To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy a special trophy (named Coppa del 150° Anniversario dell'Unità d'Italia) was awarded to the winner.

[9] Shortly before the final practice session on Saturday, the FIA announced that Pirelli's camber limits were mandatory and that any team who failed to observe them would be reported to the stewards under Article 2.3 of the sport's technical regulations for dangerous construction and would risk exclusion from the race.

However, Lewis Hamilton rapidly improved his lap times, and would end the session as the fastest man on track, a second clear of teammate Jenson Button and a further half-second ahead of Vettel.

Despite setting the fastest lap time in the second session, telemetry data from the speed trap on the main straight demonstrated that Vettel was noticeably slower than his rivals.

The Drag Reduction System meant that drivers could run higher downforce settings than they usually would, offering more grip in the corners and unlimited DRS usage in the straights.

He was able to pit for a new front wing and return to the circuit, advancing to the second period at the expense of Jaime Alguersuari, who was eliminated alongside the Lotus, Virgin and HRT entries.

Hamilton, who had initially used the prime tyres, returned to the circuit on the options, due to uncertainty of the security of his time, though Petrov remained in his garage.

Behind the Force Indias, were the Williamses of Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado, with Sébastien Buemi sandwiched by the Saubers of Pérez and Kobayashi.

In the final ten-minute part, Ferrari sent both cars out together to give both drivers an opportunity to tow each other to a higher grid spot, though the strategy largely failed.

[20] Alonso, Webber, Massa, Petrov, Schumacher, Rosberg and Senna – who did not set a lap time in the session – completed the first five rows of the grid.

However, his lead was short-lived; further down the field, Vitantonio Liuzzi made contact with Heikki Kovalainen and slid off across the grass and directly into Vitaly Petrov and Nico Rosberg.

Further down the grid, Lewis Hamilton was caught unawares by the restart and was quickly passed by Michael Schumacher, whilst Mark Webber challenged Felipe Massa for sixth place going into the first chicane.

Adrian Sutil joined the growing list of retirements several laps later with hydraulic problems, pulling his Force India VJM04 over at the Ascari chicane.

Where Hamilton's fight with Schumacher would last thirty laps, Button passed the Mercedes driver on his first attempt, leaving him free to pursue Alonso.

The Sauber C30s of Kamui Kobayashi and seventh-placed Sergio Pérez retired with near-identical gearbox problems, reducing the field to just fifteen drivers plus Daniel Ricciardo.

Once freed from behind Schumacher's Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton started catching Alonso at a rate that meant the 2008 World Champion would only be able to pass his former teammate on the last lap.

After finishing fifth in Belgium, Schumacher repeated his performance with another fifth place, in front of Massa, whose race had largely been ruined by the early contact with Webber.

The four points di Resta earned for eighth place, plus the double retirement of the Saubers helped elevate Force India to sixth in the constructors' standings.

Vettel's win extended his World Championship lead to 112 points ahead of Alonso, who took advantage of Webber's retirement to move into second overall.