Ferrari's Felipe Massa kept McLaren rival Lewis Hamilton in check to clinch Formula One's debut on the streets of Valencia Sunday but faced an inquiry over a pit-stop incident, dpa reported.
The Brazilian controlled the European Grand Prix from pole position, with championship leader Hamilton of Britain well beaten in second place.
Robert Kubica of Poland in a BMW Sauber was third ahead of Mclaren's Heikki Kovalainen of Finland.
Jarno Trulli of Italy in a Toyota finished fifth ahead of a trio of German drivers in Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso), Timo Glock ( Toyota) and Nico Rosberg (Williams).
However, Massa faced an inquiry after almost colliding with Force India's Adrian Sutil as the two emerged from the pit lane after a second stop.
FIA motorsport federation officials were to rule on the incident after the race.
And in mixed fortunes for Ferrari, team-mate Kimi Raikkonen's race ended with 12 laps remaining when his engine blew-up while lying fourth.
Defending champion Raikkonen had emerged from a pit stop two laps earlier in which a mechanic was knocked to the ground and injured.
The fuel hose was still attached to the car when Ferrari was given a go signal, and the mechanic took a bad fall. He was taken to the circuit's medical centre for treatment.
Massa's victory, his ninth in 99 Grand Prix races, moves him to 64 points in the drivers' standings, six behind Hamilton. Raikkonen slips to third on 57, with Kubica on 55.
The pit stop incidents added a touch of drama to a largely uneventful race around Valancia's marina in Formula One's debut on the newly-designed street circuit.
Massa got smoothly away from pole and gradually built up a lead over the British driver, who in turn could open an even larger gap on Kubica after fending off an initial challenge from the Pole.
To the dismay of the home crowd, Spain's Fernando Alonso was unable to complete a lap after being shunted by Japan's Kazuki Nakajima in a Williams.
Alonso steered his damaged Renault into the pits for a new rear wing but then discovered the suspension was also broken to end his race.
Massa kept his lead after an early pit stop, with Hamilton unable to capitalize on staying out two laps longer. It turned into a procession with the leading drivers unable to test each other.
Although Massa was never in danger on the circuit, he almost went into Germany's Sutil coming out of the pit lane with 20 laps remaining as the pair emerged at the same time.
FIA was to rule on whether Massa had been released illegally by his team.