The Spaniard qualifies on pole, just ahead of Hamilton, and leads throughout the race, but the Englishman closes on to his team-mate's tail with 20 laps remaining.

However, the two men had been told to conserve their equipment and cruise to McLaren's second one-two finish of the season.

Suggestions of team orders are denied by McLaren team boss Ron Dennis who said: "We will never favour one driver over another; we never have."