2010 EUROPE GP: VETTEL TAKES WIN IN UNUSUAL RACE

Sebastian Vettel scores comfortable win in the European Grand Prix in Valencia - while his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber was fortunate to emerge uninjured from a massive accident that saw him vault Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus. The results may yet change subject to a post-race investigation involving Button, Barrichello, Hulkenberg, Petrov and a whole host of other cars for going too fast under safety car conditions.

Hamilton got the jump on Mark Webber at the start as the Australian opened the door into the first corner and also allowed the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa to pass. Things soon got worse for the Australian, who quickly dropped back to ninth seemingly struggling badly for grip with his tyres. If things weren't bad enough, Webber got things all wrong on lap 10 in an attempt to make up ground after an early stop for tyres. The Australian slipstreamed Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus but clipped the back of his car as he moved across, launching his Red Bull into the air before landing upside-down and smashing into the barriers. In an amazing testimony to the strength of modern-day Formula One cars, Webber climbed nonchalantly from his now upright car and walked away mercifully unscathed.

The Ferrari duo of Alonso and Massa, despite their impressive start, lost ground in the safety car shake-up, eventually finishing 9th and 14th respectively. The Hero of the day is Kamui Kobayashi with his Sauber, finishing on 7th place. If there was not a binding rule for use of both tyre componets, he would score podium. When he exi was 9th, but managed to pass Alonso and Buemi, for his highest ranking this season.

Classified:
Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h40:29.571
2.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +     5.042
3.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +     7.658*
4.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +    20.627*
5.  Kubica        Renault                    +    22.122*
6.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +    25.168*
7.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +    30.965
8.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +    31.299*
9.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    32.809
10. De la Rosa    Sauber-Ferrari             +    42.414*
11. Petrov        Renault                    +    43.287*
12. Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    44.382
13. Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes       +    45.890*
14. Massa         Ferrari                    +    46.621
15. Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +    48.239
16. Schumacher    Mercedes                   +    48.826
17. di Grassi     Virgin-Cosworth            +     1 lap
18. Chandhok      HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps
19. Glock         Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps**
20. Senna         HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps
21. Trulli        Lotus-Cosworth             +    4 laps


Fastest lap: Button, 1:38.766

Not classified/retirements:
Driver        Team                         On lap
Hulkenberg    Williams-Cosworth            50*
Kovalainen    Lotus-Cosworth               9
Webber        Red Bull-Renault             9

* 5 SEC PENALTY
** 20 SEC PENALTY