Vettel and his team-mate were quick to overtake pole-sitter Nico Hulkenberg and storm into the lead as the Williams rookie caused problems for Alonso and Hamilton. While Alonso finally got by him out on track, Hamilton had to wait until the German pitted - and all the time the two Bulls were pulling away at a rate of knots.There was an interesting move in the mid-field as Jenson Button pitted on lap 12 - the very first man in. His stop sparked a move from others and it quickly became apparant that McLaren had made a good call as those pitting after Button, including Hulkenberg, Kubica, Barrichello and Massa all lined up behind the reigning World Champ out on track.
When the pit stops, which ranged from lap 12 to lap 28, finally played out, Vettel was leading by 2.7s over Webber with Alonso a further 10s adrift. Hamilton and Button were next in line. The race was rather stagnent from there, promising so much but delivering so little. At least until lap 51.
Drama unfold as Tonio Liuzzi suffered a huge shunt bringing out the Safety Car. McLaren was the only one of big teams to bring their title rivals in for fresh rubber with the two Bulls and Alonso staying out.
But when the race re-started on lap 56, F1 fans still did not get the battle they wanted as although second in the race, Webber had two cars between himself and Vettel on the track at the re-start - and they didn't exactly get out of the way all that fast. This allowed Vettel to easily pull away without any pressure. Alonso, Hamilton and Button also had to fight backmarker traffic which nullified the potential tussle we could have had for the lead.
Pity for F1.
The race ended with Vettel taking the chequered flag ahead of Webber, Alonso, Hamilton and Button. It also ended with Red Bull winning the Constructors' Championship, Alonso's lead in the Drivers' cut to eight, Hamilton's hopes hanging by a thread and Button out of the title race.
Results:
01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h33:11.803
02. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 4.243
03. Alonso Ferrari + 6.807
04. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 14.634
05. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 15.593
06. Rosberg Mercedes + 35.300
07. Schumacher Mercedes + 43.400
08. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
09. Kubica Renault + 1 lap
10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
12. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
13. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
14. Massa Ferrari + 1 lap
15. Petrov Renault + 1 lap
16. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
17. Heidfeld Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
18. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth + 2 laps
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth + 2 laps
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps
21. Senna HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
22. Klien HRT-Cosworth + 6 laps
Did Not Finish
Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 63
Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 50
Source: Planet-F1
