At the end of the opening lap, Hamilton had already stamped both his authority and intent on the race, crossing the line 1.5secs clear of Heidfeld, while Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, Raikkonen,
Giancarlo Fisichella,
Robert Kubica, Webber and
Takuma Sato rounded out the top ten. Christijan Albers started from the pit-lane after suffering gearbox problems, but was not last following Button's problems.
Hamilton's lead grew by roughly a second a lap over the opening tours, with Alonso dropping further back and into the clutches of Massa's
Ferrari. Webber, meanwhile, damaged his chances even further with a spin at turn one after ducking under Kubica, dropping to 14th behind
Red Bull team-mate
David Coulthard before mounting a recovery drive of sorts.
The first incident of what is traditionally a race of attrition befell
Scott Speed, the American coming off worst in an optimistic pass on Alex Wurz into turn three. Not quite far enough alongside, the Toro Rosso ran over the right rear of its
Williams rival, breaking its front left suspension and taking a chunk out of Wurz's rear wing endplate. Speed managed to get his car to a safe spot, thereby preventing the early appearance of the safety car, but the situation would not remain 'normal' for long.
Heidfeld, thought lighter than his rivals on the grid, was the first to pit for fuel and tyres on lap 20, ceding his early advantage for seventh spot on resumption, and his place as chief pursuer was taken by Massa, who had finally disposed of Alonso for third at turn one the previous lap. Again, the chance came as a result of another Alonso error, the world champion taking to the grass as he struggled with the handling of his
McLaren.
