Lewis Hamilton of McLaren won a hard-fought German Grand Prix on Sunday, fending off challenges from Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber of Red Bull for his second victory of the season.
Hamilton started second but took the lead from Webber by the first turn, and McLaren then successfully defended the position in a cat-and-mouse game of pit stops between the top teams. Alonso finished 3.9 seconds back in second place, with Webber 9.7 seconds behind in third.
''I feel great. One of the best races I think I've ever done,'' said Hamilton, who also won the third race of the season, the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai in April. ''This is a massive step forward ... and I hope we can keep the momentum going.''
It was the second victory in four races for McLaren after Jenson Button's win in Canada last month, and Hamilton is hopeful the British team has finally caught up with Red Bull.
''I appears so ... but coming into this weekend we didn't think we'd be so fast,'' Hamilton said. ''I do still feel that the overall performance of the Red Bulls is better than ours.''
Hamilton's winning time was 1 hour, 37 minutes, 30.334 seconds around the 3.2-mile Nuerburgring circuit.
The top three finishers were within 3 seconds of each other for long parts of the 60-lap race, and they each took turns in the lead because of the three pit stops by all the top drivers.
The most exciting lead change came on lap 33, when Alonso returned to the track in front after a tire change, but was overtaken by Hamilton just meters after the pit lane exit.
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull was fourth - the first time all season he hasn't finished first or second. After 10 of 19 races, he tops the standings with 216 points, followed by Webber with 139 and Hamilton at 134. Alonso is fourth with 130.
Alonso ran out of fuel after crossing the finish line - forcing him to leave his car at the side of the track and hitch a ride back to pit lane sitting on Webber's Red Bull - but he didn't think the nearly-empty gas tank affected his efforts to catch up with Hamilton during the final stages of the race.
''We could not get any closer to Lewis,'' Alonso said. ''With the medium tires we were not too quick, so we just controlled the gap with Mark and secured second place.''
Alonso won the British Grand Prix two weeks ago at Silverstone after finishing second in the previous race in Spain. With another podium finish in Germany, the 2005 and 2006 world champion is also feeling more confident in Ferrari's ability to challenge Red Bull.
''It's definitely a good moment of the championship for us,'' Alonso said. ''It leaves a good taste in our mouths and it's an ascending line for the team.''
''If we can get another podium finish in Hungary, it would be an almost perfect month for us,'' he added.
Webber had a poor start from pole position and is still looking for his first victory of the season.
''I did everything I could and I was happy with how I drove,'' Webber said. ''Disappointed, of course, not to get the win ... but another good result.''
After staring third, Vettel fell back to the middle of the field, climbing back to fifth behind Ferrari's Felipe Massa during the last laps. Both drivers exited for tire changes at the same time and the speedy work of the Red Bull team allowed Vettel to come back out for the final lap ahead of Massa.
The race was run under damp conditions, with intermittent raindrops helping to keep track temperatures cool.
The championship continues next weekend at the Hungaroring in Hungary.
