THE 2010 Formula One season has gone down as one of the most special seasons ever and it ended with the youngest ever world champion. Just what would 2011 deliver? The new season began with new regulations, such as the introduction of DRS which was brought in to make overtaking more possible in races. KERS made a return after its 2009 failure and Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli returned to the sport as the sole tyre supplier after a 20-year absence. Uprisings in the Arab world forced the postponement and eventual cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix, so once again, the championship would begin in Melbourne.
From the moment he arrived at the Australian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel set a benchmark which no-one could live with. He was untouchable at Albert Park, controlling qualifying and dominating the race to win the first event. It was Red Bull’s first Australian victory and a sign of things to come. McLaren arrived with a car that looked miles off the pace from their winter testing figures. They were the surprise of the first race, as Lewis Hamilton produced a fighting performance to come home second, underlining the team’s hard work. Team-mate Jenson Button had a fierce dice with Felipe Massa in the early stages of the race and got a drive-through penalty for cutting a corner and gaining an advantage on the Brazilian. It left Button down in sixth by the finish. Vitaly Petrov drove stunningly to register his first ever podium finish for Renault, a brilliant boost for the team deprived of Robert Kubica’s services this season after the Pole sustained serious injuries in a pre-season rally accident. Both Sauber’s were disqualified for technical infringements which robbed Sergio Perez of points on his F1 debut, but it did allow Scottish rookie Paul di Resta to get a point in his first race.
 |
| Vettel started how it meant to go by winning the first two events |
In the heat of Malaysia, a Red Bull weakness was identified. The tight packaging of their chassis meant they were struggling to keep KERS reliable. However, this didn’t stop Vettel who was in a class of his own again, looking after his tyres and an intermittent KERS issue and claimed his fifth victory in the last six events altogether. Button launched his championship assault with a brilliant second place and Kubica’s stand-in at Renault, Nick Heidfeld was an outstanding third, benefiting from a flying start that had him second into the first corner. Talking of flying, his team-mate Petrov took to the air in a spectacular exit from the race with three laps remaining. Old rivals Hamilton and Fernando Alonso clashed again, when the Ferrari misjudged an overtaking move. For a separate weaving incident, a frustrated Hamilton was penalised and wound up eighth, with Alonso in sixth.
After running out of fresh tyres in Sepang, Hamilton played the strategy game in China and it worked with a brilliant victory. He overcame a major oil leak in the garage before the race and saved an extra set of tyres in qualifying to use them in a race that went down in the history books as one of the greatest ever. Vettel beat Button to pole, but made a poor start and looked tense all afternoon, but showed his championship might with second place. More KERS problems left Mark Webber in a dismal 18th on the grid, but he put in a sensational fightback to claim the final place on the podium. Button was a dejected fourth and produced one of the blunders of the season. Having led the early stages, he made a terrible mistake and stopped at the wrong pit! A comical moment, but Jenson would make up for it later in the season. Felipe Massa’s inferior strategy left him down in sixth, but beating Alonso by 15 seconds made it a solid and sweet performance. Another man who impressed in China was Nico Rosberg. He led a significant chunk of the race, but faded badly to fifth by the end. It was the closest Mercedes GP would get to finishing on the podium this season.
Another tremendous Grand Prix followed three weeks later in Istanbul. Pirelli’s tyre mileage left us with a four stop strategy for most of the top runners and overtaking galore with the effective DRS. Despite crashing in wet practice on Friday and losing a day of race setup, Vettel was a comfortable winner on what turned out to be F1’s last trip to Turkey. Webber ensured Red Bull had their first 1-2 of the season, coming out on top in a feisty scrap with Alonso, who claimed Ferrari’s first rostrum after a difficult start to the campaign. A sticky wheel nut at a routine pitstop left Hamilton over 40 seconds adrift in fourth place and Button’s gamble on one less pitstop didn’t work and left him behind Rosberg in sixth. While Rosberg was picking up points for Mercedes, Michael Schumacher’s weekend was a disaster. Unnecessary contact with Petrov in the early laps and losing out in many midfield battles left him admitting to feeling ‘no joy’ following his 12th place finish.
Next stop on the Sebastian Vettel crusade was Barcelona, which surprised many with an exciting duel. Despite being beaten to pole position by team-mate Mark Webber, Vettel showed his superiority on raceday. However, he was made to work very hard for his 13th career victory. Fernando Alonso’s adoring Spanish public witnessed an incredible start as their hero catapulted from fourth on the grid into the lead. Sadly, dreadful tyre wear left him ending a lapped fifth. Vettel led from lap 19 onwards, but Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren was the faster package and hunted him down. The German’s brilliant defensive driving was enough to take victory again and the team rightly praised his driving, rather than his ‘Crazy Frog’ impression. Having made an awful start and dropping to tenth on lap one; Jenson Button produced two cracking moves on Alonso and Webber to complete the podium. Michael Schumacher responded to his critics with a solid run to sixth, ahead of his team-mate Nico Rosberg whilst Nick Heidfeld came from last after a fire in practice to eighth.
 |
| Perez's rookie season was put on hold after this crash in Monaco |
Any driver will claim that winning in Monaco will be the highlight of the season and Vettel added Monte Carlo to his ever increasing trophy cabinet on a turbulent weekend in the principality. The weekend started with a sickening shunt for Sergio Perez in qualifying. The Mexican crashed out of the tunnel in Q3 and suffered a bruised thigh and concussion, keeping him out for two races. In the race, Vettel, Alonso and Button produced a supreme afternoon of driver skill. Sebastian survived a bad pitstop on lap 16 and stayed out on weaker tyres to hold off the Ferrari and McLaren. Hamilton had a nightmare weekend, which included a qualifying demotion, then two more drive-through penalties in the race for controversial clashes with Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado. He attacked race stewards in an unsavoury post-race interview, beginning a dark period for the Brit. Vitaly Petrov was admitted to hospital after being involved in a multiple crash with Adrian Sutil, Hamilton and Jaime Alguersuari late on which caused a race stoppage. Fortunately, the Russian escaped serious injury.
If anyone thought F1 2011 had been crazy so far, then the drama of the Canadian Grand Prix exceeded everything. Five safety cars, a two hour stoppage for a torrential downpour and an amazing finish which had avid fans jumping up and around at 10.15pm in the evening! Vettel drove brilliantly again and led through most of the chaos, until around the last lap, he ran wide and handed Jenson Button a sensational victory. Button stormed back from 21st and last at half-distance, following collisions with team-mate Hamilton and Alonso, which ended both of their races. For once, Vettel showed he was human and still could crack under pressure. Webber recovered from his own contact with Hamilton to make it two Red Bulls on the podium, just ahead of Schumacher, who ran as high as second and produced the best drive of his comeback. Further back, a hard-fought eighth place from a pitlane start saved Jaime Alguersuari from the sack at Toro Rosso.
After that Canadian excitement, the European Grand Prix disappointed with the usual lack of action in Valencia. Vettel bounced back from his Montreal slip-up to dominate in trademark fashion. He took pole position and won at a canter, whilst Alonso beat Webber in a straight fight to take an excellent second for Ferrari. Hamilton had a very quiet run to fourth, followed by Massa and Button. All 24 cars that started in Valencia made it to the finish; only the third time in history this has happened, after the 1962 Dutch GP and the 2005 Italian GP.
 |
| Alonso was in top form at Silverstone, taking his only win of 2011 |
An incident-packed British Grand Prix at Silverstone saw our fourth different winner of the season. Alonso benefited from a poor Red Bull pitstop and Vettel being held up behind Hamilton’s slower McLaren in the middle part of the race to take Ferrari’s first victory since Korea last year. Webber claimed pole position on Saturday, but dropped behind Vettel at the start and was forced by team boss Christian Horner to “maintain the gap,” in the closing stages. There were time when memories of Turkey 2010 came flooding back, but a 2-3 result kept Red Bull comfortably clear in the constructors championship. The Brits had a largely miserable day. Paul di Resta made contact with Sebastian Buemi and had a dismal pitstop to wreck his hopes of points after qualifying a brilliant sixth, whilst a loose wheel nut ended Button’s grand prix prematurely. Hamilton stirred the motions with fourth, holding off Massa in an exciting final corner duel, despite fuel management issues.
Next was a trip to the chilly Eiffel Mountains and the Nurburgring, where Lewis Hamilton put a great weekend together to qualify on the front row behind Mark Webber and win the race. He jumped the Australian at the start and used great strategy and daring overtaking moves on both Webber and Fernando Alonso to take the spoils. Alonso was second and Webber back in third. An off-colour Sebastian Vettel spun early on and seemed unhappy on home soil all weekend. Nevertheless, smart pit work from Red Bull saw him leapfrog Felipe Massa on the last lap to salvage fourth place. Once again, Jenson Button was out of luck, forced to retire with hydraulic problems, handing Adrian Sutil a best finish of the season for Force India in sixth place. The pressure was growing on Nick Heidfeld at Renault after a clash with Sebastian Buemi put him out of the race and his seat in severe jeopardy.
A week later and the McLaren summer renaissance continued at an unseasonably damp Budapest. In a race decided by getting on the right tyres at the right time, Button mastered everything again to win in Hungary for the second time in his career. The race was Hamilton’s for the taking, as he led the majority of it. However, he was left to rue a missed opportunity when he spun into the path of Paul di Resta, forcing his countryman off the road. Lewis got a drive-through and pitted six times, but still finished fourth. Second place for Vettel increased his championship lead, with near rivals, Alonso and Webber finishing behind him in third and fifth respectively. Heidfeld’s Renault career ended spectacularly when his engine air bottle exploded on pitlane exit, leaving his car in flames. Fans also felt fiery, when news came through of a new TV deal in Hungary which sees Sky Sports receiving live coverage of every race next season and the BBC settling for partial coverage of ten live events.
 |
| Hamilton's crash in Belgium summed up a messy championship |
After the summer break, Formula One returned at the end of August to Belgium and the daunting Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Despite safety cars and serious concerns over blistered tyres after qualifying, Red Bull took a 1-2 finish. Vettel handled it all with his usual panache and Webber recovered from a shocking start which saw him ninth into La Source to finish a very strong second. Hamilton’s faint championship hopes ended when he had a silly collision with Kamui Kobayashi, which speared the McLaren into the barriers. Team-mate Button started 13th after a tactical mix-up in qualifying and had to pit early after first corner contact, but produced a stirring fightback to third. Alonso was hindered by Ferrari’s decision to use one less set of dry tyres and without the grip levels of his rivals, the submissive Spaniard had to settle for fourth. On the 20th anniversary of making his F1 debut, Michael Schumacher stormed through from last on the grid after a wheel hub failure in qualifying to record a fabulous fifth place, narrowly ahead of team-mate Rosberg. Pastor Maldonado scored his first and only point of the season, whilst Bruno Senna qualified a superb seventh on his Renault debut, but blotted his copybook by running into Jaime Alguersuari at the start of the race.
The final European race of the season was as ever, at Monza and Ferrari country. Red Bull feared they wouldn’t be very strong, due to the power disadvantage of their Renault engine, but Vettel blew the opposition away. He produced a meteoric lap to take pole position by half a second on Saturday and despite Alonso beating him off the startline, made a brave and decisive pass on the grass to record another fantastic victory. Button overwhelmed Alonso later in the race for second place, but despite poor traction from his Ferrari, Fernando still managed to make the podium to give the Tifosi something to shout about. Michael Schumacher pushed the boundaries in a vigorous defence from Lewis Hamilton for half the race, with Hamilton eventually coming out on top for fourth place. Massa was a distant sixth after contact early on with Mark Webber; the Australian having a pathetic off into the barriers on his way back to the pits with front wing damage. Vitantonio Liuzzi produced his nomination for accident of the season, by trying to move his HRT into the points from the back row into turn one! His ambition backfired, torpedoing Vitaly Petrov and Nico Rosberg out of the race at the first chicane.
The flyaway finish began under the lights in Singapore, where Sebastian Vettel eased to another victory and within one point of the title. Jenson Button came second, which was enough to take the fight to Suzuka, but third and fourth place results ended any mathematical hopes for Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso. The weekend was dominated by two run-ins between Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton, with a fuming Massa angrily confronting his rival in the interview pen after the race. Paul di Resta was a notable sixth to achieve his best finish of his 2011 rookie year, whilst Michael Schumacher escaped injury after a nasty looking accident, when he went airborne over Sergio Perez.
 |
| Three wins for Button, including an emotional success in Japan |
Sure enough, as expected, Vettel sealed the world championship title at Suzuka, to become the youngest back-to-back champion in the history of the sport and only the ninth driver to achieve such a feat. Button drove brilliantly once again to take victory, ahead of a hard charging Alonso, but third place was easily enough for Vettel in a gripping Grand Prix. Once again, Hamilton and Massa made contact during the race, which saw a piece of McLaren bodywork deployed on the racing line and forcing the Safety Car out. By their 2011 standards, the incident was relatively minor, but it was another flashpoint in a dismal season for both. Michael Schumacher managed to split Hamilton and Massa at the chequered flag, whilst flu-ridden Perez drove well in his Sauber to eighth, as did Nico Rosberg from 23rd on the grid to tenth. However, Suzuka 2011 will be remembered for the place that wrapped up Sebastian Vettel’s glory season.
The German wasn’t finished yet though, as he cruised to his tenth victory of the season in Korea. Combined with a third place finish for Webber, it sealed the constructor’s championship for Red Bull. Hamilton blasted to pole, the first non Red Bull pole position of the season, but he was subdued all weekend as he finished second, his split from Nicole Scherzinger seemed to weigh on his mind throughout. Button, Alonso and Massa completed the top six, leaving slim pickings for the rest.
F1 made its inaugural visit to India and the sport gave the country the tradition in 2011 of a Sebastian Vettel pole position and a Sebastian Vettel victory. He led every lap and was simply untouchable. His 11th triumph of the season put him within two races of equalling Michael Schumacher’s record of 13 wins in a season. Once again, it was Button and Alonso who completed the podium positions which provided a great circuit, but sadly, very poor racing. Massa and Hamilton became attracted again with their sixth collision of the season. The Brit’s front wing was damaged and he limped home in seventh. Massa was blamed this time by the race stewards and awarded a drive-through penalty, but it didn’t matter in the end, as he abused his Ferrari over the plastering kerbing and broke his front suspension. Mercedes equalled their best result of the season, with Schumacher leading Rosberg home to fifth, as he did at Spa earlier in the season.
However, Vettel’s hopes of equalling Schumacher’s wins in a season record ended on the second corner in Abu Dhabi. A sudden deflation on the left-rear tyre sent the champion spinning out of the race. Hamilton took full advantage and returned to form to secure a brilliant win in a very controlled and measured drive. As so often the case this season, Alonso outperformed his equipment to take second place for Ferrari and despite a KERS failure, Button made it two McLarens on the podium.
Red Bull may have finished off the podium in Abu Dhabi, but they showed their class in the finale at Sao Paulo. Webber finally ended his barren run by taking a magnificent victory in Brazil, although he was aided by a faulty gearbox problem for his team-mate. Button wrapped up second in the drivers championship with a podium finish, but Hamilton was out of luck, finishing his largely desperate season off with gearbox failure. At least he ended his public feud with Massa after the race. Fourth place for Alonso wasn’t enough to hold off Webber for third place in the driver’s championship final positions.
 |
| Vettel and Red Bull were the class of the field in 2011 |
So, after 19 races in 18 countries and five different winners from three teams, the end has arrived for F1 2011. Sometimes in the sport, you just have to appreciate greatness and we must hail Sebastian’s perfect season!
DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Sebastian Vettel 392, Jenson Button 270, Mark Webber 258, Fernando Alonso 257, Lewis Hamilton 227, Felipe Massa 118, Nico Rosberg 89, Michael Schumacher 76, Adrian Sutil 42, Vitaly Petrov 37, Nick Heidfeld 34, Kamui Kobayashi 30, Paul di Resta 27, Jaime Alguersuari 26, Sebastian Buemi 15, Sergio Perez 14, Rubens Barrichello 4, Bruno Senna 2, Pastor Maldonado 1
CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP: Red Bull 650, McLaren 497, Ferrari 375, Mercedes GP 165, Renault 73, Force India 69, Sauber 44, Toro Rosso 41, Williams 5
No comments:
Post a Comment