Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel won the Indian Grand Prix on Sunday and stretched his Formula One championship lead over Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who was a battling second, to 13 points with three races remaining.
The victory from pole position was the world champion's fourth in a row - the first time he has done that in a single season - and maintained his dominance in India after winning last year's inaugural race at the hazy Buddh International Circuit from pole.
The 25-year-old German now has 240 points to 227 for Alonso, who started in fifth place, and his surge towards a third title in a row is beginning to look unstoppable despite the Spaniard's best efforts.
His fifth win of the season was the 26th of his career.
“A very special grand prix. I don't know what it is about this circuit but I really like the flow of it,” said Vettel, who has now led every single lap for three successive races - a feat last managed by the late triple champion Ayrton Senna in 1989.
“This was another good step for us but there's still a long way to go.”
Australian Mark Webber finished third for Red Bull, complaining of a loss of KERS boost after 45 of the 60 laps and being passed by Alonso three laps later.
“It is not easy at the moment to fight the Red Bull but we will never give up,” said the Spaniard in a podium interview in front of the cheering crowd.
“Well done to Red Bull and Sebastian but we want to be happy and enjoy it in Brazil (the last race). It is not only here. I am sure we will do it.”
SCHUMACHER RETIRES
Kimi Raikkonen hung on to third place in the overall standings with seventh place for Lotus but he is now 67 points off the lead and just six ahead of Webber.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button finished fourth and fifth respectively, with the latter denying Vettel the fastest lap but with his title hopes now mathematically over for another year.
Brazilian Felipe Massa was sixth for Ferrari, ahead of 2007 champion Raikkonen, with Germany's Nico Hulkenberg eighth for Force India in the team's home race.
Frenchman Romain Grosjean finished ninth for Lotus and Brazilian Bruno Senna grabbed the final point for Williams on an afternoon short on thrills for the crowd making the trip south from New Delhi.
Seven times champion Michael Schumacher, probably the biggest Formula One name in a country more focused on cricket, collided with Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne at the start and pitted with a punctured rear right.
That sent the 43-year-old German to the back of the field on his last race appearance in India. To compound his problems, he was lapped by Vettel after eight laps and was then under investigation for ignoring blue warning flags.
To his credit, Schumacher battled on until finally retiring three laps from the end.
PEREZ PROBLEMS
Mexican Sergio Perez retired in the pits after also suffering a puncture when his Sauber clipped the front of Toro Rosso's Australian Daniel Ricciardo as they were leaving the pits together on lap 20.
“It's been a difficult weekend. The contact with Ricciardo came and that's it, we damaged rear suspension of the car,” said Perez, who is joining McLaren next season.
India's sole driver Narain Karthikeyan finished 21st for Spanish stragglers HRT.
-Reuters)
INDIAN GRAND PRIX - RESULTS
1. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull) 1h31m10.744
2. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari) at 9.437
3. Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull) 13.217
4. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren) 13.909
5. Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren) 26.266
6. Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) 44.674
7. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus) 45.227
8. Nico Halkenberg (GER/Force India) 54.998
9. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus) 56.103
10. Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams) 1:14.975
11. Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes) 1:21.694
12. Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India) 1:22.815
13. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso) 1:26.064
14. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber) 1:26.495
15. Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso) 1 lap
16. Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams) 1 lap
17. Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Caterham) 1 lap
18. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/Caterham) 1 lap
19. Charles Pic (FRA/Marussia) 1 lap
20. Timo Glock (GER/Marussia) 2 laps
21. Narain Karthikeyan (IND/HRT) 2 laps
22. Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes) 5 laps
DRIVER STANDINGS - TOP 10
1. Sebastian Vettel (GER) 240.0 pts
2. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 227.0
3. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) 173.0
4. Mark Webber (AUS) 167.0
5. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 165.0
6. Jenson Button (GBR) 141.0
7. Nico Rosberg (GER) 93.0
8. Romain Grosjean (FRA) 90.0
9. Felipe Massa (BRA) 89.0
10. Sergio Perez (MEX) 66.0
CONSTRUCTOR STANDINGS
1. Red Bull Racing 407.0pts
2. Scuderia Ferrari 316.0
3. McLaren Mercedes 306.0
4. Lotus 263.0
5. Mercedes AMG 136.0
6. Sauber 116.0
7. Force India 93.0
8. Williams 59.0
9. Scuderia Toro Rosso 21.0