Fernando Alonso has taken his third win of the 2012 Formula 1 World Championship season in the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

The Ferrari driver led away from pole position and would not be headed thereafter.

Eventual second and third placed finishers Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button shadowed Alonso for much of the race, with the top three eventually separated by seven seconds at the chequered flag.

Button rose from sixth on the grid to run third by the first stops, before closing in on the leading pair during the middle stint.

The McLaren driver managed to leap-frog Vettel by pitting one-lap earlier in the second cycle, but Vettel would eventually take the place back on the penultimate lap with an outside move at the hairpin that saw the Red Bull utilise the tarmac exit run-off.

Kimi Raikkonen came home a further nine seconds back in fourth place having lost time in the middle stint after electing to run a second set of the option tyres while the leaders switched to the primes.

Sauber team-mates Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez typically improved from their lowly grid positions to take fifth and sixth respectively – both drivers completing long first stints before eventually mirroring the two-stop strategies of the top runners.

Michael Schumacher held his third-placed grid position early but largely struggled for speed, ending the race as the first of the three-stoppers in seventh.

Mark Webber’s attempts to improve from his eighth placed grid position were scuppered by the rising Saubers.

Unlike Nico Hulkenberg and Nico Rosberg, who finished ninth and 10th respectively, Webber elected to complete a long final stint to finish the race on two-stops.

Lewis Hamilton was the race’s only retirement. The McLaren driver’s day was effectively dashed when he picked up a puncture on just the third lap.

While Hamilton suggested to his crew that he should retire the car immediately, the Briton would continue with new tyres, and later caused headaches for Alonso and Vettel by emerging among the race leaders after completing his second stop.

Hamilton made it passed Vettel, who responded by gesticulating angrily as the second McLaren of Button closed in, before the final stops ended the unusual battle.

Hamilton eventually pulled into the garage and exited his McLaren with 11 laps still remaining.

Felipe Massa, Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean also had difficult days, finishing just 12th, 17th and 18th respectively after each pitting with damage inflicted on the opening lap.

The results see Alonso stretch his lead in the championship standings to 34 points over Webber, with Vettel closing to within two points of his team-mate in third.

UPDATE: Sebastian Vettel has been handed a post-race penalty for his overtake on Jenson Button.

CLICK HERE for more, including Vettel’s thoughts on the move

See below for the revised results following Vettel’s penalty

See below for the revised championship standings