Driving like a champion, Sebastian Vettel on Sunday notched up a start-to-finish victory at the Formula One Indian Grand Prix to extend his lead over Ferrari rival Fernando Alonso to 13 points in the overall championship table.

Vettel got away from the rest from the start and widened the gap further to claim his second consecutive win at the Buddh International Circuit. This was the fourth win in a row and fifth overall for the season for the Red Bull driver. Alonso, running a close second in the drivers’ standings and starting fifth on the grid, displayed his fighting abilities to claim the second spot. Mark Webber, the other Red Bull driver, staved off a strong challenge from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton to take the third place.

The win took Vettel to 240 points and helped Red Bull, now 407 points, cushion its place further at the top of the table. Ferrari, on 316, and McLaren, on 306, were at second and third slots with three races to go. Vettel drew satisfaction from the fact that the teamwork took him to a perfect triumph, in which he used the one-stop strategy to finish nearly 10 seconds clear of the second-placed Alonso. “It was a result of all of us working hard together over the weekend…It was a perfect strategy from the team,” said the German. Alonso, needing to stay as close to Vettel as possible in order to keep his chances alive for the championship, gave a valiant performance. He overtook Hamilton after the first corner of the opening lap and used the DRS to get past the other McLaren driver Jenson Button three laps later.

The Spaniard moved ahead of Webber with 12 laps to go as the Australian faced some problems with his KERS. He pushed hard in the closing stages but Vettel was too fast for him. “I think I can win the championship. I will not give up,” said Alonso. Webber, who went one place up to be fourth overall, was happy to keep the third place. Force India drivers gave a creditable performance in their ‘home’ race. Nico Hulkenberg improved from his 12th spot on the grid to grab the eighth position. Paul di Resta, who started 16th, managed the 12th place.

HRT driver Narain Karthikeyan completed his second consecutive race to end up 21st. Three retirements, including that of his team mate Pedro de la Rosa and Michael Schumacher, helped the Indian.

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