Ironically, Alonso could have become the afternoon's third retirement had both he and the team not been quite so observant. The Spaniard found that his radio link to the pits had gone down after only ten laps, leaving them to resort to the trusty pit-board to communicate, but Alonso needed vigorous prompting to make his first routine stop.
The world champion had built up nearly 20 seconds' advantage over the chasing pack by the time he finally stopped, but that did not prevent Hamilton from assuming control of a grand prix for the second time, Alonso rejoining in third spot. Raikkonen pitted at the same time and, when Hamilton came in on lap 20, Heidfeld was left out front to gain some brief glory for the 'home' team.
Order was quickly restored when the German made his stop on lap 22, with Alonso again heading Hamilton - who had had a touch of front wing removed to help cure a wayward rear end - Raikkonen, Heidfeld and Massa, the poleman having failed to generate enough pace to vault the German during the stops.
Nico Rosberg, driving another impressive race for
Williams, was sixth, ahead of the late-stopping
David Coulthard,
Giancarlo Fisichella, Trulli and
Heikki Kovalainen.
Both Renaults had made strong getaways to jump into the top ten at the start, although Kovalainen found himself embroiled with the two Renault-powered Red Bulls in the opening stages. Further back, Kubica held station ahead of the troubled Hondas, which sandwiched
Ralf Schumacher's
Toyota in 15th, the German having made a bad start and not recovered.
Super Aguri and Toro Rosso filled the remaining spots, neither
Takuma Sato or
Anthony Davidson able to replicate the heroics of Melbourne.
