Although lapping faster than either Hamilton and Raikkonen, Massa was finally forced to give way to the top two on lap 40, although he was able to unlap himself when they pitted shortly afterwards. In line with his shorter second stop, Raikkonen stopped first, four laps ahead of Hamilton, and was stationary longer than the
McLaren, meaning that, when the Briton rejoined, the
Ferrari was but a speck in his mirrors. From the smallest gap of the race, Hamilton's pace - steering issue aside - in the laps between their stops made the difference in transforming the difference to the biggest it had been since the start.
Raikkonen was not about to give up, however, and set about whittling the gap back down to something representative of his performance, all the time extending the gap back to third place. Heidfeld held that spot for the majority of the race, only allowing
BMW Sauber team-mate brief possession during the pit-stop cycles, but the pair were proof that running three stops was not necessarily the way to go.
Alonso's progress received a boost when his long second stint saw him exit from his second stop ahead of Schumacher and, when Rosberg and Kubica made their third change of tyres, the Spaniard gratefully accepted their positions as well. Heidfeld, too, came within reach, Alonso catching and tailing the BMW Sauber to the flag, but unable to make up any more ground.
Although Raikkonen similarly closed up again on Hamilton, the places remained unchanged over the final ten laps, the McLaren driver eventually claiming his third victory of the year by seven-tenths of a second. The only shame is that no-one from Mclaren was allowed to join him on the podium to accept the constructors' trophy.
No-one noticed that the Italian anthem failed to appear though.....
