Just behind, Nico Rosberg held onto his grid position in fifth, with Heikki Kovalainen getting a masterful start to jump from ninth to sixth, Mark Webber seventh and Nick Heidfeld eighth, the German having embarked on some rather ambitious braking into the first corner and running wide as a result.

If Kovalainen's strong start brought some smiles to the faces at Renault then Giancarlo Fisichella pulling into the pit lane after just one revolution will have brought them back down to earth, the Italian's dismal weekend ending with suspension problems on the spare car he was forced to take when his race machine developed an engine problem.

With status quo at the front, Raikkonen began to place some air between himself and Massa, with Alonso and Hamilton slipping back, while Rosberg attempted, somewhat in vain, to tag onto the back of the McLaren's over the first few laps.

Having hinted as much after qualifying, it was evident Kovalainen's good start had flattered to deceive and he was quickly struggling with his heavy fuel load, prompting Webber and Heidfeld to crawl over the back of the Renault in the early laps. With so much more straight line speed than the weighed down R27, Webber got the run on him up to Les Combes and simply surged around the outside of him on lap three.

Four laps later and Heidfeld was also past, the German proving the re-profiled Bus Stop can still serve up some neat overtaking opportunities by hauling himself up to seventh.

The second BMW of Robert Kubica meanwhile was also on the move as he attempted to recover from his ten place grid penalty, the Pole already up to ninth from 14th on the grid by the seventh lap.

However, with strategy between those making two stops and others making one defining the order from fifth backwards, there was plenty of racing to be seen between those with heavy cars and their lighter, friskier rivals.

Most notable of these was Adrian Sutil in the Spyker who, having started 19th following the team's best qualifying performance of the season, was taking his distinctive orange machine up the order a furious rate of knots, passing the likes of Alex Wurz, Takuma Sato, Rubens Barrichello and Jarno Trulli on the way to run as a high of 12th place. Whilst much of this was down to a relatively light fuel load, the German's first stint was still longer than some behind, although he would be left to rue losing a wealth of time behind David Coulthard, the Scot having to use all his experience to keep the eager youngster in his mirrors.

Up at the front, Raikkonen was adding tenths to his gap over Massa, who in turn was putting seconds over Alonso and Hamilton, the McLaren's settling into a somewhat laboured pace and already resigned to the inevitable as the first round of pit stops started. In line with the grid positions, Raikkonen pitted first, together with Alonso, before Massa and Hamilton took on fuel and tyres just a lap later, all four resuming racing barely altered from their original positions.

The tussle behind was more intense, Rosberg and Webber, the latter having closed on the former, pitting together on lap 13, while the flying Kubica was also soon in for his stop having finally disposed of Kovalainen on lap 11 with a supremely timed move at the Bus Stop, following several determined but ultimately unsuccessful attempts at various points on the circuit.