Sebastian Vettel picked up his fourth win of the season as he kept Lewis Hamilton at bay to take the chequered flag at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Despite both Vettel and team-mate Mark Webber securing 1^st and 2^nd spot during qualifying, Red Bull couldn’t take their blistering one-lap pace into the race as Hamilton reeled Vettel in with ten laps to go.

However the reigning champion held his nerve to cross the line in first with the 2008 champion following closely behind.

Much of the talk before the race was of the difficulty of over-taking at the Barcelona circuit, and together with the newly introduced Pirelli hard tyres, the so far spectacular effects of the Drag Reduction System (DRS) and Kers were limited.

The home crowd were given something to smile about as Fernando Alonso raced past both Red Bulls to take the lead into the first corner, but while the Spaniard would have been delighted with his start Jenson Button was furious as he went backwards off the line into 10^th place.

“The last few laps I felt like China, with my tyres falling away. He (Hamilton) was always getting in the DRS zone but in the last few laps I got a good run in the last sector to make it stick.” – Sebastian Vettel”

However the day ended in a much better fashion that it started for the 2009 champion as he snatched his second podium finish of the season ahead of Webber and Alonso thanks to a three-stop strategy.

“The last few laps I felt like China, with my tyres falling away. He (Hamilton) was always getting in the DRS zone but in the last few laps I got a good run in the last sector to make it stick.” Vettel said after his duel with Hamilton that ultimately leaves the German 51 points clear at the top of the drivers’ standings.

Having beaten Vettel to pole on Saturday, Webbed will be disappointed that he was unable to convert that into a first race victory of the season after he found himself stuck behind Alonso for much of the race and unable to do anything about Button taking the 3^rd and final podium spot.

Mercedes would have been hoping for a better return following a series of updates improved their race speed at the Turkish Grand Prix two weeks ago, but Michael Schumacher was at least smiling as he recorded his best result of the 2011 season.

After the race Hamilton, Button, Webber and Jaime Alguersuari were all reprimanded for speeding under a yellow flag, but no further punishment has been applied.

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