Vettel wins in India

Sebastian Vettel is celebrating his fourth victory in as many races, following a win in the Indian Grand Prix. He led every lap of the race for the second year in a row at the Buddh International Circuit.

The reigning world champion was first into turn one, having fended off an attack from Mark Webber. But the most impressive start was made by Fernando Alonso from fifth on the grid. He went three abreast with the McLarens into turn four and, although Jenson Button managed to hold onto third, he did get past Lewis Hamilton. Three laps later, Alonso used his DRS to overtake Button before setting his sights on Webber.

It was a relatively clean start by recent standard, though, with only one incident. Michael Schumacher and Jean-Eric Vergne made contact, which caused a puncture for Schumacher and heavy front-wing damage for Vergne.

By the half-way point, Vettel had extended a big lead at the front, with a series of laps 0.7 seconds faster than anyone else. Most of the field were on a one-stop strategy, which brought no change to the running order at the front.

Meanwhile, Alonso had been gaining on Webber, but wasn't able to pass until the Australian suffered a KERS problem on lap 48, which allowed Alonso to sail past for second place.

A few laps later sparks started to appear from beneath Vettel's Red Bull, as the underside of the car dragged on the ground. Alonso stepped up his attack but Vettel kept up the pace, eventually crossing the finish line 9.4 seconds ahead of the Spaniard.

Webber finished third, despite continued attack from Hamilton, who had to settle for fourth ahead of teammate Button in fifth.

Felipe Massa managed sixth, despite running so low on fuel that he was forced to stop on track shortly after crossing the finish line.

Kimi Raikkonen finished seventh, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, who was also told to stop on track. Romain Grosjean and Bruno Senna took the final few points.

Only three drivers failed to finish the race. The first to retire was Sergio Perez, who picked up a puncture after tagging the front wing of Daniel Ricciardo's Toro Rosso on lap 20. He pitted for a new set of tyres, but the damage was so severe he was forced him to retire just a few laps later.

Pedro de la Rosa crashed out on lap 45 with brake failure, while Michael Schumacher - who's clash at the start meant he was already being lapped by the frontrunners within minutes - pulled in with just five laps to go.

The result means that Vettel has extended his lead in the drivers' championship, with 240 points to Alonso's 227. Raikkonen is third with 173 points, while Webber and Hamilton are on 167 and 165 points respectively.

There is now just 75 points still available in the remaining races in Abu Dhabi, the USA and Brazil. Check out our gallery from the Indian Grand Prix, before the teams travel to the Middle East this weekend.

2012 Indian Grand Prix result