Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso led from the front to beat Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and McLaren’s Jenson Button in a tight race to win the German Grand Prix.
The former world champion became the only man to win three times so far this season and extends his lead at the top of the drivers’ championship.
He drove a controlled and tactically perfect race to stay just enough ahead of his rivals to maintain his lead throughout.
Button fought from sixth on the grid to pass Vettel at the second pit stops but the German returned the favour with two laps to go.
But, the Brit was promoted to second place by race stewards, after they gave Vettel a 20-second penalty for his pass of Button on the penultimate lap.
Button’s team mate, Lewis Hamilton, retired with gearbox damage after fighting through the field well following an early puncture and will not incur nay penalty for a gearbox change due to his retirement.
Red Bull’s Mark Webber showed no real place and finished in eighth, extending Alonso’s championship lead to 34 points.
The Spaniard was never very far in front but always managed to stay far enough in front of Vettel and then Button to ensure they could not use their DRS to overtake him.
The Ferrari made a quick start from pole on the grid and although Vettel quickly closed on the initial gap, Alsonso was still able to pull clear before the first pit stops to keep his lead into the second stint.
Further down the grid Button was fighting past Hulkenberg and then Schumacher to creep into third place.
Reigning champ Vettel emerged from his first stop five seconds ahead of Button but was closed down by the McLaren and passed the German by making his second stop a lap earlier.
Button was never more than a second behind the leader from then until the end of the race but the Spaniard was also in control and stretched his lead towards the end as Button lost grip.
Instead of challenging for the lead, Button had to spend the closing laps fighting off a challenge from Vettel who eventually passed him at turn six on the penultimate lap.
With his 20-second penalty, Vettel was demoted to fifth position with Raikkonen taking his place on the podium.
German Grand Prix Top ten
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Fernando Alonso
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Jenson Button +6.949
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Kimi Raikkonen +16.409
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Kamui Kobayashi +21.925
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Sebastian Vettel +23.732
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Sergio Perez +27.896
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Michael Schumacher +28.970
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Mark Webber +46.941
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Nico Hulkenburg +48.162
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Nico Rosberg +48.889
