It's nice to be able to talk about a Grand Prix in terms of it's significance to the overall Championship as opposed to the merits of the race itself because very often the former is inapplicable. Yet again somebody, somewhere, jumbled the numbers up to ensure that there are still 5 players in the chase for this year's crown. Following his straightforward victory in Monza 2 weeks earlier Alonso again engineered a calculated & determined push to the finish line which puts him in the unlikely position of 2nd in the Championship having thrown points away in China and Monaco before. As the for the race itself I was slightly reluctant to get too involved in what was sure to be a very very long race, in fact the maximum cut-off time for a race of 2 hours was avoided by all of 2m 7secs. However; what emerged was a race of strategy, getting the best from a bad start and another sharing out of the points. Vettel finished 2nd despite having a quicker car but was surely happy to bank solid points instead of embarrassing headlines. Webber would've been more happy with his performance having taken a safety-car gamble to jump him from 5th on the grid to a podium. Button made the most of a McLaren that seems to be losing the technical war as the season reaches a crescendo by finishing 4th. As for his team mate, well... Hamilton will be angry and miserable in equal measure after he was punted out of the race after a passing move on Webber when he didn't leave enough room for 2 cars to emerge from one apex. So what do you need to know coming out of this race? 25 points separate the top 5 drivers in the table, there are 4 races left and still no team leader roles have emerged from Red Bull or McLaren. At this point in the season it's worth recalibrating our mental arithmetic bearing in mind the points system was changed at the begining of the season. Using last year's system the top 5 drivers would be separated by 10 points. Unthinkable! But it's a reality, may the good times roll on. Media friendly Lewis Before and After: 
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