Hamilton prevailed from pole in an eventful race where only seven cars were running at the checkered flag. Second place went to Nick Heidfeld whose BMW Sauber, using the same tire strategy as Hamilton, finished 5.4secs behind.

Nico Rosberg (AT&T Williams) finished in third place, registering his first podium finish in Formula One.

Next weekend sees the Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang where Bridgestone’s hard and medium compound Potenza tires will be used.

Hirohide Hamashima, Director of Tire Development
“Today we had good tire performance with both Bridgestone Potenza compounds performing very well. We will analyze our data, but initial indications are that generally the medium compound was slightly better in race conditions.

"The soft compound did experience some graining, particularly when the track was dusty early in the race, but there was sufficient wear life to use a one stop strategy, and we are happy with tire performance."

"It was an eventful race today, with three safety car periods. Only seven cars were running at the end and we saw competitors in the points who we would not have predicted from the winter testing. This was exciting to see. We now head to Malaysia where once more we can expect high temperatures and close competition.”  Source: Bridgestone