Sebastian Vettel Secures Fourth Win From Five Races At 2011 Spanish Grand Prix

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, the current world champion, is one step closer to retaining his crown after securing his fourth win from five races in the 2011 Formula One season. The Spanish Grand Prix, held on the dry Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, was probably Vettel's toughest win as he fought off the charging Lewis Hamilton towards the end of the race to cross the finishing line a mere 0.630 second ahead of the McLaren driver.

Hamilton was faster in the final lap, but was unable to fully capitalise with his McLaren's Kinetic Energy Regeneration System (KERS) and Drag Reduction System (DRS) to outrun Vettel, whose Red Bull struggled with KERS throughout the race. McLaren's Jenson Button took the final podium position, benefiting from a three-stop strategy, compared with four pit stops made by the two leaders. Still, Button only crossed the line more than 35 seconds after Vettel.

Red Bull's Mark Webber, who started from pole position, quickly lost his lead and finally had to settle for fourth place. Local Spanish hero, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso finished fifth despite leading the race for the first two laps. Formula One legend Michael Schumacher put in his best race this season to claim sixth for Mercedes, with teammate Nico Rosberg in seventh. Lotus Renault's Nick Heidfeld ranked eight, while Sauber's Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi rounded up the top ten positions.