Photo: Reuters
Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton locked down the front row of the gird during qualifying, putting a definitive point on a week which had seen Mercedes consistently the fastest make in the field. It was Rosberg’s third straight pole and followed his posting the fasted times in each of the week's practice sessions. Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber (Red Bull) started P3 and P4.
Hamilton got off the line fastest but Rosberg held the inside line going into Turn 1 to retain the lead. Charles Pic (Caterham) had an engine fire during Lap 9 (of 78) and came to a stop at pit-in. Rosberg had built a 2.5-sec lead by Lap 19.
Felipe Massa (Ferrari) hit the wall on Lap 30, bringing out the race’s first safety car. Rosberg pitted under the caution, with Hamilton slowing to create a gap so he could pit as well but in the process falling behind the Red Bulls during the pit stop cycle. Hamilton closed on Webber and tried to pass during Lap 40, but couldn’t make the move stick.
Pastor Maldonado (Williams) hit the tire barrier at high speed during Lap 46 following contact with Max Chilton (Marussia), putting a red flag on the race. Rosberg pulled away on the restart to retain the lead and stayed out front for the duration, taking the victory by 3.8 sec over Vettel, 6.3 over Webber, and 13.8 over Hamilton.
Adrian Sutil (Force India) had a great run as well, finishing P5 21.4 sec off the mark. Rosberg’s win came 30 years after his father’s (1982 F1 champion Keke) only victory at the course. Webber’s P3 moved him into fifth in the season standings, just 5 points behind Hamilton, with Rosberg moving into sixth 10 points back from Webber. Vettel’s P2 extended his championship lead over Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus, P10).
Driver standings - Top 10
107 - Sebastian Vettel (Germany) - RBR-Renault
86 – Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) – Lotus-Renault
78 - Fernando Alonso (Spain) – Ferrari
62 - Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain) – Mercedes
57 - Mark Webber (Australia) - RBR-Renault
47 - Nico Rosberg (Germany) – Mercedes
45 – Felipe Massa (Brazil) - Ferrari
28 – Paul di Resta (Scotland) – Force India-Mercedes
26 – Romain Grosjean (France) – Lotus-Renault
25 - Jenson Button (Great Britain) - McLaren-Mercedes
Constructor standings - Teams scoring points
164 - RBR-Renault - Vettel, Webber
123 – Ferrari – Massa, Alonso
112 - Lotus-Renault – Raikkonen, Grosjean
109 – Mercedes – Hamilton, Rosberg
44 – Force India-Mercedes – Adrian Sutil, di Resta
37 – McLaren-Mercedes – Button, Sergio Perez
12 – STR-Ferrari – Daniel Ricciardo, Jean-Eric Vergne
5 – Sauber-Ferrari – Nico Hulkenberg, Estaban Gutierrez
Next event: Grand Prix du Canada – June 7-9, 2013 – Montreal