Renault hopes, therefore, lay with Kovalainen, who moved into fourth place as the leaders pitted, the Finn apparently happy to run long on the softer of the two
Bridgestone tyre options. Kovalainen did not pit until lap 27 - fully seven after Hamilton and Raikkonen - putting himself firmly in the hunt for points.
The leaders, meanwhile, were closer than at any time in the opening quarter of the race, Raikkonen's out-lap considerably faster than Hamilton's, having already been fuelled slightly lighter. Just over a second separated them through the middle stint, when Hamilton began to report a steering issue that was clearly affecting his pace. The problem may have been playing on the Briton's mind, but it wasn't affecting his performance, the
McLaren remaining inch perfect and not offering Raikkonen a sniff of the lead.
Alonso's pursuit of decent points saw him off the road on lap 34, but there was no damage done and the Spaniard resumed his challenge to Schumacher, the pair having gained a place when Rosberg kicked off the second round of stops for those opting for four sets of tyres.
There were still those who had not stopped and, when Massa did so, he exited right in front of the lead battle. Hamilton had already had one close call when the similarly long-running
Takuma Sato baulked him in turn one, but Massa proved more gentlemanly, able to pull away from the McLaren with greater ease than Sato, removing any suggestion that team tactics may come into play.
Anthony Davidson exited the fray on lap 41, the victim of a robust move by Fisichella as the Italian exited the pits. Spinning to the inside of turn one, the Briton was unable to rejoin what was one of his most impressive races of the year as the contact had broken his rear suspension. Tonio Liuzzi completed the list of retirees on the following lap, the under-fire Toro Rosso driver parking up in the pits.
