Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel easily won the Turkish Grand Prix yesterday, clinching his third win of the season ahead of his teammate Mark Webber to extend his overall lead.

The Formula One champion was never in trouble at Istanbul Park after starting from pole position for the fourth consecutive time. The 23-year-old Vettel won by a comfortable margin of 8.8 seconds.

“Throughout this race we had this cushion and were able to act, rather than react,” Vettel said. “We never really had anybody close behind which would have been a different situation.”

Vettel became the youngest F1 champion last year, and is odds-on favorite to defend his title. After a stunning start, he already leads McLaren.s Lewis Hamilton by 34 points and Webber by 38.

“We saw how quickly these things changed last year, it was very close,” said Vettel, who won the F1 title on the final day of last season. “We have to go step by step, a good start to the season always helps but there is a long way to go.”

Red Bull started 1-2 on the grid and Webber passed Spanish driver Fernando Alonso late on in an exciting race that saw a lot of bumping and overtaking early on, and where the top four drivers all made four tire changes.

“The fight with Fernando in the middle of the race was unexpected,” Webber said. “It was a good fight.”

Alonso was 10 seconds behind Vettel in third, giving Ferrari its first podium this season.

“We did a good weekend overall, the car performed better than the first three races of the championship,” Alonso said. “We enjoyed racing again, we enjoyed a race fighting for the positions.”

Vettel, who won the opening two races and finished second behind Hamilton in China last month, was delighted to return to the top of the podium.

“Yes! Yes! That’s what I’m talking about!” Vettel shouted over the race radio, before jumping out of his car to hug team engineers and mechanics.

Hamilton never challenged for the lead and finished fourth.

Webber will also be thrilled, having improved at every race since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The Australian was fifth in Melbourne, fourth in Malaysia and third in China.

“I said to myself I can’t finish third (here) after starting 18th and finishing third in China,” Webber joked.

Webber sneaked up on Alonso on lap 51, squeezing past him and then holding the Spaniard off as the two-time former F1 champion tried to pass straight back.

“Fighting with Red Bulls these days is difficult,” Alonso said. “Hopefully next time we can.”

In warm and sunny conditions, drivers started on soft tires.

Hamilton started fourth on the grid with Alonso fifth, meaning he avoided the dirty side of the track.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, so impressive in practice, showed great skill to overtake Webber at the start and Alonso passed Hamilton as the British driver dropped down to sixth, his McLaren teammate Jenson Button also getting past him.

Hamilton then tried to get round the outside of Button but could not, and Rosberg’s early pace was posing problems.

“We lost a little bit of time behind Rosberg in the beginning of the race,” Alonso said.

It proved a disappointing day for McLaren, with Button finishing sixth behind Rosberg, and a frustrating one in particular for Hamilton. He had high hopes after beating Vettel in China by making an extra pit-stop and having fresher tires late on.

This time, Hamilton was undone by his pit crew as he went in for his third stop.

There was a long delay putting the right front tire on – and then a stall as Ferrari.s Felipe Massa passed him in the pit lane – and that cost the 2008 F1 champion vital seconds as well as his momentum.