The defending World Champion's latest win sees him stretch his lead at the top of the Drivers' Championship to 41 points ahead of the McLaren driver.Unlike in previous races where Vettel was in cruise mode, he had to work hard for his victory in Barcelona. After starting P2 on the grid, he had to battle without KERS for the latter part of the race but did just enough to keep the charging McLaren driver at bay.
Jenson Button claimed the final podium place with Mark Webber fourth and Fernando Alonso fifth.
Alonso looked like he was up for the race as he made a sensational start from P4 to ease into the lead off the line. While the two Red Bull drivers were keeping an eye on each other, the Spaniard snuck through on the inside and he kept himself in the lead until the second round of pit stops.
Unfortunately for Ferrari, Alonso didn't just lose out to Vettel during the stop, but also to Hamilton. Alonso was quickly dropped by the two front-runners and it wasn't too long before Webber and Button caught up and overtook him.
Button, whose strategy cost him a possible podium place in Turkey, was vindicated for sticking to the three-stopper this time as he was able to hold off Webber for the final podium place.
Results
01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h39:03.301
02. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 0.630
03. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 35.697
04. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 47.966
05. Alonso Ferrari + 1 lap
06. Schumacher Mercedes + 1 lap
07. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap
08. Heidfeld Renault + 1 lap
09. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
11. Petrov Renault + 1 lap
12. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
14. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
15. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
16. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 2 laps
17. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 2 laps
18. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 2 laps
19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps
20. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps
21. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps
Not classified/retirements:
Massa Ferrari 60
Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 49
Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 29
Source: Planet-F1
