Hamilton, meanwhile, waited a further tour before finally changing to his last set of tyres, but almost immediately began to make inroads into Massa's advantage. Lapping at around half a second a lap quicker than the leader into the final stages, the question remained whether there was enough time for him to complete the overhauling and claim a maiden F1 win.

At the same time, Alonso had found happier handling from his car and was closing on Heidfeld but, in both cases, the car ahead had just enough to hang on over the waning stages, Massa taking the chequer 2.3secs clear of his young pursuer, and Heidfeld surviving by only a fraction more.

Massa was naturally overjoyed at having banished the opening rounds of the year to history, claiming his third F1 win with a consummate performance when many were questioning his mental fortitude, but the result set up the intriguing prospect of Formula One returning to Europe with a three-way tie at the head of the championship standings - and involving a rookie to boot.

While Alonso and Raikkonen could have been expected to go neck-and-neck for much of the season, few would have included Hamilton in such a scenario, but the Briton added another landmark to his already impressive resume by claiming a record third straight podium to start his career and will return home on top of the world and having drawn a definite line in the sand with regard to his rivals.