Raikkonen waves crown goodbye despite podium.

Wake me up before you go go!...

The one thing I couldn't understand is that before the first pitstop, Kubica, Alonso and Kimi were around 1 second apart, but when they emerged out, Alonso had jumped Kubica and Raikonnen was 6.5 seconds behind Robert. Where did he lose almost 3 seconds in a single lap? Was it a slower than expected pitstop?

Jagan - To answer you question, Its all about the tyres the drivers select for a stint and amount of temperature they bring the tyre upto, which enables to get them better grip. Also when driver goes for new set of tyres during pitstop, the tyre takes couple of laps to solve graining issues. Once the tyre gets properly scrubbed it gets grip from rubber laid on the track.
Again in the example you have quoted, the three drivers came out n different fuel load. Alonso and Renault opted for short pit stop with less fuel on board, Alonso was obviously faster than the other two in his second stint.

Hope this helps

Not to mention where the driver comes out of his pitstop is also critical, if he is released in traffic, he will not be able to put decent lap times. As much as it is about driving at High Speeds Modern F1 is all about strategies and Teams do lots of mathematical/software simulation to plan pitstops which can give their driver maximum advantage.

without a doubt KR hasn't done enough to hang onto it