Lewis Hamilton became the main championship challenger to Fernando Alonso on Ferrari's home ground this afternoon.
In a dramatic and pass filled race he surged to victory with a supreme display. It was a dominant weekend for McLaren in general where they locked out the front row in qualifying and had looked good for a 1-2 result.
The only disappointment comes from Jenson Button's failure to finish due to a fuel pressure problem and once again puts Hamilton as the man to pursue McLaren's championship challenge.
Starting from pole, Lewis was clear from the start and just like in Hungary looked in control all the way. He was never really in trouble and even when Sergio Perez came charging along he was able to eek out a few extra tenths to keep him at arms length.
A great drive and a significant one, for now McLaren have taken pole and victory in each of the last three Grand Prix. More drives like this for Lewis and Alonso will certainly be looking over his shoulder sooner rather than later.
But he'll have to be perfect from now on to catch Alonso who put in a great show to come home third and actually extend his championship lead, perhaps by more than he was expecting.
Starting 10th after a broken anti-roll bar hurt his qualifying, the Spaniard was storming in the opening laps to be 5th within the opening 10 laps.
The main talking point was his battle with then main title rival Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel. Exiting the pits, the Ferrari was almost alongside but there followed a tasty dual as Vettel maintained position.
Fighting for fourth and valuable extra points, Fernando went to the outside of Vettel into the Curve Grande with a lot of extra grip. Vettel maintained the racing line, squeezing him nearer and nearer the grass.
Off the Ferrari tumbled, bouncing over the greenery. Alonso was quickly on the radio claiming it was out of order. In truth it looked no worse than what Alonso had done to Vettel at the same place last year.
The difference then was Vettel didn't quite take as much grass and made the move stick. Whatever though, the stewards are trying to clamp down on driving standards at the moment it seems and Vettel duly got a drive through penalty, but not one I think he deserved.
There was a subtle exchange of positions for the Ferrari's as Felipe Massa gave up second place, but there was to be no charge for victory for Alonso, and there was to be no second place either as Perez bolted passed both scarlet cars.
Still, third was a result Alonso was delighted with, he increased his title lead to 37 points, and without his quali problem, might well have had a go at a win. He's in a strong position with 7 races left and he knows it.
His team mate Massa had a fine weekend which would have been all the sweeter if he'd taken a podium. Unfortunately for him, Alonso's charge prevented this, but he'll take some satisfaction from 3rd on the grid and a competitive fourth on race day.
Now let's get to the real highlight, Perez again showed his fighting spirit to grab his third podium of the year with second place.
Starting from 12th he was in the mix all day, he used his Sauber to manage his tyres brilliantly all day. Starting on the hards he made them last until lap 29 when he switched to the mediums. Immediately the charge began.
Fastest lap after fastest lap was reeled off as he caught and passed the other one stoppers with ease; all of them had come in significantly earlier and were on the harder compound.
He yet again executed his strategy perfectly and once passed the Ferrari's even made Lewis Hamilton sit up and take notice in the lead.
Another great drive from someone who'll no doubt be in a top team in the not too distant future.
Behind the top 4, Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus held off the two stopping Mercedes' of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg for 5th, 6th and 7th.
Kimi moved himself up to third in the title hunt, one point behind Lewis. But Lotus never seemed to have the speed this weekend but he's still up there and actually did well to get the better of Schuey at the end who was on much better tyres.
Romain Grosjean's replacement at Lotus, Jerome d'Ambrosio did a solid job but wasn't quite on the pace to end up 13th.
Schumacher was very racey and had a number of decent battles including holding off Alonso and Kimi. But the Mercedes were the only top cars to take to two pit stops, tyre degradation still very much an issue but at least there was improvement in their quali form of late with 4th and 6th.
Rosberg did well to come back from a terrible start, dropping to 13th at one point but both Mercedes drivers raced well to at least secure some points.
Force India had looked good but problems and penalties clouded their potential. di Resta started 9th after a 5 place gear box penalty but wasn't able to make the progress he might have expected to come home 8th.
Kobayashi started on the mediums but couldn't replicate Perez's form at all and ended down in 9th.
Bruno Senna in the Willians grabbed the final point on the last lap from Daniel Ricciardo's Toro Rosso.
Well, what happened to Red Bull? Both cars out and not even challenging for a podium.
Vettel will not be happy, he drove a hard fought race and was keeping them in it; he did not deserve the drive through penalty for the Alonso incident. But it would matter not as his car suffered another alternator failure, while Mark Webber's poor form continued as he spun away a chance of points.
They just didn't have the speed and will have to hope their next developments get them back on the pace if they want to continue in this title fight as Vettel drops 39 points behind.
So another mixed up fighting race for all apart from Hamilton who was serene at the front.
But the championship table is once again changed with Lewis and Kimi taking over from the Red Bull drivers in 2nd and 3rd respectively. The only constant seems to be Alonso maintaining the gap at the front as he once again opens over a race win lead.
That needs to start changing soon as we near the final quarter of the season. Either Lewis, Kimi or Vettel have to maintain a consistent challenge from now on or time will run out.
The lights of Singapore next, if McLaren can continue their form, Hamilton will surely confirm he's the man to take the fight to Alonso.
All photo's from autosport.com
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