Red Bull and Vettel ease to inaugural Indian victory

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel won the first 2011 Formula 1 Airtel Grand Prix of India, in dominance and in style which was a carbon copy of his victory in the last Formula 1 Grand Prix of Korea.
The German Red Bull driver and the youngest Formula 1double world champion ever ran away right from the start and left Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Jenson Button to chasing him from a distance.

Spanish Scuderia Ferrari driver and former Formula 1 double world champion Fernando Alonso and Australian Red Bull driver Mark Webber were even further behind, with not the slightest chance to catch the leading duo.
Behind the first four cars which finished the race in the above-mentioned constellation, another clash between Brazilian Ferrari driver Felipe Massa left a bitterly disappointed Vodafone Mc Laren Mercedes Lewis Hamilton finishing the Indian Grand Prix in seventh-place behind the Mercedes duo of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg.

All three top finishers paid their respects to IndyCar’s Dan Wheldon and MotoGP’s Marco Simoncelli, for whom there had been a minute’s silence on the grid.

German Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel sprinted into the lead from the start and worked eagerly to build a comfortable cushion, which he then voluntarily modified as he led every lap. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Jenson Button reduced the gap down to less than three seconds, but Sebastian Vettel was always in charge and the outcome of the race was out of question.

A smart pit stop strategy by the Scuderia Ferrari Team enabled Fernando Alonso to jump Red Bull driver Mark Webber after his second pit stop on Lap 39, and resisted the Australian’s counter-attack in the final laps to occupy the final spot on the podium.

2008 Formula 1 world champion and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver LewisHamilton seemed to lack speed from the start, running in sixth behind SebastianVettel, Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, but his race for a podium finish was over, when a move on the Brazilian in Turn Five on the 24th lap ended dramatically for both when Massa turned in and they collided.

The Brazilian Ferrari driver continued as the Englishman pitted for a new nose, but Felipe Massa was later given a drive-through penalty and his next tire stop finally dropped him behind the McLaren. This horrible day for him was sealed, when he broke the left front suspension of his Ferrari after bashing a kerb in Turn 12 on the 33rd lap.

Mercedes benefitted from Lewis Hamilton’s misfortunes and a long stint by 7 times Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher left him clear of team mate Nico Rosberg as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver LewisHamilton struggled with his car’s handling for the rest of the race and posed no threat t the two cars in front of him.

Jaime Alguersuari drove another excellent race for Toro Rosso to take eighth and his team mate should have finished in ninth, but Sebastien Buemi’s STR06 dropped out of the race with mechanical problems after they had caught and passed Adrian Sutil’s Force India. The German Force india driver thus took ninth after a race-long fight with Sergio Perez’s Sauber and Vitaly Petrov’s Renault, while Bruno Senna was 12th after a late pit stop ahead of Force India’s Paul di Resta, who was delayed after being engaged in a fight with Perez and Petrov.

Heikki Kovalainen ran as high as 10th during all the pit stops but had to be content with 14th for Lotus, well ahead of Rubens Barrichello who had to fight back from a start-line collision with Williams team mate Pastor Maldonado, then first-corner clashes with Virgin’s Timo Glock and Sauber’s Kamui Koboyashi. The latter was out there and then, Glock made it back to the pits before retiring and Maldonado later stopped with mechanical problems.

Jerome D’Ambrosio was 16th for Virgin ahead of HRT’s Narain Karthikeyan, who had a race-long duel with team mate Daniel Ricciardo, who was closing fast at the final stages of the race before having to make a late tire stop. They were 17th and 18th ahead of Lotus’s Jarno Trulli, who was spun by one of them on the opening lap and was never able to make up lost ground after a long pit stop.

Sebastian Vettel’s dominant win brings the world champion’s points to a staggering 374 with Jenson Button second on 240, Fernando Alonso third on 227, Mark Webber forth on 221 and Lewis Hamilton fifth with 202 points. In the constructors Formula 1 world champion, Red Bull have 595 points to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes’ 442 and the Sucderia Ferrari’s 325, which means the British team have secured second place in the standings ahead of the Italians

It must be mentioned here, that Sebastian Vettel also set the fastest lap of the race - on the very last lap - for the third time this season, despite several instructions by his team principle to bring the car home safe and without unnecessarily pushing it to the limit.

AE

30.10.2011