The Carlin runner registered a best lap of 1:39.542 on the revised “300” circuit, giving him a 0.348 advantage over teammate Rupert Svendsen-Cook.
Both Nasr and Svendsen-Cook were the only drivers to break the 100 second barrier during the day, with Fortec’s William Buller finishing the day 3rd, only a few hundredths long of the 1 minute 40 second mark.
Double R’s Pipo Derani displayed his intent with a best of 1:40.096, giving him 4th on the timesheets; several thousandths ahead of Formula 3 veteran Hywel Lloyd (Sino Vision).
Kevin Magnussen took 6th by the end of the day. The Dane has had something of a difficult start to season – he will be hoping for some solid results from Norfolk this weekend.
As will Pietro Fantin. The Hitech pilot headed a small group – including Carlos Huertas (8th, Carlin), Harry Tincknell (9th, Fortec) and Scott Pye (10th, Double R) – split by less than one-tenth of a second.
Bart Hylkema was once again the quicker of the Rookie Class duo. The T-Sport driver had some help when his sole rival, Kotaru Sakurai, crashed during the afternoon session.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time 1. Felipe Nasr Carlin-Volkswagen 1:39.542 3. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin-Volkswagen 1:39.890 12. William Buller Fortec-Mercedes 1:40.043 8. Pipo Derani Double R-Mercedes 1:40.096 10. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision-Mercedes 1:40.110 2. Kevin Magnussen Carlin-Volkswagen 1:40.149 7. Pietro Fantin Hitech-Volkswagen 1:40.166 5. Carlos Huertas Carlin-Volkswagen 1:40.202 9. Harry Tincknell Fortec-Mercedes 1:40.252 13. Scott Pye Double R-Mercedes 1:40.254 14. Lucas Foresti Fortec-Mercedes 1:40.299 11. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport-Volkswagen 1:40.416 4. Riki Christodoulou Hitech-Volkswagen 1:40.497 17. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec-Mercedes 1:40.542 16. Jack Harvey Carlin-Volkswagen 1:40.765 6. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin-Volkswagen 1:40.842 15. Yann Cunha T-Sport-Volkswagen 1:41.412 18. Adderly Fong Sino Vision-Mercedes 1:42.442 19. Bart Hylkema T-Sport-Mugen Honda 1:42.468 20. Kotaru Sakurai Hitech-Volkswagen 1:44.141
Alexander Sims surged to his first GP3 victory of 2011 with a commanding performance at Istanbul Park yesterday.
The Status GP pilot crossed the line over 7 seconds clear of nearest rival, RSC Mucke’s Michael Christensen. The podium was filled by fellow RSC Mucke runner (and race 1 winner), Nigel Melker.
Whereas both Sims led away from pole, Christensen suffered something of a sluggish, allowing Antonio Felix da Costa (Status GP) and Mitch Evans (MW Arden) ahead by the end of the opening lap.
It would be seven laps before Christensen retook Evans, made easier by the Kiwi’s destroyed Pirelli rubber and the Dane would make that 2nd with a pass on da Costa five laps from the end.
Melker ‘s task, however, was somewhat more difficult. Starting 8th – the “bonus prize” for winning on Saturday – the Dutch pilot was already 7th by turn one, as he slid passed the lumbering Tom Dillmann (Carlin).
Charging passes on Andrea Caldarelli (lap 2), Valtteri Bottas (lap 5), Evans (lap 7) and da Costa (lap 12) brought Melker to a comfortable podium place.
None would be too surprised should the RSC Mucke pilot may be wishing to have a word with da Costa regarding his defensive moves. Despite weaving heavily across the track on several occasions, the Portuguese runner received no penalty.
Da Costa also used his tough techniques to fend Caldarelli off at the flag. Having wasted his tyres in the early laps, da Costa fell back in the late laps, only holding onto 4th spot by a mere 0.2 of-a-second across the line.
Regardless of da Costa’s antics, Caldarelli should be happy to finish 5th after a feisty run. An ongoing battle with Bottas in the race’s first third, saw the Italian lose touch with the leaders – indeed, it would take six laps for Caldarelli to breeze by Bottas into turn one, as the Finn’s tyres went away.
That became 5th on the eighth tour, as the Tech 1 racer absorbed the struggling Evans.
Sadly for Evans, the points place was on the cards until the final few turns. His Pirelli’s wrecked, the Kiwi could no longer hold off the advances of Dean Smith following a fight lasting nearly five laps.
Indeed Smith himself just missed out on the final point the previous day, but having started 9th, the Englishman was by Dillmann on the grid and Bottas six laps later. His last dash move on Evans rescued his weekend somewhat, especially as he learned the virtues of tyre care.
For Evans and Bottas, there was only disappointment. Having started 3rd and 5th respectively, the pair ran well early on only to fall backwards as the race aged – alas, 7th (Evans) and 8th (Bottas) was the best to be managed.
A special gold star for Rio Haryanto and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs – having started 26th, Haryanto drove a spectacular race to come home 10th at the flag, while Quaife-Hobbs managed 16th after starting on the twelfth row.
Less impressive were Simon Trummer, Aaro Vainio, Matias Laine and Dominic Storey. In the midst of a midfield battle, Trummer mindless attempt of an overtake on Ivan Lukashevich, left the Swiss pilot mired in 21st. Meanwhile Vainio, Laine and Storey attempted to glue eachother together on the first lap, only to find carbon fibre doesn’t mesh well with carbon fibre.
Jenzer Motorsport’s Vittorio Ghirelli pulled out after seven laps with a mechanical problem.
Race Rating: 3.5 out of 5
GP3 Round of Turkey (Rd 1, Race 2)
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Alexander Sims Status 27m03.624s (15 laps)
2. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke + 7.406s
3. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke + 13.983s
4. Antonio Felix da Costa Status + 17.667s
5. Andrea Caldarelli Tech 1 + 17.876s
6. Dean Smith Addax + 18.760s
7. Mitch Evans MW Arden + 18.948s
8. Valtteri Bottas ART + 22.792s
9. Tom Dillmann Carlin + 22.951s
10. Rio Haryanto Manor + 27.212s
11. Nick Yelloly Atech CRS + 31.637s
12. Gabby Chaves Addax + 32.829s
13. James Calado ART + 34.111s
14. Zoel Amberg Atech CRS + 35.985s
15. Nico Muller Jenzer + 36.315s
16. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Manor + 36.883s
17. Maxim Zimin Jenzer + 37.400s
18. Tamas Pal Kiss Tech 1 + 37.804s
19. Luciano Bacheta RSC Mucke + 38.419s
20. Lewis Williamson MW Arden + 38.692s
21. Simon Trummer MW Arden + 39.477s
22. Leonardo Cordeiro Carlin + 40.348s
23. Marlon Stockinger Atech CRS + 47.122s
24. Ivan Lukashevich Status + 55.843s
25. Conor Daly Carlin + 57.717s
26. Pedro Nunes ART + 1 lap
Retirements:
Vittorio Ghirelli Jenzer 7 laps
Aaro Vainio Tech 1 0 laps
Matias Laine Manor 0 laps
Dominic Storey Addax 0 laps
Pos Driver Team Points
1. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke 14
2. Andrea Caldarelli Tech 1 11
3. Alexander Sims Status 8
4. Tom Dillmann Carlin 8
5. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke 7
6. Antonio Felix da Costa Status 7
7. Valtteri Bottas ART 5
8. Mitch Evans MW Arden 3
9. Dean Smith Addax 1
Holland’s Nigel Melker got his 2011 GP3 campaign off to a dream start at Istanbul on Saturday.
The RSC Mucke pilot jumped straight into a commanding lead from the second row of the grid, following a sluggish start by poleman Tom Dillmann (Carlin).
Dillmann was also passed neatly into the first turn by fellow front row habitant, Andrea Caldarelli, with Lotus-ART contender, Valtteri Bottas fending off Antonio Felix da Costa to assume 4th place. With Dillmann out in front, Caldarelli struggled to challenge, yet was not truly challenged himself.
It was not as easy a run for Dillmann – as he fell away from Caldarelli, da Costa faded somewhat, leaving Bottas to charge hard right up to the flag, giving Dillmann much to think about come Saturday evening.
The leading five remained so for the distance, with much of the action coming in the lower points positions – much of which was provided by the MW Arden’ Mitch Evans and Lewis Williamson.
The duo battled hard for 6th early on, but it was a battle that came to nought for Williamson. A hasty move into turn 12 around the outside of Evans, would see the 21-year-old spin gently into the run off area.
A second collision in turn twelve would see Williamson’s luck run out. Come the fourth tour, the MW Arden man was running alongside Leonardo Cordeiro (Carlin), when the pair clashed, sending the damaged Cordeiro into a slight spin.
Williamson, tripped up by turn 12’s shallow gravel trap, was flipped onto his rollbar, bringing out the safety car instantly for a short period. Thankfully, both emerged unscathed.
Also on Evans’ trail was Alexander Sims. The Briton had initially qualified 2nd, only to receive a ten-place penalty later. Sims battled his way back into contention for 6th, spending much of the race swapping positions with the young Kiwi – eventually to be decided in Evans’ favour.
Sims would lose another spot before the race was done. With his pace deteriorating, both Dean Smith (8th, Addax) and Michael Christensen (9th, RSC Mucke) closed in.
It would culminate in a three-way battle on the final lap, only resolved as the trio clattered their way through the last set of turns. As they filtered out, Christensen secured 7th ahead of both Sims and Smith.
With 8th place confirmed, Sims took the final point and guaranteed pole for the second race of the weekend. For his troubles, Smith took home 9th and no points.
Some way behind, Gabby Chaves came home 10th after starting on the eighth row. For a time, it appeared as if Rio Haryanto would occupy 11th, only to be scuppered by a slow puncture late on.
Outside the top dozen, Nick Yelloly started 22nd following a post-qualifying penalty – at the end of fifteen laps, the ATECH CRS runner came home 13th.
James Calado got off the line poorly, dropping from 5th to 20th by turn one – he would cross the line 17th.
Race Rating: 2 out of 5
2011 GP3 Round of Turkey (Rd 1, Race 1)
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke 28m13.773s (15 laps)
2. Andrea Caldarelli Tech 1 + 0.605s
3. Tom Dillmann Carlin + 2.942s
4. Valtteri Bottas ART + 3.840s
5. Antonio Felix da Costa Status + 4.410s
6. Mitch Evans MW Arden + 7.214s
7. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke + 10.608s
8. Alexander Sims Status + 11.713s
9. Dean Smith Addax + 11.928s
10. Gabby Chaves Addax + 19.559s
11. Nico Muller Jenzer + 23.673s
12. Zoel Amberg Atech CRS + 24.192s
13. Nick Yelloly Atech CRS + 24.977s
14. Ivan Lukashevich Status + 26.180s
15. Aaro Vainio Tech 1 + 26.354s
16. Tamas Pal Kiss Tech 1 + 27.239s
17. James Calado ART + 27.507s
18. Matias Laine Manor + 29.871s
19. Simon Trummer MW Arden + 30.222s
20. Dominic Storey Addax + 30.644s
21. Conor Daly Carlin + 31.336s
22. Pedro Nunes ART + 32.066s
23. Maxim Zimin Jenzer + 53.931s
24. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Manor + 1m03.096s
25. Vittorio Ghirelli Jenzer + 1 lap
Retirements:
Rio Haryanto Manor 13 laps
Luciano Bacheta RSC Mucke 8 laps
Leonardo Cordeiro Carlin 3 laps
Lewis Williamson MW Arden 3 laps
Marlon Stockinger Atech CRS 1 laps
Pos Driver Team Points
1. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke 10
2. Andrea Caldarelli Tech 1 9
3. Tom Dillmann Carlin 8
4. Valtteri Bottas ART 5
5. Antonio Felix da Costa Status 4
6. Mitch Evans MW Arden 3
7. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke 2
8. Alexander Sims Status 1
© Creative Commons / Will Pittenger
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel dominated today’s Turkish Grand Prix, winning in emphatic style ahead of teammate Mark Webber and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
On paper, Vettel’s gap back to the following pair was just over eight seconds, yet there never seemed to be any danger of the reigning Champion being troubled by those behind.
An Early Advantage
Even getting off the grid was trouble free for poleman Vettel, although Webber – beside him on the front row – instantly rued his start, as Nico Rosberg fired his silver and turquoise Mercedes between the Red Bull’s off the line.
Behind them, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton also fancied a go at Webber, but it would prove costly – a failed attempt around the outside of the fourth turn saw Hamilton drift wide, letting Alonso and Jenson Button (McLaren) through.
Rosberg could not keep to the tail of Vettel – the Red Bull eking out a four second advantage in the opening laps. By the time Webber retook Rosberg on the 5th tour, Vettel was already well clear.
A brief inter-team battle between the McLaren’s was shaping up for 5th and 6th – it would see Hamilton and Button swap places numerous times.
By the end of lap six, Hamilton was through – aided by the DRS, only for Button to retake 5th a few corners later. This action was repeated two laps later, with Button again emerging on top, but with Hamilton’s tyres burning out, the Englishman opted for an early change.
Felipe Massa also dipped by the McLaren driver, but Massa’s gain would be shortlived thanks to a lengthy tyre change – upon exit, the Ferrari driver came close to hitting the Briton as they trundled down the narrow lane.
At least those ahead could take the start. Virgin’s Timo Glock did not even get to see the lights, as his Cosworth-powered machine suffered a gearbox failure on the warm-up lap.
“A very short race for me. It was very frustrating to experience a problem with fifth gear just as I was making my way to the grid. I have to say the team did an amazing job to try to get me back on track but in the end it just wasn’t possible.”
Another driver on the road to a tough day was Michael Schumacher. The Mercedes pilot swapped 8th for 7th with Renault’s Vitaly Petrov off the line, only for the Russian to fight back on the next lap. As Petrov dived down the inside of Schumacher at turn 12, the German turned in – too late – clattering the Renault and damaging his front wing, earning the Mercedes man a pitstop.
It was a moment that defined Schumacher’s race and left him struggling in the pack for much of the day.
Rosberg too was also beginning to feel the heat. Feeling some instability under heavy fuel loads, Rosberg’s pace deteriorated, with Alonso taking 3rd on the seventh lap. The pair would pit together (with Webber) on lap 11. It was a close call for Rosberg, who just pipped the Hamilton / Massa battle into turn one.
Still feeling the weight of fuel, Hamilton made speedy work of Rosberg three laps later.
Canny Strategies and Bold Moves
Vettel helped himself to a set of used softs on lap 12, but his assured pace made certain that he returned to the track ahead of all, bar Button.
Button played a canny tyre strategy, staying out the longest of all. Through the first stint, he gained two-three laps on his rivals, but Istanbul’s abrasive surface was peeling his grip away.
Such was his early speed, Vettel emerged three seconds behind Button, but that was down to less than a second before the end of a single tour. Not willing to hang around, Vettel retook the lead from Button on lap 13 – his DRS proving more than sufficient exiting turn 11.
Within three corners, Button was in the pitlane, as was Sauber star Kamui Kobayashi. The Japanese driver had started from 23rd position due to a mechanical problem in qualifying, yet through a series of overtakes and competitor’s strategy, Kobayashi had moved to 5th by the lap 14, before his stop dropped his to 11th.
A stellar effort.
Button emerged behind Rosberg and Massa, leaving his strategy in the balance. Whereas most others were going for a four-stop race, Button had committed to a three-stopper and the last thing he needed was to stuck under the wing of two similarly-paced machines.
The McLaren ace did not spend long reeling in Rosberg and Massa and by the 20th lap, they were in his sights. The pair had been battling hard amongst themselves for a few laps, with Massa passing Rosberg in turn nine and the German retaking the Brazilian three turns later.
It was a matter of time. Massa simply waited an extra lap and lined Rosberg for a move into turn 12 – this time, not only would it stick, the door also stayed wide enough for Button to climb through. In two corners, the Mercedes pilot fell from 5th to 7th.
Button would complete the cycle come lap 23, as he relegated Massa down to 6th. Both Rosberg and Massa took their second stops shortly afterward, with Button also pitting on lap 27. His previous work came to naught – a sluggish stop left him back behind Massa (but ahead of Rosberg).
Others took the time to fit new Pirelli’s as well. Amongst those were Hamilton (lap 21), Webber (lap 22), Alonso (lap 23) and Vettel (lap 26) – as the foursome filtered out into their respective stints, it was becoming clear how unstoppable Vettel would be today.
With ease, the reigning Champion had carve an eight second lead, made more comfortable by the continuing Webber / Alonso fight. Despite nearly hitting the half-distance mark, the duo were separated by only one second – and neither were ready to give up.
Webber – perhaps feeling the pain of his third set of tyres – fell swiftly towards Alonso’s clutches; by lap 29, Alonso had both the momentum and 2nd position. Vettel, though, was still nine seconds down the road and seemingly unassailable.
Hamilton, meanwhile guarded a comfortable 4th ahead of the long running three stopping Rubens Barrichello (Williams) and Adrian Sutil (Force India).
Barrichello and Sutil would make their second stops on lap 24 and 25 respectively, promoting Petrov up to 5th; the Russian had also stopped twice (laps 9 and 21) and was once again showing improved 2011 pace.
Pressure Under Fire
Petrov was not alone. Unwilling to let precious points flirt away, Button dragged himself up to the rear Massa by the 30th lap; while the Brazilian glared at Petrov’s rear wing.
As good as the Renault pace was, he could not compete with the Ferrari / McLaren pair, causing both Massa and Button to lose nearly ten seconds to the leaders in only four laps. Taking matters into his own hands, Button grabbed 6th off of Massa on lap 35 – just as Massa was about to pit again…
Both Hamilton and Petrov had also made the trip. Whereas, both Petrov and Massa had spent much of the race together in each other’s company, Hamilton was mostly running alone with a gap of 16 seconds either side of him.
A stuck right front wheel nut cost the McLaren driver nearly seven seconds, only to be delayed further as Massa entered his box ahead of Hamilton’s nose. Despite the delay, Hamilton held his advantage over those behind him.
Which is something Massa did not do. As the Brazilian rejoined on lap 36, he threw his Ferrari wide at the ferocious turn eight, losing several positions in the process – now mired in 14th, Massa’s day was in real trouble.
An almost immediate repass on Kobayashi brought the Ferrari up to 13th; however the hill for good points had now become a mountain.
Playing the Long Game
One driver making a good ascent through the order was Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi. ; He had remained quiet for much of the race after starting 16th, yet his three-stop strategy left him 11th with seventeen laps remaining. With a few ahead still needing an extra stop, the 21-year-old had placed himself very well for some points.
Also making their third stops were the leading pack. While Vettel had little to worry about when he made for the pits on the 41st lap, it was different story for Webber and Alonso. As they switched to new hard Pirelli’s on laps 36 and 37, it quickly became clear that the Red Bull was the more comfortable.
Both would make their final stops ten laps later and while the Spaniard held a solid gap over the Red Bull pilot for a time, the Australian was clearly reeling himself in; his RB7 enjoying the conditions.
From three seconds (lap 48), the gap closed significantly – and quickly. Within one tour, it was 1.7 seconds and by the 50th circulation, Webber had Alonso’s rear wing in sight.
Never to give in without a fight, the Ferrari pilot held Webber at bay, until the Red Bull man activated his DRS into turn twelve on the 51st lap. What should have been an easy move thereafter was made much harder by Alonso’s insistence on 2nd place.
As Webber slid passed the red machine, Alonso held a tight line through the final corners, getting alongside the Australian on the start / finish straight, but as turn one approached, Webber edged ahead, guaranteeing both 2nd place and the extra three points.
There were no points for Force India’s Paul di Resta though – the young Scot was mired at the tail of the midfield for much of the day, but on lap 45, di Resta’s crew ordered the 24-year-old to pull off track due to a mechanical issue.
“I managed to hold my position on the first lap. However, as the race unfolded the pace didn’t seem quite there and that’s why we decided to change our strategy. When I was leaving the pits after my final stop, the team came on the radio and instructed me to stop.”
Sebastian Makes his Mark…
Realistically though, this race was all about Sebastian Vettel. Rarely did the camera’s trouble him with their glare, but they simply didn’t have to for Vettel himself was rarely troubled – a final stop on the 48th lap left him with an 8 second advantage; a gap that remained as he took the flag at the end of 58 tours.
It gives Vettel a 34 point lead in the title hunt ahead of Hamilton, leaving the field a huge mountain to climb as the series heads to Spain. Should the Red Bull man keep this pace up, the 2011 season may become a story about the runner-up spot.
“It was a great result today – especially after I gave the team so much work on Friday. I hope giving a victory back goes some way to help them forget it. In the race we had a very good first stint and got a gap and you can always benefit from that cushion. At the end I did two short stints, which was the right thing to do – it was seamless today.”
The young German may have led home a Red Bull 1-2, but once again, Mark Webber had no answer. At a race where Webber needed to beat his Vettel, the Australian was left to battle for podium scraps with Fernando Alonso.
“It was a good fight with Fernando, you lose a bit of time when you’re into each other like that, but it turned out okay and I got him back in the end. For the first stop, the team pitted me earlier than expected as they were worried about the undercuts coming into play. Ferrari saw the same thing and it was really a race between us two from then onwards. I will leave Istanbul happy – it was my best result of the year so far.”
For Alonso, 3rd will be welcome considering Ferrari’s rough start to 2011, although with Felipe Massa trapped in 11th, the Scuderia will realise there is still some distance to travel.
“I am pleased with this result, which is down to three weeks of hard work from the entire team at Maranello and at the track this weekend. The next three or four races will be crucial. At 99% I could not have fought with Vettel, but the remaining 1% went when I was stuck behind Rosberg for too long. In the end, Webber passed me because he had the benefit of a new set of tyres, while I had none left. It’s true that the gap in the classification is very wide, but there are still so many points up for grabs: there is certainly no need to give up.”
With the chequered flag drawing in, Button’s tyre gamble was also coming into play. Having made his last stop on the 40th tour, the Briton emerged 7th, becoming 4th as strategies around him unfolded, but Button would soon be at the mercy of those on fresher Pirelli’s.
Hamilton and Rosberg were immediate challengers to Button – stops on laps 45 (Rosberg) and 47 (Hamilton) saw the pair chasing the 2009 World Champion, as he began to struggle. Neither would waste too much time, with Hamilton assuming 4th place from Button on lap 49 and Rosberg taking 5th six laps later.
What was less certain was the placing of the final points positions. Considering his lowly starting position, Buemi would have been delighted with 7th position – alas, it was not to be.
Late moves by Heidfeld (lap 55) and Petrov (lap 58) dropped the Swiss driver to 9th – there was little that Buemi could do about the overtakes; his Pirelli’s had been destroyed long before the final tour, but he had need not worry about losing 9th:
“In general I am very happy with my race and I don’t think I could have done better. However, it’s true that in the final two laps I lost two places and if not for this we could have brought home a seventh place finish. But I could not even hold the steering wheel anymore because there was so much vibration coming through from the tyres: it was not due to tyre wear, so we will have to analyse carefully what happened. We are continuing to develop the car and have more parts coming which I hope can keep us fighting for points in the next few races.”
Outside the Points
At the flag, Massa had no answer for Kobayashi. The Japanese driver’s solid pace had rewarded him with 10th and the final points place, although Massa came very close to denying the Sauber. It was a completely deserved reward for Kobayashi, who is shaping up to be a special talent.
“It was a lot of fun today, I really enjoyed this race. It is just one point now because we lost so much time due to a puncture, which was the result of touching Sébastien Buemi when I overtook him. Otherwise I think I could have finished seventh and score more points. The last stint was quite long with 20 laps, but it worked out well.”
As for Massa, his earlier drama’s had left his race rather crippled. Another slow pitstop on lap 47 left the Brazilian back in 13th place, yet Massa was still able to deal with Schumacher (lap 52) with ease. More difficult was Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari.
The Spaniard sat just ahead of the Massa / Schumacher battle, with Massa attempting a move on lap 54 – sensing a gap, Schumacher also dived in making a three-wide pack into the final corner, with Massa and Schumacher finally converging in turn 1.
The Brazilian – playing hard – shoved the Mercedes aside, assuming 11th place with only three laps to go. Alguersuari continued to lose pace and a final stop on lap 55 left the Spaniard trapped in 16th spot.
Behind Schumacher in 13th was the sole finishing Force India of Adrian Sutil, followed by Sauber’s Sergio Perez. Sadly, neither looked like a threat over the weekend, as both started the season in rather neutered manner.
Rubens Barrichello was also not having much success holding his competitors off. The Brazilian – 9th by the 39th lap – was spending the final section of the hard Pirelli’s having completed his first three stints of the softer rubber.
However the Williams driver – suffering somewhat in a car strangled by a difficult aerodynamic concept – could not hold the flow of quicker machines just behind. First Renault’s Nick Heidfeld surged passed the FW33 (lap 39), before Massa (lap 40), Schumacher (lap 40) also gained places on Barrichello.
The Brazilian’s pace would continue to fall off badly, with the veteran eventually crossing the line a lowly 15th.
It was turning to a bad weekend in general for Williams. Barrichello’s rookie teammate, Pastor Maldonado, had spent the weekend well off the pace and was lingering in a poor 17th place, when he was caught speeding in the pitlane on lap 41. The resultant drive through penalty left him not too far ahead of Jarno Trulli’s Lotus (18th) – not a result the Venezuelan would have desired.
Lotus were unable to continue the gains they had made in China. Beyond Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen took 19th, albeit two laps down. The Finn beat Virgin’s Jerome d’Ambrosio across the line; however d’Ambrosio must be credited for pulling off a brave two-stop strategy.
Both Hispania’s finished with Narain Karthikeyan taking 21st (three laps down) and Vitantonio Liuzzi 22nd (five laps adrift).
Next up is Barcelona. The tradition pre-season testing ground and a circuit where overtaking has proved to be virtually impossible over the years – a real test for the DRS, KERS units and most importantly, the Pirelli tyres.
Will Sebastian Vettel continue this streak of success? It is getting hard to look passed him at this stage.
Race Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Turkey; 58 laps Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h30:17.558 2. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 8.807 3. Alonso Ferrari + 10.075 4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 40.232 5. Rosberg Mercedes + 47.539 6. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 59.431 7. Heidfeld Renault + 1:00.857 8. Petrov Renault + 1:08.168 9. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:09.300 10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:18.000 11. Massa Ferrari + 1:19.800 12. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:25.400 13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 14. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 15. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 16. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 17. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 18. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 1 lap 19. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 20. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 21. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps 22. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 5 laps Fastest lap: Webber, 1:29.703 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Di Resta Force India-Mercedes 45 Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1 World Championship standings, round 4: Drivers: 1. Vettel 93 2. Hamilton 59 3. Webber 55 4. Button 46 5. Alonso 41 6. Massa 24 7. Petrov 21 8. Heidfeld 21 9. Rosberg 20 10. Kobayashi 8 11. Buemi 6 12. Schumacher 6 13. Sutil 2 14. Di Resta 2 Constructors: 1. Red Bull-Renault 148 2. McLaren-Mercedes 105 3. Ferrari 65 4. Renault 42 5. Mercedes 26 6. Sauber-Ferrari 8 7. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6 8. Force India-Mercedes 4
© Creative Commons / Will Pittenger
It has been twelve years since a driver last registered four consecutive pole positions at the start of a season.
Back then, it was McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen that claimed the honour – today, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel matched it.
In fact, it was an all Red Bull front row, with Australian pilot Mark Webber alongside the sprightly, albeit a disappointing four-tenths adrift. Considering Vettel crashed during Friday morning practice, causing him to miss the afternoon session too, his best of 1:25.049 was a mighty effort.
So dominant were the Red Bull’s, that they finished their qualifying early, deciding instead to watch the final session unfold before them. Whereas none came near to Vettel’s pace, Nico Rosberg (3rd, Mercedes) and Lewis Hamilton (4th, McLaren) certainly ran Webber close.
Fernando Alonso made it four third row starting places in a row, with Jenson Button a disappointing 6th.
It was a curious day for Ferrari, especially as Alonso’s teammate Felipe Massa opting out of Q3 run to start 10th, but with an extra set of tyres – a decision that could prove to be pivotal in the race.
Down in 7th spot, Vitaly Petrov out-qualified veteran teammate Nick Heidfeld (9th). The Renault pair sandwiched Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher, who crossed the line 1.1 seconds shy of Rosberg in the second silver machine.
Rubens Barrichello missed out on the final part of qualifying by an agonising two-hundredths of-a-second. The Brazilian veteran found himself ousted at the last moment by Heidfeld. The Williams driver did manage to once again out-qualify rookie teammate, Pastor Maldonado. The Venezuelan placed his Williams 14th on the grid, a half second shy of Barrichello.
In between the Williams pair were the two Force India’s, led by Adrian Sutil. The German driver headed fellow Force Indian runner Paul di Resta by only a tenth; however the gap to Q3 appears to be growing for the Silverstone-based squad.
Sergio Perez was the lone Sauber in the second stint of qualifying. The Mexican has not had the most spectacular of weekends, although he did more than enough to get ahead of the Toro Rosso pair of Sebastien Buemi (16th) and Jaime Alguersuari (17th).
As per usual, Lotus were the quicker of the newer teams at the tail end of the field, with Heikki Kovalainen (18th) a clear nine-tenths ahead of teammate Jarno Trulli (19th). It’s a solid result for the green and yellow team as they edge ever closer to the midfield.
Virgin on the other hand hand have not had the most ideal of weekend’s. Jerome d’Ambrosio out-qualified Timo Glock, but a penalty will sadly leave the Belgian starting last.
That gives Hispania’s Vitantonio Liuzzi 20th on the grid alongside Trulli, with Glock and Narain Karthikeyan (Hispania) assuming the eleventh row. Liuzzi running quick than Glock is a big result for the little Spanish team, as they continue to embarrass the Richard Branson-sponsored team.
Kamui Kobayashi suffered from a fuel pump failure at the very beginning of the session, leaving him unable to set a lap time – he will start 23rd, just ahead of d’Ambrosio.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m25.049s 2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m25.454s + 0.405 3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m25.574s + 0.525 4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m25.595s + 0.546 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m25.851s + 0.802 6. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m25.982s + 0.933 7. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m26.296s + 1.247 8. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m26.646s + 1.597 9. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m26.659s + 1.610 10. Felipe Massa Ferrari No time Q3 cut-off time: 1m26.740s 11. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m26.764s + 1.154 12. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m27.027s + 1.417 13. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m27.145s + 1.535 14. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m27.236s + 1.626 15. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m27.244s + 1.634 16. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m27.255s + 1.645 17. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m27.572s + 1.962 Q3 cut-off time: 1m28.321s 18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m28.780s + 1.767 19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m31.119s + 2.106 20. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m30.692s + 3.679 21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m30.813s + 3.800 22. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m31.564s + 4.551 23. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari No time 24. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m30.445s (5-place penalty) 107% time: 1m33.103s
© Creative Commons / Will Pittenger
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel bounced back from a difficult Friday to claim the top spot in Saturday morning practice in Istanbul.
The reigning World Champion recorded a quickest lap of 1:26.037 at the tail end of the session – just 0.001 of-a-second ahead of Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher.
Vettel may well have much faster had he not been blocked by Hispania’s Vitantonio Liuzzi in the final corner.
The German pilot also suffered from KERS overheating problems during the sixty-minute practice.
Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg made it a Red Bull / Mercedes affair in 3rd and 4th too, albeit three-tenths down on their respective teammates. On what is a challenging aero circuit, Red Bull do appear to stretching their legs somewhat; however Mercedes have also displayed touches of pace so far this weekend.
The McLaren pairing of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton recorded the 5th and 6th best times respectively.
Behind the silver cars lay Vitaly Petrov (Renault) and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), but where the Renault man had a trouble-free practice, Alonso’s was mired in more hydraulic problems.
Indeed, with ten minutes left, the Spaniard’s car lost power in the pits, requiring a push back to his garage. It paints a worrying picture for a team that have had a tough weekend already.
Jaime Alguersuari (17th) did not have inspiring Saturday. As his teammate, Sebastien Buemi (10th), outpaced him in the final practice session by six-tenths, the Toro Rosso man lost a large chunk of practice, thanks to a spin in the middle of the turn 3-6 sweeps.
Lotus were again the quickest of the “new-ish” teams, although their Saturday got off to a worrying start as one of their three trucks had an electrical fire in the paddock.
Both Heikki Kovalainen (19th) and Jarno Trulli (20th) soothed the team somewhat by running around two seconds per lap quicker than Virgin’s Jerome d’Ambrosio and Timo Glock, although the Lotus’ were still nearly three seconds off of Vettel’s pace.
Unfortunately for the Virgin team, they had to remove their new exhaust system due to reliability issues – a massive blow for the team.
© Creative Commons / Will Pittenger
Jenson Button topped a drying second free practice at Istanbul yesterday afternoon.
The 2009 World Champion set a best of 1:26.456 in the midst of a 26 lap stint, leaving him just six-hundredths quicker than the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg.
A McLaren / Mercedes pairing took over 3rd and 4th places as well, with Lewis Hamilton just pipping Michael Schumacher, albeit both fell over half-a-second shy of Button.
Red Bull’s Mark Webber registered 5th, following a 31 lap session. His teammate, Sebastian Vettel did not set a lap following his morning practice crash.
Felipe Massa had a positive afternoon in his Ferrari, taking 6th place ahead of Renault’s Vitaly Petrov and the Force India of Adrian Sutil. All three ran 37 valuable laps, having largely stayed out of trouble during the morning wash-out.
Massa’s Ferrari teammate, Fernando Alonso had a less than successful stint. Persistent hydraulic problems and a spin left the Spaniard 11th on the timing sheets, some 1.6 seconds down on Button.
Williams had a tough afternoon with Pastor Maldonado suffering two spins – the second of which sent the Venezuelan into the barrier – while Barrichello’s session was rudely interrupted with a KERS problem.
It would leave the blue-and-white pair 15th and 16th, just ahead of the busiest man of second practice, Jarno Trulli. The Lotus displayed gains in practice, as they continue to close in on the midfield – Trulli also beat Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi in the standings by two-tenths.
Jerome d’Ambrosio ended the session 20th and ahead of Timo Glock; however the Virgin driver will have to accept a five-place grid penalty, thanks to setting his best lap under yellows flags, while marshals recovered Maldonado’s car.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m26.456s 26
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m26.521s + 0.065 29
3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m27.033s + 0.577 31
4. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m27.063s + 0.607 21
5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m27.149s + 0.693 31
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m27.340s + 0.884 37
7. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m27.517s + 1.061 37
8. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m27.725s + 1.269 37
9. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m27.844s + 1.388 32
10. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m28.052s + 1.596 37
11. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m28.069s + 1.613 27
12. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m28.153s + 1.697 36
13. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m28.475s + 2.019 35
14. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m28.765s + 2.309 32
15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m28.828s + 2.372 19
16. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m28.946s + 2.490 20
17. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m29.409s + 2.953 39
18. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m29.637s + 3.181 27
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m30.281s + 3.825 37
20. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m31.035s + 4.579 28
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m31.221s + 4.765 22
22. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m31.320s + 4.864 29
23. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m31.989s + 5.533 30
© Creative Commons / Will Pittenger
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso topped what was a very wet and windy first practice session in Istanbul yesterday morning.
The Spaniard set a best lap of 1:38.670, some 1.4 seconds quicker than the Mercedes pair Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher.
Alonso clocked up thirteen laps in the sodden conditions, giving he – and the rest of the field – some precious running on wet and intermediate tyres.
Those that committed any significant track time noted a the wet tyres suffered a similar drop off to Pirelli’s dry rubber.
Rosberg and Schumacher led the Nick Heidfeld (4th) and Vitaly Petrov (5th) on the sheets, albeit three-tenths adrift of the silver machines. Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi filled out the top-six.
Both Red Bull and Virgin brought upgrades to Turkey, although with the conditions as the were, little information would have been gathered.
Backmarkers Virgin delivered a new nose section, floor, exhaust and diffuser to Istanbul to help lift them of the bottom of the sheets. Timo Glock and Jerome d’Ambrosio finished the session in 18th and 19th respectively, but little meaning can be assumed from this result.
Red Bull fitted a new rear wing section for Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, although neither completed many laps with the new parts. Webber ran five laps on the wet tyre, while Vettel took to the intermediate rubber.
It would bite the German hard during the session. Exiting turn 8, Vettel placed one wheel on the slick kerbs, pitching him into a meeting with the barriers and bringing out a short-lived red flag.
Unsurprisingly, the session was littered with spins and aquaplaning cars – most were harmless, except for Williams’ Pastor Maldonado who slid helplessly into the barriers at the tail of the session.
At Hispania, Narain Karthikeyan lost much of the session due to a mechanical issue as the morning started. He would get out eventually, setting eight laps, nearly ten seconds off of Alonso’s ultimate lap.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m38.670s 13 2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m40.072s + 1.402 14 3. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m40.132s + 1.462 18 4. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m40.338s + 1.668 9 5. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m40.401s + 1.731 10 6. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m40.421s + 1.751 16 7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m40.697s + 2.027 14 8. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.094s + 2.424 18 9. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.178s + 2.508 22 10. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m41.347s + 2.677 16 11. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m42.564s + 3.894 5 12. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m42.597s + 3.927 7 13. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m43.525s + 4.855 11 14. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m43.913s + 5.243 5 15. Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 1m43.986s + 5.316 6 16. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m44.787s + 6.117 20 17. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m44.954s + 6.284 4 18. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m45.183s + 6.513 15 19. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m45.237s + 6.567 11 20. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m48.461s + 9.791 8 21. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m51.676s + 13.006 6 22. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m55.791s + 17.121 13 23. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 2m00.666s + 21.996 4 24. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes no time 1
What I received was possibly one most entertaining forms of motorsport that I have seen in a very long time – Trailer Racing!! Admittedly, it’s not very high tech and that the trailers look like they are made of paper, but for pure mindless entertainment value, it is pure gold.
The following “race” was taken from an event in Michigan a few years ago on a Figure of 8 paved circuit.
EJ Viso battled with Ryan Briscoe during the sao Paulo race. IndyCar / Chris Jones
While today’s IndyCar Grand Prix on the streets of Sao Paulo was certainly an interesting race, my enjoyment of the race was once again marred somewhat by the rules of the sport.
As the race entered its final stages, KV Racing’s EJ Viso found himself in an aggressive battle with Marco Andretti (Andretti-Autosport) for 2nd place. Initially, Andretti held the lead of pair and defended vigorously – very vigorously infact.
On number of occasions, Viso had brief looks down the inside of several corners, only to be chopped off by Andretti. Very tough defence indeed and certainly close to the bone, but no worse than we have seen the likes of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna do in the past. Andretti received no penalty for nearly taking Viso’s front off on a number of occasions.
However, my irritaion was piqued once Viso passed the American for 2nd place. While Viso took a number of odd lines, he was eventually penalised for taking a defensive line; on occasion making Andretti take the outside line into turns – those that remember the IndyCar race at Edmonton last year, will know that drivers are not allowed to defend their positions into corners should a following driver wish to attack.
As Andretti challenged, Viso made Andretti work hard for it – fairly in my eyes – and that earned the Venezuelan a drive through. Viso fell down the order to 13th, while a poor pitstop dropped Andretti to 14th at the chequered flag.
Like the penalty received by Helio Castroneves at Edmonton last year, the “non-defence” rule makes the sport look incredibly foolish. Removing the possibility of defending a position nullifies some of the great skills involved in motor racing, thereby lowering the impression of the series.
This is not a post knocking the officiating of Brian Barnhart, Tony Cotman or Al Unser Jr – they are applying the rules; this is a criticism of the rules as they are written. Should IndyCar really want to be taken seriously on the world stage, it needs to lose the “non-defence rule” – either that or maybe the drivers should get out of the sport.
Such irony that in a weekend that the IndyCar drivers paid tribute to the great Senna, such a rule played a large part in the overall result of the race – a rule that would surely have appalled Senna himself.
As long as this rule exists, IndyCar will always appear to be something of an amateurish – if expensive sport.
Notes from the race will appear tomorrow.
Creative Commons / Laranjatomate
This evening’s IndyCar race from Sao Paulo has been postponed until tomorrow due to excessive rain at the circuit and standing water, combined with fading light.
Starting at 5.30pm (GMT), the event managed only nine laps before being red flagged – a nine-lap period that saw several pile-ups and two long cautions.
The first red flag period lasted 2-and-a-half hours, before the field was sent out for a further five laps under safety car conditions; yet as conditions reached a status quo, the event was halted and a postponement schedule was set for 1pm (GMT) tomorrow.
As the cars were brought into the pits for the last time today, Penske’s Will Power led from teammate Ryan Briscoe, Takuma Sato (KV Racing) and Ganassi pair, Graham Rahal and Dario Franchitti.
The delay allowed Versus on site man Kevin Lee to interview virtually every driver on the grid and gave the production team ample time to introduce several classic Indy 500 moments. At one point, we also got to see a corner worker scratch his buttocks vigorously.
Last year, Sao Paulo’s first IndyCar adventure also saw a prolonged red flag due to wet weather; however on that occasion, the sky cleared and race was completed later that day.
Creative Commons / Laranjatomate
Will Power secured his fourth consecutive pole position and Roger Penske’s 200th pole as an owner at the street circuit in Sao Paulo yesterday.
The Australian finished the final session with a gap of four-tenths over Andretti-Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay, with Scott Dixon (Ganassi) and Ryan Briscoe (Penske) occupying the second row.
Ganassi pairing Graham Rahal and Dario Franchitti drew up the rear in final qualifying stage.
Despite Power’s run of poles, the Penske man has only once converted them into a victory in 2011 – he will be looking for a good result today in order to jump back to the top of the championship standing.
Helio Castroneves was the big scalp at the end of the second period of qualifying. The three-time Indy 500 winner is the highest starting Brazilian with his 7th best time – he pipped Dreyer & Reinbold’s Justin Wilson and Mike Conway (Andretti-Autosport) by just a few hundredths.
Takuma Sato rounded out the top ten in his KV Racing machine. Sato headed James Hinchcliffe (11th, Newman-Haas) and Sebastien Bourdais (12th, Dale Coyne) as the chequered flag emerged.
Simona de Silvestro was the first out from the first group of qualifying 1 – the ‘Swiss Miss’ lines up 13th on the grid. The HVM pilot pitted early in the session with a “safe” time, only to drop out as the clock ran out.
Tony Kanaan (KV Racing) initially qualified 15th, but was later demoted six places on the grid following illegal changes made to his front wing during the session.
Marco Andretti (Andretti-Autosport), Danica Patrick (Andretti-Autosport), Raphael Matos (AFS), Sebastian Saavedra (Conquest) and Ana Beatriz (Dreyer & Reinbold) take up the inside lanes from rows eight to thirteen.
Vitor Meira only just missed out on the session part of qualifying. Although Meira just nudged ahead of Oriol Servia (16th, Newman-Haas), both fared far better than the following pack.
Indeed on the outside of row nine stands Ganassi’s Charlie Kimball – the debutante set a best lap nearly half-a-second outside of the cut-off point. Alex Tagliani pitted early in the session leaving him 20th, although the Canadian ran less than a tenth quicker than JR Hildebrand (22nd, Panther) and James Jakes (24th, Dale Coyne).
EJ Viso did not run in qualifying after a practice crash. The Venezuelan suffered arear brake failure, leaving the KV Racing pilot helpless on the way to his accident.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Will Power Penske 1m21.8958s 2. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti 1m22.2975s + 0.4017s 3. Scott Dixon Ganassi 1m22.3620s + 0.4662s 4. Ryan Briscoe Penske 1m22.3937s + 0.4979s 5. Graham Rahal Ganassi 1m22.4970s + 0.6012s 6. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 1m22.6103s + 0.7145s 7. Helio Castroneves Penske 1m22.6283s (Round 2) 8. Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold 1m22.6471s (Round 2) 9. Mike Conway Andretti 1m22.6986s (Round 2) 10. Takuma Sato KV 1m22.7379s (Round 2) 11. James Hinchcliffe Newman/Haas 1m22.8450s (Round 2) 12. Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne 1m22.9084s (Round 2) 13. Simona de Silvestro HVM 1m23.6807s (Group 1) 14. Vitor Meira Foyt 1m23.3196s (Group 2) 15. Oriol Servia Newman/Haas 1m23.4015s (Group 2) 16. Marco Andretti Andretti 1m23.7682s (Group 1) 17. Charlie Kimball Ganassi 1m23.7126s (Group 2) 18. Danica Patrick Andretti 1m24.0967s (Group 1) 19. Alex Tagliani Sam Schmidt 1m23.7801s (Group 2) 20. Raphael Matos AFS 1m24.1890s (Group 1) 21. Tony Kanaan KV 1m23.6838s (Group 1) 22. JR Hildebrand Panther 1m23.8443s (Group 2) 23. Sebastian Saavedra Conquest 1m24.2963s (Group 1) 24. James Jakes Dale Coyne 1m23.8482s (Group 2) 25. Ana Beatriz Dreyer & Reinbold 1m24.8246s (Group 1) 26. EJ Viso KV (Group 2)
Creative Commons / Will Pittenger
Victor Garcia took his first ever single seater victory at Barber Motorsports Park earlier this month.
The Spaniard led every lap on his way to the chequered flag, although Garcia could not escape the attentions of Stefan Wilson throughout the 40 lap event.
Indeed Garcia maintained his cool, despite three caution periods in the opening half of the race, including two in the opening five laps.Once the third and final caution had been cleared, Garcia continued to lead, and while Wilson stayed in his mirror’s, the race leader never appeared to be threatened.
Wilson did begin to show some signs of life in the final laps, but without doubt, this race belonged to Garcia. The Spaniard took the chequered flag, albeit only by three-tenths of-a-second ahead of Wilson, but it was enough to claim full points.
Finalising the podium places was Peter Dempsey. The Irishman found himself quite a distance behind the leading pair in the final half of the race, but with no challenge from 4th place man, Jorge Goncalvez, Dempsey had ample space to drive to the flag.
Dempsey arrived on the podiumm with some little luck. Ahead of him for much of the race had been a three-way battle between James Winslow, Anders Krohn and Conor Daly. Indeed Winslow and Daly had been running at the head of the group, until the pair clashed twice in the set of corners on the 22nd lap.
Whereas Daly would damage his front wing, Winslow spun slyly, collecting the innocent Krohn in the process, dropping Krohn to 9th and Winslow 10th. As for Daly, a pitstop for his front wing saw the Irish-American dropped to 11th, one lap down.
For Goncalvez, it had been a solid event – the Venezuelan had been driving with a broken leg and reached his top four placing with some smart driving, having started down on the seventh row. Mikael Grenier assumed 5th spot after a quiet run.
Josef Newgarden could not say the same though. Having had his best qualifying time disallowed, the American started in 7th place; however this went awry on the opening lap, when the Sam Schmidt Motorsport runner caused the opening caution period by pummelling the side of teammate, Estean Guerrieri. It was an accident that also innocently took Victor Carbone out of the race.
Newgarden fell to outside the top ten, but redeemed himself slightly with a great run to 6th, despite having two pitstops.
Bryan Herta Autosport’s Duarte Ferreira took 7th ahead of Juan Pablo Garcia (Jensen Autosport) following relatively anonymous days, with Krohn, Winslow and Daly taking up 9th, 10th and 11th places respectively.
Gustavo Yacaman was the final finisher in 12th. The Colombian came to a halt on the entry to turn 4 on the fourth lap thanks to a fuel pressure problem – the Team Moore Racing pilot would get going again following some pit work, but lost three laps in the process. The stricken Dallara brought out the second caution period.
David Ostella initiated the final safety car stint – the Canadian stopped on circuit 17 laps in, but with his car deemed to be in an unsuitable stop, the race was neutralised temporarily.
Garcia’s win boosted his title hopes, with the Spaniard now 3rd in the title hunt behind Dempsey and championship leader Newgarden. Dempsey’s second podium sees the Irishman a confident 2nd, although ten points behind Newgarden, who will be wishing for better weekend’s than this, should he want to maintain his lead.
Race Rating: 1.5 out of 5
2011 Firestone Indy Lights Race of Alabama (Round 2) Pos Driver Team Time/Gap 1 Victor Garcia Team Moore Racing 1:00:06.5806 2 Stefan Wilson Andretti-Autosport +0.3125 3 Peter Dempsey O2 Racing Technology +16.3249 4 Jorge Goncalvez Belardi Auto Racing +19.4966 5 Mikael Grenier O2 Racing Technology +22.0069 6 Josef Newgarden Sam Schmidt Motorsport +23.4130 7 Duarter Ferreira Bryan Herta Autosport +26.4520 8 Juan Pablo Garcia Jensen Motorsport +28.4079 9 Anders Krohn Belardi Auto Racing +32.9259 10 James Winslow Andretti-Autosport +33.3062 11 Conor Daly Sam Schmidt Motorsport +1 lap 12 Gustavo Yacaman Team Moore Racing +3 laps r David Ostella Jensen Motorsport +24 laps r Victor Carbone Sam Schmidt Motorsport +39 laps r Esteban Guerrieri Sam Schmidt Motorsport +40 laps 2011 Firestone Indy Lights (Round 2) Pos Driver Points 1 Josef Newgarden 80 2 Peter Dempsey 70 3 Victor Garcia 68 4 Conor Daly 59 5 Mikael Grenier 56 6 Stefan Wilson 54 7 Anders Krohn 52 8 Jorge Goncalvez 51 9 Duarte Ferreira 50 10 David Ostella 49
Creative Comons / Will Pittenger
Under blistering Californian sun, Mike Conway scored the first victory of his IndyCar career on the famous streets of Long Beach.
The Andretti-Autosport pilot made a late race burst through the top six to assume the lead in what was a largely processional event – a race that could so easily have belonged to Penske’s Ryan Briscoe.
Power Leading the Way
Neither Conway nor Briscoe led the early running though – that honour belonged to polesitter, Will Power. The Australian got away very well at the green flag, leading from Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti-Autosport), Conway, Oriol Servia (Newman-Haas) and Justin Wilson (Dreyer & Reinbold) in the early going; however the trailing group kept Power honest for several laps.
For a time, Briscoe did not even feature – having qualified in 12th, the Sydney native found himself mired in the pack for lap after lap and was unable to get by Newman-Haas rookie, James Hinchcliffe in 11th.
There were minor gains at the rear of the field with Dale Coyne’s Sebastien Bourdais climbing two spots to 19th by the fifth tour, yet beyond that, the status quo played out and the field became strung out.
Panther’s JR Hildebrand also moved up two places as moved from last to 25th, although the American received some little help from Ana Beatriz, who embarrassingly spun on the warm-up lap.
Another driver to spin was Wilson – although this spin was not of his doing. The Briton was running 5th until the 24th lap, when he was tipped around by Helio Castroneves at the final hairpin.
Anticipating a full course caution, Briscoe, Conway, Alex Tagliani (Sam Schmidt Motorsport) and Tony Kanaan (KV Racing) darted for the pits, cycling the trio to the rear of the pack – it would change the course of the race, with the race staying active as Wilson got going again.
For Tagliani and Kanaan – who had spent the race circling around the tail end of the top ten – this was needed to break the mould of the race.
Feeling the Chrome Horn
Whereas a mishap would see both Conway and Kanaan need to stop again shortly afterward, Briscoe emerged cleanly from the pits. Initially, it appeared to be a disastrous decision; however it turned to gold almost immediately, thanks to another spin in the final turn.
This time it was Simona de Silvestro rear-ended by an overzealous Paul Tracy – with the HVM runner stalled, the full course yellow flew. For his part, Tracy would earn a drive through penalty – a punishment exacerbated as he broke the speed limit in the pitlane, this time garnering a stop/go.
As the race neutralised, the rest of the field poured into the pits for tyres and fuel, bringing Briscoe to the fore behind Alex Tagliani, while Conway and Kanaan lingered in 23rd and 25th respectively.
The joy was somewhat short-lived for Tagliani – while the Canadian peddled his Honda-powered Dallara around the Long Beach circuit on hard Firestone rubber, those directly behind would be on softs.
Come the green flag, Tagliani would be a sitting duck; however the Sam Schmidt pilot would have to wait a little longer than usual for the race to get going again. Normally, it would not require six laps to recover a spun car – on this occasion the caution was slightly more complicated.
An Unusual Crash
While the pack received new rubber and ethanol, Andretti-Autosport’s Marco Andretti squeezed and then collided with Bourdais as they closed in on the pitlane exit. An unbelievable accident to see in this day and age – and oddly reminiscent of an accident that Michael Andretti (Marco’s father) had with Emerson Fittipaldi at Long Beach twenty years previously.
Once the race restarted on lap 32, Tagliani was easy meat for those behind. Although the tyres would last a little longer, the lack of grip his Firestone’s offered would see the Canadian fall backward.
As soon as Briscoe had forced his way into the lead on the green flag lap, the doors were open for others to follow suit. As Tagliani struggled, Hunter-Reay became racey, taking both Power and Tagliani in short succession to line up in 2nd, chasing down Briscoe, although by the end of the 34th tour, Power regained 3rd as Tagliani slipped further down the leaderboard.
Behind the Sam Schmidt pilot sat Castroneves. It had been a difficult season for the veteran Brazilian, now gaining an unwelcome reputation for punting competitors out of the way – Long Beach was no better for the Penske driver.
Although he had already escaped a penalty for hitting Wilson, the Brazilian was not having s stellar day, as his top five spot masked something of a blank drive. Unlike those ahead, Castroneves had no answer for Tagliani – once again the order appeared to be set.
Behind the Penske, there was also a static order – indeed title favourite Dario Franchitti “enjoyed” a prime view of Castroneves’ rear while 6th spot. As the Scot passed through, he was followed by Servia (7th), Scott Dixon (8th, Ganassi), Hinchcliffe (9th), Vitor Meira (10th, Foyt Enterprises) and EJ Viso (11th, KV Racing).
Moving on Through
Conway, meanwhile, had no bones about moving up the order. From the near the back, the Manchester pilot had already reached 20th by lap 33, before taking 19th a few laps later and was knocking on the door of the top fifteen as the 50 lap mark approached. In a further ten laps, Conway had broken into the top twelve.
With the second round of pitstops just beyond that point, fortunes were bound to change for a few.
With the second round of stops closing in, Briscoe pulled out a four-second gap over Hunter-Reay, with Power lagging a further second behind and come lap 57, Briscoe was the first to bite the bullet. It gave Hunter-Reay a temporary lead before he stopped two laps later, while Power pitted on the 60th tour.
As Briscoe circulated, Hunter-Reay closed the gap, only for Power to jump the Andretti-Autosport pilot – in the blink of an eyelid; Penske had retaken the first two positions.
KV Racing’s co-owner, Jimmy Vasser, must at this stage be wishing for a similar result; alas Viso was not going to provide it for him – sadly, yet another broken Dallara was their Long Beach reward. The Venezuelan had attempted a move around the outside of Andretti-Autosport’s Danica Patrick; however as Viso squeezed Patrick, the pair bumped wheels sending the KV car hard into the barrier.
Surprisingly, the race stayed green, but not for long as the race was neutralised once again – on this occasion, a smash at the far end of the circuit halted proceedings as Wilson’s Dreyer & Reinbold machine snapped away, slamming a tyre barrier.
It would be the end of a difficult day for the Englishman, whose tough start to 2011 continues apace. Wilson would eventually rejoin following repairs, albeit several laps adrift.
Instant Calamity
The emergence of the green on lap 67 was swift, only for it to be withdrawn just as quickly. It was, if anything, a lap of sheer calamity around Long Beach.
Starting with Castroneves, the Brazilian battled with Servia into the first turn for 4th spot, only to slide into the rear of team mate Power. Maintaining his guile, Servia spun to miss the pirouetting Penske’s, only to be clipped by Dixon as he rejoined – Servia escaped unharmed, but Dixon dragged his hobbling Ganassi to the pits for repairs.
While one Ganassi limped, another was also in the wars – chasing down KV Racing’s Takuma Sato was Graham Rahal. The American had been running on the periphery of the top twelve throughout the day after starting 16th; however on this restart, Rahal was not a clean, sliding into the rear of Sato’s Lotus-sponsored machine.
Rahal, carrying a wounded front wing and punctured tyre pitted swiftly – Sato, on the other hand, slid helplessly into the turn four barrier, his rear tyre slashed…
Ironically, just as Sato settled into the barrier, the Japanese pilot would be collected in a completely separate crash only moments later. Upon the exit of turn three, Conquest’s Sebastian Saavedra connected with another Ganassi runner, Charlie Kimball.
Luckily for Saavedra, his Dallara slid into the run off area – he would lose positions, but nothing else; Kimball, however, hit the rear of Sato, as his engine gave its final breath.
As the dust settled, yellow flags were waving across the course and once again, a status quo was in action. For their troubles Power dropped to 15th, Saavedra to 16th, Rahal to 17th, yet all stayed on the lead lap, unlike Sato who lost four laps stuck in the tyres.
Controversially, Castroneves fell to 14th place, but was adjudged to have lost enough positions to not warrant a penalty.
Green conditions returned on lap 70 with Briscoe ahead of Hunter-Reay, Franchitti, Tagliani, Hinchcliffe and Conway across the line and while the leading trio held station, Conway was already making his moves.
In fact, by turn 1 he had moved to 6th – a poor restart from Tagliani saw Hinchcliffe take the Sam Schmidt racer, while Conway squeezed between both of them!!
That would become 3rd with a move on Franchitti a few turns later and 2nd as Hunter-Reay’s gearbox gave up on the back stretch, taking the American out of the race. It was a deeply frustrating moment for the Long Beach winner from last year – a solid race would deliver little in 2011.
Conway, however, would not be stopped as he danced his Dallara around the tight and twisty circuit – the lead would not be kept from him for long and come the 71st tour, Conway seize the initiative and an open door to push passed Briscoe.
No Answer
From here on in, no one would have an answer. For the remaining fourteen laps, Mike Conway pulled out a six second gap, only relaxing when he had done just enough.
During what was a sterling performance that saw the Englishman hold a solid top-three position, dipping to the rear in the early stages, before pulling himself back up through the order with precision and guile, nothing was going to stop Conway on this day.
An incredible feat when one remembers his frightening accident at Indianapolis last year and the long recovery from his injuries.
Ryan Briscoe and Dario Franchitti secured 2nd and 3rd places respectively, although the pairing cut it fine – despite being some way behind Conway at the flag, the pair finished only 0.4 of-a-second apart. Briscoe can take some consolidation in garnering the bonus for most laps led, but when the victory falls away like that in the late stages, disappointment can still mount.
Franchitti had a quiet day by his standards. While never completely out of the picture, the three-time IndyCar Champion looking like threatening for the lead, which is something of a rarity. The podium finish was still enough to lift Franchitti to the top of the points standings.
James Hinchcliffe pulled off one of the surprise results of the day. In only his second IndyCar event, the Canadian took 4th spot after showing excellent pace previously at Barber.
Alex Tagliani made it two Canadians in the top-five as he brought his Sam Schmidt machine home ahead of Oriol Servia (Newman-Haas). The Spaniard recovered slowly to 6th after losing half dozen positions as he avoided the Castroneves/Power affair, leaving Servia a good fourth in the points.
Danica Patrick enjoyed a stellar day in her Andretti-Autosport machine. Her steady, no-frills approach to street racing serving her well, as she took 7th, despite starting on the tenth row.
In a late race fight to the flag, Patrick kept a one second advantage over former team mate Tony Kanaan. The Brazilian struggled to recover from his early race stops that left him mired at the rear of the field with little to play with.
Vitor Meira gave AJ Foyt Enterprises another solid result in 9th. Meira pipped the recovering Power to the flag by less than half-a-second, while Raphael Matos and Helio Castroneves assumed 11th and 12th respectively one second back.
Graham Rahal made little headway following his final pitstop for a new front wing. The American took 13th in front of Sebastian Saavedra (14th) and James Jakes (15th). It was a sad result for both Saavedra and Jakes – the Colombian lost a lot of spots following his clash with Charlie Kimball, while a late race spin robbed Jakes of a top-twelve.
Paul Tracy and JR Hildebrand finished 16th and 17th and the last cars on the lead lap, while Scott Dixon came home one lap adrift, ahead of the twice lapped Ana Beatriz. Simona de Silvestro and Takuma Sato also took flag, several laps down.
Race Rating: 2 out of 5
2011 IZOD IndyCar Series (Round 3)
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Mike Conway Andretti 1h53m11.1000s (85 laps)
2. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 6.3203s
3. Dario Franchitti Ganassi + 6.7163s
4. James Hinchcliffe Newman/Haas + 9.1705s
5. Alex Tagliani Sam Schmidt + 16.0177s
6. Oriol Servia Newman/Haas + 16.8966s
7. Danica Patrick Andretti + 17.5016s
8. Tony Kanaan KV + 18.9655s
9. Vitor Meira Foyt + 19.4723s
10. Will Power Penske + 19.8909s
11. Raphael Matos AFS + 20.4660s
12. Helio Castroneves Penske + 20.7784s
13. Graham Rahal Ganassi + 21.3464s
14. Sebastian Saavedra Conquest + 23.1137s
15. James Jakes Dale Coyne + 24.5926s
16. Paul Tracy Dragon + 1m03.7578s
17. JR Hildebrand Panther + 1m10.9001s
18. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 1 lap
19. Ana Beatriz Dreyer & Reinbold + 2 laps
20. Simona de Silvestro HVM + 3 laps
21. Takuma Sato KV + 4 laps
Retirements:
Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold 78 laps
Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti 72 laps
Charlie Kimball Ganassi 66 laps
EJ Viso KV 59 laps
Marco Andretti Andretti 37 laps
Sebastien Bourdais Dale Coyne 27 laps
2011 IZOD IndyCar Series (Round 3)
Pos Driver Team Points
1 Dario Franchitti Ganassi 122
2 Will Power Penske 115
3 Tony Kanaan KV Racing 87
4 Oriol Servia Newman-Haas 80
5 Mike Conway Andretti-Autosport 74
6 Alex Tagliani Sam Schmidt 73
7 Scott Dixon Ganassi 66
8 Ryan Briscoe Penske 66
9 Simona de Silvestro HVM 66
10 Vitor Meira Foyt Enterprises 64
11 Raphael Matos AFS Racing 57
12 Danica Patrick Andretti-Autosport 57
© Creative Commons / Will Pittenger
Felipe Nasr strolled to a controlled victory in the final race of this weekend’s British Formula 3 round at Oulton Park.
The Brazilian put his Volkswagen-powered Carlin on pole, jumping off the line with aplomb, leaving 2nd place Lucas Foresti (Fortec) to fight off the advances of T-Sport’s Menasheh Idafar.
Nasr spent the early stages slowly extending his lead to three seconds – a gap that would remain until the close of the race. Foresti for his pleasure pulled away from Idafar, to give himself a comfortable lead over the 3rd place man, although Idafar could not say the same himself.
Gunning for the extra two points, Foresti also claimed the race’s fastest lap.
Indeed the T-Sport driver found himself under severe pressure for much of the race, especially in the later stages as his handling became more obtuse.
For much of the 26 lap duration, the Anglo-Bahraini pilot held off Rupert Svendsen-Cook (Carlin), William Buller (Fortec), Jazeman Jaafar (Carlin), Harry Tincknell (Fortec) and Scott Pye (Double R).
Jaafar beat Buller off the line, but the six-car battle would remain static thereafter, although covered by only four seconds.
With relatively few overtaking opportunities at Oulton Park, no passes were made once the group had settled in, with Idafar taking the podium and Pye coming home 8th.
The fight for 9th place was a similar affair with Pietro Fantin just pipping Carlos Huertas (10th, Carlin) and Adderly Fong (11th, Sino Vision) to the flag.
Riki Christodoulou was unable to reproduce this morning’s performance on his way 12th spot; however the Hitech runner did more than enough to beat Pipo Derani (13th, Double R) to the line by a few seconds.
Fahmi Ilyas (Fortec) pressed Sino Vision’s Hywel Lloyd to the end, yet it was Lloyd that won out, with Yann Cunha following the pair home.
Bart Hylkema won out in the Rookie Class. The Dutchman dropped behind Kotaru Sakurai early on, but re-passed on the sixth lap, before running off into the distance.
Jack Harvey came home a disappointing 19th following a mid-race pitstop for an electrical problem. He fared better than his Carlin teammate, Kevin Magnussen, who pitted twice (on laps 2 and 13), only to retire the second time around.
Results - 26 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW 39m09.433s
2. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc + 3.394s
3. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-VW + 22.570s
4. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW + 23.124s
5. William Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc + 23.931s
6. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW + 24.537s
7. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Merc + 25.225s
8. Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Merc + 26.319s
9. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW + 30.052s
10. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW + 30.517s
11. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 31.375s
12. Riki Christodoulou Hitech Dallara-VW + 34.346s
13. Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Merc + 38.617s
14. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 42.423s
15. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Dallara-Merc + 42.797s
16. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-VW + 43.709s
17. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-Mugen + 1m22.290s
18. Kotaro Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen + 1 lap
19. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW + 2 laps
Retirements:
Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW 11 laps
© Creative Commons / Will Pittenger
Riki Christodoulou won the second race at Oulton Park for the British Formula 3 Series.
The Briton led every lap after poleman Kevin Magnussen stalled on the line. It was not an easy win by any means for the Hitech Racing man.
Indeed, Christodoulou was kept honest for the duration by teammate Pietro Fantin. The Hitech runner was, quite reasonably, pleased:
“The start was pretty good. It was made a little easier with Magnussen stalling, but I just got my head down and kept looking forward. Pietro was pretty quick behind me, but I managed to keep the gap stable. He was quicker in the first sector, I was quicker in the middle, so it balanced out over the lap.”
Fantin jumped Harry Tincknell (Fortec) and the stalled Magnussen off the line to take 2nd, leading to a sparing match with Christodoulou. For much of the race, the leading pair were only separated by one second, but Christodoulou held his nerve and the lead to celebrate his first victory of the year and his first Formula 3 win since 2009.
Fantin, meanwhile, picked up bonus points for the fastest race lap, registering a 1:28.840 on the 9th tour.
“My start was really good. I got two positions. I kept my pace behind Riki, but I knew it was hard to overtake around here in Oulton Park, so I got the fastest lap for two more points. I start P11 (in race 3), but I will keep pushing and try to to overtake and maybe I can score some more points”
Behind the front pair was Fortec’s Harry Tincknell. The Formula Renault graduate took his fist podium in what was only his fifth race in Formula 3 after a steady drive – a very encouraging result.
“Testing hadn’t gone too well for us for various reasons. The team have worked really hard to sort things out, so this is very encouraging. There’s still so much more to come. I’m making a few mistakes and there are things I need to work on with the Fortec team and I’m really thankful to the guys. I’m hoping for a lot more over the season.”
Tincknell kept Carlin trio Jazeman Jaafar (4th), Felipe Nasr (5th) and Carlos Huertas (6th) at bay, while race one winner Lucas Foresti came home in 7th place. The battle for 4th backwards was relatively close in terms of times, but the real fight was for 5th as Nasr, Foresti and Huertas engaged in a race long battle.
There was a gap of four seconds to Rupert-Svendsen-Cook, who held off Scott Pye to assume 8th place, while Jack Harvey rounded out the top ten.
Hywel Lloyd was the first runner outside the points in 11th spot. The Sino Vision racer led a gaggle of cars across the line, starting with T-Sport’s Yann Cunha. Although the Brazilian fell only one second shy of Lloyd, the relatively few opportunities for overtaking at Oulton Park locked Cunha behind Lloyd’s Mercedes-powered Dallara chassis.
William Buller (Fortec) came home 13th just ahead of Pipo Derani (Double R).
Fortec’s Fahmi Ilyas crossed the line ahead of Adderly Fong. The Canadian/Chinese driver had been running 12th early in the proceedings, until a fifth lap spin that left Fong fighting for scraps.
Bart Hylkema took 17th and won the Rookie Class in the process once again, although his sole competitor, Kotaru Sakurai crashed after eleven laps.
The only finisher beyond Hylkema was the pole-sitting Magnussen, who not only stalled, also took to the pits with three laps to go for a drive through. Menasheh Idafar crashed out on the opening lap.
Results - 13 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Riki Christodoulou Hitech Dallara-VW 19m27.635s
2. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW + 2.403s
3. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Merc + 9.135s
4. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW + 10.449s
5. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW + 11.316s
6. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW + 12.589s
7. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc + 13.172s
8. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW + 17.690s
9. Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Merc + 18.370s
10. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW + 21.904s
11. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 23.114s
12. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-VW + 24.163s
13. William Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc + 25.429s
14. Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Merc + 25.870s
15. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Dallara-Merc + 30.633s
16. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 31.223s
17. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-Mugen + 41.949s
18. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW + 51.320s
Retirements:
Kotaro Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen 11 laps
Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-VW 0 laps
Provisional championship standings
International Class:
1 Nasr 72 points
2 Jaafar 52
3 Foresti 42
3 Huertas 42
5 Fantin 29
6 Christodoulou 27
Rookie class:
1 Hylkema 67
2 Sakurai 15
© Creative Commons / Will Pittenger
Lucas Foresti took a dominant lights to flag victory in the opening race of this weekend’s British F3 round at Oulton Park.
The Fortec runner won by a startling 18 seconds over Monza double-race winner, Felipe Nasr, with Jazeman Jaafar a further two seconds adrift in 3rd.
Initially, it was Menasheh Idafar that separated Foresti and Nasr – indeed Idafar made a startling move around Nasr on the opening to give the Bahrain national 2nd place.
While Idafar held off Nasr, Foresti cleared off into the distance, taking the lap record in the process on the sixth tour. The gap suddenly became much larger when Idafar slid off at the Old Hall corner, clouting the barrier and ending his race.
It would leave Nasr in the runner-up spot, unable to match Foresti, yet not feeling pressure from the chasing Jaafar – a status that would remain for the duration.
Carlos Huertas made it three Carlin machines in the top four. The Colombian passed Scott Pye off the line to take 5th, assuming 4th following Idafar’s crash.
Huertas was not only driver to pass Pye off the line. The Australian was poor away, letting Pietro Fantin (Hitech), Harry Tincknell (Fortec), Riki Christodoulou (Hitech) and Kevin Magnussen (Carlin) through.
Fantin and Tincknell assumed an unchallenged 5th and 6th place finishes, while Christodoulou, Magnussen and Pye engaged in a race long battle for 7th, 8th and 9th that would see the trio split by a mere two seconds.
Rupert Svendsen-Cook rounded out the top-ten – a solid drive guaranteeing a point for the Formula Renault UK graduate.
Jack Harvey had something of a silent race to 11th, although the same could not be said of Hywel Lloyd (12th, Sino Vision) and William Buller (14th, Fortec). The pair battled for much of the race with Lloyd making his red and yellow machine wide where he could.
Thanks to a penalty brought over from Monza, Buller started 17th, but made slow progress on a circuit where overtaking is difficult. With two laps remaining, Buller would make one final gasp for 12th, leaving the County Down man open to a move by T-Sport’s Yann Cunha.
Fahmi Ilyas came home 15th in his Mercedes-powered Fortec machine, with only Sino Vision’s Adderly Fong behind the Malaysian.
Bart Hylkema won the Rookie Class. The Dutch pilot cross the line with nearly forty seconds advantage over Kotaru Sakurai – the Japanese runner was lapped by Foresti; something not often witnessed in these short races.
Pipo Derani was the only other race retirement. His Double-R Racing-Mercedes drew over the eighth lap in a sickly manner, before retreating from the track prior to midway.
Race Rating: 2 out of 5
Results - 21 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc 31m19.106s
2. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW + 18.362s
3. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW + 20.043s
4. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW + 24.677s
5. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW + 25.839s
6. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Merc + 27.110s
7. Riki Christodoulou Hitech Dallara-VW + 29.882s
8. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW + 30.644s
9. Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Merc + 31.168s
10. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW + 34.275s
11. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW + 39.683s
12. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 43.085s
13. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-VW + 43.679s
14. William Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc + 45.406s
15. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Dallara-Merc + 46.872s
16. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 51.875s
17. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-Mugen + 1m11.679s
18. Kotaru Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen + 1 lap
Retirements:
Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Merc 8 laps
Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-VW 7 laps
Drivers Standings
International Class
1 Felipe Nasr 66
2 Jazeman Jaafar 45
3 Lucas Foresti 38
4 Carlos Huertas 37
5 William Buller 24
6 Rupert Svendsen-Cook 22
7 Pietro Fantin 18
8 Riki Christodoulou 17
9 Kevin Magnussen 12
10 Hywel Lloyd 8
11 Harry Tincknell 6
12 Menasheh Idafar 4
Rookie Class
1 Bart Hylkema 55
2 Kotaru Sakurai 15
© Creative Commons / Will Pittenger
Felipe Nasr registered his first pole of the 2011 British Formula 3 season.
The Brazilian set his quickest your of 1:27.960 – a mere five-thousandths ahead of Fortec’s Lucas Foresti. Both the quickest times came late in the session.
Nasr and Foresti also share the front row for the Saturday race, albeit in opposite positions, with the Fortec pilot assuming the pole for the first race.
Menasheh Idafar secured 3rd on the grid alongside Rupert Svendsen-Cook in his Carlin-Volkswagen. Svendsen-Cook brought out one of the sessions two red flags, thanks to a mid-session off, but the Briton had done enough to pip Jazeman Jaafar (5th, Carlin) and William Buller (Fortec) on the time sheets.
Buller’s time would have given him a 6th place start; however that will become 16th, following a penalty thanks to his Monza antics.
Next up are Harry Tincknell (Fortec) and Kevin Magnussen (Carlin); however Magnussen missed much of the session following an early qualifying accident having set the early pace. Scott Pye (Double R) and Carlos Huertas (Carlin) recorded the 9th and 10th quickest times respectively ahead of Pietro Fantin, Pipo Derani and Jack Harvey.
Hitech’s Riki Christodoulou had a tough time in the session, with a fastest time some 0.945 shy of Nasr; however the Briton had quite a gap over the Sino Vision duo of Hywel Lloyd and Adderly Fong.
Fahmi Ilyas took 17th in his Mercedes-powered Fortec machine, with Yann Cunha the last of the International Class runners.
Bart Hylkema was the leading Rookie Class pilot – the T-Sport pilot had a 4.7 second advantage over his sole class rival, Kotaru Sakurai, although the Japanese youngster lost his timing unit after only two laps.
Round 2; Race one grid: Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m28.165 2. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW 1m28.207 + 0.042s 3. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-VW 1m28.312 + 0.147s 4. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW 1m28.392 + 0.227s 5. Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Merc 1m28.559 + 0.394s 6. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW 1m28.593 + 0.428s 7. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m28.655 + 0.490s 8. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW 1m28.829 + 0.664s 9. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW 1m28.833 + 0.668s 10. Riki Christodoulou Hitech Dallara-VW 1m28.909 + 0.744s 11. Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Merc 1m28.922 + 0.757s 12. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW 1m29.002 + 0.837s 13. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW 1m29.512 + 1.347s 14. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m29.515 + 1.350s 15. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 1m29.563 + 1.398s 16. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 1m29.566 + 1.401s 17. William Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m28.598 + 0.433s 18. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-VW 1m29.739 + 1.574s 19. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-Mugen 1m30.409 + 2.244s 20. Kotaru Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen 1m40.832 + 12.667s Round 2; Race three grid: Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW 1m27.960s 2. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m27.965s + 0.005s 3. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-VW 1m28.244s + 0.284s 4. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW 1m28.331s + 0.371s 5. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW 1m28.382s + 0.422s 6. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m28.417s + 0.457s 7. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW 1m28.481s + 0.521s 8. Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Merc 1m28.491s + 0.531s 9. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW 1m28.503s + 0.543s 10. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW 1m28.664s + 0.704s 11. Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Merc 1m28.693s + 0.733s 12. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW 1m28.874s + 0.914s 13. Riki Christodoulou Hitech Dallara-VW 1m28.905s + 0.945s 14. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 1m29.158s + 1.198s 15. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 1m29.399s + 1.439s 16. William Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m28.403s + 0.443s* 17. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m29.410s + 1.450s 18. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-VW 1m29.596s + 1.636s 19. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-Mugen 1m30.054s + 2.094s 20. Kotaru Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen 1m34.709s + 6.749s *10-place penalty from incident at Monza
Oulton Park. © Creative Commons / Will Pittenger
With the second round of the 2011 British Formula 3 Series at Oulton Park just around the corner, a single day test was run at the Cheshire circuit.
Carlin’s Carlos Huertas topped the day’s running ahead of Scott Pye (Double R). The Colombian enjoyed an advantage of one-tenth following his best of 1:29.238, set in the morning.
Indeed the entire field finished the day very close, with just over half-a-second covering the fastest eleven machines.
T-Sport’s Menasheh Idafar headed a trio of Carlin runners including Monza race winners Rupert Svendsen-Cook (4th) and Felipe Nasr (6th); both of whom squeezed young Dane, Kevin Magnussen.
Lucas Foresti (7th, Fortec), Jazeman Jaafar (8th, Carlin), Pietro Fantin (9th, Hitech), Harry Tincknell (10th, Fortec) and Pipo Derani (11th, Double R) were all separated by less than one-tenth following a competitive day.
William Buller (Fortec) and Jack Harvey (Carlin) completed the day just under one second shy of Huertas, in 12th and 13th respectively.
Hitech’s Riki Christodoulou sandwiched the Sino Vision pair of Adderly Fong (14th) and Hywel Lloyd (16th), while Yann Cunha and Fahmi Ilyas brought up the rear of the International Class.
Unsurprisingly, Bart Hylkema outpaced Kotaru Sakurai in Rookie Class, with Hylkema 2.2 seconds faster.
Bruno Mendez did not test and may not compete for the rest of the season. The Hitech runner struggled at Monza, condemning the programme to end earlier than expected.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW 1m29.238s 2. Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Merc 1m29.334s + 0.096s 3. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-VW 1m29.355s + 0.117s 4. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW 1m29.510s + 0.272s 5. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW 1m29.517s + 0.279s 6. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW 1m29.531s + 0.293s 7. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m29.686s + 0.448s 8. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW 1m29.744s + 0.506s 9. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW 1m29.749s + 0.511s 10. Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m29.757s + 0.519s 11. Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Merc 1m29.759s + 0.521s 12. William Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m29.971s + 0.733s 13. Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-VW 1m30.213s + 0.975s 14. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 1m30.291s + 1.053s 15. Riki Christodoulou Hitech Dallara-VW 1m30.405s + 1.167s 16. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 1m30.473s + 1.235s 17. Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-VW 1m31.100s + 1.862s 18. Fahmi Ilyas Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m31.474s + 2.236s 19. Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-Mugen 1m31.836s + 2.598s 20. Kotaru Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen 1m33.966s + 4.728s
© Creative Commons / Will Pittenger
Lewis Hamilton won a thrilling Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday with a late race attack on Championship leader Sebastian Vettel.
The 2008 World Champion played a canny strategy to break Red Bull’s string of four consecutive victories – and to raise the stakes in the title hunt.
Cool Under Pressure
It was not all plain sailing for the McLaren man. Only moments prior to the start of the event, Hamilton’s pitcrew were scrambling around his car in the garage as a fuel overfill threatened to ruin the day before it had even started.
With Vettel on pole and the second McLaren of Jenson Button situated on the front row the grid, Hamilton was locked out from the front.
The first ray of light shun early on for Hamilton. As the red lights dimmed, Vettel bogged down and the McLaren pair – led by Button – slotted passed the pole man, despite the Red Bull driver vigorously attempting to hold off the silver duo.
Vettel very nearly even fell behind a somewhat revitalised Nico Rosberg in 4th place, although the Champion held off the Mercedes in a sturdy manner.
Behind Rosberg, the Ferrari’s swapped positions off the line with Felipe Massa jumping Fernando Alonso, as the Scuderia machines embarked on an early battle with Rosberg.
Vettel and Alonso were not the only pilots gobbled up at the start – both Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) and Sergio Perez (Sauber) slipped down the order at the lights, with the pair falling to rear of the midfield, as they joined a tussle for position with the Williams’.
Buemi’s teammate, Jaime Alguersuari did have a better start; however once again the Toro Rosso displayed poor early race pace, with the Spaniard falling five places to 12th in his opening stint.
Alguersuari would stop early for a second set of tyres – only for his right rear to work its way loose after only a few corners. The 21-year-old carried on for just a few corners, before pulling to the side of the track, his day done. Understandably, the Spaniard was not amused:
“From quite early on I was struggling with grip from the rear tyres, so we decided to come in earlier than planned… immediately after leaving the pits, I felt the car was very unstable and then I lost a wheel nut and the wheel came off, so there was nothing I could do. After my best qualifying position I was hoping for better… but it was not to be.”
Getting Stuck In
Rosberg’s Mercedes teammate Michael Schumacher also found himself embroiled in an early battle for position.
Having lined-up on the seventh row, the seven-time World Champion bolted off the grid to assume 9th amongst the Force India’s of Paul di Resta (7th) and Adrian Sutil (8th), while Kamui Kobayashi in his Ferrari-powered Sauber stalked in 10th place.
Another low starting driver was Red Bull’s Mark Webber. While his teammate fought out front with the McLaren’s, an ill-considered qualifying strategy left the Australian mired in 18th place.
With a malfunctioning KERS unit and little else to lose, Red Bull placed the frustrated Webber on an alternate strategy, starting him on the hard Pirelli tyres. It would later prove to be an inspired decision, if something of a slow burning one at that.
Indeed, Webber’s first stint would only seem him climb to 15th with moves on Pastor Maldonado (start), Perez (lap 2) and Rubens Barrichello (lap 4), but as his tyres aged dramatically, so the Australian lose grip and positions. By the 11th tour, the Red Bull man had already changed to his second set of Pirelli’s – a decision that would define his race.
One driver that started a little too well was Hispania Racing’s Vitantonio Liuzzi. The Italian jumped the start, allowing him to fly passed the Lotus’ and the Virgin’s; however a seventh lap drive through penalty would ensure Liuzzi fell to the back once again.
The Simplest of Mistakes
Up front, the leading trio were also readying themselves for urgent pit work. Button, who times were beginning to drop slightly, still had both Hamilton and Vettel very much in his mirrors.
As the race leader readied for his stop, Vettel moved passed Hamilton, only for the reigning Champion to follow Button into the pitlane. Both McLaren and Red Bull mechanics lined the garages, yet in a moment of inexplicable brainfade, Button pulled momentarily into the Red Bull box, before being quickly ushered on by the red and blue coloured workers.
Whereas Vettel lost minimal time, Button’s lapse lost him precious time – and probably the Grand Prix itself. In the mix-up, Vettel jumped Button. Vettel couldn’t help, but be somewhat surprised at the error:
“It was a surprise that Jenson came into my garage in front of me – I hoped he would carry on. We had something similar two years ago with a Toro Rosso – I don’t know what attracts people to stop in our garage! Fortunately it had no effect and the guys kept their heads. We came out in the lead and tried hard to stay on two stops.”
When Hamilton stopped a lap later, the extra tour in ageing tyres relegated the 2008 World Champion behind the Vettel / Button battle.
Indeed Hamilton even lost out to Rosberg and Massa. The silver Mercedes crew received Rosberg early – very early in fact, with the German pitting on the 12th tour and Massa three laps later.
Alonso stayed out until lap 16, only to drop to 9th spot, behind Schumacher – it was a sweet development for the veteran, who had stopped on lap 11 to avail of a clearer road. For Alonso, he was playing a risky strategy that was not playing out as expected.
Unwilling to sit contented behind Schumacher, the unwavering Spaniard pushed the Mercedes man hard and Schumacher defended expertly, cutting Alonso off at every conceivable point without descending to blocking. For several laps, Alonso forced the issue, finally taking the position from the Mercedes pilot on the 25th lap.
All this gave Rosberg the lead of the race – a lead Rosberg handled beautifully. Despite the fact that Vettel was within distraction distance, the Mercedes never wavered and even held the Red Bull at a four-second gap for some time.
A strategy not coming to fruition was Nick Heidfeld’s. Having started down in 16th, the Renault pilot stayed out for a long stint to gain clear air and track position, only for his Pirelli’s to fall away quickly.
Having risen as high as 4th early on, Heidfeld began to lose out to the recent stoppers with first Vettel and Button getting by (lap 15) and then Massa and Hamilton one lap later. By the time Heidfeld received his pit in signal, Schumacher and Alonso had also forced their way by, leaving the Renault squad to rue their miscue.
Renault also kept their second driver, Vitaly Petrov on track for a long opening stint. The Russian started the race in 10th, but had reached 2nd by the time his tyre performance dropped off.
Petrov dived for new tyres on the 18th lap as it became clear his pace was disintegrating; Heidfeld did the same upon the next circulation. As a measure of how much time was lost, both dropped behind the determined Webber, as the Australian now knocked on the door of the top ten, with the still battling Sutil and Kobayashi ahead.
Playing the Tyre Game
Whereas the Renault’s were running long, Button was on a clear three-stopper. The former-Brawn pilot made for the pitlane on lap 25 – finding the correct box on this occasion – with Rosberg, Hamilton, Webber and Schumacher also stopping the following time around.
Vettel on the other hand stayed out until the 32nd lap as Red Bull attempted to make the two-stop strategy work, but with a further twenty-fours of the Shanghai circuit remaining, it would be a drastic gamble. It would hand the race lead to Massa, albeit it temporarily.
The Ferrari two-stop race was also beginning to unravel, although the degradation was more apparent for Alonso. Having wrung his Pirelli’s while battling with Schumacher, the Spaniard began to fall back dramatically – first losing 3rd to Rosberg (lap 28), before succumbing to Button (lap 29) and Hamilton (lap 30).
Eventually Alonso took new tyres on lap 33, with the slowing Massa one lap later, but with much of the race left, few were confident.
It was especially unfortunate for Massa – the Brazilian having looked firmly in control of his teammate for the first time since Hockenheim last year… Yet where Alonso emerged in 10th spot and into (yet another) battle with Petrov, Massa rejoined 5th ahead of the revitalised Schumacher.
Paul di Resta was another driver whose tyre strategy had gone awry. The Force India driver ran well in the early laps, before pitting on lap 12. The Scot had reached the top four, until his Pirelli’s lost the guts of their life, gifting positions.
A second stop on lap 33 would drop di Resta out of the points for a time; however the rookie made several elegant moves to prove once again that he is a talent for the future.
The Renault’s also fell down the order, after a brief return to the points – again led by Petrov. The French squad were clearly struggling on their two-stop strategy, leaving both Petrov and Heidfeld at the mercy of their competitors once their second set of tyres had “fallen off the cliff”.
Both Hamilton and Webber seemed impervious to the perils of degrading Pirelli rubber. Despite being on shorter stints, the pair pushed hard – very hard in fact – as Hamilton chased the lead and Webber some points.
Vettel’s stop had promoted Hamilton to 3rd behind Button (2nd) and Rosberg (leading) – unwilling to hang around and play nice, Hamilton took Button on lap 36, with a forceful move into the first turn, before pitting for the final time three laps later.
Button and Rosberg also committed to their last stops (laps 38 and 40, returning 5th and 3rd respectively) – with the final stages approaching, Vettel and Massa were beginning to feel the pain of failing rubber, while Rosberg, Hamilton and Button charged hard on their fresh sets.
After 40 laps, the top five were still only 7 seconds apart. In the background, the recently stopped Webber, now found himself 6th after dispatching Schumacher and Alonso and was also closing in on the leading group with haste.
After the disasters in Malaysia, Hamilton was now sensing Far East redemption. As the gap to Vettel shrunk ever more, Hamilton continued to push harder and harder.
Swift moves on Rosberg (lap 42) and Massa (lap 45) brought the 2008 World Champion to within sights of Vettel – this was now a straight fight for the race win. In a few short laps, the gap between pair lessoned – initially the gap was six seconds prior to passing Rosberg and Massa; but with the silver and red machines dispatched, that shortened to 3.4 seconds on the 46th lap, 1.6 seconds on lap 49 and barely half-a-second a single tour later. This was on.
Stamping Authority
Seeing his target just ahead with only six laps remaining, Lewis Hamilton attempted to force the issue into the turn 14 DRS section, but to no avail.
As the pair crossed the start / finish line to begin the next lap, Hamilton briefly looks to the inside of turn 1, as he had with Button several laps previously; yet Vettel – with no silver allegiances – fended the Briton off. He couldn’t do so for much longer and the game changing pass came on the 52nd lap.
With less than five laps to run, Hamilton pushed the struggling and desperate Vettel, letting the German run slightly off line in the flowing turn 7/8 section – it would be enough.
Seeing an opening – however brief – the McLaren driver ducked through taking the lead and the win. In Shanghai, Hamilton was peerless and this was a win that will be long remembered in the house of McLaren.
“It’s rare to have battles like the ones we saw today; you really had to think about the situation, and I loved that challenge, but having to overtake people made things so much sweeter. At the end, it was tough to get past Sebastian – even though he was getting slower, he never looked like getting out of shape. It was always going to be difficult to follow him onto the back straight, so I wanted to get him before then – I wasn’t expecting to overtake where I did, but I had the grip to keep ahead, and I made it stick.”
For Sebastian Vettel, 2nd place was as good as the Red Bull could manage. While there is no doubting the ultimate pace of the RB7, strategy let them down today.
“The middle stint should really have been a little longer, but at the end of the race I found myself out on the hard tyre and could see Lewis coming closer and closer. I tried to defend as best I could, without losing too much time to the guys behind, but he found his way past. It was a difficult race and we had a couple of mistakes, but we still finished second and third, which is a strong result.”
Shy of the front pair, Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa and Jenson Button had their own little squabble for 3rd, but each had their own problems – Rosberg was found to be lean on fuel after pushing harder early in the race, Massa’s tyres were shot, while Button’s Pirelli’s were on the way out.
With both Rosberg and Massa were in dire straits, Button took both players to assume 3rd, but there was a further threat coming from behind as Mark Webber, too, continued to charge. The Australian scythed by Massa (lap 52), Rosberg two laps later, before securing the final podium spot on the penultimate lap, with a decisive move on Button.
It is with some irony that the two-stopper ultimate let Vettel down, Mark Webber’s three-stop strategy helped him to move from 18th to the podium.
“To see P17 on your board after 15 laps you think it might not happen, but suddenly I felt very comfortable with the car. I had a few sets of tyres left from qualifying, so that helped …it’s a back to back race and we haven’t had the smoothest run with my car, but I haven’t given up.”
Button may have disappointed to lose the 3rd spot, but an element of prevailed in the Rosberg / Massa camps, as both beat their more illustrious teammate.
Indeed Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher claimed 7th and 8th respectively, but while it is not a result that will suit the Spaniard, it was probably one of Schumacher’s finest races since his comeback. A good start for the veteran saw him push ahead of the Force India’s and enjoy a race long battle with Alonso – a battle that the Ferrari won by a mere 0.6 of-a-second; something that left the Mercedes pilot reasonably positive:
“We have made a big step forward with our car and it worked very well. We are heading towards the first race in Europe now and will bring some upgrades to Istanbul which should help us to improve even more. It is good to leave Asia with a positive feeling.”
Simpler Battles
Vitaly Petrov took two points for a 9th place finish ahead of Kamui Kobayashi. Both drove solid races, picking up 9th and 10th late on as Paul di Resta’s tyres fell away.
Indeed, it was a shame for di Resta who was looking good for 9th, until his Pirelli’s degraded too much; however the young Scot still did a good job, finishing ahead of Nick Heidfeld (12th), the anonymous Rubens Barrichello (13th) and Sebastien Buemi (14th), although the young Swiss driver will be disappointed with that result after starting on the fifth row.
Adrian Sutil fell down the order late on – he just pipped Lotus’ Heikki Kovalainen to 15th place, albeit one lap down.
Many of the battles ahead were clean and clear – unfortunately Sergio Perez could not guarantee the same courtesy to either Heidfeld or Sutil. The Mexican found himself battling outside the points as the race due to a close; initially clattering Heidfeld on lap 44 – an attempt that would earn Perez a drive through penalty. Three laps later, Perez hit Sutil in turn 2, gifting the Sauber a rarely seen stop / go penalty.
Following these, Perez finished 17th and a lap down, with Pastor Maldonado (18th) and Jarno Trulli (19th).
All the Virgins and Hispania’s finished two laps down, with Jerome d’Ambrosio (20th), Timo Glock (21st), Narain Karthikeyan (22nd) and Vitantonio Liuzzi (23rd) all having quite days.
It is a victory that bring Hamilton to within 21 points of the Championship lead, but these are still very early days.
Thus, the flyaways are complete. The next time Formula 1 sets up camp will be in Turkey during the start of May – and with teams more able to ship swift updates, it is where the real serious stuff starts.
(*Better late than never)
Race Rating: 4.5 out of 5
The Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai International Circuit, China; 56 laps; 305.066km; Weather: Sunny. Pos Driver Team Time 1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h36:58.226 2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 5.198 3. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 7.555 4. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 10.000 5. Rosberg Mercedes + 13.448 6. Massa Ferrari + 15.840 7. Alonso Ferrari + 30.622 8. Schumacher Mercedes + 31.206 9. Petrov Renault + 57.404 10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:03.273 11. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:08.757 12. Heidfeld Renault + 1:12.739 13. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1:30.189 14. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:30.671 15. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 16. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap 17. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 18. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 19. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 1 lap 20. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 21. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 22. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps 23. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps Fastest lap: Webber, 1:38.993 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 12 World Championship standings, round 3: Drivers: 1. Vettel 68 2. Hamilton 47 3. Button 38 4. Webber 37 5. Alonso 26 6. Massa 24 7. Petrov 17 8. Heidfeld 15 9. Rosberg 10 10. Kobayashi 7 11. Schumacher 6 12. Buemi 4 13. Di Resta 2 14. Sutil 2 World Championship standings, round 3: Constructors: 1. Red Bull-Renault 105 2. McLaren-Mercedes 85 3. Ferrari 50 4. Renault 32 5. Mercedes 16 6. Sauber-Ferrari 7 7. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 4 8. Force India-Mercedes 4
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