Barcelona - Formula One leader Sebastian Vettel held off closest championship contender Lewis Hamilton for his fourth victory of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Red Bull driver took the lead for good after the second round of pit stops to edge Hamilton by 0.6 seconds and widen his advantage atop the standings to 41 points over his McLaren rival.
Vettel’s fourth win in five races this season was the first in 11 GPs at the Catalunya Circuit from a driver not starting on pole — and only the fifth non-pole winner in 21 races at Barcelona.
Vettel lost use of his KERS speed boost and Hamilton snuggled in right behind him, but the German driver clung to his slim lead over the last dozen laps.
“A lot of people said today wouldn’t be a race — that’s why I’m even more happy we made it,” Vettel said. “The last 10 laps I felt tires going away and I was praying. On top of that sometimes KERS on, sometimes KERS off. It wasn’t an easy race. But it was a great result and confirmation we are very strong.”
Red Bull teammate Mark Webber surrendered pole position to finish fourth behind Jenson Button of McLaren, while Fernando Alonso of Ferrari led for the first 18 laps before settling for fifth in the hot conditions.
Vettel’s first Spanish win increased his overall total to 118 points after five races with Hamilton remaining the closest challenger with 77 points, and Webber third on 67 points. Alonso remained fifth in the standings with 51 points — 10 behind fourth-place Button — despite a gutsy start in front of his home crowd.
Alonso steamed up the inside past the top three to lead into the first corner, with Webber’s concern over the Spaniard allowing Vettel to go around his teammate from the outside to stay second.
Alonso held his lead for 18 laps until the second round of stops when the Ferrari driver re-emerged behind Vettel and Hamilton and ahead of Webber, who engaged Alonso in a number of overtaking swaps but couldn’t get ahead until after the final round of stops.
“Fernando was holding the two Red Bulls up so I was able to keep with them,” said Hamilton, the only other race winner this season. “We can’t be disappointed with today.”
Button stayed out as the leaders went in for a third tire change and the McLaren driver’s better grip allowed him to get past Webber and Alonso into third by the halfway point. Button, the 2009 winner here, built enough of an advantage and was the only car among the top-5 not to go on a three-stop strategy.
“My first lap was a disaster,” said Button, who dropped from fifth to 11th out of the start. “But I was able to pick them off with a fantastic strategy.”
Button and Webber finished within 50 seconds of Vettel, while Alonso and the rest of the field were lapped by the top-two. (Paul Logothetis)
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