The start was crucial as always. Hamilton on pole got a perfect start whilst Kimi beside him had a poor one. Both Ferrari drivers Alonso and Massa got past the Iceman so losing two positions at the very start meant Kimi was about to face a very tough race. Webber at the wheel of his RB9 started to the race from the pits as the team had changed the gear box and some other components to his car.
The first crash happened on lap 6 when Sauber´s Gutierrez hit Sutil´s Force India. Gutierrez´s race was over and also Sutil had to retire due to the massive rear wing damage. This crash also lead to consequences: Gutierrez has been handed a 5-place grid penalty for causing the collision.
The top drivers who started the race on the soft tyres had a very short first stint, only 7-8 laps. Other collisions were about to follow. On lap 15 Webber collided to Vergne´s Toro Rosso when trying to overtake the Frenchman. Webber assumed Vergne to give room for him but he didn´t so they crashed and both drivers broke their front wings. The stewards held Webber responsible for the collision and the Australian will face a 3-place grid penalty at Bahrain next week. I agree with the stewards. You can´t assume your rivals to give you a position for free! Not even if the other driver drives for the "sister team". An experienced driver like Webber should know better! So the penalty is fully deserved. Webber´s GP weekend has been a total disaster. After pitting to get a new front wing the Australian had to retire only a few laps later when his right rear tyre got loose.
On lap 16 Kimi was battling with McLaren´s Sergio Perez. I was about to have a heart attack when Kimi tried to get past Perez but ended up hitting Perez´s rear! Kimi got a clear front wing damage but luckily the damage wasn´t fatal and the Iceman was able to maintain good pace. Kimi´s revenge was sweet: after shouting on the team radio what the h*ll Perez was doing he managed to overtake the Mexican soon after the incident! The collision was investigated by the stewards but it lead to no further action. But there´s no doubt that the damage had some kind of an effect on Kimi´s E21. Just wondering how fast the Finn would have been without the crash...
With 16 laps to go Alonso was leading the race having made 3 pit stops. Vettel with only 2 pit stops was almost 20 seconds behind the Spaniard. Kimi in his Lotus was 3rd but Hamilton in his Mercedes was just a second off the Finn. The closing laps were thrilling: would Hamilton be able to overtake Kimi? I was keeping my fingers crossed down to my elboes that Kimi would be able to block all overtaking moves... But there was another threat coming from behind! Vettel at the wheel of his RB9 had a different strategy from his rivals. The German had started the race on the prime tyres and he made his 3rd and last pit stop only 5 laps before the chequered flag. With a set of fresh option tyres he was frighteningly fast! After the pit stop Vettel was over 10 seconds behind Hamilton but in no time he could "smell Hamilton´s blood" and he was right behind the Briton! Had there been one more lap to go, Vettel would possibly have gone past Hamilton! Only 2 tenths of a second separated the duo at the chequered flag!
So Alonso won the race with Kimi 2nd and Hamilton 3rd. Vettel had to settle for P4 after the breath-taking chase. The situation couldn´t be any more exciting in the championship standings: Vettel tops the standings with 52 points but Kimi is just 3 points behind the Red Bull driver! So far there´ve been three different winners in three races. Let´s see what the Bahrain GP has to offer next week...! There´re still many drivers under the investigation for using DRS under the yellow flags. This includes drivers like Vettel, Räikkönen, Button (P5), Ricciardo (stunning P7!) and Kimi´s team-mate Grosjean. In my opinion there must have been a misunderstanding or some technical issue causing the DRS misuse as I can´t imagine all these drivers missing yellow flags! But we just have to wait for the stewards´ decision. If there will be consequences I hope from the bottom of my heart that these drivers will only get reprimanded or fined. A 20-second time penalty would be very disappointing! Luckily there´s only one week to wait for the round 4 in Bahrain!
P.S. Just read that no punishments were handed to those drivers under investigation for the DRS misuse! Very happy about that!
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