It was a textbook victory. Once Vettel pulled away from pole position and entered the first corner in the lead, the German never looked back. The Ferrari driver showed pace when he needed to, building a gap to pit and comfortably rejoin in the lead. He made it look easy, though he stressed it was anything but in his post-race interviews. “In the middle of the race, I had to change a lot of things on the steering wheel,” he said. “At some point I was saying ‘Okay, when am I allowed to drive again?’ Obviously we were managing some things in the background.” His reward for a faultless drive was his 50th Grand Prix victory and the championship lead, overturning a 14-point deficit to Lewis Hamilton to lead by one point. He’ll also take confidence from that winning feeling, something he has not enjoyed since the second race of the season. On this form, his rivals should beware. No wonder he was bouncing for joy afterwards.