The Complete 2007 US GP Review

"I hoped maybe I would get a podium at some point but I've been on the podium for the last seven races," said Lewis Hamilton as he tried to come to terms with his second win in a week.

"It's just insane. I find it very, very hard to come to terms with everything. So I'm not reading stuff that's going on in the papers, I'm just focusing on trying to enjoy it without any of the other stuff confusing me.

"But I don't think anyone expected me to do as well as I'm doing..."

Even Hamilton's most fervent supporters cannot have anticipated a situation where McLaren's rookie was the most logical title favourite as mid-season approached.

But with his championship lead now up to ten points, his confidence growing all the time, momentum on his side, and McLaren firmly on top at present, Hamilton is looking increasingly hard to stop. And while he is determined to retain his professional composure and level-headed approach, Hamilton is well aware of his position and what he can potentially achieve if he continues his current, astounding, form. Had he declared before the season that he was aiming to be champion in his rookie year, he would surely have been derided. Now it seems more foolish to deny that Hamilton is in pole position for the 2007 title.

"I have to be smart and realise that I'm running at the front and there is a possibility of winning the championship," he conceded.

"But I still think it's far, far too early to even think about it or get any hopes up. Anything can happen during the season, I just have to try and remain consistent and try to keep on winning."

The relationship between the McLaren duo comes under greater scrutiny with every passing week - and the US Grand Prix provided another twist in the saga.

Whether Fernando Alonso's swerve towards the pit wall on lap 39 was meant as a message to Hamilton, to the team, or - as Alonso suggested - merely an attempt to cool the car by getting out of the slipstream, it is sure to be seen as a symbolic gesture of frustration from the double world champion.

That frustration is understandable, for Alonso arguably had a clear edge on Hamilton this weekend yet still ended up losing to him. The Spaniard was fastest in every practice session, in Q1 and Q2, and for large sections of the race itself. Yet somehow, he still came out second best as Hamilton controlled proceedings from pole.

Just as Hamilton still refuses to consider himself the title favourite, so Alonso will not contemplate defeat.

"I have big confidence," he insisted. "We have only done seven races, ten to go.

"So I'm very happy with my 48 points and the championship will be decided at the end. Again, I have confidence that I can do it."

Such statements are reminiscent of his stoic faith in his title chances as Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher closed in during 2005 and 2006 respectively. And in the past, he has been proved absolutely right.

But in the past, Alonso has been defending a championship lead in a car and an environment that he was very familiar and comfortable with. Now he has to come from behind to overcome a rival from the same garage, who has not had to settle into the team or adapt from Michelins to Bridgestones like he has, and who somehow manages to beat him into second place even on a weekend when he has a clear advantage in raw speed.

In that context, the ten point gap already looks ominously hard to overcome.

Practice

Practice 1 - Friday am

The McLaren duo exchanged fastest times in the first half of the opening session, with Lewis Hamilton briefly leading the way before Fernando Alonso edged ahead and then extended his advantage with a late run on soft tyres that put him seven tenths clear of Hamilton.

They were ultimately split by Nick Heidfeld, but it was the 19-year-old German in the second BMW who really grabbed the attention, as Sebastian Vettel took fourth place in his first official session as a Formula One racing driver.

Vettel had been called up when the FIA doctors ruled that it would be too dangerous for Robert Kubica to race so soon after his horrific Montreal accident. Although the Pole had been confident that he was healthy enough to compete, the medics feared that another accident at Indianapolis could have more severe consequences.

Practice 2 - Friday pm

Felipe Massa held the top spot for Ferrari for the majority of Friday afternoon, but McLaren supremacy was restored when Alonso and Hamilton emerged on soft tyres near the end of the session.

Hamilton hit the front first with a 1:12.309 lap, moments before Alonso produced a 1:12.156 - two tenths of a second behind his morning time, but better than anyone else would manage in the second session.

Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen took third and fourth for Ferrari, with Heidfeld back in fifth and unhappy with the BMW's handling.

After stepping aside for test driver Kazuki Nakajima in the morning, Alex Wurz's practice mileage was reduced further when a gearbox oil leak sidelined him for much of the afternoon.

Practice 3 - Saturday am

Alonso completed a clean sweep of fastest practice times by going quickest on Saturday morning - but Vettel was the centre of attention again.

The German held the top spot for several minutes before Alonso's final flying lap, and he was able to fend off early pacesetter Hamilton's and hold onto second.

Heikki Kovalainen was fourth quickest, ahead of Heidfeld and the Ferraris.

Practice round up

Sorted by total laps from all three sessions

Qualifying

Part one

The recent run of giant-killing qualifying performances by F1's smallest teams came to an end at Indianapolis, with Super Aguri's Anthony Davidson the only 'backmarker' to escape Q1 - a fine achievement given that he had switched to the T-car after brushing the wall in final practice.

His progress came at the expense of Williams' Alex Wurz, as some unexpected understeer left the Austrian 17th, 0.016 seconds outside the cut-off point.

Takuma Sato was only 0.036 seconds slower in 18th, ruing an error at Turn 1 on his best lap.

The Toro Rossos and Spykers filled the final two rows, with Vitantonio Liuzzi and Adrian Sutil beating their respective teammates.

Fernando Alonso continued his run of fastest times by topping the session ahead of Nick Heidfeld, Lewis Hamilton and the consistently impressive Sebastian Vettel.

Part two

Mark Webber and Jarno Trulli were just 0.085 and 0.092 seconds quicker than their respective teammates David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher in a typically close Q2, but that was the difference between a safe passage to the final session and an early elimination, as Coulthard and Schumacher had to settle for the sixth row.

That was still an improvement for Schumacher after three successive Q1 eliminations, while Coulthard was fortunate to have made it as far as Q2 in the first place after spinning at Turn 1 in the first segment.

The Hondas took their increasingly habitual 13th and 15th places, but with Jenson Button ahead of Rubens Barrichello for only the third time in 2007, and slightly more optimistic about the car than in recent weeks.

"The times were very close with some of the cars just in front of me, which is a surprise," he said.

Despite setting top ten times in all three practice sessions, Nico Rosberg could only manage 14th in qualifying, surmising that "there was something missing out there today".

Davidson completed the eliminated drivers in 16th, while at the other end of the timing screens Alonso remained firmly on top.

Part three

Given that Alonso had been fastest in every single practice session and the first two-thirds of qualifying, there seemed little chance that anyone other than the world champion would be on pole position.

But the Spaniard was only on provisional pole for a matter of moments before teammate Hamilton beat his time.

The young Briton then improved further on his second run to secure pole position with a 1:12.331 - 0.169 seconds quicker than Alonso, who eased off to save fuel as soon as he realised his final flying lap would be insufficient.

Hamilton seemed somewhat bemused by his second pole position in a week.

"Going into qualifying, we hadn't really found the optimal set-up and I knew that Fernando is obviously extremely quick here," he said.

"I didn't really expect to be on pole. I thought Fernando would have been quicker, but obviously not."

Alonso shrugged off the result, believing that his speed in every other session put him in good stead for race day.

"I was fastest in P1, P2, P3, Q1, Q2 but not the important one, Q3," he said. "But being fastest all weekend gives me a lot of confidence for tomorrow."

Hamilton's pole time was nearly four tenths of a second clear of the fastest non-McLaren. Nick Heidfeld believed he was on course for the 'best of the rest' honours until he made an error on his final lap.

That slip allowed the Ferraris to fill the second row, with Felipe Massa 0.136 seconds ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. Although Massa was realistic about McLaren's current advantage, he still believed Ferrari had a chance on race day.

"You cannot say that this is a surprise because they are already quite strong in the last two races," he said. "But we expected to be better than at Canada, which we are. I don't know if it is enough to win the race tomorrow..."

Renault opted for split strategies, with the lighter Heikki Kovalainen securing a career-best sixth on the grid, four places and nearly seven tenths of a second ahead of teammate Giancarlo Fisichella.

Sebastian Vettel would start his first GP from seventh on the grid - a result that left him with mixed feelings.

"Towards the end I could have been a bit better, but making it into qualifying three was already a big step," he said.

Trulli and Webber were both surprised and delighted after taking eighth and ninth. Like Fisichella, they were 1.5 seconds from pole and clearly planning a lengthy opening stint.

Qualifying results

The Race

Given that Fernando Alonso had ruined his victory chances with over-ambitious outside line moves at the starts of two of the last three GPs, it would have been understandable if the world champion had been a little circumspect when the lights went out at Indy.

But instead he vigorously attacked his pole-sitting teammate Lewis Hamilton on the run down to the first chicane, and then again through Turn 4 before reluctantly accepting second place.

Felipe Massa tucked into third behind the McLarens, while his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen got a slow start from fourth and lost out to Nick Heidfeld and Heikki Kovalainen before Turn 1.

Sebastian Vettel misjudged his braking for the bend and took to the grass to avoid ploughing into this group, consequently falling to 11th, behind Jarno Trulli, Giancarlo Fisichella, Mark Webber and the fast-starting Nico Rosberg.

Just behind them, Ralf Schumacher made a similar error to Vettel and slewed into David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello, pushing the latter into his Honda teammate Jenson Button, and causing Takuma Sato to take to the grass in avoidance.

Schumacher was an instant retirement with broken suspension, while Coulthard and Barrichello made it back to the pit lane only for their teams to discover terminal damage. But despite flying through the air briefly, Button was able to continue at the back of the field.

Vitantonio Liuzzi dodged the mayhem and appeared in 12th place from 19th on the grid, but would soon begin to delay the following Alex Wurz and the rest of the midfield as he struggled for speed on the harder tyres and a heavy fuel load.

Giancarlo Fisichella ended up part of this queue after running wide and spinning across the Turn 4 gravel on lap two.

While the Renault was able to rejoin, Sato became stuck in the gravel when he made an almost identical error 11 laps later. He was subsequently adjudged to have passed under yellow while the first corner collision was cleared. As his retirement precluded a stop-go penalty, Sato was informed that he would instead be demoted ten places on the French GP grid in a fortnight.

At the front, Hamilton was able to inch away from Alonso, but the Spaniard never allowed his teammate to get more than four seconds ahead, while Massa tagged along behind, with a similar time gap to Alonso.

Heidfeld kept Massa in sight while quickly pulling away from the nose-to-tail Kovalainen and Raikkonen. The German moved nine seconds clear of the battling Finns, only to spin his BMW at Turn 1 on lap 20 and fall behind both of them.

Concerned about tyre damage, he then made an earlier-than-scheduled first pit stop a lap later, just as Hamilton and Massa also came in from first and third.

Alonso pitted just one lap after Hamilton so had little chance to try and jump his teammate during the pit sequence. In fact he ended up losing more ground after rejoining behind Trulli, who had started on a heavy fuel load.

Kovalainen was also running long, and gained his first experience of leading a GP as he stayed out until lap 27 before his first stop.

The tactic didn't quite pay off, for he emerged from the pit lane just as Raikkonen and Heidfeld swept past - the Ferrari then overtaking the BMW with an assertive move at Turn 1.

Raikkonen was one of only five drivers to start the race on the harder tyres, and his race did not really come alive until switching to the softs at his lap 24 pit stop.

But he would have to spend several more laps queuing behind other cars before he could show his true pace, as Trulli, Webber and Rosberg's strategies allowed all three to run in the top four.

Webber and Trulli had both opted for two stop plans with long first stints, coming in on laps 30 and 31 respectively, while the one-stopping Rosberg carried 40 laps' worth of fuel from the start of the race.

As its load lightened, the Williams began to lap at a similar speed to the leaders, but this was little comfort to Raikkonen, who appeared to have the pace to go faster still in this stint if he wasn't staring at the back of a Williams.

Raikkonen's teammate Massa had also lost ground in traffic immediately after his first stop, and was soon 14 seconds behind the McLarens.

But the competition had become much closer at the absolute front, for Alonso had been able to dispatch Trulli within a lap and then started hunting down his race-leading teammate as Hamilton encountered difficulties with his tyres.

"The first two laps were very good and then my tyres just decided to grain so maybe I pushed too hard on them immediately," he said.

"Fernando was right up my tail, and it was extremely difficult."

It became even more difficult at half-distance when they came up to lap the queue of cars chasing Liuzzi.

As they snaked through the traffic nose-to-tail, Hamilton made a slight error at Turn 9 - allowing Alonso to tuck into his slipstream onto the pits straight.

Hamilton moved to the inside as Alonso pulled alongside on his left. They ran wheel to wheel down to the braking area, where Hamilton did just enough to stay ahead and claim the line for Turn 1.

"I had to make sure that I made one move and made it stick," said Hamilton. "So I moved into the inside and I knew that as long as I braked late, he would stay behind."

Next time around, Alonso pulled out of Hamilton's tow again but this time made a dramatic sweep towards the pit wall. He denied that this had been any kind of gesture of displeasure with the team or his teammate.

"I followed the other car for so many laps my overalls and everything were so black because the carbon brakes were coming into me every braking point," said Alonso.

"I think my brakes were hotter, all my car was hotter than normal, so I tried to pull away from the slipstream sometimes just to cool the car."

But McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh admitted that there was more to the move than cooling the car down.

"He was sending (a message) to Lewis. Drivers do that from time to time," Whitmarsh said.

"I'm sure any driver would like to - if they were in a position where they felt they're driving a quicker car at the time - be given rite of passage to the front.

"Frankly, in the middle of the race, Fernando was a bit quicker but Lewis had track position - they were pushing hard."

Whatever the motivation for Alonso's detour down the far right of the pits straight, it marked the end of his challenge for victory.

He stayed within a second of Hamilton until putting two wheels on the grass at Turn 8 on lap 48 and dropping another second and a half. He pitted two laps later - a lap earlier than Hamilton - then proceeded to follow his teammate home for McLaren-Mercedes' third one-two finish of 2007.

The result stretched Hamilton's points advantage to ten over Alonso, and put McLaren 35 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors' standings as Massa and Raikkonen crossed the line 13 seconds adrift in third and fourth.

Raikkonen had been reeling Massa in even before the Brazilian had to change to the less competitive medium compound tyres at his final stop, and got even closer in the last stint - setting fastest lap along the way.

"There was big pressure," Massa admitted. "Kimi was on different tyres than me and for sure he had better grip."

But although he got very close when Massa made slight errors, Raikkonen could not get past and had to settle for fourth.

Heidfeld had been on course for fifth until developing hydraulic problems and retiring on lap 55.

That elevated Kovalainen - who had been a couple of seconds behind the BMW - to take his second top five finish in a week.

"This was a great race for Heikki, and he did a fantastic job at the end of a perfect weekend," said team boss Flavio Briatore. "He put pressure on BMW and was very competitive in every stint."

The battles for the final points provided the fireworks in the closing stages.

It came down to whether Trulli and Webber could get far enough ahead of the one-stopping Rosberg before making their second and final pit visits.

Trulli didn't quite manage it when he pitted on lap 56, rejoining 2.1 seconds behind the Williams.

Webber came in three laps later and managed to jump Trulli but not Rosberg, emerging between the two cars - only for Trulli to pounce on the Red Bull at Turn 7 and successfully reclaim seventh.

But Webber wasted no time in retaliating, surging down the inside at the first corner next time around.

It was an ambitious move, and with Trulli already turning in, Webber decided to cut across the inside of Turn 1 to avoid a collision. He then went straight on over the grass and bypassed Turn 2 completely. Although he rejoined ahead of Trulli, he knew it was solely down to his short-cut and quickly let the Toyota back past.

As he did so, Webber suddenly came under pressure from Vettel, who had had a quiet and consistent race after his first corner error, often matching teammate Heidfeld's times.

Vettel then proceeded to chase the battling Trulli and Webber to the finish, with all three covered by a second as they crossed the line.

By that time they were dicing for sixth, not seventh, for an oil leak had forced the frustrated Rosberg out with four laps remaining.

"I was having a really solid race and was happy because I thought sixth place was in the bag," he said. "I can't be so angry because I drove really well. It will go my way another day, I'm sure of that."

His departure allowed Vettel to become the youngest points-scorer in F1 history.

The 19-year-old German was predictably delighted, but the happiest man in the top eight was probably Trulli, who had certainly not expected sixth when struggling for speed in practice.

"It is incredible - I can't believe I have finished in the points today," said Trulli.

"We haven't got anything wrong and we got sixth, which for us is like a victory.

"It is an unexpected result to be honest because before the race I never expected such a good performance from me or from the car so I am really pleased.

"It took a lot of fight. When I finished the race I asked more than once 'are you sure I finished sixth?' because I couldn't believe it!"

After his early spin, Fisichella made entertaining progress through the midfield.

He ran absolutely side by side with Button through Turns 8, 9, 10 and 11 on lap eight, and although the Honda emerged from that dice still ahead, Fisichella was in front within another lap.

Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, and Felipe Massa on the podium © Reuters

He then perfected an innovative move that involved driving right around the outside of rivals at Turn 6 to claim the inside for Turn 7. Fisichella employed this pass on both Wurz (who only conceded the place after a spot of wheel-banging) and Liuzzi to reach the head of the midfield group in 11th by lap 29.

But by the time Fisichella had passed Liuzzi, the rest of the field was too far ahead, and he had to settle for ninth place.

Wurz took 10th, just ahead of the charging Anthony Davidson, who passed Button for 11th with nine laps remaining.

Button had a taxing afternoon, struggling initially with damage from the first corner collision, then losing more time with a fuel rig problem that not only slowed his sole pit stop, but also left him over-fuelled for the final stint.

Scott Speed took a quiet 13th at home, while teammate Liuzzi fell to the back of the midfield group after his pit stop and ultimately dropped out with a water pressure problem.

The Spykers were the final finishers, with Adrian Sutil almost a lap clear of teammate Christijan Albers.

While Albers had run a solitary race on a one-stop strategy, the two stopping Sutil had leapt from 21st to 14th at the start and run in company with Wurz and Button early on. On a day when Hamilton, Kovalainen and Vettel all scored deserved successes, F1's other rookie certainly did not disgrace himself.

Race results

73 laps; 306.016km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  1h39:09.065
 2.  Alonso        McLaren-Mercedes     (B)  +     1.518
 3.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  +    12.842
 4.  Raikkonen     Ferrari              (B)  +    15.422
 5.  Kovalainen    Renault              (B)  +    41.402
 6.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  +  1:06.703
 7.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault     (B)  +  1:07.331
 8.  Vettel        BMW Sauber           (B)  +  1:07.783
 9.  Fisichella    Renault              (B)  +     1 lap
10.  Wurz          Williams-Toyota      (B)  +     1 lap
11.  Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  +     1 lap
12.  Button        Honda                (B)  +     1 lap
13.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  +    2 laps
14.  Sutil         Spyker-Ferrari       (B)  +    2 laps
15.  Albers        Spyker-Ferrari       (B)  +    3 laps
16.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari   (B)  +    5 laps
17.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota      (B)  +    5 laps

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:13.117

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Heidfeld      BMW Sauber           (B)    56
Sato          Super Aguri-Honda    (B)    14
Barrichello   Honda                (B)    2
Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault     (B)    2
R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)    1


World Championship standings, round 7:

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Hamilton      58        1.  McLaren-Mercedes     106
 2.  Alonso        48        2.  Ferrari               71
 3.  Massa         39        3.  BMW Sauber            39
 4.  Raikkonen     32        4.  Renault               25
 5.  Heidfeld      26        5.  Williams-Toyota       13
 6.  Fisichella    13        6.  Toyota                 9
 7.  Kovalainen    12        7.  Red Bull-Renault       6
 8.  Kubica        12        8.  Super Aguri-Honda      4
 9.  Wurz           8
10.  Trulli         7
11.  Rosberg        5
12.  Coulthard      4
13.  Sato           4
14.  R.Schumacher   2
15.  Webber         2
16.  Vettel         1

Team-by-Team

Alonso is fastest in all three practice sessions and the first two parts of qualifying, yet finds himself beaten to pole by Hamilton. It's a similar story in the race, as the rookie edges away in the opening stint, then resists Alonso's charge in the middle stages before cruising home at the head of a comfortable team one-two.

Kovalainen shows promise in practice then takes a best-yet sixth on the grid. He gets ahead of Raikkonen at the start and then battles with Heidfeld for much of the race, taking fifth after the BMW's retirement. Fisichella is unhappy with his car on Friday, then qualifies 10th on a heavier fuel load. An earlier spin drops him to last, and he can only recover to ninth.

Ferrari's title challenge continues to falter as Massa and Raikkonen struggle to keep pace with the McLarens all weekend. Massa qualifies and finishes third, having a lonely time in the first half of the race, but having to work hard to fend off Raikkonen later on. The Finn had started on the medium compound tyres and dropped to sixth by the first corner, but was more competitive once he had switched to softs.

Button and Barrichello qualify 13th and 15th, and both get tangled up with the wayward Schumacher at the start. While Barrichello has to retire in the pits, Button is able to continue despite damage from the incident and a trip through the air and across the grass. He is battling with Wurz until a fuel rig malfunction costs him time and leaves him excessively fuelled for the final stint. He struggles home in 12th.

Vettel is handed his F1 racing debut after Kubica is ruled out on medical grounds. He is a superb fourth in opening practice, then second on Saturday morning. Qualifies seventh, but falls to 11th after a trip across the grass at the start. He then races consistently to take eighth (right behind Trulli and Webber) and become F1's youngest ever points scorer. Heidfeld isn't happy with his car despite being second on Friday morning, then qualifies fifth but feels he would have been third without an error at Turn 11. Runs fourth until a quick spin at Turn 1, then eventually retires from fifth with hydraulic problems.

Neither driver is happy with the handling in practice, but Trulli manages to qualify eighth and Schumacher ends his run of Q1 departures by taking 12th. Unfortunately he then triggers a first corner shunt on race day and is out on the spot. Trulli races hard with Webber and is thrilled to earn sixth place.

Webber loses time with a transmission problem on Friday, but still qualifies ninth. He runs as high as fourth during a race-long battle with Trulli, but can't quite get around the Toyota in the final laps and has to settle for seventh. Coulthard is sixth in second practice and qualifies 11th, missing out on Q3 by thousandths. He only gets to Turn 1 in the race before being collected by Schumacher.

Rosberg is baffled to qualify 14th having been solidly in the top ten during practice. But he's soon back there in the race thanks to a good start and a successful one-stop strategy. He is running sixth when a late oil leak forces him out. Wurz can only manage 17th on the grid, then gets trapped behind Liuzzi during the opening stint. The rest of the field escapes and he has to settle for 10th.

A disappointment after recent promising races. The drivers soon realise that STR are not in good shape at Indy, with Liuzzi and Speed qualifying 19th and 20th. Liuzzi runs 12th early on after a great start, but can't keep pace with the cars ahead and is soon leading a long train - which he falls to the rear of after his stop. Later retires with a water pressure problem when 15th. Speed has an uneventful run to 13th.

Sutil spins off at the end of Friday practice but then stays out of trouble for the rest of the weekend - out-qualifying and out-racing Albers again. They share the back row then opt for split strategies, with Sutil racing with Wurz and Button initially on his two stop plan, while the one stopping Albers runs a lonely last and loses more time by stalling in the pits. They eventually finish 14th and 15th, Sutil nearly a lap ahead.

Davidson damages his car in final practice and has to take to the T-car for qualifying, but still takes 16th, while an error leaves Sato 18th. He goes across the grass at the start, but progresses to 14th in the race before spinning off. He is then adjudged to have passed under yellow and given a 10 place grid penalty for the French GP. Davidson loses several places at the start but has a strong race to 11th - passing Button on the track and then closing in on Wurz.

Lap-by-Lap

Lap 1: On pole position for the second time in as many weekends, Lewis Hamilton is not as quick off the line as team-mate Fernando Alonso, but after briefly running side by side they settle into first and second in grid order.

Felipe Massa grabs third from Nick Heidfeld and Heikki Kovalainen as Kimi Raikkonen slips to sixth. Formula One newcomer Sebastian Vettel runs wide onto the grass at the first turn and loses a couple of places.

Vitantonio Liuzzi holds off a train of cars in his Toro Rosso © XPB/LAT

Behind, David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello all tangle, which forces Anthony Davidson to take avoiding action. The German retires on the spot while Coulthard and Barrichello get no farther than the pits.

Jarno Trulli completes the lap in seventh place, ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg, Vettel, Tonio Liuzzi, Alexander Wurz, Adrian Sutil, Scott Speed, Takuma Sato, Jenson Button, Christijan Albers and Davidson.

Lap 2: Hamilton leads by 0.6s. Fisichella spins at Turn Four and drops to 19th.

Lap 3: Hamilton laps in 1:14.329 to lead by 0.9s.

Lap 4: Hamilton goes faster again: 1:13.991. He's 1.3s clear.

Lap 5: Hamilton posts a 1:13.681 to lead by 1.7s. Davidson and Fisichella pass Albers.

Lap 7: Sato passes Speed for 14th.

Lap 8: Fisichella passes Davidson.

Lap 9: Fisichella passes Button.

Lap 10: Hamilton leads Alonso by 2.2s, with Massa a further 2.0s adrift in third.

Lap 14: Sato passes Sutil but almost immediately spins into retirement at Turn Four.

Lap 15: Fisichella passes Sutil to annexe 13th.

Lap 18: Alonso posts a 1:13.537s but still trails by 3.2s.

Lap 19: Hamilton responds with a 1:13.324. The gap stretches to 3.4s.

Lap 20: Hamilton laps in 1:13.222.

Nick Heidfeld spun his BMW Sauber in the first turn and retired soon after © XPB/LAT

Lap 21: Hamilton, Massa and Heidfeld all pit - the latter after being passed by Kovalainen at the start of the lap.

Lap 22: Alonso pits and rejoins behind Hamilton and Trulli. Kovalainen and Raikkonen run one-two for Finland.

Lap 23: Fisichella passes Wurz.

Lap 24: Alonso passes Trulli. Raikkonen and Vettel pit.

Lap 26: Button passes Speed.

Lap 27: Kovalainen pits. Hamilton leads.

Lap 28: The rejoining Kovalainen gets a close-up view as Raikkonen passes Heidfeld at Turn One. Sutil pits.

Lap 29: Fisichella passes Liuzzi.

Lap 30: Webber pits from fourth.

Lap 31: Hamilton leads by 1.0s. Trulli pits.

Lap 32: Alonso closes to within 0.6s of the leader. Massa remains a distant third, ahead of the yet-to-stop Rosberg.

Lap 35: The leaders are catching a dense group of cars, running from Liuzzi (12th) back to Davidson (16th).

Lap 36: Fisichella and Speed pit. The leaders begin picking their way through traffic.

Lap 37: Liuzzi pits and is slow to rejoin.

Lap 38: Having gained ground in traffic Alonso attacks on the pit straight. Hamilton defends successfully. Albers pits.

Fernando Alonso attempts to overtake Lewis Hamilton © XPB/LAT

Lap 40: Rosberg pits.

Lap 41: Albers gets on the grass while being lapped for a second time. Davidson pits.

Lap 43: Wurz and Button are the last drivers to pit.

Lap 45: Hamilton leads Alonso by 1.1s. Massa is third, with Raikkonen closing, and Heidfeld holds fifth ahead of Kovalainen, Trulli, Webber, Vettel and Rosberg. Fisichella, Sutil, Davidson, Wurz, Button, Speed, Liuzzi and Albers have all been lapped.

Lap 47: Hamilton extends his advantage to 2.5s. Kovalainen makes his second stop.

Lap 48: Heidfeld pits.

Lap 49: Raikkonen sets fastest lap: 1:13.117.

Lap 50: Alonso pits, as does Sutil.

Lap 51: Hamilton pits - and locks his front wheels on the way in. He rejoins just ahead of Alonso.

Lap 52: Massa - the temporary leader - pits.

Lap 53: Hamilton leads Alonso by 1.8s, with Massa still third from Raikkonen - but only by 1.2s. Davidson pits.

Lap 56: Heidfeld slows down and pulls off to retire from seventh. Trulli pits. Raikkonen is now 0.7s behind Massa.

Lap 58: With 15 laps to go, Hamilton leads by 2.0s. Massa is 15.5s behind the leader and working hard to keep team-mate Raikkonen at bay. Webber, Kovalainen, Rosberg and Trulli complete the top eight. The lapped Wurz runs onto the grass at Turn One.

Lap 59: Webber pits and drops from fifth to eighth after Trulli outmuscles the Australian during his out lap.

Lap 62: Webber passes Trulli at Turn One but ploughs across the grass and eases up to allow the Italian to regain the position.

Lap 64: Raikkonen closes to within 0.4s of Massa.

Lap 65: Davidson passes Button for 12th at Turn One.

Lap 69: Rosberg, sixth, pulls off with his engine smouldering. Liuzzi pits.

Lap 73: Hamilton scores his second straight F1 win, by 1.5s from Alonso. The English rookie leads the title race by 10 points. Massa holds off Raikkonen for third. Kovalainen, Trulli, Webber and Vettel complete the top eight.