Formula 1 Season 2011

If you thought that 2010 was a classic year of F1, buckle up and get ready for the 2011 season in which four or even five teams seem set to go head-to-head as no fewer than five world champions go into battle, and the midfield fight promises to be harder-fought than ever.

Red Bull and Ferrari appear to have set the genuine pace in the four pre-season tests in Spain, with Mercedes moving up to a perceived third in the pecking order after the final runs but still slightly adrift, and McLaren possibly in trouble and seeming likely to battle initially with Renault for fourth place.

Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher give Formula One tremendous heavyweight glitter, while promising rookies such as Scot Paul di Resta, Mexican Sergio Perez, Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado and Belgian Jerome D’Ambrosio underline the sport’s ability to keep re-inventing itself. In between them, long-time runners Felipe Massa, Nick Heidfeld, Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen and Nico Rosberg add further depth.

The midfield battle is also likely to be just as fraught as the fight for the title, with Williams, Force India, Sauber, Toro Rosso and, perhaps, Lotus, scrabbling for supremacy.

Yet again, the rules have been revised, throwing things back into the melting pot once more. Out go the double diffusers (that so helped Jenson Button and Brawn GP to the world championship in 2009), F-ducts and the adjustable front wings that were meant to promote more overtaking but which most drivers neither liked nor used. In their place come moveable (for which, read adjustable) rear wings, KERS (making a return after a year’s hiatus), trick exhausts and a new tyre supplier in the form of Pirelli.

The idea behind the rear wing is that in certain parts of the circuit a following driver will get a signal that he can momentarily activate the control that opens the gap between the upper and lower wing planes, in order to boost straight-line speed by reducing drag. The driver of the car in front cannot do that, thus conferring a temporary advantage on the follower. The exact location and length of the ‘wing zones’ will be decided by the FIA, who are committed to making the technology work.

There has been talk of making the Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) more powerful in the future, but for now the outputs are the same as in 2009 - 80 bhp. Unlike the rear wings, it’s up to the driver to decide when and where to deploy this technology. With KERS and adjustable rear wings to figure out, F1 2011-style is more likely to favour the more cerebral than the aggressive. In 2009 McLaren and Ferrari won with KERS, with which Renault, Sauber and Williams also experimented; this year McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, Renault, Williams and Force India will all use it, as may Sauber and Toro Rosso.

The forward-facing exhaust introduced this year by Renault on their R31 could, according to Mercedes GP’s Ross Brawn, be more significant than the double diffuser. By routing the gases forward, which the rules permit, teams can clean up the rear end of the car significantly, enhancing airflow and thus aero efficiency.

The arrival of Pirelli to replace Bridgestone has already started to shake things up. The Italian tyres degrade far quicker than the Japanese - deliberately, Pirelli stresses. Some drivers speak of only three laps on the super-soft compound and eight on the soft before performance drops off markedly, which suggests that the smoother, Alain Prost-like drivers will be advantaged when it comes to nurturing their rubber. Step forward Jenson Button...

With up to four pit stops envisaged at some races, it’s going to be a busy year for the pit crews and lap charters. Last year Ferrari and Virgin both recorded remarkable 3.6s stops, and that could well become the ante this season.

For all that, Fernando Alonso believes that it will still come down to the fastest car when all is said and done, rather than canny strategy, tyre preservation and fast stops. “As usual the quickest or best car will win the championship in the end,” the Spaniard says. “Maybe one or two races will be decided by very good strategy, which will be important, but over 19 races it will still be more important to have the best car and that’s what we will always be aiming for.”

Elsewhere, the dreaded 107 percent qualifying rule makes a return, which means that the tailenders won’t get to race if they don’t get within five or six seconds of the Q1 time on a Saturday afternoon. The ban on team orders has been lifted, in tacit recognition that it is almost impossible to police; the race stewards, aided once again by former F1 drivers, will have wider powers; and as drivers are now officially only allowed to move once to defend themselves in a corner, the act of crowding - such as Michael Schumacher did to Rubens Barrichello in Hungary last year - is now punishable.

So who is going to set the initial pace? It really is almost impossible to say. While Alonso acknowledges the inherent strength of Red Bull and counsels not to overlook McLaren’s threat regardless of testing form, Red Bull boss Christian Horner says he is feeling far from complacent.

“We genuinely don’t know where we are in comparison to the others,” he says. “The fuel loads make such a big difference.” In testing these could vary between 10 and 160 kg, with each 10 kg adding 0.3s to lap time.

“We’ve had our best pre-season to date, and arguably we are in the best shape ever,” Horner continues. “But there are no points for winter testing; the points start in Melbourne and right now everyone is on the same number.”

Red Bull


1 Sebastian Vettel


2 Mark Webber
Red Bull-Renault RB7
A year ago Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz made it clear that he expected his burgeoning team to deliver a world championship. It looked at times as if they were deliberately seeking a means by which to make things as difficult for themselves as possible, but in the end they came up with not one, but two, the constructors’, which they clinched in Brazil, and then the drivers’ which Sebastian Vettel wrapped up in the dramatic finale in Abu Dhabi. Can they do it again?

Well, don’t rule out some serious Red Bull domination. For the first time design guru Adrian Newey (whose cars have now won for three different teams) got his new contender out early, and pre-season test form has shown the RB7 not only to be fast in qualifying and race trim, but also fearsomely reliable.

Factor in Mark Webber, who will be fitter and more determined than ever, and it is going to be very difficult to beat the team from Milton Keynes.

McLaren


3 Lewis Hamilton


4 Jenson Button
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-26
Oh, oh. The signs this early in the season have not been favourable for McLaren. They deliberately ‘did a Red Bull’ and did not introduce their new car, the MP4-26, until as late as possible. But seemingly the plan has thus far backfired.

The new car looks the part, with its L-shaped sidepod intakes and trick rear end, but reliability issues dogged its progress in the three tests that it did, and the team have logged only about half the testing mileage of either Red Bull or Ferrari. That’s down to some technical issues which saw rear end problems - believed to have centred around the exhausts - seriously impinging on the test programme.

Jenson Button said he thought the balance was better when an upgrade went on the car for the final Barcelona test, while Lewis Hamilton has suggested that they haven’t really been able to put all the factors together at once, so that their form seems worse than it really is. Equally, however, the 2008 champion says the car is not yet a title winner... There’s much work to be done here.

Ferrari


5 Fernando Alonso


6 Felipe Massa
Ferrari 150° Italia
It is not possible to overstate just how much it burned Ferrari to have fumbled their world championship chance in Abu Dhabi last year. They were gutted. But where years ago heads would have rolled, Luca di Montezemolo and Stefano Domenicali simply pulled their troops back together over the winter and the Scuderia looks every bit as dangerous as it did at its title-winning best, even if the team did initially run into trouble with the Ford Motor Company after initially christening its 2011 contender the F150. The way it’s been going in testing suggests that nobody is likely to mistake it for a pick-up truck; it’s the one car that genuinely looks as if it is ready to give the Red Bulls a run for their money.

Alonso is raring to go, and remains what he has so long been: one of the two best drivers out there. If Vettel starts favourite, the Spaniard is right up there at his shoulder. Meanwhile, Felipe Massa knows that he has to deliver solid results this year, if he is to retain his Ferrari seat.

Mercedes GP


7 Michael Schumacher


8 Nico Rosberg
Mercedes MGP W02
The final test in Barcelona changed the way observers thought about Mercedes’ hitherto disappointing MGP W02 challenger. Up until then it had been generally disappointing, rather like the McLaren, but a significant upgrade transformed the car into something that was impressively quick in short runs. It remains to be seen how fast it is over a race distance, and the feeling persists that Red Bull and Ferrari will be the outright pacesetters, with Mercedes chasing them ahead of McLaren and Renault.

Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg both believe that the team, whose purchase from the former Brawn principals was finalised at the beginning of the month, now have the platform from which to make the significant progress that they lacked in 2010.

Schumacher said recently that while he does not believe they can challenge for the world championship, he does think podiums will be possible, while Rosberg will be going all out to prove that his dominance of the older German last year was no fluke.

Renault


9 Nick Heidfeld


10 Vitaly Petrov
Renault R31
Renault may have rallied quickly around Nick Heidfeld, but there is no doubt that Robert Kubica’s rally accident will have a very debilitating effect on the chances of a team that showed such promise in initial testing. The Pole has speed, commitment and charisma in spades and just loves driving an edgy car that gives its best at the very limit. Heidfeld is older and less aggressive, and prefers an easier car to drive. That difference may prove critical. That said, the German is a safe pair of hands, but one can’t help wonder whether the team would have been better off with Vitantonio Liuzzi, whom Kubica recommended.

Vitaly Petrov far from disgraced himself in his first season, despite a few heavy shunts, and his containment of Fernando Alonso in Abu Dhabi was indication of the progress he’d made.

Renault’s test form has been difficult to assess accurately, but their trick exhaust system has attracted a lot of interest and several other teams are investigating similar solutions. Expect Renault to challenge McLaren for fourth overall in the early going.


Williams


11 Rubens Barrichello


12 Pastor Maldonado
Williams-Cosworth FW33
In Rubens Barrichello and reigning GP2 champion Pastor Maldonado, Williams have two very aggressive drivers. And now they have an aggressive car too, in Sam Michael’s FW33 which features one of the most tightly packaged rear-ends in the business.

The team have full sponsorship for 2011 and were recently floated on the German stock market, so things are looking up and there is an air of confident determination to get back to mixing it with the top teams the way that last happened at times during the ill-fated alliance with BMW.

Michael said in 2010 that Barrichello was the best driver he had ever worked with in F1, and the evergreen Brazilian still has much to give. Maldonado is an unknown quantity thus far in F1, but the Venezuelan brings welcome financial support from his national oil company, and could spring some surprises.

Force India


13 Adrian Sutil


14 Paul Di Resta
Force India-Mercedes VJM04
Out goes Tonio Liuzzi and in comes promising Scottish rookie Paul di Resta. Part of the Anthony Hamilton-managed youngster’s dowry is reportedly Mercedes’ KERS system, and that should help the Silverstone-based team to fight hard for its place in the upper midfield.

Adrian Sutil stays for another year, after plans to have him replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari fell apart in the aftermath of last year’s team orders argument. This will be a crucial season for the German, who showed great pace in 2010 allied to the occasional brain fade (Korea springs to mind). Di Resta will be praying for better reliability than Liuzzi enjoyed (notably with his car’s F-duct), and the man who beat Vettel to the European F3 title is itching to show that he can do the same to Sutil.

Sauber


15 Kamui Kobayashi


16 Sergio Perez
Sauber-Ferrari C30
Confounding the critics, Peter Sauber’s little team regrouped again in 2010 after the departure of BMW. Times were still tough for the men and women from Hinwil, even though there was some helpful BMW cash to smooth the transition, but they made it.

Along the way they acquired James Key from Force India as long-time technical director Willy Rampf retired, and the Englishman did not lose much time pointing the C29 in the right direction. At the same time Kamui Kobayashi established a reputation as a racer that was only marginally diminished by a penchant for long opening stints which meant he was later able to use fresher rubber to embarrass rivals towards the end of a race. Good tyre management will be a feature of 2011 races, so watch him.

In GP2 runner-up Sergio Perez, Kobayashi has a team mate who will push him all the way and the money that the fiery young Mexican brings from Telmex will undoubtedly help the team.

Toro Rosso


17 Sebastien Buemi


18 Jaime Alguersuari
Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR6
This time last year Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari had been setting some very quick times during testing for Franz Tost’s Red Bull-supported satellite team. But in the races the STR5 disappointed more often than not. This time around the story looks the same, and even Lewis Hamilton was recently moved to suggest that the STR6 might spring a surprise.

But will all that apparent promise just turn out to have been some low-fuel grandstanding in an attempt to draw attention to a team that still needs to find decent funding? Time will tell, but it would indeed be surprising to see an outfit that has to design its own car these days being able to run at the pace of one penned by Adrian Newey.

Meanwhile, Buemi and Alguersuari will be looking over their shoulders in the first half of the season as World Series by Renault racer Daniel Ricciardo is waiting for the chance to step into one of their seats at the midpoint.

Lotus


19 Jarno Trulli


20 Heikki Kovalainen
Lotus-Renault T128
By the time his team heads to his native Malaysia, Tony Fernandes should know whether he can still use the Team Lotus name, as the court case with Group Lotus will be heard in London’s High Court during the Australian Grand Prix. But regardless of the outcome, the AirAsia boss has clearly won the right to race at the highest level.

Last year’s start-up T127 was a necessarily conservative machine intended simply to get the team racing. This year technical director Mike Gascoyne has been more adventurous with the aerodynamics, while mating the chassis to a Renault rear end complete with the pull-rod rear suspension made fashionable again on last year’s Red Bull RB6.

With Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus have two proven race winners who can deliver the goods, and who should be able to challenge Toro Rosso and Force India if either of those more established teams falter. Reliability issues in testing, however, will be an early concern.

HRT


21 Narain Karthikeyan



22 Vitantonio Liuzzi
HRT-Cosworth F111
On the face of it HRT are in as much trouble in 2011 as they were heading to the first race of 2010 when neither of their cars had turned a wheel, after the sleek new F111 was unable to run as planned in the last Barcelona test. Ironically, the team’s national customs held up their dampers.

However, the new car comes from respected F1 designer Geoff Willis of BAR and Red Bull fame, and the statement livery from famed Hollywood designer Daniel Simon signals a clear intention by team principal Colin Kolles to move far away from the drab grey image the team had in its rookie season.

Signing Narain Karthikeyan, who last raced in F1 in 2005, is something of a gamble but makes sense as he brings strong budget from Tata and can be quick when the mood is upon him, while opting for Force India refugee Tonio Liuzzi is clear indication that Kolles values speed, experience and technical ability over other ‘renta-drivers’ potential budgets.

Virgin


23 Timo Glock



24 Jerome D’ambrosio
Virgin-Cosworth MVR-02
Like Lotus and HRT, Virgin defied the pessimists and go into 2011 stronger than ever thanks to recent investment by Marussia. The result is a sound financial position and enhanced management, but the early signs are that the latest car from Nick Wirth is some way off the pace. Glock, the tough German racer who is recovering from a recent appendectomy, admits that they are some way off realising their early season targets. D’Ambrosio, the quick young Belgian who replaces Brazilian Lucas di Grassi, will find his graduation to race seat status even harder as a result.


Formula 1

Formula 1

Formula 1

F1 Misses You Champ

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Practice Sessions 1,&2

Prac One:

Times
01. Mark Webber Red Bull 01:26.831 20 laps
02. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:27.158 19 laps
03. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:27.749 20 laps
04. Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 01:28.152 16 laps
05. Rubens Barrichello Williams 01:28.430 24 laps
06. Jenson Button McLaren 01:28.440 29 laps
07. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 01:28.483 26 laps
08. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 01:28.690 14 laps
09. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 01:28.725 13 laps
10. Vitaly Petrov Renault 01:28.765 15 laps
11. Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:28.842 20 laps
12. Nick Heidfeld Renault 01:28.928 14 laps
13. Adrian Sutil Force India 01:29.314 19 laps
14. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:29.328 21 laps
15. Pastor Maldonado Williams 01:29.403 24 laps
16. Daniel Ricciardo Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:29.468 23 laps
17. Sergio Perez Sauber 01:29.643 18 laps
18. Nico Hulkenberg Force India 01:31.002 20 laps
19. Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus 01:32.428 13 laps
20. Jerome d' Ambrosio Virgin Racing 01:35.282 17 laps
21. Timo Glock Virgin Racing 01:35.289 15 laps
22. Karun Chandhok Team Lotus no time 1 laps
23. Narain Karthikeyan Hispania no time
24. Vitantonio Liuzzi Hispania no time


Prac Two:

Times

01. Jenson Button McLaren 01:25.854 32 laps
02. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 01:25.986 31 laps
03. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:26.001 28 laps
04. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:26.014 35 laps
05. Mark Webber Red Bull 01:26.283 33 laps
06. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 01:26.590 31 laps
07. Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:26.789 34 laps
08. Sergio Perez Sauber 01:27.101 39 laps
09. Rubens Barrichello Williams 01:27.280 34 laps
10. Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 01:27.448 23 laps
11. Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:27.525 31 laps
12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 01:27.528 29 laps
13. Nick Heidfeld Renault 01:27.536 22 laps
14. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:27.697 30 laps
15. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 01:28.095 35 laps
16. Paul di Resta Force India F1 01:28.376 33 laps
17. Adrian Sutil Force India F1 01:28.583 31 laps
18. Pastor Maldonado Williams 01:29.386 29 laps
19. Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus 01:30.829 22 laps
20. Jarno Trulli Team Lotus 01:30.912 23 laps
21. Jerome d' Ambrosio Virgin Racing 01:32.106 36 laps
22. Timo Glock Virgin Racing 01:32.926 30 laps
23. Vitantonio Liuzzi Hispania no time 1 lap
24. Narain Karthikeyan Hispania no time

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Prac Three:

Red Bull reasserted their dominance over the chasing pack as Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber claimed the 1-2 in Saturday's final practice in Australia.

It was a grey and windy start to the final practice session at the Albert Park circuit as Heikki Kovalainen led out the pack for their installation laps. It remains to be seen whether Hispania will be out after putting in just one lap late Friday.

Tonio Liuzzi ventured out for Hispania but his run was short-lived as his Hispania F111 broke down on its first lap at Turn 15. Awful start for the team. "I touched the brake and the gearbox went into false neutral, I lost everything," said the Italian.

Jenson Button had a few problems of his own as the McLaren driver went off the track at Turn Three as he lost control of his car. He returned to the pits and his mechanics were quickly working on his brakes.

Vitaly Petrov, with a 1:27.709, and Sergio Perez were the early pace-setters, leading the way into the opening 20 minutes.

Pastor Maldonado's practice came to an abrupt end when he beached his Williams FW32 after taking too much speed down into Turn Six. Moments later, a piece of Nick Heidfeld's front wing came flying off his car as he went over some rumble strips.

Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg were the next to lead the way, taking control at the halfway point. The reigning World Champ lowered the benchmark to a 1:27.337. Back out on track, Button moved up to third place.

Mark Webber overhauled his team-mate at the front with a 1:26.993. Sebastien Buemi put in a great run to take second for Toro Rosso. Webber lowered his P1 time, however, could not hold onto the position as Button posted a 1:25.961. The McLaren driver, though, was soon dropped by Vettel's 1:25.327.

Meanwhile, a problem with his Williams put Rubens Barrichello into the pits and out of practice while Sauber's Perez suffered the same fate.

Hamilton climbed to third place ahead of Fernando Alonso while Narain Karthikeyan finally ventured out with seven minutes left in the session to complete his first lap in his F111. One lap, though, and the Indian driver was back in the pits.

Webber improved to second behind Vettel with Hamilton taking third off Petrov before Button also dropped the Renault driver down a position. Kamui Kobayashi improved to seventh ahead of Rosberg, Heidfeld and Michael Schumacher.

As for Karthikeyan, he came back out to complete a flying lap that was a massive 17.047s off the pace.

Prac Three: Red Bull and McLaren on top | Planet F1 | Formula One News

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Pos. Driver Team Time Laps


1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:24.507 15
2. Mark Webber Red Bull 01:25.364 14
3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 01:25.553 15
4. Jenson Button McLaren 01:25.567 16
5. Vitaly Petrov Renault 01:25.906 18
6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:26.121 16
7. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 01:26.417 17
8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes Grand Prix 01:26.520 17
9. Nick Heidfeld Renault 01:26.746 17
10. Michael Schumacher Mercedes Grand Prix 01:26.856 15
11. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:27.008 17
12. Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:27.011 15
13. Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:27.066 14
14. Paul di Resta Force India F1 01:27.087 15
15. Adrian Sutil Force India F1 01:27.180 15
16. Rubens Barrichello Williams 01:28.068 7
17. Sergio Perez Sauber 01:28.077 9
18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus F1 01:29.772 17
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus F1 01:30.003 18
20. Timo Glock Virgin Racing 01:30.261 15
21. Pastor Maldonado Williams 01:30.496 5
22. Jerome d` Ambrosio Virgin Racing 01:30.704 18
23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT F1 Team 01:41.554 5
24. Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT F1 Team no time 1

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Redbull roars

Vettel

Schumacher

Karthikeyan
Posted via m.funenclave.com - Fun on the Move!

they've got great conditions for the race today, no rain to make the track greasy, sky is overcast but not dark, little wind about and temps are quite mild......

All in all, it should be a great contest..... Go Vettel

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Vettel wins

Hamilton 2nd

Petrov 3rd

Both Mercedes out
Posted via m.funenclave.com - Fun on the Move!

Race: Vettel In A Class Of His Own

Sebastian Vettel started his title defence with an emphatic victory in Australia, easily heads and shoulders above the rest.

Starting from pole position, the German, who was seventh-tenths quicker than his nearest rival in qualifying, carried that pace over into the grand prix. He stormed into the lead and despite an early challenge from Lewis Hamilton, maintained it through to the end of a surprisingly low-key grand prix.

Bright sunshine bathed the Melbourne track at Albert Park before the start of the Australian Grand Prix. Although the ambient temperature wasn't a whole lot different from qualifying - an autumnal 17C with the track slightly higher at 23C.

All the front, ten cars were starting on the soft tyres and you had to look back to Sergio Perez in P13 as the highest placed hard tyre runner. As the lights went out Sebastian Vettel got a perfect get-away from the very clean side of the grid. After the race Red Bull team boss Christian Horner admitted that they hadn't got KERS on the car at all and were relying on sheer traction.

Lewis Hamilton - with KERS in P2 - was immediately passed by Mark Webber and looked to be losing a position to him. He managed to get inside the Red Bull driver into Turn 1 and held his line and position. Behind, there was a hurly burly as Vitaly Petrov had a great start from P6 and jumped up to P4 in his Renault.

Best start of all was from Felipe Massa who started from the slow side of the grid, jinked inside and was up past Rosberg, and his team-mate. It was a fabulous start to make up for poor qualifying. Petrov's squeeze up the inside pushed Button wide and Felipe followed him through in the gap. He tried to get Petrov into Turn 3 but Petrov was having none of it.

On the other hand his team-mate was more wary into Turn 1, having had a nightmare there last year. Alonso chose the outside of Button and got pushed almost onto the grass, lost pace and lost places. However joint worst start was from Rubens Barrichello who went straight on into the gravel run-off at Turn 3 and Michael Schumacher, whose rear wheel got tagged by Alguersuari and developed a puncture forcing him back into the pits.

The positions at the end of Lap one were: 1.Vettel, 2.Hamilton, 3.Webber, 4.Petrov, 5.Massa, 6.Button, 7.Rosberg, 8.Kobayashi, 9.Alonso, 10.DiResta, 11.Buemi, 12.Sutil

Michael Schumacher's floor was damaged by the punctured tyre flapping round on his way back to the pits on the opening lap and he continued on for another 20 laps before calling it a day.

On Lap 2 Fernando Alonso forced his way past Kamui Kobayashi, while Jenson Button tried to find a way past Massa. Massa was blocking fairly and proving very difficult to pass even when Jenson deployed his DRS (Drag Reduction System)

At the front Sebastian Vettel opened up an immediate gap of three seconds over two laps, but then Lewis Hamilton pegged it back and the two drivers began to exchange fastest lap. Behind them, Webber and Petrov were dropping back while Button was darting behind Massa's rear wing. By Lap 8 he'd had enough and tried to overtake on the outside into Turn 12 but Massa didn't oblige and give way.

It was a question of bounce wheels at 180mph or take the exit road. Button took the exit road and passed Massa. The complication was that Alonso was now right behind Massa and if Button moved over to let Massa past he'd be letting both Ferraris past. McLaren asked Race Control what they should do and were told they'd get back to them. But didn't.

Button stayed in position and then the Ferraris pitted so he couldn't give the position back. A few laps later he was awarded a drive-through by stewards.

Mark Webber started off the first round of pit-stops at the end of Lap 11, followed by Alonso and then Massa, By Lap 13 the gap at the front between Vettel and Hamilton had reduced to just 1.5 seconds. Vettel pitted first and came out behind Jenson Button who was due his drive-through penalty in two laps' time. Vettel drove straight past him and straight off the road to make the passing move between Turns 4 and 5.

Hamilton pitted on Lap 16 but Vettel had already opened up a bigger gap using his second set of soft tyres and putting in a new Fastest Lap along the way. Button served his drive-through and dropped down to P.12.

The positions on Lap 20 were: 1.Vettel, 2.Hamilton, 3.Webber, 4.Petrov, 5.Alonso, 6.Massa, 7.Perez, 8.Rosberg, 9.Kobayashi, 10.Barrichello, 11.Buemi, 12.Button.

Rubens Barrichello had recovered strongly from his first lap excursion and put in a crafty overtaking move to get past Kobayashi into Turn 3 as they lapped a slower car. Three laps later he came from too far back to have a go at Rosberg and speared his Williams-Cosworth into the side of the faultless Mercedes driver. Barrichello limped back to the pits for a new nose and a subsequent drive-through penalty.

Rosberg didn't fare quite so well from the sidepod impact. Only 23 laps gone and both Mercedes cars out.

Once Jenson Button had taken on his second set of tyres he was able to put pressure on Kamui Kobayashi and on Lap 25 we saw the first 'live' pictures of a DRS overtaking move as the McLaren just about got past the Sauber into Turn 1.

Mark Webber had fallen a long way back from the Vettel vs Hamilton duel at the front and pitted for more tyres on Lap 26 followed by Alonso on Lap 27. Both of them seemed to have opted for a three-stop strategy and would need to stop again.

The positions on Lap 34 were thus: 1.Vettel, 2.Hamilton, 3.Petrov, 4.Webber, 5. Alonso, 6.Button, 7.Massa, 8.Sutil, 9.Di Resta, 10.Perez, 11.Kobayashi, 12.Buemi

Attention switched to the front of Lewis Hamilton's car which looked to have a failure of the front tray strap allowing the bottom of the car to drag along the road. Despite the sparks flying, the damage didn't seem to have too much of an impact on Hamilton's lap time.

Alonso closed up on Webber, close enough to deploy his DRS down the straight without being able to catch the slippery Red Bull. In the end he didn't have to force a pass because Webber pitted early (for the third time). Apart from a slow tyre stop, Mark drove onto the grass as he misjudged his braking on the outlap. It was a free gift to Ferrari who immediately brought Alonso in and were able to get him out comfortably in front and up into P4.

Mark Webber, now on the softer tyre, was able to get close to Alonso as he got his hard tyres up to temperature. He couldn't get close enough for a pass and slowly began to drop away from Alonso.

Jenson Button was rapidly catching Felipe Massa and managed to pass him on the straight quite easily this time round. Button was being pursued by Perez who had stopped only once for tyres and would also not stop again. Once overtaken by Button, Massa dived into the pitlane rejoining in P10 with nine laps to go.

With Vettel, Hamilton, Petrov and Button only stopping twice for tyres, the race order was almost set with Vettel a manageable twelve seconds in front of Hamilton; Lewis almost twenty seconds in front of Petrov who was gradually being caught by Alonso in P4, with Webber P5, Button P6, Perez in P7 and Kobayashi in P8.

Alonso managed to reduce the gap to Petrov from 2.2 to 1.6 to 1.1 seconds on the final lap, but he was never close enough to make a pass, thus giving the Russian his first podium in F1. It was a good day for Red Bull as Sebastian Vettel's run of strong results from 2010 continued.

The biggest winner of the GP weekend was McLaren whose cars had run race distances for the first time this year. It remains tobe seen of there was enough of Lewis Hamilton's undertray left at the end to keep his car legal.

Results


01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h29:30.259
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 22.297
3. Petrov Renault + 30.560
4. Alonso Ferrari + 31.772
5. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 38.171
6. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 54.300
7. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1:05.800
8. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:16.800
9. Massa Ferrari + 1:25.100
10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
12. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
13. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
14. Heidfeld Renault + 1 lap
15. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 2 laps
16. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps
Not classified/retirements:
Glock Virgin-Cosworth 50
Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 49
Rosberg Mercedes 22
Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 19
Schumacher Mercedes 19
Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 10

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The German snatched the coveted P1 position in the final seconds as Red Bull and McLaren established a clear gap in pace between themselves and Ferrari. Renault continued to impress, but it was a poor session for Williams and for Michael Schumacher who missed out on Q3 for the second race running.

Times
01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:34.870
02. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 01:34.974
03. Mark Webber Red Bull 01:35.174
04. Jenson Button McLaren 01:35.200
05. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:35.802
06. Nick Heidfeld Renault 01:36.124
07. Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:36.251
08. Vitaly Petrov Renault 01:36.324
09. Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 01:36.809
10. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 01:36.820
11. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 01:37.035
12. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 01:37.160
13. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso 01:37.347
14. Paul di Resta Force India 01:37.370
15. Rubens Barrichello Williams 01:37.496
16. Sergio Perez Sauber 01:37.528
17. Adrian Sutil Force India 01:37.593
18. Pastor Maldonado Williams 01:38.276
19. Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus 01:38.645
20. Jarno Trulli Team Lotus 01:38.791
21. Timo Glock Virgin Racing 01:40.648
22. Jerome d' Ambrosio Virgin Racing 01:41.001
23. Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT F1 Team 01:41.549
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT F1 Team 01:42.574

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Vampire's Signature: