Suzuka. © Creative Commons / Will Pittenger.
Sebastian Vettel claimed his twelfth pole position of 2011 at Suzuka on Saturday, just narrowing out McLaren’s Jenson Button.
Favour swung from McLaren to Red Bull following the morning’s third free practice session, although the British team incredibly aided Vettel in his quest for the top spot.
Red Bull also helped Vettel on the approach to qualifying. Having damaged his new front wing at the end of first practice on Friday morning, the squad flew a brand new version to the Japanese circuit, with the part fitted only twenty minutes prior to Q1.
While Button’s second run was a mere 0.009 seconds shy of Vettel’s marker (1:30.466), Lewis Hamilton never even started his final fast lap.
The 2008 Champion was on a slow outlap, when overtaken on either side by Mark Webber (Red Bull) and Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher, leaving Hamilton to potter through the last turn.
Unfortunately for Hamilton, the clocked ticked to zero before he crossed the line – an error that would leave him on the second row, facing Vettel’s rear end.
Behind the top three, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa (4th) out-qualified teammate Fernando Alonso (5th) for only the third time this season, while Webber – off-kilter from his Hamilton overtake – could not improve on his final run leaving him 6th, seven-tenths shy of his polesitting teammate.
Disappointingly, none of the final four in Q3 completed a fast lap; however Kamui Kobayashi obtained 7th by virtue of setting two sectors on a second lap.
Schumacher and both Renault’s completed outlaps before returning to the pits. It was something of a lucky gift from Senna – after crashing early in the morning, the Renault squad just got his R31 in Q1 with only five minutes to spare.
The sixth row was filled by the Force India pair, led by Adrian Sutil. The German was on his way to Q3, before being bumped by Senna in the final moments, while Paul di Resta’s single fast lap was enough for only 12th.
It was an all-Williams affair on row seven, with Rubens Barrichello nudging ahead of Pastor Maldonado; however the Venezuelan proved only just fast enough to beat Sebastien Buemi in the Toro Rosso.
Buemi’s best of 1:33.227 came only three-thousandths shy of Maldonado, although the Swiss pilot had little fear of falling behind teammate, Jaime Alguersuari.
The Spaniard was two-tenths short of Buemi, but that was a bad as it would get – Sauber’s Sergio Perez never set a lap, rendering him 17th.
Perez will have the Lotus of Heikki Kovalainen alongside him the eighth row. The Finn edged fellow-Lotus driver Jarno Trulli to 18th; however both were a clear one-second quicker than the Virgin Racing duo of Jerome d’Ambrosio (20th) and Timo Glock (21st).
Daniel Ricciardo put in the 22nd best time with only Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) and Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRTF1). Both completed outlaps, but returned the pits instantly with Rosberg stopping due to hydraulic problems and Liuzzi reporting an engine misfire.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m30.466s 2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m30.475s + 0.009 3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m30.617s + 0.151 4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m30.804s + 0.338 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m30.886s + 0.420 6. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m31.156s + 0.690 7. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari no time 8. Michael Schumacher Mercedes no time 9. Vitaly Petrov Renault no time 10. Bruno Senna Renault no time Q2 cut-off time: 1m32.380s Gap ** 11. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m32.463s + 1.997 12. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m32.746s + 2.280 13. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m33.079s + 2.613 14. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m33.224s + 2.758 15. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m33.227s + 2.761 16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m33.427s + 2.961 17. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari no time Q1 cut-off time: 1m35.111s Gap * 18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m35.454s + 4.988 19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m35.514s + 5.048 20. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m36.439s + 5.973 21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m36.507s + 6.041 22. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m37.846s + 7.380 23. Nico Rosberg Mercedes no time 24. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth no time 107% time: 1m39.109s * Gap to quickest in Q1 ** Gap to quickest in Q2
Suzuka. © Creative Commons / Will Pittenger.
Jenson Button topped the third practice session before the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday morning.
The McLaren ace set a best of 1:31.255, giving the Briton a half-second advantage over teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Button initially headed the pack during his Prime tyre run, only to be bettered by the Mercedes pair (led by Michael Schumacher) as the moved to the soft Pirelli options.
As the rest of the field started running softs, Button reclaimed the top spot – a position he would hold to the chequered flag.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel lined up the quickest beyond the McLaren pair. The reigning champion held a two-tenths advantage over both Ferrari’s (Fernando Alonso, 4th; Felipe Massa 6th) and fellow-Red Bull pilot Mark Webber in 5th.
While Vettel and Alonso enjoyed relative quiet sessions, both Webber and Massa suffered mechanical and handling difficulties, leaving shy of their respective team leaders.
Following their brief stint at the top of the times, both Mercedes fell to 7th (Schumacher) and 8th (Nico Rosberg), some 1.4 and 1.6 seconds off the pace respectively.
Although, the gap to the top three teams remains in earnest, Mercedes can be confident in the fact they still hold a lead over the chasing squads, with Renault and Force India very much at the forefront.
Indeed Vitaly Petrov (Renault) and Adrian Sutil (Force India) filled out the top ten, ahead of the charging Toro Rosso duo, led by Sebastien Buemi.
It wasn’t all good at Renault – substitute pilot Bruno Senna crashed his R31 into the barriers exiting Spoon corner prior to the halfway mark, bringing out the red flag for eight minutes. The Brazilian ended the morning in 17th position.
The Sauber’s ended the sixty-minute practice 13th (Kamui Kobayashi) and 14th (Sergio Perez), although it came at a price. The Swiss squad broke the Friday night curfew for the first time this year, as they worked on aerodynamic changes on the C30.
However, they still fared better than Hispania, whose experienced lead, Vitantonio Liuzzi, suffered another dismal day at the hands of the F1-11. After completing precious few laps on Friday, the Italian pulled off the circuit not long into his run, with a hydraulic pressure failure.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m31.255s 2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m31.762s + 0.507s 3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m32.122s + 0.867s 4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m32.279s + 1.024s 5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m32.401s + 1.146s 6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m32.429s + 1.174s 7. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m32.725s + 1.470s 8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m32.878s + 1.623s 9. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m33.058s + 1.803s 10. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m33.424s + 2.169s 11. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m33.469s + 2.214s 12. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m33.545s + 2.290s 13. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m33.818s + 2.563s 14. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m33.836s + 2.581s 15. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m33.990s + 2.735s 16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m34.321s + 3.066s 17. Bruno Senna Renault 1m35.389s + 4.134s 18. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m35.651s + 4.396s 19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m36.327s + 5.072s 20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m36.912s + 5.657s 21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m37.938s + 6.683s 22. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m38.011s + 6.756s 23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m38.355s + 7.100s 24. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m41.097s + 9.842s
Silverstone. © Creative Commons / Junafani
Kevin Magnussen cruised to victory in the opening British F3 race of the weekend at Silverstone.
It was a flag-to-flag run in very cool and overcast conditions for the Dane, who took advantage of his earlier pole position to claim full points in the thirty-minute event.
After a single tour, Magnussen had already claimed a 1.5 second lead, eventually stretching that gap to 8.02 seconds as he crossed the finish line.
With the possibility of 2nd place in the Championship growing large, Magnussen was circumspect about the job at hand.
“It was very good. I had a good start, good first lap, a good car and pushed all the way through. It was amazing. You can overtake here, but it is difficult. I need to score points tomorrow and get a result and in the third race, I have to nail it again.”
Magnussen had little trouble from behind throughout. On the other hand, runner-up Scott Pye was somewhat more occupied.
The Double R racer beat the hamstrung Felipe Nasr (Carlin) off the line, taking 2nd into the first corner ahead of the Brazilian thanks to a sluggish clutch. The former British Formula Ford champion was certainly pleased with his result:
“It was all about the start. We ran a slightly different strategy to Kevin and the Carlin boys, they seemed to run quite a bit of downforce and had I passed Kevin [Magnussen] off the start, he would have struggled to pass me back. Unfortunately he held that gap and through the infield and was able to pull away enough on the straights that I couldn’t do anything about it.”
Battling for several laps, the pair stayed close, until Nasr’s own mirrors filled up with the threatening image of Jazeman Jaafar in 4th. Nasr was able to hold the Malaysian off and as they crossed the line, the trio did so only 2.5 seconds apart. Nasr, however, rued his race start:
“There was a problem with the clutch – I couldn’t get a very good start, because I couldn’t feel the bite, so I had a poor start and dropped down to 3rd. I was trying to follow [Scott] Pye, but that was making my tyres worse.”
Irrespective of not passing Nasr, it was a good result from Jaafar who jumped from 7th to 5th off the line, taking 4th from Fortec’s Lucas Foresti five laps in.
Nasr also kept teammate Rupert Svendsen-Cook behind in the opening corners; however Svendsen-Cook lost control of his Volkswagen-powered Dallara exiting Maggots, burying himself into the gravel trap.
Foresti continued to the flag untroubled in 5th, although teammate Will Buller drove an adventurous race to 6th place.
The County Down man was at the head of a five-car train across the finish line, with Carlos Huertas (7th, Carlin), Alexander Sims (8th, Motopark), Pietro Fantin (9th, Hitech) and Jack Harvey (10th, Carlin) all within three seconds of Buller.
The quintet fought hard for their respective positions, but found overtaking around the Grand Prix circuit next-to-impossible.
Harvey made tough work of the final points paying position. A battle with GP3-regular, Mitch Evans, in the early laps ended when the Australian spun off the circuit and into retirement.
Evans was on the receiving end of some tough treatment by Harvey on the opening lap. The Briton, seeing a threat from the precocious Evans, resorted to weaving on the Wellington Straight to hold the 17-year-old at bay.
Both Menasheh Idafar (T-Sport) and Fahmi Ilyas (Fortec) received drive through penalties for exceeding track limits, dropping them down to 19th and 20th respectively.
Kotaro Sakurai was the only finisher behind them. The sole Rookie Class pilot crossed the line over one minute behind Magnussen, extending his lead in the Rookie Class.
Magnussen drew a 9th place starting position for the race two tomorrow morning.
2011 British F3 Round of Silverstone (Rd 10, Race 1)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW 28m34.986s
2. Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Merc + 8.028s
3. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW + 9.376s
4. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW + 10.558s
5. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc + 14.907s
6. Will Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc + 23.027s
7. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW + 23.449s
8. Alexander Sims Double R Dallara-VW + 24.044s
9. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW + 24.556s
10. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW + 25.619s
11. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 29.948s
12. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Merc + 36.945s
13. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-VW + 37.705s
14. Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Merc + 40.705s
15. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-VW + 41.027s
16. Maxim Snegirev Hitech Dallara-VW + 45.288s
17. Guilherme Silva Hitech Dallara-VW + 47.267s (Invitational)
18. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 56.437s
19. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-VW + 56.688s
20. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Dallara-Merc + 1m00.372s
21. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen + 1m08.097s (Rookie Class)
Retirements:
Mitch Evans Double R Dallara-Merc 6 laps
Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW 1 lap
2011 British F3 Round of Silverstone (Rd 10, Race 1)
Pos Driver Points
International Class
1. Felipe Nasr 314
2. Kevin Magnussen 216
3. Carlos Huertas 200
4. William Buller 189
5. Jazeman Jaafar 185
6. Rupert Svendsen-Cook 179
7. Lucas Foresti 155
8. Pietro Fantin 108
9. Jack Harvey 107
10. Scott Pye 81
11. Harry Tincknell 78
12. Riki Christodoulou 51
Rookie Class
1. Kotaro Sakurai 345
2. Bart Hylkema 214
3. Luca Orlandi 45
Silverstone. © Creative Commons / Junafani
Kevin Magnussen claimed pole position for the final feature race of the British Formula 3 season at Silverstone.
The Dane kept his nose ahead of Carlin teammate Carlos Huertas throughout the session, as both chopped away hundredths of a second with each lap.
Come the chequered flag, Magnussen’s best of 1:53.044 was enough for the top spot, with Huertas missing out by 0.055s.
The second row was another all-Carlin lock out. Newly crowned British Formula 3 champion, Felipe Nasr secured 3rd on the grid ahead of Rupert Svendsen Cook.
Running approximately two-tenths off of Magnussen’s pace throughout, the pair as the swapped positions with Double R’s Scott Pye, Jazeman Jaafar (Carlin) and Pietro Fantin (Hitech) before the field finally sorted itself out.
As time ticked away, Pye notched 5th with Jaafar and Fantin trailing in 7th and 9th positions respectively.
Late efforts from Lucas Foresti (Fortec) and GP3 regular Mitch Evans (Double R) gave them the outside of rows three and four, with Fortec’s Will Buller 10th.
The best Carlin’s Jack Harvey could manage was 11th, alongside full-time GP3 competitor, Alexander Sims.
Kevin Magnussen also assumes the top spot for the opening race of the weekend. Teammate Felipe Nasr accompanies the Dane on the first row, with Double-R’s Scott Pye breaking the Carlin party up front.
Rupert Svendsen-Cook scored 4th on the grid, just ahead of Carlos Huertas (5th) and Pietro Fantin (6th).
British F3 Round of Silverstone (Rd 10, Qualifying Times, Race 1) Pos Driver Team Time 1. Kevin Magnussen Carlin-Volkswagen 1m53.045s 2. Felipe Nasr Carlin-Volkswagen 1m53.254s 3. Scott Pye Double R-Mercedes 1m53.287s 4. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin-Volkswagen 1m53.347s 5. Carlos Huertas Carlin-Volkswagen 1m53.364s 6. Pietro Fantin Hitech-Volkswagen 1m53.506s 7. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin-Volkswagen 1m53.563s 8. Mitch Evans Double R-Mercedes 1m53.582s 9. Jack Harvey Carlin-Volkswagen 1m53.724s 10. Lucas Foresti Fortec-Mercedes 1m53.780s 11. William Buller Fortec-Mercedes 1m53.784s 12. Alexander Sims Motopark-Volkswagen 1m53.940s 13. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision-Mercedes 1m54.090s 14. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec-Mercedes 1m54.377s 15. Pipo Derani Double R-Mercedes 1m54.392s 16. Maxim Snegirev Hitech-Volkswagen 1m54.467s 17. Harry Tincknell Fortec-Mercedes 1m54.558s 18. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport-Volkswagen 1m54.640s 19. Bart Hylkema T-Sport-Volkswagen 1m55.057s 20. Yann Cunha T-Sport-Volkswagen 1m55.058s 21. Guilherme Silva Hitech-Volkswagen 1m55.295s 22. Adderly Fong Sino Vision-Mercedes 1m55.354s 23. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech-Mugen Honda 1m57.731s British F3 Round of Silverstone (Rd 10, Qualifying Times, Race 3) Pos Driver Team Time 1. Kevin Magnussen Carlin-Volkswagen 1:53.044 2. Carlos Huertas Carlin-Volkswagen 1:53.099 3. Felipe Nasr Carlin-Volkswagen 1:53.241 4. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin-Volkswagen 1:53.274 5. Scott Pye Double R-Mercedes 1:53.279 6. Lucas Foresti Fortec-Mercedes 1:53.332 7. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin-Volkswagen 1:53.360 8. Mitch Evans Double R-Mercedes 1:53.384 9. Pietro Fantin Hitech-Volkswagen 1:53.413 10. Will Buller Fortec-Mercedes 1:53.622 11. Jack Harvey Carlin-Volkswagen 1:53.700 12. Alexander Sims Motopark-Volkswagen 1:53.827 13. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision-Mercedes 1:54.066 14. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec-Mercedes 1:54.144 15. Max Snegirev Hitech-Volkswagen 1:54.295 16. Pipo Derani Double R-Mercedes 1:54.302 17. Harry Tincknell Fortec-Mercedes 1:54.348 18. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport-Volkswagen 1:54.633 19. Bart Hylkema T-Sport-Volkswagen 1:54.692 20. Yann Cunha T-Sport-Volkswagen 1:54.914 21. Adderly Fong Sino Vision-Mercedes 1:55.042 22. Guilherme Silva Hitech-Volkswagen 1:55.118 23. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech-Mugen Honda 1:57.565
Suzuka. © Creative Commons / Will Pittenger.
Practice One
McLaren’s Jenson Button topped the opening pair of free practice sessions on Friday morning.
On a day peppered with minor offs, the 2009 World Champion kept his MP4-26 on the road to be quickest in practice one ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton and later Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) in practice two.
Button’s fastest morning run of 1:33.634 was enough to head off Hamilton by nine-hundredths of a second.
As the battle for runner-up in the championship heats up, McLaren brought some rear wing upgrades in effort to stay ahead of the Ferrari machine.
Sebastian Vettel represented Red Bull’s better efforts in the morning in 3rd, albeit nearly half-a-second shy of Button; however the reigning champion’s practice was ruined at the death following an off in the Degner Curves.
Alonso was a further three-tenths slower than Vettel in 4th, with the second Red Bull of Mark Webber falling a few hundredths short of the Ferrari pilot in 5th.
Both Toro Rosso’s made it into the top eight with Jaime Alguersuari (6th) outpacing teammate Sebastien Buemi (8th) by six-tenths. Splitting the Red Bull junior squad was Felipe Massa (Ferrari), with a time 1.95 seconds off of Button’s pace as he tested a new front wing package for the Scuderia.
As technical directors Geoff Willis and Aldo Costa begin their tenures in the Mercedes squad, veteran Michael Schumacher brought the turquoise and silver team 9th place – half-a-second quicker than the Renault duo, Vitaly Petrov (10th) and Bruno Senna (11th).
Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg was unable to match the seven-time world champion. His best of 1:38.197 left the former-Williams man down in 16th, with the current Williams pair – Rubens Barrichello (17th) and Pastor Maldonado (18th) – just shading Rosberg.
For Maldonado, it was another tough session, with the Venezuelan missing much of the session due to a spike in the electronics following an off.
Sergio Perez suffered KERS functionality problems, leaving him 15th; two places and one-tenth shy of home hero Kamui Kobayashi. At the back, Virgin’s Timo Glock (21st) ran only thirteen laps, with the German missing much of the session due to a gearbox oil leak.
Three reserves garnered laps at Suzuka. At Force India, Nico Hulkenberg sat in for Adrian Sutil, notching 12th place from twenty-one-lap session, while Karun Chandhok (20th, Lotus) managed twenty-two tours, compared to the twenty-five that Narain Karthikeyan ran with HRT.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m33.634s 20 2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m33.725s + 0.091 18 3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m34.090s + 0.456 22 4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m34.372s + 0.738 24 5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m34.426s + 0.792 25 6. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m34.937s + 1.303 23 7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m35.585s + 1.951 27 8. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m35.590s + 1.956 25 9. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m36.033s + 2.399 22 10. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m36.370s + 2.736 18 11. Bruno Senna Renault 1m36.487s + 2.853 18 12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m36.700s + 3.066 21 13. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m36.948s + 3.314 24 14. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m36.949s + 3.315 22 15. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m37.103s + 3.469 29 16. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m38.197s + 4.563 18 17. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m38.331s + 4.697 11 18. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m38.446s + 4.812 8 19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m39.168s + 5.534 10 20. Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 1m39.946s + 6.312 22 21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m40.872s + 7.238 13 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m41.019s + 7.385 24 23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m41.106s + 7.472 25 24. Narian Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m41.775s + 8.141 25
Practice Two
Button made it two-for-two in afternoon with yet another fastest lap, to leave him nearly two-tenths ahead of Alonso.
However, it was clear in the late stages of the second session that the Red Bull pairing were leading the way in terms of long run pace.
Indeed, both McLaren pilots swapped the top spot with Alonso over the course of the first hour, but as teams began to think more about race runs, McLaren’s real threat emerged.
Despite not running the absolute quickest on the soft Pirelli’s, Red Bull showed their hand in the latter thirty minutes of the session with high fuel laps consistently one second quicker than the McLaren / Ferrari quartet.
Of the shorter runs, Vettel secured 3rd, with Webber 4th and some distance ahead of Massa in the second Ferrari.
Schumacher (6th) found his Mercedes plagued with handling issues, although it would not stop the veteran from topping his teammate Rosberg (7th) once again. Hamilton, meanwhile, could only manage 8th come the flag.
Several offs and mechanical failures plagued the afternoon session. Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT), Maldonado and Jarno Trulli all stopped on track with various problems, while Senna, Kobayashi and Barrichello created their own issues.
Approaching turn one, Senna lost his Renault on entry, but managed to luckily keep his engine running, allowing the Brazilian to escape. Kobayashi endured a much scarier moment, as his Sauber stepped out violently in 130R.
Neither, however, did the damage that Barrichello inflicted upon his FW33. The veteran lost control of his Williams machine entering Degner One, planting his car hard into the barriers, following a brief slide across the fake grass.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m31.901s 32 2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m32.075s + 0.174 33 3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m32.095s + 0.194 35 4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m32.147s + 0.246 28 5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m32.448s + 0.547 34 6. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m32.710s + 0.809 26 7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m32.982s + 1.081 27 8. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m33.245s + 1.344 26 9. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m33.446s + 1.545 36 10. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m33.681s + 1.780 33 11. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m33.705s + 1.804 25 12. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m33.790s + 1.889 36 13. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m34.393s + 2.492 35 14. Bruno Senna Renault 1m34.557s + 2.656 27 15. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m34.601s + 2.700 33 16. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m36.038s + 4.137 33 17. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m36.225s + 4.324 35 18. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m37.123s + 5.222 14 19. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m37.440s + 5.539 30 20. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m38.093s + 6.192 30 21. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m38.387s + 6.486 16 22. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m38.763s + 6.862 36 23. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m39.800s + 7.899 24 24. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m42.480s + 10.579 4
A couple of days ago, FOM released their highlights video of last week’s Singapore Grand Prix from the shiny Marina Bay.
While the video compressed the entire Grand Prix into four sparkly minutes, back by sleek electropop muzak, the highlights zoomed through the vital moments of the race, including the clash between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa.
During the video, Massa’s race engineer, Rob Smedley, encouraged the Brazilian to “hold Hamilton as much as you can, destroy his race as much as you can…” – a statement that was swiftly followed by much bellowing nonsense from numerous armchair experts and tabloid fodder machines.
(Declaration – I am an armchair viewer type)
There are commentators who now seem to be accusing Massa of deliberately causing the accident with Hamilton by driving too slowly, which is – quite frankly – nonsense. Hamilton, on cold Pirelli tyres, outbraked himself and slid into the rear of Massa – simples.
Some have also lambasted Smedley for his comments – I do not. One must remember that this apparently occurred in the heat of battle and as such emotions run high, while also taking into consideration that we do not know when exactly those comments were made.
As an addition, I would not be surprised if that was the only vaguely clean comment that could be garnered from the pit wall.
(My everlasting respect to anyone who can prove at what point in the race Smedley made his comments…)
But enough of all that stuff.
The FOM race edits are generally interesting (ish), but one cannot help, but feel the Smedley comment was a desperate grab for controversy from a Grand Prix that was… not that intriguing.
Out front, Vettel was never threatened and as soon as Webber rolled sluggishly off the grid, Button had him covered. Alonso seemed slightly lost in a car not good enough for his startling talents, while Hamilton and Massa’s climb through the field – although somewhat impressive – was largely DRS enabled.
Beyond that, Michael Schumacher had an expensive flying lesson courtesy of a young Mexican, while Timo Glock and Jaime Alguersuari both lost respective arguments with the Amrco barriers.
From my vantage point, something far worse came from the Singapore Race Edit – it looked dull. If FOM cannot make a four-minute race edit from Singapore appear interesting, then what hope for the GP itself, coming in –as it does – at 119 minutes…?
Of course, it could have been worse…
Marina Bay circuit. © Creative Commons / Readro
Sebastian Vettel closed to within one point of his second World Championship on Sunday.
The Red Bull pilot secured yet another victory – his ninth of the year – ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button.
It means a single points score in Japan will be enough to take the title beyond Button, who is now the only other driver left in the hunt. Realistically, however, the title is long gone.
Off the Line Like a Shot
One could say the final vestiges of a championship challenge disappeared almost as quickly as Vettel at the start. While those behind filtered themselves into something vaguely resembling an orderly line, the reigning champion vanished from view, building an astonishing 2.5-second gap to Button on the first lap alone.
That became 4.2-seconds at the end of the second tour – even at this stage, the die was being cast heavily in Vettel’s favour.
For Button, luck mixed with his now-famous soft touch brought him into contention. Starting 3rd, the McLaren ace zipped passed the (again) sluggish Mark Webber off the line, as the Red Bull man suffered from clutch issues once again.
Indeed Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso would also sweep past the Australian, dropping Webber to 4th before the opening turn. This was a disastrous beginning for Webber – with his DRS proving to be faulty and his KERS intermittent, overtaking was going to be a tougher prospect.
The biggest loser was Lewis Hamilton in the second McLaren. Starting on the second row, the 2008 world champion initially got off the line well, only to be squeezed out in the first corner.
His momentum curbed, Hamilton fell behind Felipe Massa (5th, Ferrari) and a pair of Mercedes’, headed by Nico Rosberg in 6th. It spelled disaster for the now 8t place Hamilton, who was now once again facing the rear wing of Michael Schumacher. Yet unlike their Monza encounter, the McLaren pilot penetrated Schumacher’s Mercedes defence quickly and simply.
A short period darting around Schumacher’s mirrors kept the German veteran busy, until the fourth lap when an uneasy exit from turn six handicapped Schumacher on the approached to the ninety-degree left-hander that is turn seven.
Hamilton, however, had already taken 7th long before the apex approached. That became 6th a lap later, with Hamilton making easy work of Rosberg. His sights now descended upon the top five.
Now behind the charging McLaren and sensing their Pirelli’s were beginning to age beyond reason, both Mercedes stopped early with Rosberg (lap 9) and Schumacher (lap 10) taking on the fast running and fast wearing super-softs.
Falling Off the Cliff and Into the Barrier
Alonso, too, veered to the pitlane for some early work at the end of the tenth tour. It was a necessary evil for the Ferrari. Having taken far too much out of his super-softs defending against Webber, the Spaniard was defenceless to defend against the Red Bull onslaught, with the Australian assuming 3rd at the entry of the tunnel, following a brief side-by-side carbon fibre dance.
While this may have released Webber to chase after Button for 2nd, it was clear Vettel was long gone.
Not all ran as comfortably in the tunnel. Following a first lap clash with HRT’s Daniel Ricciardo (which left the rookie with a broken front wing), Virgin’s Timo Glock rallied around in 22nd, until sliding into the barrier at tunnel entry with broken steering:
“I had quite a good start but (…) in the second sector Ricciardo drove into the rear right of the car and from that moment my steering wheel was not straight. I had a lot of degradation on the rear right tyre and then suddenly I lost the rear under braking and when I hit the wall…”
Eleven laps in and the streets of Marina Bay had claimed their first victim.
Poor Judgement and Calamity
With thoughts of a safety car uppermost in the minds of strategists, much of the field began to pour into the pits, including Webber. It would only lead to frustration for the Australian – having stayed out an extra two laps, the Red Bull veteran lost out to Alonso’s fresh tyre pace, dropping behind the Spaniard as the field sorted itself out.
Glock’s stricken machine, neatly and quickly tucked away behind the Armco barrier, allowed the race to continue unabated.
Renault’s Bruno Senna also nearly brought a safety car on lap eleven after having clipped the barrier in the hairpin, destroying his front wing. The resulting damage necessitated a second stop for the Renault pilot dropping him to 22nd, with only Ricciardo behind him.
However neither Glock nor Senna’s incidents garnered quite as much coverage as a clash between Massa and Hamilton on the twelfth lap.
Having stopped together the previous tour, the pair emerged onto the circuit line astern. Hamilton, sensing he might take both Ferrari’s, pushed Massa hard, making himself known in the Brazilian’s mirrors.
Alas Hamilton, frustrated at falling behind in yet another race, locked his cold tyres entering turn seven, damaging his front wing and slicing Massa’s right rear Pirelli.
Amidst the calamity and misfortune, both fell rearward, before pitting again for their tyre and wing replacements – Hamilton, though, would suffer further indignity of a drive through penalty moments later leaving the pair 19th (Hamilton) and 20th (Massa).
Making them Last
Collision was not an issue either Vettel or Button were facing – for one thing, the Red Bull man was over ten seconds clear as they rejoined from their first tyre change on lap fourteen.
Yet where the top two streaked away expected, Force India’s Paul di Resta and Sauber rookie Sergio Perez were busy playing the long game, running a clean 3rd and 5th respectively, split only by Alonso.
The Ferrari did eventually take 3rd from di Resta (lap 18), but the Scot’s point had been well and truly made. Di Resta’s first would leave him 8th and on the tail of teammate Adrian Sutil.
Perez eventually did stop on lap fifteen, but only after brushing the barrier exiting turn two, while di Resta carried on for a further four laps, all the while maintaining solid pace. This was proving to be yet another impressive run for the Scot, who set about laying consistently quick times despite the age of his Pirelli rubber.
Sauber applied a similar strategy for Kamui Kobayashi; however this proved to be less successful with the Japanese pilot falling backward from 8th in the run up to his first stop.
There was no doubt that it had been a tough weekend for Kobayashi – a crash in qualifying stranded the Sauber pilot in 17th, locking into a tyre killing battle in the midfield early on. As the race aged, the true effects of that accident were becoming apparent.
Renault’s Vitaly Petrov also attempted a long first stint in the race, leaving the Russian had little else to play with in his poor handling R31. Unable to establish an advantage on those around cost Petrov, who would spend much of the afternoon pottering around in 19th.
Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari kept his Ferrari-powered machine on track until the seventeenth tour, giving him 11th for a time. The Spaniard had qualified 16th – not unexpected for the Toro Rosso – however with overtaking proving difficult, Alguersuari found progress difficult at best.
A quick stop mired him back in 17th.
Retaking the Field…
With the midfield effectively removing themselves, both Massa and Hamilton steadily moved up the order. Come the one-third distance, the Brazilian driver had assumed 11th to the McLaren pilot’s 15th position; however this is where strategies unravelled for the pair.
Sensing a compact top ten up ahead, Ferrari brought Massa in for super-softs as early as lap 24, while McLaren – content in playing the long game – waited a further five tours.
Now on pulse to overtake where and whenever possible, Hamilton surged up the order, taking even Massa before the Brazilian had an opportunity to stop. The Ferrari, once again devouring its tyres, left Massa struggling bravely, but the 2011 Singapore Grand Prix was turning into a losing battle for the Scuderia.
Come the end of the twenty-fifth lap, Hamilton was already on the fringes of the top ten and in fighting mood.
Alonso was also struggling on his second set of Pirelli softs. Having worked exceptionally for a brief period, the Spaniard began to feel the grip quickly ebb away; the tyres stripped of their grip by the corrosive tarmac.
Like before, the Spaniard’s lap times grew longer, allowing Vettel to garner a 34-second advantage by the twenty-third lap. Webber, meanwhile, drew to within one second of the Ferrari.
Alonso would not give the Australian the pleasure of another overtaking move – as Webber took the final corner to start lap twenty-six, Alonso had already dived to the pits to take another set of softs.
…while Others Take Flight
As with earlier, both Mercedes took tyres early (Rosberg, lap 22; Schumacher, lap 24) – the tight and twisty nature of the Singapore streets proving difficult for the power-centric German machines.
Dropping the pair to 8th and 9th respectively (with Rosberg ahead), the silver and turquoise pulled to the rear of Perez by the twenty-ninth lap, with his Pirelli’s beginning to age.
Rosberg – always a keen performer at Singapore – caught Perez napping with a pass into the final corner, only for the Mexican to repass as they fed onto the start / finish straight.
Undeterred, the Mercedes pilot bumped – literally – Perez out of the way into turn one. The Sauber pilot, wrong footed and temporarily off balance, lost time to Schumacher over the next few turns, allowing the veteran to close on the rear of the Mexican.
However, this was to no expert move from Schumacher. In a brief misjudgement, the seven-time world champion wiped away all the good notices recently garnered.
Getting his braking point completely wrong, Schumacher ploughed into the rear of Perez – at thankfully slow speed – launching into the air, sliding nose first into the barrier.
Bewildered, Perez suffered only a right rear puncture, aiming straight for the pits to replace his Pirelli rubber – tyres that would have to last the distance. Schumacher, on the other hand, quickly jumped out of a fairly destroyed Mercedes chassis – its front comprehensively crumpled.
“What happened was what I would call a misunderstanding between Sergio Perez and myself. He was about to go inside and lifted, and I was not expecting him to do that so early, and therefore hit him. It was a pity because my car and the tyres worked well, and therefore the pace was very good.”
Safety car.
Realigning the Race
Those who hadn’t caught the safety car, pitted instantly – including Vettel and Button. Eventually, those who hadn’t made their stop yet followed suit, while the race remained neutralised.
There was still some disadvantage for the McLaren man – with Vettel out front, Button would have to contend with three backmarkers, essentially leaving hi fifth on the road.
For some, the slowing of the race came at just the right time – others, however, had been hurt. Aside from the leaders keeping to the front, di Resta, Perez, Rubens Barrichello (Williams) and Hamilton benefited; they respectively claimed 5th, 8th, 9th and 10th with fresh tyres. Rosberg pitted too, changing to the softs for the duration, slotting into 6th.
Both Ferrari’s were going to find it tough though, with Alonso (3rd) and Massa (15th) on slightly older tyres.
Efficient marshalling made for a brief stoppage, with race starting again on lap thirty-four.
With green flags waving, Vettel shot off into the distance. Button, meanwhile, was left to negotiate the squabbling Jarno Trulli (Lotus), Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT) and Kobayashi, losing nine valuable seconds as he did so. Kobayashi would eventually earn a drive through penalty for ignoring blue flags, unlike the slightly more co-operative Liuzzi and Trulli pairing.
Behind Button, Alonso could not hold off Webber, taking the slightly asleep Alonso into the “Singapore Sling”.
Hamilton was also on a charge. Passes on Barrichello and Perez gave him 8th by lap 35, improving to 5th within four tours with moves on Rosberg and both Force India’s. Catching Alonso would prove to be a more difficult prospect.
Marching On
Again still heading the field, Sebastian Vettel continued marching on to victory. Although always confident of the win, Button’s unfortunate blockage at the race restart only acted to confirm the win.
One final stop to take on super-softs and the reigning champion was clear to the finish (despite a near clash in the pitlane with Lotus’ Heikki Kovalainen), although a litany of backmarkers in the final few miles served only to raise hairs on the back of one’s head and reduce the gap to Button. On this evening, Vettel was unstoppable – again.
“I am very, very pleased with the result today, the car was fantastic all the way through. When we needed to push, we could pull away quite easily, which helped us. When the safety car came out, it didn’t really fit to our plan as we had a gap of about thirty seconds with thirty laps to go, but nevertheless I had a very good restart. I was a bit lucky that there were some back markers between me and Jenson and I was able to get back into the rhythm straight away. I pulled out a gap and I was quite happy.”
For Jenson Button, it was a case of close, but not close enough. Traffic helped the former champion close to within two seconds of Vettel at the line.
“I gave it everything – but, in the end, we didn’t quite have the pace to make up the gap. Still, I think we had the best possible strategy for both Saturday and Sunday, and I couldn’t realistically have asked for a better result this weekend. In fact, we didn’t make any mistakes this weekend and, as a team, I think we did the best possible job with the equipment we had.”
Whether a realistic opportunity to pass the Red Bull existed is unknown – Vettel may simply have put his foot down had he really felt threatened from behind.
Another podium for Mark Webber still brought some disappointment after having started 2nd.
The Australian had little to worry about once clear of Alonso, but Button was simply too quick in the latter stages of the race, leaving Webber nearly thirty seconds clear of the leading pair at the flag.
“Unfortunately I’ve found myself having to come back through the field too often this season. I can’t make the starts I made last year at the moment. I have to keep working harder because it’s quite frustrating and it’s quite risky to have to come back through and try to regain positions on the track, particularly when the DRS isn’t working.”
Having fallen to 5th during his final stop on lap 47, Webber would retake both Hamilton and Alonso over the next two tours to secure his podium, yet an air of disappointment still clung to the Australian.
The Best Reward Possible..?
Once again Ferrari were shown up in the final stages. Like the leaders, Alonso would stop late, but in the aftermath of the safety car, the Spaniard lost close to a minute to Vettel.
Admittedly, his lap 49 tyre change did earn Alonso a little luck. With a set of fresh Pirelli’s, the gleaming Ferrari emerged in front of a quintet containing di Resta, Rosberg, Sutil, Perez – and Hamilton. Such was Alonso’s immediate tyre advantage, 4th place was virtually assured.
Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, came close to improving his eventual outcome. After a short spell matching Alonso for pace, the McLaren pilot began to reel Alonso in, before his team pulled him in for his last set of tyres.
It proved to be an unsuccessful gamble. Hamilton’s instant pace was nullified immediately as to his horror; he exited the pit lane behind the four-car fight, led by di Resta. With the squabbling quartet not stopping, Hamilton applied force to bring himself back to 5th, thanks in part to the wearing tyres of the group ahead; but by then, Alonso had disappeared.
Irrespective of the eventual result, it was a marvellous comeback by Hamilton, following his lap twelve brain fade.
Paul di Resta hung on to 6th in his Force India, but as a measure of how much his tyres had degraded, the Scott lost fifty seconds to Hamilton in the final eight laps. It was another eyebrow raising performance for di Resta, who is continuing to acquit himself well against his experienced teammate.
Nico Rosberg could do no better than 7th, but it is unlikely Mercedes believed that could do better either. On a circuit unsuited to Mercedes naturally fast flowing concept, points were a simple enough reward.
Adrian Sutil made it two Force India’s in the top eight with another solid, if unspectacular race, although the German pilot came alive late on as he pushed Rosberg to the limit.
Felipe Massa did make something of a comeback eventually, but it was a rather sluggish one. A lowly 15th following the safety, the Brazilian climbed to 10th until his final stop on lap 41, felling him to 13th.
From there, Massa plucked off several drivers on worn tyres, but it was late passes on Barrichello (lap 56) and Perez (lap 61) that garnered some reward. With the early incident still lingering, Massa was still clearly furious with Hamilton post-race, sarcastically confronting the McLaren pilot in the media pen post-race. This was really just another in a long list of difficult days for Massa in 2011.
Massa’s potential replacement, Sergio Perez, is still impressing. The Mexican’s long run strategy was ruined slightly by the collision with Schumacher, but a point nonetheless was still a solid day for the Swiss team.
Shallow Offerings
Outside the points, Pastor Maldonado had an anonymous day in an anonymous car at Singapore to come home 11th. Despite always lingering in the top twelve, the Venezuelan never truly looked like scoring a point, as there always seemed to be a midfield runner going quickly at any time.
The same could said for Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) and Rubens Barrichello – both of whom had virtually silent runs to 12th and 13th without featuring much in the race.
Kamui Kobayashi took 14th spot, two laps off the pace following a poor run. A late stop left him 15th with five laps remaining, but a quick pass on Alguersuari bought Kobayashi another place.
The Renault’s were woeful. Completely unsuited to Marina Bay’s tight and twisty confines, both Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov ambled along, taking 15th and 17th. It was probably Petrov’s poorest F1 performance, spending much of the event losing out to the Lotus’.
In fact, it was Heikki Kovalainen that split the Renault’s in 16th place. Both Lotus’ had a solid Singapore run, with Jarno Trulli reaching 11th at one point in the event. Sadly Trulli lost out to a gearbox failure in the final laps while running 21st.
Indeed, with a short time left, Kobayashi, Senna, Kovalainen and Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari formed a four-way battle for 15th-18th, until Alguersuari slammed into the tunnel barrier on the penultimate lap. Jerome d’Ambrosio took 18th in his Virgin Racing Cosworth.
Unsurprisingly, both HRT’s finished last of the still running, with Daniel Ricciardo (19th) and Vitantonio Liuzzi (20th) four laps down.
It means Vettel needs a point – a single point in Japan to be crowned world champion. In a season when he’s been outside the top two only once, it’s hard to see anyone stopping him at all.
Race Rating: 2 out of 5
2011 Singapore Grand Prix (Rd 14, 61 laps) Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h59:06.537 2. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 1.737 3. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 29.279 4. Alonso Ferrari + 55.449 5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 1:07.766 6. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:51.067 7. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap 8. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 9. Massa Ferrari + 1 lap 10. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 11. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 12. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 13. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 14. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 2 laps 15. Senna Renault + 2 laps 16. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 17. Petrov Renault + 2 laps 18. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 19. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps 20. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps 21. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 5 laps Fastest lap: Button, 1:48.454 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Trulli Lotus-Renault 48 Schumacher Mercedes 29 Glock Virgin-Cosworth 10 World Championship, Drivers (Rd 14) 1. Vettel 309 2. Button 185 3. Alonso 184 4. Webber 182 5. Hamilton 168 6. Massa 84 7. Rosberg 62 8. Schumacher 52 9. Heidfeld 34 10. Petrov 34 11. Sutil 28 12. Kobayashi 27 13. Di Resta 20 14. Alguersuari 16 15. Buemi 13 16. Perez 9 17. Barrichello 4 18. Senna 2 19. Maldonado 1 World Championship, Constructors (Rd 14) 1. Red Bull-Renault 491 2. McLaren-Mercedes 353 3. Ferrari 268 4. Mercedes 114 5. Renault 70 6. Force India-Mercedes 48 7. Sauber-Ferrari 36 8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 29 9. Williams-Cosworth 5
© FOTA / British Formula 3
As the motorsport world busies itself for an intense battle to be runner-up in Formula 1, a similarly tense fight in brewing in British F3.
A maximum of fifty-four points is available at the season’s final round at Silverstone (October 8th-9th) with five drivers realistically capable to assuming the runner-up spot to 2011 champion Felipe Nasr.
Led by Carlin’s Carlos Huertas, the quintet approach the Silverstone appointment knowing that a victory could be the vital key to 2nd place.
To date, Huertas has amassed 196 points, despite having not yet laid claim to a win in British Formula 3; however the Carlin pilot has attained his position with some consistent points scoring runs.
In the twenty-seven races that have taken place so far this season, Huertas has notched up points in twenty-three off them, including seven podium spots.
Huertas possesses a minute advantage over 3rd place man Kevin Magnussen; however the pair could not have reached their current totals in a more different fashion. Magnussen – another from the Carlin stables – has collected six wins so far this season in a season peppered with poor luck.
Persistent unreliability earlier in the season was traced to a batch of faulty spark plugs; however the Dane was also on the receiving end of several collisions, most notably at Paul Ricard when he punted out of near certain victory by Antonio Felix da Costa.
In terms of race form, Magnussen holds the advantage, but he will have to wary of the man next up on the list.
Fortec Racing’s William Buller holds 4th in the title hunt, 13 points shy of Huertas. The Northamptonshire-based racer endured a difficult start to the season as incidents and mechanical gremlins hampered his push, but his speed was apparent from the get go, as his double-pole run at Monza testified.
Buller took three podiums before finally crossing the finish line victorious at Paul Ricard in July. Two further British Formula 3 wins and several podiums have vaulted the Fortec man up the order and into a position to challenge for higher honours.
Rupert Svendsen-Cook trails Buller by a further four points. Svendsen-Cook appeared to be on the outside looking in prior to last weekend’s penultimate round of the season, yet two podiums at Donington propelled the Ipswich-born driver to 5th in the standings.
Like Buller, Svendsen-Cook’s speed has been apparent on a number of occasions this year, but far too often the races have gone against him. Two wins and six podiums have helped his cause, but with a 16 point gap to Huertas, the situation looks a little less rosy.
Jazeman Jaafar is another four points adrift; however the young Malaysian has not yet stood on the victory step this season.
Some consistent runs (four podiums and eight 4th place finishes) have kept in sight of the runner-up spot, but the gap to Huertas may simply be too big to close in a single weekend.
One time championship contender Lucas Foresti also has a mathematical chance of the runner-up position, but a tough second-half of the season has seen the plucky Brazilian fall down the order.
Foresti is 49 points behind Huertas meaning the four ahead would have to suffer a catastrophic weekend – and he a stellar one – to overcome the margin.
The final round of the 2011 British Formula 3 Series takes place over the 8th and 9th of October at Silverstone.
2011 British F3 Championship Standings (Rd 9) Pos Driver Points International Class 1. Felipe Nasr 302 (Champion) 2. Carlos Huertas 196 3. Kevin Magnussen 195 4. William Buller 183 5. Rupert Svendsen-Cook 179 6. Jazeman Jaafar 175 7. Lucas Foresti 147 8. Pietro Fantin 106
Donington Park. (Public domain)
Kevin Magnussen picked up his sixth British Formula 3 victory of the year in a chaotic feature race at Donington Park.
The Dane fitted rain tyres to his Volkswagen-powered Carlin just as the skies opened. Magnussen was joined in this strategy by the rest of the front three rows.
From 7th onward, the field banked on the sky clearing; however as the race aged, the rain thickened.
With the correct tyres on board, Magnussen jumped from 5th to 4th off the line, becoming 3rd when the Dane collided with Felipe Nasr half way around the first tour.
An off by Rupert Svendsen-Cook on the fourth lap gifted Magnussen 2nd spot behind race leader Jack Harvey. Luck soon came Magnussen’s way, with Harvey losing out to the Dane in the Esses eight laps in.
Harvey, however, would soon succumb with a failed battery four laps from the flag. The lead assured, Magnussen stretched his lead to 4.8 seconds come the end of the twenty-four-lap distance.
“It was very tricky and took a lot of concentration. It was all about not making any mistakes and I am very pleased to have brought the car home. Obviously I need to get the best out of the rest of the season to try to get second in the championship.”
Pipo Derani was next up in his Double R Racing Mercedes. The Brazilian started alongside Magnussen, rising to 3rd as others met problems.
Displaying strong pace, Derani pushed Harvey for several circulations, until the latter’s eventual retirement, giving the Double R man his first British F3 podium.
It would be enough to earn Derani the award for Sunoco Driver of the Weekend.
“I am really happy. I can’t explain this feeling. We have been working hard towards this result all year, and now it is here. Now I will keep working; there are three more races at Silverstone and I want to be on top.”
Rupert Svendsen-Cook secured his second podium of the weekend with a sterling drive to 3rd spot. The Englishman was the first to make the move to wets pre-race, although his early advantage was lost thanks to his excursion at Melbourne Hairpin.
The Carlin pilot did climb to the rear of Derani, but was unable to force the issue in the closing laps.
“I had a feeling and think I was he first guy to go to wets, then everyone else did. I chose really, really scrubbed wets – they were the oldest wets we had, but they would have been better in the dry. When it got really wet, I went off at the last corner and nearly hit the wall, came back on behind them all and had to make no more mistakes.”
As reward for his efforts, Svendsen-Cook also collected the prestigious Raymond Mays Challenge Trophy, as determined by the Donington Park Racing association.
“I knew about it, but wasn’t aware it was going to happen for this race and it’s quite a prestigious award.”
Carlos Huertas drove a rather lonely race to 4th position come the flag, coming home ahead of Sino Vision’s Adderly Fong on the road.
Unfortunately for Fong, the Canadian-Chinese racer was docked ten seconds for changing tyres on the grid beyond the accepted time. This would drop the Sino Vision pilot to 7th on the results sheet. It would move Scott Pye (Double R) and Pietro Fantin (Hitech Racing) up to 5th and 6th respectively.
The result was quite a coup for Pye – after starting 10th, a spin on the fourth lap dropped the Australian three spots, but a forceful drive to the flag (taking Lucas Foresti along the way) brought Pye to the rear of Fantin.
The dual would be settled on the final tour, with Pye taking Fantin with only a few corners remaining.
Harry Tincknell would have taken solid points for 8th position; however the Exeter man also took a ten second penalty for contravening the start-line rules, dropping him to 14th.
Foresti took advantage of others’ misfortune to garner points, but the Fortec man nearly lost out himself. An early slide left the Brazilian 16th at the end of the first lap, yet Foresti persevered to come home 1.112 seconds clear of Felipe Nasr.
A good start for Nasr was not enough to clear Magnussen and the Nasr fell to 10th following their coming together. The newly crowned Champion suffered two further spins before the day was out, rounding out a difficult weekend.
With others also falling off track, Nasr claimed 9th and two points.
Jazeman Jaafar completed the points finishers, although he will rue a seventeenth lap mistake that left him scrambling around in 12th as the conclusion approached.
With Harvey’s retirement and Tincknell’s penalty, Jaafar claimed a single score, but it could have been much more.
A number of drivers in the field dived into the pits for wet tyres at the end of the warm-up – except for William Buller and Valtteri Bottas.
The pair hung out on the wet track for two laps, before deciding to finally change; however by that stage, they were so far behind, there was little chance of significant progress.
Fahmi Ilyas (Fortec), Max Snegirev (Hitech) and Kotaro Sakurai all fell foul of the wet conditions; all of who spun off, none of whom recovered.
2011 British F3 Rnd of Donington (Rd 9, Race 3)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW 40m30.222s
2. Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Merc + 4.806s
3. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW + 7.477s
4. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW + 19.373s
5. Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Merc + 26.252s
6. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW + 26.588s
7. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 35.271s
8. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc + 37.897s
9. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW + 39.009s
10. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW + 39.587s
11. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-VW + 41.245s
12. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 45.661s
13. Valtteri Bottas Double R Dallara-Merc + 45.935s
14. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Merc + 47.610s
15. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-VW + 1m13.884s
16. Will Buller Carlin Dallara-Merc + 1m19.705s
17. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-VW + 1m23.043s
Retirements:
Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW 20 laps
Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Dallara-Merc 19 laps
Maxim Snegirev Hitech Dallara-VW 9 laps
Kotaro Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen 4 laps
2011 British F3 Championship Standings (Rd 9, Race 3)
Pos Driver Points
International Class
1. Felipe Nasr 302
2. Carlos Huertas 196
3. Kevin Magnussen 195
4. William Buller 183
5. Rupert Svendsen-Cook 179
6. Jazeman Jaafar 175
7. Lucas Foresti 147
8. Pietro Fantin 106
9. Jack Harvey 106
10. Harry Tincknell 78
11. Scott Pye 66
12. Riki Christodoulou 51
Rookie Class
1. Kotaro Sakurai 324
2. Bart Hylkema 214
3. Luca Orlandi 45
Donington Park. (Public domain)
A thoroughly dominating performance by Valtteri Bottas saw the young Finn romp to his first British Formula 3 victory this morning.
In damp and tricky conditions, the newly crowned GP3 champion launched his Double R Mercedes from 3rd on the grid to the lead by the first turn.
Once out front, the Finn never looked like being caught, as he sped toward a 14.2 second victory over the thirteen lap distance.
“I had a really good start. The guys in front spun their wheels a bit. In conditions like this it’s good to be in front and just be able to focus on driving and finding the dry lines. I pushed at first to make a gap and then after that I did not take any big risks.”
Having not run in Formula 3 since the close of last season, this weekend offers Bottas precious familiarisation time as he prepares for the classic Macau Grand Prix in November.
William Buller had a far busier run to 2nd place. The County Down man was squeezed off the line by Bottas, immediately settling into a hotly contested battle with Harry Tincknell and Scott Pye.
Come the eighth lap, the trio chased each other hard, before Pye – seeing a gap – ran Buller wide at Melbourne Hairpin, allowing Tincknell to slot down the inside and take both of them; however Buller retook the initiative – and 2nd place – at Goddards on the following lap.
There would be no comeback for Pye and Tincknell. As Buller escaped, the pair clashed at McLean’s, dropping Tincknell to 5th – Pye, meanwhile, would pull to the pits to retire with damage.
This gave the final podium spot to T-Sport’s Menasheh Idafar. The Anglo-Bahraini made a storming start from 11th on the grid to be 6th by the end of the opening lap. Idafar gained another place with a move on Carlin’s Jazeman Jaafar on the third lap and was catching the Buller / Pye / Tincknell scrap when the latter two fell off the road.
The T-Sport man continued to set a stellar pace in the final few tours, eventually getting to within two-tenths of Buller as they crossed the line.
Jaafar discovered 4th place tough going as the race drew to a close. Having lost a podium place, Tincknell closed in on the Malaysian, pushing hard, although not hard enough to break the Carlin racer. As they took the flag, only a quarter-of-a-second would separate the duo.
Carlos Huertas assumed the final points position in 6th, but like those ahead of him, Huertas had to fight for it. Indeed, the Colombian held a line of cars at bay – led by Lucas Foresti (7th), with Rupert Svendsen-Cook (8th) and Jack Harvey (9th) in close proximity.
On a track that is difficult to pass at the best of time, the foursome drew across the line, split by a mere 1.365 seconds, as they fought hard in the final turns. It could well have been a pack of five across the line had Double R’s Pipo Derani not lost his machine at Goddard’s on the ninth lap.
Felipe Nasr rounded out the top ten after starting on dry tyres, despite the damp conditions. Having started 20th, it took several laps for Nasr’s Cooper shod-tyres to come up to temperature, with the Brazilian making up several spots before the end.
Nasr pipped Yann Cunha (11th, T-Sport), the quick starting Adderly Fong (12th, Sino Vision) and Hywel Lloyd (13th, Sino Vision) on the final lap while the wet tyres began to lose their efficiency.
Kevin Magnussen came home 16th, some way behind Hitech Racing pair Pietro Fantin (14th) and Max Snegirev (15th).
Despite initially being on wets, Magnussen pitted at the end of the warm-up lap to change to slick rubber; however starting so far behind the field the pack left the Dane wandering in no mans land for much of the event.
Only Fahmi Ilyas finished behind Magnussen – the Fortec pilot claiming 17th place at the flag. A first lap incident saw Bart Hylkema retired with damaged suspension.
Kotaro Sakurai also retired on the eighth lap, meaning no Rookie Class drivers finished the event.
2011 British F3 Rnd of Donington (Rd 9, Race 2)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Valtteri Bottas Double R Dallara-Merc 20m39.657s
2. Will Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc + 14.247s
3. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-VW + 14.429s
4. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW + 24.456s
5. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Merc + 24.712s
6. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW + 27.200s
7. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc + 27.347s
8. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW + 27.813s
9. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW + 28.596s
10. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW + 31.965s
11. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-VW + 34.688s
12. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 35.185s
13. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 35.555s
14. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW + 40.681s
15. Maxim Snegirev Hitech Dallara-VW + 44.743s
16. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW + 52.772s
17. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Dallara-Merc + 54.088s
Retirements:
Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Merc 10 laps
Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Merc 8 laps
Kotaro Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen 5 laps
Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-VW 1 lap
2011 British F3 Rnd of Donington (Rd 9, Race 2)
Pos Driver Points
Championship Class
1. Felipe Nasr 300
2. Carlos Huertas 186
3. William Buller 183
4. Kevin Magnussen 175
5. Jazeman Jaafar 174
6. Rupert Svendsen-Cook 167
7. Lucas Foresti 144
8. Jack Harvey 106
9. Pietro Fantin 100
10. Harry Tincknell 78
11. Scott Pye 58
12. Riki Christodoulou 51
Rookie Class
1. Kotaro Sakurai 323
2. Bart Hylkema 214
3. Luca Orlandi 45
Menasheh Idafar was penalised yesterday evening following his lap nineteen collision with Pipo Derani in yesterday’s British Formula 3 race at Donington Park.
The Anglo-Bahraini driver came home 7th, but was later penalised 3.5 seconds, dropping him to 11th and out of the points. Idafar had been battling with Derani for 7th spot, when the T-Sport pilot collected his rival at the Melbourne hairpin, sending Derani into a half-spin.
Derani recovered to finish in 11th place; however Idafar’s penalty brings the Brazilian a top ten finish.
The penalty promotes Harry Tincknell, William Buller and Max Snegirev to 7th, 8th and 9th respectively. It means Buller will now start from pole position for today’s twenty-minute event, as opposed to 9th – something which could be a key development in the battle for championship runner-up.
2011 British F3 Rnd of Donington (Rd 9, Race 1, Sept 24th Amended)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW 29m29.797s
2. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW + 3.196s
3. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW + 3.646s
4. Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Merc + 4.027s
5. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW + 4.717s
6. Valtteri Bottas Double R Dallara-Merc + 5.200s
7. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Merc + 16.220s
8. Will Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc + 16.836s
9. Maxim Snegirev Hitech Dallara-VW + 18.050s
10. Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Merc + 18.614s
11. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-VW + 15.160s *
12. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW + 19.224s
13. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-VW + 23.309s
14. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-VW + 27.360s
15. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 28.107s
16. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 32.653s
17. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc + 33.854s
18. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Dallara-Merc + 59.390s
19. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen + 1m07.015s
Retirements:
Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW 13 laps
Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW 5 laps
*Post-race penalty for collision.
2011 British F3 Championship Standings (Rd 9, Race 1 Amended)
Pos Driver Points
International Class
1. Felipe Nasr 297
2. Carlo Huertas 181
3. Kevin Magnussen 175
4. William Buller 174
5. Jazeman Jaafar 167
6. Rupert Svendsen-Cook 164
7. Lucas Foresti 140
8. Jack Harvey 104
9. Pietro Fantin 100
10. Harry Tincknell 72
11. Scott Pye 58
12. Riki Christodoulou 51
Rookie Class
1. Kotaro Sakurai 321
2. Bart Hylkema 214
3. Luca Orlandi 45
Marina Bay circuit. © Creative Commons / Readro
Sebastian Vettel scored his 11th pole position of the season at Singapore’s Marina Bay circuit on Saturday.
Vettel’s quickest lap of 1:44.381 left the German more than three-tenths clear of teammate Mark Webber, with the possibility of Vettel collecting most poles in a season (currently at 14 by Nigel Mansell) becoming very real.
For Webber, it was a solid run, but necessary. With Marina Bay noticeably hard on overtaking, a front row start was a must for the experienced Australian.
Jenson Button led the non-Red Bull charge thanks to a last moment wonder lap. It was enough to pull the Briton 0.005 of-a-second ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton, who decided on a single run in order to save tyres – a cause amplified by a puncture for Hamilton in Q2.
Fernando Alonso qualified his Ferrari 5th on the grid, one place and one second ahead of fellow Scuderia pilot Felipe Massa.
Admittedly, the reigning champion received some little help from his main rivals – all of whom, bizarrely, decided to attack the track at virtually the same time. If anything, it represented a grand lack of foresight from the leading in terms of qualifying strategy – the slower outlaps only served to repress falling tyre temperatures.
It was an action that nearly saw Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) collide on their outlaps – an action that caused the Brazilian to blast the 2008 world champion:
“The incident with Hamilton? Honestly, I don’t understand why he wanted to pass at all costs: we were all in a line on our “out” lap and there was nothing to be gained from acting like that.”
Nico Rosberg was the only other driver to take part in Q3, assuming an unchallenged 7th place as a consequence. Rosberg’s Mercedes teammate, Michael Schumacher decided to stay in the pits – as did both of the Force India’s with Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta.
Considering the pace of both teams, the fourth and fifth rows were always going to house them, bring forth yet another tyre-saving strategy.
Sauber’s Sergio Perez just missed out on a Q3 place. The Mexican displaced di Resta as the clock reached zero, only for the Scot to improve his time moments later, dumping Perez out.
Kamui Kobayashi was less fortunate in the other Sauber. The excitable Japanese driver clambered over the notorious turn ten chicane, holding enough pace to launch his C30 into the air. His pace unabated, Kobayashi crunched into the awaiting barrier, forcing a red flag.
Beyond the leading Sauber, formidable gaps began to appear. Rubens Barrichello (Williams) was next up in 12th – a full half-second shy of Perez, with the second Williams of Pastor Maldonado a competent 13th.
Sebastien Buemi led the Toro Rosso fight. The Swiss racer took 14th on the grid, two spots ahead of teammate Jaime Alguersuari. Renault’s Bruno Senna split the Italian cars with an effort some 3.7 seconds off of the Q2 best.
Vitaly Petrov was the star name to fall out the first of qualifying. The Russian lost out to his Renault teammate, Senna, in the dying moments of the session, despite improving his own time.
As per usual, Heikki Kovalainen led an all-Lotus ninth row, with the Virgin’s over a second adrift in 21st (Timo Glock) and 22nd (Jerome d’Ambrosio).
Both HRT’s took up the last row once again, with rookie Daniel Ricciardo outpacing Vitantonio Liuzzi. It was something of a mute point – a lingering five-place penalty from the Italian Grand Prix would have left Liuzzi last irrespective of his time.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m44.381s 2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m44.732s + 0.351 3. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m44.804s + 0.423 4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m44.809s + 0.428 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m44.874s + 0.493 6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m45.800s + 1.419 7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m46.013s + 1.632 8. Michael Schumacher Mercedes no time 9. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes no time 10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes no time Q2 cut-off time: 1m47.486s Gap ** 11. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m47.616s + 2.685 12. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m48.082s + 3.151 13. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m48.270s + 3.339 14. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m48.634s + 3.703 15. Bruno Senna Renault 1m48.662s + 3.731 16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m49.862s + 4.931 17. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari no time Q1 cut-off time: 1m49.588s Gap * 18. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m49.835s + 3.438 19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m50.948s + 4.551 20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m51.012s + 4.615 21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m52.154s + 5.757 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m52.363s + 5.966 23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m52.404s + 6.007 24. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m52.810s + 6.413 107% time: 1m53.844s * Gap to quickest in Q1 ** Gap to quickest in Q2
Marina Bay circuit. © Creative Commons / Readro
Mark Webber was quickest in the final practice session prior to the Singapore Grand Prix at Marina Bay.
The Red Bull pilot registered a best of 1:46.081 near the end of his fifteen laps – a time that proved to be narrowly faster than Jenson Button in the silver and red McLaren.
Button completed two extra laps than Webber during his sixty-minute jaunt. It was a necessity – problems during Friday running (for both the circuit and Button) limited track time for the McLaren pilot, aiding the Red Bull advantage early on.
Sebastian Vettel unsurprisingly made it both Red Bull’s in the top three. The reigning champion made the best of his RB7 during a four-lap stint near the tail end of practice, ending the evening a quarter-of-a-second down on Webber.
The leading Ferrari of Fernando Alonso was less than a tenth shy of Vettel, although the team spent a portion of the session completing urgent set-up changes for the Spaniard. He would complete only fourteen circulations of the Marina Bay circuit.
Lewis Hamilton spent third practice making up lost ground. He, too, lost time on Friday as his McLaren MP4-26 underwent vital work, although Hamilton’s quickest lap (1:46.936) left the former champion nearly a second off the leading pace.
Nico Rosberg led the best of the rest in his turquoise Mercedes. The German pilot pipped his veteran teammate, Michael Schumacher, to 6th by a mere 0.006 of-a-second.
Schumacher lost a chunk of time due to a KERS problem, but not before the seven-time champion was badly balked by Pastor Maldonado (Williams) during a fast run.
This was not long before both Williams drivers (including Rubens Barrichello) ventured out on the super-soft Pirelli tyres – the first of the teams to do so. Although quick for a time, the Didcot-based team slid depressingly down the order as the session aged.
Come the chequered flag, Maldonado collected 14th place – 3.7 seconds off of Webber – pipping his vastly more experienced teammate by four-tenths and a single position.
Renault were next up as their nightmare weekend lurches on. With issues concerning an ill-fitting aerodynamic balance, their cars slid to 16th and 17th respectively, headed by Vitaly Petrov.
Indeed, Renault had spent a deal of time working prior to the session to refit previous layers bodywork. Cooling problems had halted Petrov’s progress on Friday – persistent issues led to the upgrade being rescinded until Japan.
Marina Bay saw some progress during the break between Friday and Saturday. The kerbs that had been so troublesome during opening practice, had either been moved further toward the wall or removed altogether.
As expected, Saturday’s opening session ran with no problems.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m46.081s 15 2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m46.108s + 0.027 17 3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m46.345s + 0.264 14 4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m46.396s + 0.315 14 5. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m46.936s + 0.855 20 6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m47.831s + 1.750 14 7. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m47.837s + 1.756 12 8. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m48.711s + 2.630 12 9. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m49.057s + 2.976 15 10. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m49.304s + 3.223 16 11. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m49.583s + 3.502 17 12. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m49.679s + 3.598 18 13. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m49.816s + 3.735 18 14. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m49.851s + 3.770 17 15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m50.189s + 4.108 15 16. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m50.229s + 4.148 15 17. Bruno Senna Renault 1m50.523s + 4.442 14 18. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m50.547s + 4.466 17 19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m52.510s + 6.429 17 20. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m52.697s + 6.616 19 21. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m53.728s + 7.647 17 22. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m53.823s + 7.742 18 23. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m53.829s + 7.748 16 24. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m55.203s + 9.122 17
Donington Park. (Public domain)
Carlin’s Rupert Svendsen-Cook claimed his second British Formula 3 victory of the season at Donington Park circuit today.
The Ipswich man launched into the lead following a perfect start from pole, while fellow front-row man Jack Harvey fell behind Carlos Huertas on the approach to the Redgate.
As they came to collect the chequered flag twenty-nine minutes later, Svendsen-Cook proudly led home an all-Carlin podium.
Svendsen-Cook dominated the twenty-one-lap race from then on and never looked like losing the lead at any stage; however rather than embellish his lead, the 21-year-old treated his lead softly, extending it to 3.19 seconds come the chequered flag.
“I have been having good starts all year and you really need to maximise your time on pole. Every lap, I was still improving the lap time – we had the pace from the start to finish and it never went away and had a feeling that if I wanted to push a little harder, there was pace in the car to do so.”
Huertas, on the other hand, was kept somewhat busy for the duration. For much of the event, the Colombian held the eager Harvey at bay, yet despite the rookie Harvey was unable to force his way by Huertas – a common issue at the Leicestershire circuit.
It was an important result for Huertas – with both Kevin Magnussen and William Buller having disappointing races, the podium brought Huertas back up to 2nd in the Championship.
“It was a great start, but I have to keep improving for tomorrow. The first and second sectors were quite good, compared to [Harvey], but I struggled with understeer in the chicane, so I had to watch my mirrors – apart from that it was good.”
Harvey, too, was watching his mirrors, although initially from Magnussen, until a third lap clash with newly crowned champion Felipe Nasr took both out of contention. For the rookie Harvey, his race hung on a sluggish start – something he is looking to amend tomorrow.
“Our car is definitely a lot quicker than finishing 3rd. I made a little mistake at the start and nearly stalled – I got punished for that and could never recover that position.
I felt comfortable with Carlos [Huertas] in front of me and knew I could go quicker than that, but just couldn’t find a way passed. You get close enough, but lose downforce up the front.”
The pair touched as Nasr was drawing alongside at the Old Hairpin, leaving the pair with deflated Cooper Tyres. Nasr pitted at the end of lap three for a new set of tyres, with Magnussen stopping a lap later, although Nasr would soon retire from the event.
Magnussen continued on to set the fastest race lap, before he too discontinued his race at the end of the thirteenth lap.
Reigning Formula Ford champion Scott Pye (Double R) picked up the reigns in 4th place. The Australia drew to the rear of Harvey, but as with many others, found overtaking far too difficult on the fast, flowing track.
Pye chased Harvey to flag, with Jazeman Jaafar (5th, Carlin) and guest pilot Valtteri Bottas (6th, Double R) in close pursuit.
A stunning start from T-Sport’s Menasheh Idafar speared the Anglo-Bahraini from 16th on the grid to 11th by the end of the opening lap.
Idafar took advantage of the misfortune of others to climb to 8th by lap nine; however the T-Sport pilot clashed with Pipo Derani at Melbourne Hairpin with four laps remaining. With Derani sent into a half spin, Idafar claimed 7th place – a position he held to the flag, whereas Derani fell to 11th. The incident remains under investigation at the time of writing.
Harry Tincknell also quietly climbed the order. Having started 14th, the Fortec man was up to 10th by lap nine, until a slight off by teammate Will Buller gave Tincknell another spot.
The Idafar / Derani incident promoted Tincknell to 8th; he beat the recovering Buller to the finish line by a mere 0.616s. A disappointed Buller assumed 9th place, but remained thankful that he garnered some points at least to bring slightly closer to Magnussen.
Rounding out the top ten was a quiet Max Snegirev. The Russian guest-pilot avoided trouble to pick up several spots after dropping to 14th at the start, including a forceful pass on Hitech’s Pietro Fantin on the eighth lap.
There were several other incidents during the race, including offs from Lucas Foresti (lap 1) and Hywel Lloyd (lap 2). Fahmi Ilyas was slapped with a drive through penalty at the halfway point for exceeding the track limits.
Kotaro Sakurai took the Rookie Class win and the Rookie Championship, finishing 19th overall.
2011 British F3 Rnd of Donington (Rd 9, Race 1, Sept 24th)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW 29m29.797s
2. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW + 3.196s
3. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW + 3.646s
4. Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Merc + 4.027s
5. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW + 4.717s
6. Valtteri Bottas Double R Dallara-Merc + 5.200s
7. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-VW + 15.160s
8. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Merc + 16.220s
9. Will Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc + 16.836s
10. Maxim Snegirev Hitech Dallara-VW + 18.050s
11. Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Merc + 18.614s
12. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW + 19.224s
13. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-VW + 23.309s
14. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-VW + 27.360s
15. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 28.107s
16. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 32.653s
17. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc + 33.854s
18. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Dallara-Merc + 59.390s
19. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen + 1m07.015s
Retirements:
Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW 13 laps
Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW 5 laps
2011 British F3 Championship Standings (Rd 9, Race 1)
Pos Driver Points
International Class
1. Felipe Nasr 297
2. Carlo Huertas 181
3. Kevin Magnussen 175
4. William Buller 173
5. Jazeman Jaafar 167
6. Rupert Svendsen-Cook 164
7. Lucas Foresti 140
8. Jack Harvey 104
9. Pietro Fantin 100
10. Harry Tincknell 71
11. Scott Pye 58
12. Riki Christodoulou 51
Rookie Class
1. Kotaro Sakurai 321
2. Bart Hylkema 214
3. Luca Orlandi 45
Donington Park. (Public domain)
Felipe Nasr claimed both pole position for tomorrows British Formula 3 feature at Donington Park and the 2011 Sunoco Rolex 24 Prize.
Nasr’s lap of 1:23.012 was enough to give the Brazilian a 0.064s advantage over Carlin teammate Jack Harvey.
Earning the Sunoco Prize means Nasr has an automatic entry to next January’s Daytona 24 Hour Race – a key endurance race that opens the motor racing season.
Behind Nasr and Harvey headed another trio of Carlin pilots – Rupert Svendsen-Cook, Carlos Huertas and Kevin Magnussen made it an all Carlin top-five, with Pipo Derani taking a solid 6th in his Double R machine.
Newly crowned GP3 Champion Valtteri Bottas assumed 7th some four-tenths shy of Nasr. Jazeman Jaafar assumed the 8th starting position beside the Finn, with Fortec man William Buller shadowing the fourth row men. Scott Pye rounded out the top ten with a time identical to that of Buller.
Svendsen-Cook took pole for race one later today with a lap of 1:23.261. The Monza race winner edged Harvey to the top spot, with Magnussen and Huertas making an all-Carlin top four.
Pye broke the Carlin qualifying domination ahead of Nasr (6th) and Bottas (7th).
Qualifying was peppered with several offs, including off-track excursions for Menasheh Idafar, Fahmi Ilyas and Adderly Fong.
The session came to a halt with less than three minutes remaining, following a crash involving Kotaro Sakurai. The Rookie Class racer lost his Hitech machine at the Old Hairpin hitting the tyre barriers hard, forcing out the red flag.
2011 British F3 Rnd of Donington (Rd 9, Qualifying, Race 1) 1. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin-Volkswagen 1:23.261 2. Jack Harvey Carlin-Volkswagen 1:23.357 3. Kevin Magnussen Carlin-Volkswagen 1:23.417 4. Carlos Huertas Carlin-Volkswagen 1:23.479 5. Scott Pye Double R-Mercedes 1:23.493 6. Felipe Nasr Carlin-Volkswagen 1:23.495 7. Valtteri Bottas Double R-Mercedes 1:23.500 8. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin-Volkswagen 1:23.514 9. Pipo Derani Double R-Mercedes 1:23.547 10. William Buller Fortec-Mercedes 1:23.577 11. Pietro Fantin Hitech-Volkswagen 1:23.607 12. Lucas Foresti Fortec-Mercedes 1:23.811 13. Max Snegirev Hitech-Volkswagen 1:24.267 14. Harry Tincknell Fortec-Mercedes 1:24.468 15. Yann Cunha T-Sport-Volkswagen 1:24.494 16. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport-Volkswagen 1:24.516 17. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision-Mercedes 1:24.587 18. Bart Hylkema T-Sport-Volkswagen 1:24.588 19. Adderly Fong Sino Vision-Mercedes 1:25.033 20. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec-Mercedes 1:25.652 21. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech-Mugen Honda 1:26.102 2011 British F3 Rnd of Donington (Rd 9, Qualifying, Race 3) 6. Felipe Nasr Carlin-Volkswagen 1:23.012 2. Jack Harvey Carlin-Volkswagen 1:23.076 1. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin-Volkswagen 1:23.228 4. Carlos Huertas Carlin-Volkswagen 1:23.323 3. Kevin Magnussen Carlin-Volkswagen 1:23.348 9. Pipo Derani Double R-Mercedes 1:23.395 7. Valtteri Bottas Double R-Mercedes 1:23.448 8. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin-Volkswagen 1:23.462 10. William Buller Fortec-Mercedes 1:23.479 5. Scott Pye Double R-Mercedes 1:23.479 11. Pietro Fantin Hitech-Volkswagen 1:23.560 12. Lucas Foresti Fortec-Mercedes 1:23.804 13. Max Snegirev Hitech-Volkswagen 1:24.169 16. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport-Volkswagen 1:24.276 15. Yann Cunha T-Sport-Volkswagen 1:24.343 14. Harry Tincknell Fortec-Mercedes 1:24.355 18. Bart Hylkema T-Sport-Volkswagen 1:24.427 17. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision-Mercedes 1:24.473 19. Adderly Fong Sino Vision-Mercedes 1:24.597 20. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec-Mercedes 1:25.213 21. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech-Mugen Honda 1:25.910
Donington Park. (Public domain)
Jazeman Jaafar led a Carlin 1-2-3-4-5 in practice for the next British Formula 3 round at Donington on Thursday.
The Malaysian left it late to make his ultimate move – his best of 1:22.846 was enough to pip Rupert Svendsen-Cook to the top by a mere 0.032 of-a-second.
Both Jaafar and Svendsen-Cook find themselves in a tough battle for the runner-up spot in the series; however the pair were trailed by the man who currently holds that position – Kevin Magnussen.
Magnussen jumped into that position thanks to a victory at the last round at Rockingham and the Dane will be looking to solidify that position this weekend. A quickest lap of 1:22.984 placed Magnussen ahead of teammates Jack Harvey (4th) and Felipe Nasr (5th) as the flag fell for the final time in the afternoon.
Will Buller – another candidate for series vice-champion – finished the day’s practice in 6th position, nearly half-a-second shy of the ultimate pace. The Fortec man proved to be the quickest of the Mercedes-powered drivers and a solid three-tenths clear of British F3 guest pilot, Valtteri Bottas.
An off-track excursion into the gravel for Bottas at the end of the morning was unable to deter new GP3 Champion. The Double R Racing set the quickest time in the opening session; however he would fall to 7th in the standings as the afternoon drew on, despite shaving a tenth off his earlier pace.
Carlin’s Carlos Huertas assumed 8th position, although the Colombian proved to be only 0.001 of-a-second quicker than Fortec rookie Harry Tincknell – both of whom narrowly edged Pipo Derani toward the tail of the top ten.
Pietro Fantin (Hitech Racing) and Scott Pye (Double R) – both of whom picked up their first British F3 wins in Rockingham – completed the practice in 11th and 12th respectively.
T-Sport’s Menasheh Idafar was the first of the runner’s more than one second off of Jaafar’s pace. The Bahraini driver ended the day 13th, one-tenth ahead of the out of form Lucas Foresti.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW 1m22.846s 2. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW 1m22.878s + 0.032s 3. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW 1m22.984s + 0.106s 4. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW 1m23.083s + 0.237s 5. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW 1m23.204s + 0.358s 6. Will Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m23.316s + 0.470s 7. Valtteri Bottas Double R Dallara-Merc 1m23.598s + 0.752s 8. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW 1m23.731s + 0.885s 9. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m23.732s + 0.886s 10. Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Merc 1m23.757s + 0.911s 11. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW 1m23.778s + 0.932s 12. Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Merc 1m23.828s + 0.982s 13. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-VW 1m24.062s + 1.216s 14. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m24.243s + 1.397s 15. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 1m24.308s + 1.462s 16. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m24.596s + 1.750s 17. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-VW 1m24.601s + 1.755s 18. Adderley Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 1m24.811s + 1.965s 19. Max Snegirev Hitech Dallara-VW 1m25.034s + 2.188s 20. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-VW 1m25.138s + 2.292s 21. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen 1m25.941s + 3.095s
Marina Bay circuit. © Creative Commons / Readro
Sebastian Vettel garnered the top spot in second practice in Singapore on Friday.
The reigning champion secured a best lap of 1:46.374 around the streets of Marina Bay – some two-tenths quicker than next up Fernando Alonso.
Consecutive long stints for the German assured that he also ran the greatest distance over the ninety-minute session. At 33 laps, Vettel ran just longer than half-race distance, with only Adrian Sutil (Force India), Bruno Senna (Renault) and Pastor Maldonado (Williams) running similar length stints.
As for Alonso, failure of the telemetry system on his Ferrari would lose the Spaniard precious time at the beginning of practice. Undeterred by the delay, Alonso, set his fastest during a brief four-lap qualifying simulation.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton also lost a deal of time in the first-third of practice. Issues with his pedal set-up kept the Englishman at bay for the opening portion, but would have to settle for a quickest tour at 1:47.115 come the chequered flag.
Hamilton pipped the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa by 0.005 of-a-second, with Mark Webber in the other Red Bull a further 0.145 in arrears.
On the edge of the top ten, Jenson Button had a less fruitful session in the sister McLaren – the Briton outbroke himself in turn 14, unable to select reverse gear and stalling shortly afterward.
Michael Schumacher was the best of the rest in 6th; however the veteran’s turquoise and silver Mercedes ended the day an alarming two seconds off of Vettel’s pace.
Next up in 7th was Sutil, four-tenths slower than Schumacher. Sutil’s teammate Paul di Resta endured a tough evening – a hydraulic brake issue ensuring the young Scot only managed eight laps before the close of running.
Sergio Perez led the Sauber’s in 8th, yet it was Kamui Kobayashi in 9th that supplied the fireworks thanks to an exuberant leap over the turn 10 kerbs, drawing the C30 into a temporary flight.
Jaime Alguersuari grabbed 11th – the highest placed Toro Rosso driver in what turned out to be a difficult session for the Italian squad. Mechanical gremlins sidelined the Spaniard after sixty minutes, but not before teammate Sebastien Buemi planted his STR6 into the turn twenty-one’s enchanting wall.
The Renault’s pair took 12th and 14th respectively, with Bruno Senna the quicker of the pair, although Vitaly Petrov lost the final section of practice due to a KERS failure.
Closer to the rear of the field, larger brake ducts were the order of the day at Lotus following Heikki Kovalainen impressive fire in the opening practice. The Finn’s best of 1:51.950 was good enough for 18th, albeit 5.576 seconds slower than Vettel.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m46.374s 33 2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m46.575s + 0.201 28 3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m47.115s + 0.741 22 4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m47.120s + 0.746 23 5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m47.265s + 0.891 28 6. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m48.418s + 2.044 27 7. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m48.866s + 2.492 32 8. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m49.578s + 3.204 27 9. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m49.730s + 3.356 29 10. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m49.751s + 3.377 10 11. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m49.792s + 3.418 14 12. Bruno Senna Renault 1m50.241s + 3.867 31 13. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m50.345s + 3.971 8 14. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m50.399s + 4.025 29 15. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m50.790s + 4.416 28 16. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m50.897s + 4.523 24 17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m50.937s + 4.563 30 18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m51.950s + 5.576 26 19. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m52.257s + 5.883 15 20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m52.489s + 6.115 25 21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m53.579s + 7.205 25 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m54.649s + 8.275 25 23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m54.754s + 8.380 29 24. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m55.198s + 8.824 26
Marina Bay circuit. © Creative Commons / Readro
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton topped a shortened first practice at Singapore’s Marina Bay circuit on Friday.
Loose kerbs caused the initial ninety-minute session to lose its opening thirty minutes, while repairs were applied to the temporary circuit.
There frantic action once the circuit was green-lighted, although Hamilton lost further time in the pits, once a change of suspension became paramount. McLaren brought an upgraded rear wing, but both drivers would lose time throughout the day, as they put the part through its paces.
Despite the various woes, Hamilton pilot still shot to the top of the leader board late on – his best of 1:48.599 proving to be much for the chasing pack.
Both Red Bull’s followed with Sebastian Vettel, albeit split by an entire second. Vettel’s teammate, Mark Webber, lost time during the session thanks to a clumsy collision with the Virgin of Timo Glock.
The pair collided following a misjudged overtaking manoeuvre by the Australian, breaking Webber’s front wing – Glock for his troubles ended his session in the pits moments later. It had been a difficult session for Glock, having already lost time with a brake failure early on.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso filled out the top four, although the Spaniard was nearly two seconds shy of Hamilton, despite a new front wing package.
McLaren’s Jenson Button and Felipe Massa (Ferrari) assumed 5th and 6th respectively – both of whom finished the practice well off their teammate’s respective pace.
The top ten was filled with the four remaining Mercedes-powered cars, with Force India’s Adrian Sutil front and centre, although the German’s best tour was a startling 3.65 seconds shy of the ultimate pace.
Bruno Senna ran quicker than teammate Vitaly Petrov at Renault; however the Russian’s practice ended early due to massive overheating problem’s caused by upgraded bodywork.
Lotus brought a new floor and various minor aerodynamic upgrades – unfortunately neither Heikki Kovalainen nor Jarno Trulli could manage more than nine tours. Kovalainen suffered the added problems of a gearbox failure, followed by a brief fire in his brakes.
Red flag’s reappeared in the final moments of the session, due to more kerbing problems, although practice restarted three minutes from the end, allowing teams one final quick run.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m48.599s + 10 2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m49.005s + 0.406 15 3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m50.066s + 1.467 16 4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m50.596s + 1.997 11 5. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m50.952s + 2.353 12 6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m52.043s + 3.444 14 7. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m52.251s + 3.652 13 8. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m52.416s + 3.817 12 9. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m52.435s + 3.836 13 10. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m52.815s + 4.216 13 11. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m52.991s + 4.392 17 12. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m53.050s + 4.451 17 13. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m53.399s + 4.800 18 14. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m53.703s + 5.104 19 15. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m53.749s + 5.150 12 16. Bruno Senna Renault 1m53.765s + 5.166 17 17. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m53.785s + 5.186 16 18. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m54.736s + 6.137 8 19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m54.821s + 6.222 9 20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m56.198s + 7.599 8 21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m57.798s + 9.199 13 22. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m58.792s + 10.193 6 23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m59.169s + 10.570 17 24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m59.214s + 10.615 18
Twin Ring Motegi. (Copyright free)
Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon won a lacklustre IndyCar race at Japan’s Twin Ring Motegi on Sunday to garner his second win of the season.
The victory leaves the Kiwi third in the championship race and tailing leader Will Power (Penske) by 59 points with two rounds to go; however fellow Ganassi driver Dario Franchitti splits the pair.
Power came home 2nd behind Dixon, with Franchitti taking 8th, leaving the Scott some 11 points shy of Power.
It involved a touch of luck for Franchitti who crossed the line in 9th, but was moved up a spot when the Penske of Helio Castroneves was demoted from 7th to 22nd for overtaking JR Hildebrand under yellow flags.
Up front, it was a near clean sweep for Dixon. The Ganassi pilot led every lap bar one, achieved pole position and the laps most led; however Dixon did not score the fastest lap – that honour went to Dreyer & Reinbold’s Giorgio Pantano.
Although Power kept Dixon honest throughout the race (they were rarely separated by more than three seconds), Power never truly looked like assuming the victory such was Dixon’s ease up front.
A late race caution gave the Penske man an opportunity to nab the lead into the opening corner, but even that door was soon shut by the eventual victor.
Marco Andretti led home the “best-of-the-rest” in his Andretti-Autosport entry. The American had a somewhat subdued race, climbing silently from his fifth row starting position to 3rd by the flag.
Sam Schmidt’s Alex Tagliani came home 4th, ahead of Newman-Haas racer Oriol Servia. Indeed, Tagliani had led Servia for much of the event, only for Servia to dive past the Canadian on lap 57. A decisive final move in the dying moments of the race gave 4th back to Tagliani, demoting Servia to a top five finish.
Both Tagliani and Servia had qualified poorly (the pair occupied the eighth row), but clever stops during the first caution period on lap 22 – thanks to JP de Oliveira who had stopped trackside with a fuel pump failure – brought them into the top twelve.
Solid progression thereafter, while others made mistakes, delivered further positions as the laps ticked off.
Sebastien Bourdais picked up his fourth 6th position of the season, but the experienced Frenchman owes a good deal to lenient stewarding and a pair of KV Racing pilots.
With seven laps remaining, Bourdais punted Ryan Hunter-Reay into the gravel trap (bringing out a late full course caution) in a half-hearted effort to take 8th position.
No penalty was forthcoming from the stewards and as the race restarted on lap 62, Bourdais’ 8th position became 6th thanks to Takuma Sato’s rather over ambitious move on KV teammate EJ Viso.
JR Hildebrand also gained spots from the melee. The Panther Racing pilot made strides in the Rookie of the Year championship following a calm and considered drive.
Indeed, the Californian was running a credible 7th when Castroneves sailed passed him under a local yellow on the final lap, earning the Brazilian a penalty and bringing Hildebrand back to 7th spot after the flag.
It had been a quietly impressive drive by Hildebrand who started a lowly 19th at the green flag, but this point’s score lifts the Panther pilot 14 points clear of James Hinchcliffe in the Rookie standings.
Franchitti may well have been higher up the order had it not been for several uncharacteristic errors.
The Scott had to settle for 9th on the grid in qualifying after a mistake on his fast lap in Q2. Franchitti spent the early laps climbing up the order when an attempt on Penske’s Ryan Briscoe for 4th on lap 26 went badly wrong.
Following Briscoe into the first turn, Franchitti made a wildly optimistic dive, only to clip Briscoe, who innocently took out both Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball (both Ganassi-run drivers) as he spun. The rare mistake garnered Franchitti a penalty, dropping the Scot to 25th, despite already running a low as 23rd.
A steady climb through the field saw Franchitti penetrate the top ten in the final few laps, with a last moment pass on Andretti-Autosport’s Mike Conway garnering another position.
For Conway, 9th place may seem like a solid reward. The Englishman started as far back as 20th, but like many others in the race; slow, steady progress without mistakes rewarded the Andretti-Autosport man with much needed points.
Despite running well for much of the event, Sato eventually had to settle for 10th place. The Japanese racer battled at the edge of the top twelve with de Oliveira in the early laps, until the Brazilian attempted a wildly optimistic move on Sato during the lap 20.
Undeterred by the wheel-banging incident, Sato regained ground, eventually climbing to 7th, before removing his teammate from the action.
Another anonymous drive for Danica Patrick gave the Andretti-Autosport starlet an 11th place finish, half-a-second ahead of the recovering Rahal. What could have been a special result for Rahal turned painful once again after running in the top three in the early portion of the race.
Rookie James Jakes also lost out. After Rahal was taken off, the Englishman battled with Servia for the final podium spot, but lost out heavily when a bad pitstop felled him to the lower reaches of the midfield.
Jakes would eventually claim 13th and while it was his best finish of the season, it could have been so much better for the former-GP2 runner.
Simona de Silvestro and James Hinchcliffe finished 14th and 15th respectively, although both had drastically differing races.
Having qualified last, de Silvestro picked up positions to rise up the leaderboard, while Hinchcliffe – who started 5th – found himself displaced by a poor early pitstop. The Canadian struggled in traffic throughout the race, limiting his progress and capping his final race position.
Mixed races for Pantano (16th) and Tony Kanaan (17th, KV Racing) left them squabbling for minor points.
In what was a forgettable weekend for the Italian, Pantano ran around the lower midfield, having several offs, gaining spots and then losing them shortly afterward.
Kanaan, meanwhile started from 25th, but like Hinchcliffe, struggled somewhat in traffic. An off-kilter pit strategy gave the Brazilian some hope, but as the field levelled itself out toward the race conclusion, Kanaan found himself mired near the rear of the field, wrapping up a poor day for KV Racing.
A penalty for pitlane speeding with fifteen laps to go finished Kanaan’s day off completely.
Hideki Mutoh ran home 18th in a one-off drive for AFS / Sam Schmidt Racing; not far ahead of Dreyer & Reinbold regular Ana Beatriz, whose horror season continues to amble along.
Ryan Briscoe rounded out the top twenty after another miserable day. After his earlier collision with Franchitti, Briscoe fell off track on the penultimate tour as he avoided the Viso / Sato mess.
What few positions the Penske man had gained in the intervening laps had disappeared, leaving Briscoe one of the few at the tail of the pack. Indeed, the punted Viso was the only other driver on the lead lap in 21st place.
Kimball had another poor result, but it could have been so much better had it not been for Franchitti’s interruption of his progress. The American had climbed back to 17th on the final restart, only to drop off circuit and down to 23rd on the last lap.
Hunter-Reay got going again after being collected by Bourdais, but lost a lap in recovery, coming home 24th. Vitor Meira was classified 25th, but had spun into retirement on the penultimate lap.
IndyCar’s final foray to Japan was subdued to say the least and while the road circuit was indeed challenging, overtaking proved to be somewhat harder.
There are two races left in the 2011 IndyCar season, both on 1.5-mile ovals at Kentucky and Las Vegas and while Power may have the points advantage, Franchitti still remains favourite thanks to his oval prowess.
Race Rating: 1 out of 5
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Scott Dixon Ganassi 1h56m41.0107s
2. Will Power Penske + 3.4375s
3. Marco Andretti Andretti + 4.4782s
4. Alex Tagliani Sam Schmidt + 5.5913s
5. Oriol Servia Newman/Haas + 6.1621s
6. Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne + 6.6399s
7. JR Hildebrand Panther + 8.7436s
8. Dario Franchitti Ganassi + 9.0690s
9. Mike Conway Andretti + 9.3816s
10. Takuma Sato KV + 10.1187s
11. Danica Patrick Andretti + 10.6995s
12. Graham Rahal Ganassi + 11.4555s
13. James Jakes Dale Coyne + 11.6119s
14. Simona de Silvestro HVM + 12.0651s
15. James Hinchcliffe Newman/Haas + 12.5498s
16. Giorgio Pantano Dreyer & Reinbold + 14.4549s
17. Tony Kanaan KV + 15.8407s
18. Hideki Mutoh AFS/Sam Schmidt + 16.3024s
19. Ana Beatriz Dreyer & Reinbold + 20.5159s
20. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 38.5887s
21. EJ Viso KV + 1m39.0777s
22. Helio Castroneves Penske + 7.6856s*
23. Charlie Kimball Ganassi + 1 lap
24. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti + 1 lap
Retirements:
Vitor Meira Foyt 61 laps
Joao Paulo de Oliveira Conquest 22 laps
* Post-Race penalty
2011 IZOD IndyCar Championship (Rd 16)
Pos Driver Pts
1 Will Power 542
2 Dario Franchitti 531
3 Scott Dixon 483
4 Oriol Servia 397
5 Tony Kanaan 353
6 Ryan Briscoe 340
7 Marco Andretti 327
8 Ryan Hunter-Reay 317
9 Graham Rahal 302
10 Helio Castroneves 302
11 Alex Tagliani 296
12 Danica Patrick 294
…there are occasions when you wish some things were not captured on video, such as this little offering from Patrick Weir at Calum’s Day Productions.
Competing in the Targo Newfoundland Rally just over a week ago, ZR Auto’s Zahir Rana lost control of his modified Ferrari Enzo on a layer of loose gravel.
The rear end of the super-expensive sportscar fell away as Rana attempted to compensate, with the Enzo quickly crashing through a wooden barrier and into the water below.
It does – if anything – make for eye watering viewing, as the car is lamely plucked out of the lake and placed back on the road, albeit rather waterlogged.
Both driver and navigator, Roland Linder, were fine, if a little relieved to only be wet.
TheMotorsportArchive.com 