Webber had led the early stages of the race (and was still leading) when the pair emerged from their final pitstops. With the team expressin concerns over tyre wear, Red Bull told both drivers to hold position to the end of the grand prix, but Vettel ignored the message and an intense battle ensued before Vettel came out on top to secure his victory.
Lewis Hamilton finished third ahead of Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg after a slightly more placid battle for the final podium spot. Earlier in the race his attack on the Red Bulls was cut short by needing to save fuel. As heard over the radio, Rosberg felt he was quicker then the British driver, but was continually told not to attack at the end of the race as Mercedes looked to secure solid points. Unlike the Red Bull, Rosberg reluctantly complied.
Front row man Felipe Massa lacked the pace to stay with the leaders, but did take home a solid fifth for the team ahead of the duelling Lotus’s of Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen.
All round, it was a disastrous day for Ferrari\s Fernando Alonso. Alonso ran into the back of Vettel in the second corner after the race start, and then going into Turn 1 on the second lap, ran over his front wing, taking him out of the race and into the run off. Alonso essentiall took a gamble that his damaged front wing would hold out until his first pit stop... He was wrong.
The other' hard luck' story of the day involved McLaren's Jenson Button. He ran in a respectable fifth place for much of the race, also led briefly during the third round of pit stops, but then had a disastrous pit stop of his own when the right-front wheel was improperly secured. Which, caused his crew to push him back into the box. Button managed to climbed back to 12th, before being called in to retire with imminent mechanical problems late in the race.
As these two drivers had a bad day, the whole of Force India also did. A delay in changing the wheels on Adrian Sutil’s car seriously held up team mate Paul di Resta (who pitted at the same time to switch from intermediates). Though di Resta fought back greatly (and was on target for points) when he suffered a similar problem at his next pit stop. Sutil later had a recurrence in the pits, and both cars were eventually withdrawn.
Even with all the drama and hard luck being experienced around the circuit, Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton had made light of a wary weekend. After driving for McLaren for six years, Hamilton seemed to have decided mid race to pay his old team a visit.
The next race will take place April 14th in China at the Shanghai International Circuit.
The controversial result catapults the repentant Vettel into the lead in the drivers’ world championship with 40 points from Raikkonen on 31, Webber on 26, Hamilton on 25 and Massa on 22, while Red Bull have a comfortable lead in the constructors’ stakes with 66 points from Ferrari and Lotus on 40, and Mercedes on 37.
Nico Hulkenberg fought hard throughout the race to take eighth for Sauber, with Sergio Perez claiming another two points for McLaren ahead of Jean-Éric Vergne in the Toro Rosso.
All round, it was a disastrous day for Ferrari\s Fernando Alonso. Alonso ran into the back of Vettel in the second corner after the race start, and then going into Turn 1 on the second lap, ran over his front wing, taking him out of the race and into the run off. Alonso essentiall took a gamble that his damaged front wing would hold out until his first pit stop... He was wrong.The other' hard luck' story of the day involved McLaren's Jenson Button. He ran in a respectable fifth place for much of the race, also led briefly during the third round of pit stops, but then had a disastrous pit stop of his own when the right-front wheel was improperly secured. Which, caused his crew to push him back into the box. Button managed to climbed back to 12th, before being called in to retire with imminent mechanical problems late in the race.
As these two drivers had a bad day, the whole of Force India also did. A delay in changing the wheels on Adrian Sutil’s car seriously held up team mate Paul di Resta (who pitted at the same time to switch from intermediates). Though di Resta fought back greatly (and was on target for points) when he suffered a similar problem at his next pit stop. Sutil later had a recurrence in the pits, and both cars were eventually withdrawn.
Valtteri Bottas came in 11th for Williams where his teammate Pastor Maldonado had one off-track 'adventure' from which he broke his front wing and later stopped out on the circuit. Esteban Gutierrez took 12th for Sauber from Jules Bianchi for Marussia and the Caterhams of Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde. *Pic was hit by Vergne during a mix-up in the pit lane (when Toro Rosso made an unsafe release) and both required new noses. Toro Rosso were later fined for the incident.
Max Chilton was the final finisher for Marussia in 16th place, as Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo joined Alonso, Di Resta, Sutil, Maldonado and Button on the retiree list.
Even with all the drama and hard luck being experienced around the circuit, Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton had made light of a wary weekend. After driving for McLaren for six years, Hamilton seemed to have decided mid race to pay his old team a visit.  Sebastian Vettel |  Winner |
| Mark Webber |  Second |
 Lewis Hamilton |  Third |
| Nico Rosberg | P4 |
 Felipe Massa | P5 |
 Romain Grosjean | P6 |
| Kimi Räikkönen | P7 |
 Nico Hülkenberg | P8 |
 Sergio Pérez | P9  |
 Jean-Éric Vergne | P10 |
 Valtteri Bottas | P11 |
| Esteban Gutiérrez | P12 |
 Jules Bianchi | P13 |
 Charles Pic | P14 |
| Giedo van der Garde | P15 |
| Max Chilton | P16 |
| Jenson Button |  Retired (Wheel) |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Retired (Exhaust) |
| Pastor Maldonado | Retired (KERS) |
 Adrian Sutil | Retired (Wheel nut) |
| Paul di Resta | Retired (Wheel nut) |
| Fernando Alonso |  Retired (Collision) |
The controversial result catapults the repentant Vettel into the lead in the drivers’ world championship with 40 points from Raikkonen on 31, Webber on 26, Hamilton on 25 and Massa on 22, while Red Bull have a comfortable lead in the constructors’ stakes with 66 points from Ferrari and Lotus on 40, and Mercedes on 37.
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