Vettel wins controversial European GP

Lewis Hamilton took second despite a drive-through penalty, with Jenson Button making it two McLarens on the podium. Ferrari's day was ruined by the safety car for Webber's crash, leaving Fernando Alonso only ninth and Felipe Massa 15th.

Rubens Barrichello gave Williams its best result of the year in fourth, but he and Button are among nine drivers who may yet be penalised for driving too fast during the safety car period.

Webber's bad day began when he lost out severely during an unruly opening lap, which saw wheel-banging and run-off visits throughout the field.

The Red Bull was immediately passed by Hamilton and then pounced on by the two Ferraris while out wide. His free-fall continued and by the end of lap one Webber had been elbowed all the way back to ninth.

Hamilton's run off the line was so good he was able to get partially alongside Vettel into Turn 1, where firm contact was made, sending the Red Bull slightly sideways and taking a chunk from the McLaren's front wing, though both continued ahead of Alonso, Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica, Button, the Williams and Webber.

Unable to get through the traffic on-track, Webber made an early pitstop at the end of lap seven, where he lost a few more seconds as his left front wheel proved stubborn.

That put him back out behind Kovalainen, and as he tried to pass the Lotus three laps later he went flying over the back of it on the fast approach to Turn 12.

The Red Bull wiped out an advertising board hanging over the track before landing upside down, rolling back onto its wheels and ploughing into the tyre barriers - though remarkably Webber climbed out unscathed.

With the safety car called, most drivers from fifth-placed Button back immediately dived into the pits, while the top four had to complete a further lap. Vettel was already past the pit exit by the time the safety car emerged, but Hamilton was right alongside it. After a moment's hesitation, he accelerated past - but having passed the relevant line across the track, that meant he would later be penalised for overtaking the safety car.

Vettel and Hamilton were therefore able to rejoin first and second, while the Ferraris were caught behind the safety car and fell to 10th and 17th - leaving the team furious.

Fortunately for Hamilton, Sauber decided not to pit Kamui Kobayashi under yellow and he jumped up to third. So while the top two charged clear at the restart - which saw Vettel hold the line despite outbraking himself and sliding luridly through the final corner - the Sauber bottled up the rest of the pack. By the time race control awarded Hamilton his penalty, he had enough of a gap over Kobayashi to take the drive-through without losing a place.

Hamilton started carving into Vettel's lead, reducing it from 14 to second seconds despite a slight delay behind the battling Timo Glock (Virgin) and Bruno Senna (Hispania), who collided shortly afterwards. But Vettel had pace in hand and was able to answer Hamilton with a new fastest lap five laps from home, putting his second victory of 2010 beyond doubt.

Kobayashi kept Button and the rest of the frontrunners at bay until finally pitting on lap 53, which handed McLaren its second podium spot, ahead of Barrichello, Renault's Robert Kubica and Force India's Adrian Sutil.

The frustrated Alonso spent the final laps all over Sebastien Buemi's Toro Rosso but ended up losing eighth to Kobayashi as the Sauber rejoined on its fresh tyres and dived past the Ferrari with a lap to go. Kobayashi then chased down Buemi too and grabbed seventh at the very last corner.

But these positions may yet be subject to change, with the stewards set to investigate whether Button, the Williams, the Renaults, the Force Indias, Buemi and Pedro de la Rosa exceeded the permitted speed on their way back to the pits under yellow.

For now at least, de la Rosa has his first point of the year, gaining 10th when Nico Hulkenberg's Williams retired late on.

Mercedes' weekend got even worse in the race, with Nico Rosberg losing ground on the first lap and finishing 12th, and Michael Schumacher wrong-footed during the safety car and ending up 16th after multiple pitstops.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The European Grand Prix
Valencia, Spain;
57 laps; 310.080km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h40:29.571
 2.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +     5.042
 3.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +     7.658
 4.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +    20.627
 5.  Kubica        Renault                    +    22.122
 6.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +    25.168
 7.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +    30.965
 8.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +    31.299
 9.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    32.809
10.  De la Rosa    Sauber-Ferrari             +    42.414
11.  Petrov        Renault                    +    43.287
12.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    44.382
13.  Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes       +    45.890
14.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    46.621
15.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +    48.239
16.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +    48.826
17.  Di Grassi     Virgin-Cosworth            +     1 lap
18.  Glock         Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps
19.  Chandhok      HRT-Cosworth            +    2 laps
20.  Senna         HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps
21.  Trulli        Lotus-Cosworth             +    4 laps

Fastest lap: Button, 1:38.766

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Hulkenberg    Williams-Cosworth            50
Kovalainen    Lotus-Cosworth               9
Webber        Red Bull-Renault             9


World Championship standings, round 9:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Hamilton     127        1.  McLaren-Mercedes          248
 2.  Button       121        2.  Red Bull-Renault          218
 3.  Vettel       115        3.  Ferrari                   163
 4.  Webber       103        4.  Mercedes                  108
 5.  Alonso        96        5.  Renault                    89
 6.  Kubica        83        6.  Force India-Mercedes       43
 7.  Rosberg       74        7.  Williams-Cosworth          20
 8.  Massa         67        8.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         12
 9.  Schumacher    34        9.  Sauber-Ferrari              8
10.  Sutil         31       
11.  Barrichello   19       
12.  Liuzzi        12       
13.  Buemi          9       
14.  Kobayashi      7       
15.  Petrov         6       
16.  Alguersuari    3       
17.  Hulkenberg     1       
18.  De la Rosa     1       
       
All timing unofficial