2011 Indian Grand Prix: New event, same winner

NICE: Vettel tastes the champagne after another win

IT MAY have been a new event, but there was a lot of predictability yesterday about the inaugural Indian Grand Prix. World champion Sebastian Vettel crushed the field again, as he so often has in F1 2011 to register his 11th win of a record-breaking season. In a fairly processional debut race at the Buddah International Circuit, the German coasted home, having led every single lap of the event. In the process, he broke Nigel Mansell’s record of laps led in a season and now is just two wins away from equalling Michael Schumacher’s record of 13 wins in a single season back in 2004.

     With both championships in the bag for Red Bull Racing, attention focused more on the setting and venue for this new event, rather than the race outcome. Before the race started, there was poignant reflection with a dignified one minute silence held on the grid for racers, Dan Wheldon and Marco Simoncelli, both tragically killed in accidents over the past fortnight which has raised questions again about the safety levels in professional motorsport.

     Once his visor was down, Vettel’s focus was again on producing a dominant display from his customary pole position. Once he got to the first corner first, there was little doubt about who was going to end on the top step of the podium. Further back, Rubens Barrichello outbraked himself and hit the back of his Williams team-mate, Pastor Maldonado. Kamur Kobayashi had to take avoiding action, but was speared by the Virgin of Timo Glock. Two corners later, Daniel Ricciardo ran into the back of Jarno Trulli, spinning the Lotus around and destroying one of his rear tyres. Barrichello and Trulli made it back to the pits for repairs, but their afternoons were severely compromised. Both Kobayashi and Glock retired from the damage picked up in the turn one fracas.

     Behind Vettel, Mark Webber lost second to Jenson Button into turn four on the first lap. After some resolute defending in the early stages from the Brit, Webber began to drop back into the clutches of Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari. Although Button did set four consecutive fastest laps between laps 10-13, Vettel was looking after his tyres by this point and still never looked troubled.

     So, with little going on at the front, it was left to F1’s biggest conflict in 2011 to take centre stage. For the sixth time this season, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa collided. This incident happened on the 22nd lap, whilst fighting over fifth place. Fighting back from a three-place grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags in Friday practice, Hamilton had the measure of the Ferrari and got within striking distance out of turn four. He slipstreamed the Brazilian and dived down the inside into turn five. Massa looked across no fewer than three times before choosing to turn in, when Hamilton was already into the corner. The resulting connection had both blaming the other again, but it was Massa who this time got the penalty from the race stewards for causing an avoidable collision. Lewis didn’t get off lightly, as he had to limp back to the pits for a new front wing. He resumed in ninth, then toured home in seventh; not the result he wanted after a tough period for the Brit personally, which has concluded in a well-publicised split from his long-term girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger.

     It was worse for Massa, who had to pit soon after his drive-through to replace a front wing that was vibrating heavily on the track. Two laps later, he repeated his qualifying mistake by hitting the inside of the orange plastering kerbing at the turn eight chicane. The end result; a damaged front suspension and his race came to a premature and depressing end.

     Things went better for his team-mate Alonso, who managed to stay out longer than Webber to undercut him in the second round of pitstops. Out front, Vettel was so dominant, he was barely seen by the TV cameras. He cruised home to win his fifth race in the last six events. Button’s fine second place finish, combined with Massa’s DNF ensured McLaren will finish second in the constructors championship. The canny Alonso took another podium ahead of a disappointing Webber, who once again failed to maximise the opportunity of a promising grid slot.

     Michael Schumacher had an excellent afternoon to finish fifth, having started a lowly 11th on the grid. He beat team-mate Nico Rosberg to match Mercedes GP’s best team result of the campaign. Behind Hamilton, Jaime Alguersuari collected more points for Toro Rosso in an impressive run to eighth place. Team-mate Sebastian Buemi suffered a rare Ferrari engine failure, which enabled Adrian Sutil and Sergio Perez to pick up the minor points in ninth and tenth. It was another difficult day for Renault, with both cars finishing out of the top ten and Paul di Resta’s risky tyre strategy didn’t work either, with the Scot coming across the line in a low-key 13th.

     With two races left in this season, the remaining question seems to be; can Sebastian Vettel break more records in this historic season. It is staggering to think that he is still only 24 years of age. He is in another zone to everyone else on the grid at the moment, so I would be very surprised if he didn’t win the final two races of what has been a vintage 2011 season for this incredible German. The twilight of Abu Dhabi awaits, in two weeks time.