Vettel edges Hamilton for win in Spain

BARCELONA, Spain—R.I.S.-- Even after having a problem with his KERS system and a threatening challenge from Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel breathed a sigh of relief as the World Champion just edged out his British rival to win his fourth of this season’s five races at the Spanish Grand Prix Sunday at the Circuit de Catalunya.

“It was pretty tough,” claimed Vettel, “but I do not understand where Fernando (Alonso) came from. We could not get an advantage with DRS, but we got him through the pit stops.”

Alonso did not just stun Vettel, but everyone at the start as his Ferrari ran inside the straightaway into turn one, taking the lead from both Vettel and his Red Bull teammate, pole winner Mark Webber. The Spaniard could not take advantage of his home track though, as the two time world champion could only hold his lead for the first 17 laps before good strategy by the Mclaren team put Hamilton into the lead for the next three laps. Vettel took the lead for the first time in the race as Hamilton himself had to stop.

But the race began to calm down by lap 28, and Hamilton was the only threat to Vettel for the rest of the race, just only two seconds behind the German. Alonso just pushed himself into third, when both he and Webber pitted on the 34th lap, coming out identically at the same time. But while both drivers continued to battle against each other, a revived Jenson Button suddenly appeared following a poor start and passed both drivers on lap 35, taking advantage of both his KERS and DRS systems.

With 16 laps to go, both Hamilton and Vettel pit for the last time. But Vettel got the better of the two, and regained the lead for good. But the Englishman was not ready to give up. Hamilton began to cut down the lead, and even if he used both passing systems, he could not get past the Red Bull driver as Vettel took the checkered flag just ahead of Hamilton, while Button cruised to third place.

Considering that the same job could not be done as it was in China, Hamilton was nevertheless satisfied with the outcome.

“We cannot be disappointed with today.” Said Hamilton.  “I did not get the best start, but we could keep up with the red bulls. As the race went on we had some serious pace and their downforce was clear to see. It was great for the team.”

Webber managed to hold off Alonso for fourth, while Mercedes drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg were sixth and seventh, respectively. Nick Heidfeld endured having to start from last position to end up with  a satisfying eighth place finish in his Renault, while Sauber drivers Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobyaschi rounded up the final point positions.

“Lewis (Hamilton) was very strong, and good strategy brought him to second.” Recalled Vettel afterwards. “He was catching up and was getting into the DRS system. Thankfully, in the last few laps I made it stick and it wasn’t an easy race, but it was a great release and a great race.”

Vettel now holds a commanding 41 point gap over Hamilton with the season now going from the wide open passing lanes of Barcelona, to the tight and narrow streets of Monaco next weekend.