Vettel wins inaugural Indian GP

Hat-trick for the German

Sebastian Vettel rounded off a perfect inaugural Indian Grand Prix with a dominant win at the Buddh International Circuit.

Starting from pole position, the Red Bull driver led from lights to flag and set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap – much to the annoyance of his team.

He crossed the finish line 8.4s ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button. Fernando Alonso climbed on the third step of the podium. Mark Webber was fourth ahead of Schumacher and Rosberg. Hamilton finished seventh after a collision with Felipe Massa. Alguersuari, Sutil and Pérez scored points.

How the race unfolded:

Sebastian Vettel took a decent start from pole position and led the race out of the first corner. His teammate Mark Webber was holding on to second place but lost it seconds later to McLaren’s Jenson Button while Alonso slid wide and rejoined in fourth place.

There was some mayhem further down the order. Rubens Barrichello and Kamui Kobayashi made contact at Turn One. The Japanese spun and sent Glock’s Virgin in a spin. Barrichello, meanwhile, carried a broken front wing. He managed to drive back in the pits, as well as Glock, but Kobayashi was forced to stop his Sauber on track. However, Glock joined the Japanese on the retirement board one lap later. Jarno Trulli was also sent in a spin on the opening lap but managed to rejoin.

On lap 6, Vettel was leading from Button, Webber, Alonso, Massa and Hamilton. The double World Champion had a 4.5s advantage over Button, who was under pressure from a charging Webber. The Briton defended well and kept the Red Bull driver at bay. He eventually managed to pull away and had a 1.6s advantage over the Australian on lap 12.

Maldonado lost drive on lap 14 and retired.

Webber, Alonso and Hamilton pitted for the first time on lap 17. Massa and Rosberg stopped one lap later. Button came in on lap 19 while Vettel stayed out for one more lap. He took on more soft tyres and rejoined safely in the lead.

A mistake from Massa in the first sector of lap 23 allowed Lewis Hamilton to close in on him. The Briton was pushing his best rival hard when they made contact. The Ferrari ran off track while Hamilton kept going with a damaged front wing and had to pit for a new nose. He rejoined in 9th position. He was significantly faster than Alguersuari but couldn’t find a way past the Toro Rosso.

Halfway through the race, Vettel was leading from Button, Webber, Alonso, Massa and Rosberg. Schumacher, Alguersuari, Hamilton and Sutil completed the top ten. Four cars had retired: Buemi, Maldonado, Glock and Kobayashi.

Massa was handed a drive-through penalty for causing the collision with Hamilton. He served it on lap 31 and came back in the pits for his second stop one lap later. Hamilton passed Alguersuari for P8 on lap 31. Massa retired on lap 34 with a damaged front-left suspension.

Webber pitted from P3 on lap 38. He rejoined on hard tyres. Alonso came in on lap 40. He took on hard tyres and rejoined ahead of the Australian. Meanwhile, Button started to slowly close the gap on Vettel. As the leaders stayed out on their used soft tyres, Rosberg and Hamilton pitted on lap 46.

Button came in shortly after his teammate had left the pits. Vettel was in next time round and rejoined in the lead. Ten laps to the chequered flag, the Red Bull driver had a 2.7s advantage over his pursuer. Alonso was third, 16.7s further down the road. Webber was fourth. Schumacher pitted from 5th on lap 51 and rejoined in the same position.

Once his tyres well up in temperature, Vettel slightly pulled away from Button. On lap 55, his lead was back up to 5 seconds. He kept pushing and crossed the finish line with an 8.4s advantage over Button. Despite a late push, Mark Webber couldn’t attack Alonso for third place and missed the podium.