2011 F1 Grand Prix season

[TBWG]

   
Lewis Hamilton tops second Friday practice for McLaren in Brazil

By Matt Beer   Friday, November 25th 2011,

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton led the way in the second free practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

Amid continued perfect weather at the Sao Paulo track, Hamilton spent the vast majority of the afternoon at the head of the order.

His first serious lap time of the session - a 1m13.852s - put him on top from the 11th minute to the 49th, and was only beaten when others switched to the softer tyres.

It was Michael Schumacher's Mercedes that deposed Hamilton, as the former champion put in a 1m13.723s. But six minutes later Hamilton was back out on soft rubber too, improving to first 1m13.653s, then the 1m13.392s that would keep him on top to the end.

World champion Sebastian Vettel eventually claimed second for Red Bull, 0.167 seconds off Hamilton's pace, and just ahead of RBR team-mate Mark Webber.

Fernando Alonso was the leading Ferrari driver in fourth, with Schumacher staying among the frontrunners in fifth.

Felipe Massa completed the top six for Ferrari, while Jenson Button spent a long spell just behind team-mate Hamilton in second before falling to seventh as he did not make a particular large pace jump on softs.

Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) and the Force Indias of Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta completed the top 10.

The only notable incident of the session was a gearbox failure for Sergio Perez, which stranded his Sauber on the climb out of Juncao with a few minutes to go.

Pos  Driver                Team                   Time                Laps
 1.  Lewis Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes       1m13.392s              35
 2.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault       1m13.559s  + 0.167   41
 3.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault       1m13.587s  + 0.195   41
 4.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari                1m13.598s  + 0.206   35
 5.  Michael Schumacher   Mercedes               1m13.723s  + 0.331   38
 6.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari                1m13.750s  + 0.358   39
 7.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes       1m13.787s  + 0.395   36
 8.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes               1m13.872s  + 0.480   42
 9.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes   1m14.144s  + 0.752   41
10.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes   1m14.807s  + 1.415   48
11.  Vitaly Petrov        Renault                1m14.856s  + 1.464   38
12.  Bruno Senna          Renault                1m14.931s  + 1.539   37
13.  Sergio Perez         Sauber-Ferrari         1m14.970s  + 1.578   32
14.  Kamui Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari         1m15.019s  + 1.627   45
15.  Sebastien Buemi      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m15.264s  + 1.872   44
16.  Jaime Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m15.388s  + 1.996   41
17.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth      1m15.679s  + 2.287   43
18.  Rubens Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth      1m15.903s  + 2.511   40
19.  Jarno Trulli         Lotus-Renault          1m16.298s  + 2.906   36
20.  Heikki Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault          1m16.338s  + 2.946   48
21.  Jerome D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth        1m18.031s  + 4.639   39
22.  Timo Glock           Virgin-Cosworth        1m18.051s  + 4.659   45
23.  Daniel Ricciardo     HRT-Cosworth           1m18.367s  + 4.975   42
24.  Tonio Liuzzi         HRT-Cosworth           1m18.476s  + 5.084   42

All Timing Unofficial



TBWG

[TBWG]

Yet more Bull…

November 26, 2011 by joesaward

Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time of the third practice session for the Brazilian GP at an overcast Interlagos on Saturday morning, lapping the track just 0.087s faster than Jenson Button’s McLaren with both Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton just a tenth behind. Fernando Alonso was fifth but his Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa was back in 10th, having been jumped in FP3 by Adrian Sutil’s Force India, the two Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher and Paul di Resta in the second Force India.

Eleventh fastest was Vitaly Petrov, but Bruno Senna was again in the wars, setting the 17th best time. Rubens Barrichello was 12th ahead of Jaime Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso, Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber, the Williams of Pastor Maldonado and the Sauber of Sergio Perez.

Behind Senna were the two Lotuses of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen, the Virgin of Jerome d’Ambrosio, the two HRTs of Tonio Liuzzi and Daniel Ricciardo and the Virgin of Timo Glock.

Right at the back was the Toro Rosso of Sebastien Buemi, which was reported to have gearbox troubles.

In the paddock this morning the F1 circus was joined by the two Nelson Piquets, Emerson Fittiapldi and by Gil de Ferran.


TBWG

[TBWG]

Business as usual

November 26, 2011 by joesaward

Sebastian Vettel took his 15th pole position of the year – a new record – and pronounced (as usual): “That’s what I am talking about!” Next year he needs a new catchphrase as this one is worn out. It was nonetheless another superlative performance by the Milton Keynes team with Mark Webber second a couple of tenths behind, but ahead of the two McLarens of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. Fernando Alonso was fifth in the Ferrari, with team-mate Felipe Massa seventh, the two split by Nico Rosberg. Michael Schumacher did not run and ended up 10th in the second Mercedes. Adrian Sutil was eighth for Force India, with Bruno Senna ninth in the Renault.



TBWG

[TBWG]

Webbo goes nuts in Brazil!

Mark Webber grabs first win of the year in season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix
By Matt Beer    Sunday, November 27th 2011,


Mark Webber finally claimed his first victory of the 2011 Formula 1 season in the very last race of the year, as gearbox troubles for world champion Sebastian Vettel opened the door for his Red Bull team-mate in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Red Bull absolutely dominated the Interlagos race, with Vettel holding the lead at the start, and Webber fending off the cars behind for second despite a slightly slower getaway.

Vettel soon opened up a stable three-second gap to Webber, as the Red Bull duo left the rest in their wake at a rate sometimes up to one second per lap.

But from the early laps Vettel was receiving radio messages warning him to short-shift to nurse a developing gearbox problem, and as the warnings became more vehement, his pace slowed enough for Webber to sweep into the lead on lap 29.

While the Australian went on to take his first win since the 2010 Hungarian GP, Vettel still had enough pace to hang on for second.

He was helped by McLaren's Jenson Button and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso battling over third. Alonso passed Lewis Hamilton's McLaren at the start, then claimed third from Button with a spectacular move around the outside at Ferradura on lap 11.

Alonso then pulled away, only to lose pace on the harder tyres in his final stint, allowing Button to catch and re-pass him nine laps from the finish with an easy DRS pass after various earlier attempts were rebuffed.

Hamilton was set to battle with Felipe Massa - who stopped just twice while most made three pitstops - for fifth until a gearbox failure halted the McLaren, ensuring the Ferrari could keep the place.

Adrian Sutil charged to sixth for Force India, beating Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and the second Force India of Paul di Resta.

Ninth place for Kamui Kobayashi ensured Sauber beat Toro Rosso - which failed to score - to seventh in the constructors' championship. Vitaly Petrov completed the points-scorers for Renault.

His team-mate Bruno Senna clashed with Michael Schumacher at the Senna S early on, giving the Mercedes a puncture. The stewards awarded Senna a drive-through penalty for the collision and with gearbox troubles also developing, he fell to 17th, while Schumacher got back to 15th.

Rubens Barrichello was unable to score in what could be his final grand prix. A poor start dropped the Williams to 21st and he was only able to recover to 14th.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Brazilian Grand Prix
Interlagos, Sao Paulo, Brazil;
71 laps; 305.909km;
Weather: Cloudy.

Classified:

Pos  Driver              Team                       Time
 1.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           1h32:17.434
 2.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           +    16.983
 3.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    27.638
 4.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    35.048
 5.  Massa         Ferrari                    +  1:06.733
 6.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
 7.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +     1 lap
 8.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
 9.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
10.  Petrov        Renault                    +     1 lap
11.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
12.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
13.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
14.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap
15.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +     1 lap
16.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
17.  Senna         Renault                    +    2 laps
18.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
19.  D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth            +    3 laps
20.  Ricciardo     HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps

Fastest lap: Webber, 1:15.324

Not classified/retirements:

Driver          Team                         On lap
Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth                 62
Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes             37
Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth            27
Glock         Virgin-Cosworth              22


World Championship standings, round 19:               

       Drivers:                        Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel       392        1.  Red Bull-Renault          650
 2.  Button       270        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          497
 3.  Webber       258        3.  Ferrari                   375
 4.  Alonso       257        4.  Mercedes                  165
 5.  Hamilton     227        5.  Renault                    73
 6.  Massa        118        6.  Force India-Mercedes       69
 7.  Rosberg       89        7.  Sauber-Ferrari             44
 8.  Schumacher    76        8.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         41
 9.  Sutil         42        9.  Williams-Cosworth           5
10.  Petrov        37       
11.  Heidfeld      34       
12.  Kobayashi     30       
13.  Di Resta      27       
14.  Alguersuari   26       
15.  Buemi         15       
16.  Perez         14       
17.  Barrichello    4       
18.  Senna          2       
19.  Maldonado      1       
       
All timing unofficial


Well thats your lot for this season   Lets hope 2012 not so one sided.


TBWG