Duelling similarly hard were the two Toyotas, repeatedly going side-by-side as
Jarno Trulli found a way past team-mate
Timo Glock, with Heidfeld the next to be frustrated by the fast-starting Barrichello, though the German would also make his way by the Brazilian before much longer, dropping the
Honda back into the clutches of Kazuki Nakajima’s
Williams and the
Red Bull Racing pairing of
Mark Webber and Coulthard.
With Hamilton pulling away out front to the tune of four tenths of a second a lap, and
Kimi Raikkonen making precious little impression on second-placed Kubica, Massa was looking the raciest as he began to pile the pressure on Rosberg and Alonso just ahead of him.
Indeed, the Brazilian’s attentions on the back of Alonso allowed Rosberg some breathing space, whilst
Ferrari team-mate Raikkonen was almost a full eight seconds adrift of Hamilton with only nine laps run. Further back, the under-pressure
Nelsinho Piquet put a good move on Glock into turn one for 14th spot, leaving Trulli just ahead the next man in the
Renault rookie’s sights.
A brave move up the inside of the hairpin from a long way back – giving Trulli the option of either getting swiftly out of the way or else coming together – earned the 22-year-old 13th place, as he threatened to begin turning his season around in much the same manner as did his predecessor Kovalainen this time last year, though the Finn was enjoying no such good fortune this time around, coming under increasing pressure from Heidfeld behind and lagging some 22 seconds adrift of team-mate Hamilton.
As Sutil dropped out on lap 15, parking his smoking
Force India neatly on the grass between turns two and three, Raikkonen suddenly seemed to wake up, setting fastest lap as he homed in on Kubica’s
BMW.
By lap 18 the safety car had been deployed to clear away Sutil’s car – wiping out Hamilton’s 6.8-second advantage in one fell swoop, and earning
Jenson Button a penalty for pitting before the pit-lane had officially opened.
