Defending world champion Sebastian Vettel won the European Grand Prix in Valencia, yesterday, to extend his lead in the overall standings with his sixth win in eight races.

His 16th career victory made him the first man to finish first or second in the opening eight races of a season in the history of the Formula One world championship.

The 23-year-old German dispelled any thoughts that his last-lap error in Canada a fortnight ago, which cost him victory, would have an adverse effect on him as he coasted home in his Red Bull to beat Spain’s Fernando Alonso in a Ferrari.

Vettel’s Australian team-mate Mark Webber was third.

Vettel’s victory saw him open up a huge 77-point gap in this year’s title race. He now has 186 points after eight of the season’s 19 events, ahead of nearest rival Briton Jenson Button on 109.

It was just the fourth time in Formula One history that all the drivers finished the race and first time since the Italian Grand Prix in 2005.

Great Britain’s 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton for McLaren honoured his pledge to restrain his daredevil style and finish the race, taking fourth place. Felipe Massa, in the second Ferrari, and Button, in the second McLaren, finished fifth and sixth respectively.

Nico Rosberg was seventh for Mercedes and Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari produced a stunning drive to take eighth for Toro Rosso with Germans Adrian Sutil ninth for Force India and Nick Heidfeld 10th for Renault.

“Ooooooh yeah, baby!” screamed Vettel over his team radio after winning.

“That is better than anything you can imagine this year. Yes. Yehhhh!”

Vettel, whose other two finishes this year were as runner-up, produced the perfect riposte to those who felt he might buckle under pressure.

Red Bull team chief Christian Horner paid tribute to Vettel.

“He just enjoyed this afternoon as you could see. He drove a fantastic race and he got everything right. It was just perfect,” he said.

On a sweltering early summer afternoon by the Mediterranean, Vettel produced a start to match the weather as the air temperature rose beyond 30 degrees Celsius and the track temperature hit the high-40’s.

This signalled potential degradation problems for the tyres, but Vettel made light of any concerns as he pulled clear without any fuss to lead by 1.3 seconds at the end of the opening lap.

Both McLarens were slow to pull off the grid and gave the Ferraris of Alonso and Massa an invitation to attack. Webber, caught in a scarlet pincer move, managed to survive.

That left him second behind the champion with Alonso third, Massa fourth and Hamilton fifth at the end of the opening lap, Rosberg also having started well to find his way past Button into sixth.

The 2009 champion, however, was not content to bide his time and found a way past the young German with a late-braking move into Turn Two that lifted him into the top six.

The positions pretty much stayed the same in a race lacking in the drama from Canada a fortnight ago with only Alonso’s daring overtaking of Webber enough to send the home crowd into ecstasy.

European GP result

1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) - 1hr 39min 36.169sec
2. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) at 10.891sec
3. Mark Webber (Red Bull) - 27.255
4. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) - 46.190
5. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) - 51.705
6. Jenson Button (McLaren) - 1min .065sec
7. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) - 1:38.090
8. Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) - 1 lap
9. Adrian Sutil (Force India) - 1 lap
10. Nick Heidfeld (Lotus-Renault) - 1 lap
11. Sergio Perez (Sauber) - 1 lap
12. Rubens Barrichello (Williams F1) - 1 lap
13. Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) - 1 lap
14. Paul di Resta (Force India) - 1 lap
15. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) - 1 lap
16. Vitaly Petrov (Lotus-Renault) - 1 lap
17. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) - 1 lap
18. Pastor Maldonado (Williams F1) - 1 lap
19. Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus) - 2 laps
20. Jarno Trulli (Lotus) - 2 laps
21. Timo Glock (Virgin Racing) - 2 laps
22. Jerome d’Ambrosio (Virgin Racing) - 2 laps
23. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania) - 3 laps
24. Narain Karthikeyan (Hispania) - 3 laps

Fastest lap
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) – 1:41.852.

Next race
British Grand Prix – Silverstone, July 10.

Overall standings

Drivers
1. Vettel 186 points, 2. Button 109, 3. Webber 109, 4. Hamilton 97, 5. Alonso 87, 6. Massa 42, 7. Rosberg 32, 8. Petrov 31, 9. Heidfeld 30, 10. Schumacher 26, 11. Kobayashi 25, 12. Sutil 10, 13. Alguersuari 8, 14. Buemi 8, 15. Barrichello 4, 16. Perez 2, 17. Di Resta 2.

Constructors
1. Red Bull 295 points, 2. McLaren 206, 3. Ferrari 129, 4. Lotus-Renault 61, 5. Mercedes GP 58, 6. Sauber 27, 7. Toro Rosso 16, 8. Force India 12, 9. Williams F1 4.