Is the F1 season already over as Vettel wins again?

The Spanish Grand Prix was won by Sebastian Vettel in thrilling style on Sunday, as he held off the challenge of Lewis Hamilton to take the chequered flag with a lead of less than a second. But by winning his fourth Grand Prix out of five, despite having an underperforming car shorn of its KERS boost system, the young German may have proved that this season is already over.

Vettel already has a 41 point lead over Hamilton in the drivers' world championship and looks unstoppable. McLaren will be livid that they did not win the race after Hamilton spent the entire second half of the Grand Prix chasing his stricken Red Bull rival down, and given a lap or two more would surely have overtaken him.

However, Vettel proved that he has the mental toughness not to buckle when under intense pressure and held off the English driver.

Pete Gill writing on the PlanetF1 website said of Vettel: "If he can't be beaten when he's short of speed and his car has a substantial malfunction, then [what hope do his rivals have]...  His position is formidably ominous and strengthening."

Kevin Eason in the Times commented that Vettel has proved he knows how to race when the going gets tough. "The theory expounded around the Circuit de Catalunya all week is that Vettel, despite his extraordinary success, is not yet the finished article and will crack under severe strain," he wrote. "Well, Formula 1 discovered that the youngest champion in history has galvanised his nerves as well as his skill. His wing mirrors were full of Hamilton’s silver McLaren for more than 40 laps, but he refused to buckle."

The Guardian's Paul Weaver summed up the fears of many F1 watchers when he said: "This Formula 1 world championship will be all over before the leaves of late summer start to fall if Red Bull in general, and Vettel in particular, continue to dominate in their current fashion."

Having said all that, the Spanish Grand Prix was unusually entertaining, and it was the first time in a decade that the race was not won by the driver who started on pole. Indeed, Mark Webber who started from the front of the grid ended up 45 seconds behind the winner in fourth place.

Third place went to Hamilton's McLaren team mate Jenson Button, but he too was well behind the two leaders.

Home crowd favourite Fernando Alonso sent his fans wild with an amazing start that catapulted him from fourth to first, and although the Ferrari held the lead for 18 laps the Spanish driver ended up in fifth place. ·