Vettel wins European Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel won Sunday’s European Grand Prix ahead of Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber.

It was a perfect weekend for the reigning World Champion who did the hat-trick pole/win/fastest lap.

The Red Bull driver had a straightforward race, pulling a slight gap at the start and then controlling the race from the lead. Alonso could barely threaten him and he crossed the finish line with a 10-s advantage over the Ferrari driver. Webber took third despite a gearbox problem in the closing laps of the race.

Hoping to challenge for the win, the McLaren drivers had to content themselves with P4 (Hamilton) and P6 (Button).

Only six cars finished in the same lap as the winner. All 24 cars took the chequered flag.

How the race unfolded :

Sebastian Vettel took a great start from pole position while his teammate Mark Webber had to fend off the assaults of the Ferraris. Both Alonso and Massa got the jump on Hamilton’s McLaren and the Briton came out of Turn 1 in fifth place.

It was a clean start all the way down the order and everyone made it safely through Turn 1.

Vettel immediately pushed to try and pull away at the front. He was 2.2s up on Webber on lap 3. DRS was enabled on this lap and Button instantly put pressure on Rosberg for sixth place. Alonso also set on to close within a second of Webber to be able to use his DRS but the Australian reacted and maintained a 1.1s gap to the Ferrari driver.

Button got the best of Rosberg on lap 6 but was already eight seconds behind the fifth-placed driver – who was no other than his teammate Hamilton.

Alonso had managed to get close to Webber on lap 9 but ran wide at Turn 20. A mistake by Massa on lap 10 allowed Hamilton to get within some tenths of a second of him, meaning the McLaren driver would be able to use his DRS to pass him.

Further down the order, 15th-placed Kobayashi came under pressure from the Toro Rossos of Buemi and Alguersuari. The Japanese pitted on lap 12, as well as Heidfeld and Barrichello.

Hamilton made his first tyre change on lap 13. Rosberg and Sutil followed suit.

At the front, Vettel was still setting a quick pace and managing his three-second gap to Webber. The Australian pitted on lap 14. Both Vettel and Alonso stopped on lap 14, handing the lead over to Felipe Massa. Button and Schumacher also stopped on this lap.

Hamilton made the most of his fresh tyre to set some very quick laps and gained one place. He was up in P4 after the first round of pit stops. Massa stopped on lap 15 and Vettel reclaimed the lead ahead of Webber and Alonso.

Schumacher had to pit again on lap 16 with a broken front wing. He rejoined in twentieth place.

On lap 19, Alonso was back within a second of Webber. The Spaniard was quicker than the Red Bull driver and found a way past on lap 21. The Australian had just been warned of increasing rear brake temperature on his car.

Now up to 2nd, the Ferrari driver was almost three seconds away from the lead. Acknowledging the threat coming from behind, Vettel slightly raised his game to match the Spaniard’s pace and control the gap.

Fourth-placed Hamilton pitted for the 2nd time on lap 25. Further down the order, Sergio Pérez was struggling more and more on his worn hard tyres – he eventually stopped on lap 26.

Webber took on another set of soft tyres on lap 29. He rejoined in fourth place behind Ferrari’s Massa. Alonso made his second stop on lap 30 and lost a place to Webber. Vettel pitted from the lead at the end of this same lap and retained his lead. Button stopped on this lap too.

Webber passed Massa for P2 on lap 31. The Brazilian dived in the pitlane shortly after that move. It was a slow stop for the Ferrari driver and he resumed in fifth place just ahead of McLaren’s Button.

The three leading drivers – Vettel, Webber and Alonso – had a similar pace at this point of the race and the gaps remained stable. In fourth place, Hamilton was almost 20 seconds down the road and slower than the leaders – 2s/lap at some points.

Vettel pushed a bit harder towards the end of this third stint and set a string of fastest laps.

Webber kicked off the final round of pitstops on lap 43, taking on the harder compound. Hamilton came in seconds later. Alonso stopped on lap 46 and leapfrogged Webber for P2.

Vettel now enjoyed a 28s lead and safely pitted for the final time on lap 47. He resumed in the lead with an eight seconds cushion over Alonso who was put under pressure by Webber. But the Australian made a mistake and lost contact with the Ferrari driver.

Massa and Button stopped on lap 49. Both rejoined behind Hamilton. Having stopped only twice, Jaime Alguersuari was up in P8 for Toro Rosso, with Sutil 9th for Force India. Seven laps to the finish, all 24 cars were still in the race. Only seven of them were in the same lap as the leading Red Bull.

Vettel set a new fastest time on lap 52. In the meantime, his teammate Webber was warned of a developing gearbox problem. The Australian could afford to slow down and nurse it to the finish as he had a comfortable margin on Hamilton in fourth place.

The reigning World Champion cruised to his sixth win of the season. Alonso crossed the finish line ten seconds behind him. Webber finished third with Hamilton a distant fourth. Massa was fifth ahead of Button. Rosberg, Alguersuari, Sutil and Heidfeld scored points.