adrian Sutil being forced on to the grass, but there was no damage done and both cars continued. Webber had to start in the pit lane and began the race on the soft tyres, the Red Bull then immediately came in on the opening lap to change to the medium compound.
Romain Grosjean had a rather quiet race in the second Lotus but he had moved to fifth on lap four by overtaking Rosberg. The lead Mercedes soon found himself third on lap five as both of the Ferraris overtook Hamilton, giving Alonso the lead of the race.
Both of the Mercedes cars pitted at the end of that lap, the first to do so, but it hampered Rosberg as he came out behind both Hulkenberg and Vettel. The first two retirements were made on lap six when Esteban Gutierrez was too busy with what was going on around him to realise there was a corner approaching. The Mexican failed to brake and he collided in to the back of Sutil and the Sauber was out. Sutil had managed to get to the pits, but the damage to the rear wing was too catastrophic and a rear brake fire concluded the race for Sutil, his second retirement in two races.
Alonso and Raikkonen came in on lap seven for their first pit stops with Massa coming in a lap later. That proved costly for the Brazilian though as he ended up behind Webber. This left Hulkenberg in front for Sauber with Vettel sitting just behind him. Massa managed to overtake Webber on lap ten and Alonso began to make his back through the field on lap-14 by overtaking Sergio Perez. Hulkenberg and Vettel finally pitted on the same lap and the Red Bull managed to pass the Sauber with a superior stop.
Webber's race began to conclude on lap-15 when a late decision to try and overtake Jean-Eric Vergne ended up seeing the Australian t-bone the Toro Rosso, leaving Vergne facing the wrong way and Webber with front wing damage. Both drivers managed to continue though.
Raikkonen was the next to suffer front wing damage whilst trying to overtake Perez on lap-16. The McLaren somewhat forced the Lotus off the track before the Finn came back and touched the back of the Mexican. This was where Webber's race ended as a bungled pit stop saw the right rear tyre come off the chassis and rolled in to the middle of the track. Fortunately no-one hit the tyre as it ended up rolling back in to a safe area.
Massa and Rosberg were the first to pit again on lap-20. With Vettel again on the medium compound, he was able to overtake Perez to move in to fifth. Rosberg's pit stop didn't go as planned and the German ended up having to pit again on the next lap, really ruining his race. Alonso was once again in front on lap-21 after overtaking Jenson Button, who performed excellently in the below par McLaren.
Hamilton and Raikkonen came in on lap-22 from fourth and fifth before Rosberg retired on lap-23 with suspension problems. Alonso and Button came in on lap-24, Button's first pit stop in the race, and they came out third and fifth. But Button instantly moved to fourth by overtaking Perez before the Mexican also pitted for the first time.
It took just two laps before Alonso had moved past Hulkenberg and in to second and it was lap-29 when Alonso re-took the lead from Vettel. Lap-29 was also the same when Hamilton overtook his former team-mate, Button, to take fourth. After Hulkenberg pitted, Raikkonen was the next to overtake Button to claim fourth on lap-31 as Vettel also pitted. The Red Bull came out in eighth but Vettel immediately overtook both Massa and Di Resta to go sixth. The German moved in to fifth on the next lap by overtaking Hulkenberg.
Raikkonen was the first driver to pit for a third time on lap-35. Vettel ended up being third after lap-36 by overtaking Button, but Vettel still hadn't used the soft tyre and had to pit once more. Hulkenberg and Massa pitted on lap-37 and ended up coming out of the pits side-by-side before the Ferrari ended up overtaking the Sauber.
Hamilton came in on lap-38 but he ended up coming out behind Raikkonen and had therefore lost a place. The Mercedes was quick to overtake Ricciardo though to move fifth and go behind the Lotus. Alonso pitted for the final time on lap-41 which gave Vettel the lead in the race. But that lead only lasted two laps before Alonso was back in front, with Vettel not fighting for the place.
Raikkonen captured third off Button on lap-44 and the McLaren would end being fifth a lap later when Hamilton again overtook him. Button ended up pitting on lap-50 and came out in seventh, but moved in to sixth a lap later by overtaking Massa. Vettel was the final man to pit on lap-52 to eventually come out on the soft tyres in fourth place. He had four laps to chase down Hamilton and by the final lap, the Red Bull was very much up the exhaust of the Mercedes. But Vettel just ran out of the time and Hamilton clung on to a second third place in two races. Result:
1. Alonso (Ferrari), 2. Raikkonen (Lotus), 3. Hamilton (Mercedes), 4. Vettel (Red Bull), 5. Button (McLaren), 6. Massa (Ferrari), 7. Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), 8. Di Resta (Force India), 9. Grosjean (Lotus), 10. Hulkenberg (Sauber), 11. Perez (McLaren), 12. Vergne (Toro Rosso), 13. Bottas (Williams), 14. Maldonado (Williams), 15. Bianchi (Marussia), 16. Pic (Caterham), 17. Chilton (Marussia), 18. Van Der Garde (Caterham) DNF: Gutierrez (Sauber), Sutil (Force India), Webber (Red Bull), Rosberg (Mercedes)
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