08/05/2011
NEWS STORY
While canny strategy and ballsy driving effectively turned the formbook on its head in China, we do not expect anything similar today.
Then again, as he continually matures as a driver - putting memories of what happened here last year firmly out of his mind - Sebastian Vettel does still have that tendency to push just a little too hard, witness his costly mistake on Friday.
However, assuming there is no silliness, today's race is there for the Red Bull drivers to lose.
In Shanghai, Mark Webber was almost as happy as Lewis Hamilton at the Englishman's win, the Aussie proclaiming that it was good for the sport to have a new winner. As talk about his future continues, now would be as good a time as any for Webber to open his 2011 account.
Mercedes demonstrated its ever improving pace with a fine third place for Nico Rosberg, though even Michael Schumacher is at a loss to explain the reason for the (one second) gap between the two. In China, Rosberg was let down by poor team strategy, it will be interesting to see how Ross Brawn and his boys react today.
Ever since they arrived here, the McLaren boys have been talking down their chances. While they were quick on Friday, neither driver looked as convincing yesterday - and the sight of Vettel climbing from his car in Q3, more than satisfied with the time he'd already posted - must have caused Lewis and Jenson to gulp deeply within their helmets. Indeed, the sight of both drivers easing off whilst still on their final hot laps told the story.
While Fernando Alonso dug deep to put his Ferrari sixth on the grid, the Italian outfit still has a long way to go both in terms of pace and reliability. After the three-week break we were expecting more, as, we're sure, so were Fernando and Felipe.
There was another monumental performance from Vitaly Petrov, the Russian continuing to grow in stature; just months after many were pondering whether he was really ready for F1. While some will say that Robert Kubica would have kept him in his place, let's not forget that Nick Heidfeld is no pushover.
Behind the top ten, Williams appear to have made an improvement, mixing it on the grid with the Force India duo. However, these are early days, and there is still clearly a lot wrong with the car and internally within the team. If ever Rubens Barrichello's broad shoulders and wise old head were needed, now is the time.
Speaking of Force India, it's good to see that Adrian Sutil has finally woken from his slumber, out-qualifying Paul di Resta for the first time this year. Perhaps now, with both drivers on form, we might see the Indian outfit push that little bit harder.
It's been a disappointing weekend thus far for Sauber, culminating in Kamui Kobayashi's fuel system problem and Sergio Perez' failure to get the best out of his tyres. Nonetheless, we expect the Swiss team to give a good account of itself today, while Kobayashi's progress through the field should provide some real fireworks.
The Toro Rosso due are down in sixteenth and seventeenth, the Faenza outfit really appearing to struggle here. While one can make the excuse that the midfield group is extremely tightly bunched - which it is - Franz Tost's comments about Daniel Ricciardo's imminent promotion to a race seat cannot be helping morale.
Lotus continues to be the best of the rest, the Malaysian outfit now visibly snapping at the heels of the midfielders. Jarno Trulli continues to lose pace to his Finnish teammate however; yesterday's poor performance was apparently due to his DRS not working.
At Virgin, d'Ambrosio has improved massively in the last couple of races, the Belgian punching well above his weight. Nonetheless, one cannot help but feel that the Russian team needs to take a major look at its CFD policy.
Nothing new to report at Hispania, where both drivers are doing their best despite overwhelming odds. That said, we expect to see both Tonio and Narain go the full distance today.
It's expected that most drivers will be making no more than three stops today, with the hard (prime) tyres said to be good for around twenty laps.
Having not made that final run, Vettel and Webber both have an extra set of soft (options), while the majority of their rivals, including the McLaren duo, have no such luxury.
Drivers will be able to activate their DRS shortly before Turn 11 at the very beginning of Sector 3. The DRS detection zone is in the braking zone for Turn 9, which, of course, follows the notorious 200 degree Turn 8, already regarded as one of the sport's truly great corners. Incidentally, this means the DRS will be activated in the fast section leading to Turn 12 where Vettel and Webber had their controversial coming together last year.
The pitlane opens and the drivers make their way to the grid, no repeat of Shanghai's drama for Lewis Hamilton who heads down the pitlane with ten minutes to spare. The Englishman, along with teammate Button, Webber, and Schumacher, is starting on the dirty side of the grid.
Talking of silliness, the first corner here is highly reminiscent of the first corner at Interlagos, both having provided more than their fair share of incidents over the years.
On the way to the grid Glock develops a gearbox problem, the Virgin crew are working franticly and with three minutes before the pitlane closes it appears the German will have to start from the pitlane.
As the field prepares to head off on the parade lap, the air temperature is 17 degrees, while the track temperature is 34 degrees. It is bright and sunny with barely a cloud to be seen.
After an interminable wait for the red lights finally come on and go out, they're away, Vettel holds his lead but a brilliant start from Rosberg sees the Mercedes driver pass Webber going into Turn 1. Hamilton closes on the Australian but runs wide and loses a couple of positions. A brilliant start also from Kobayashi.
Hamilton, now down in sixth, is under pressure from Schumacher, while the two Renaults are side by side.
At the end of lap1, it's Vettel, Rosberg, Webber, Alonso, Button, Hamilton, Schumacher, Petrov, Heidfeld and Massa.
Massa gets through the inside of Heidfeld in Turn 1, as Perez pits after damaging his front wing.
Hamilton makes a lunge at Button but fails at the first attempt. Meanwhile Schumacher closes the door on Petrov and the two clash, allowing Massa to nip through and take seventh. The Mercedes driver immediately heads to the pits having incurred damage to his nose.
Petrov is asked if he has any damage to his car; I don't know," the Russian replies despondently.
As Vettel slowly builds his lead, Hamilton continues to shadow Button,
It's Vettel, Webber, Rosberg, Alonso, Button, Hamilton, Massa, Petrov, Barrichello, and Heidfeld.
Hamilton is all over Button, he passes his teammate but a mistake allows the 2009 champion back through again. Elsewhere, Alonso is all over Rosberg.
As Vettel builds a 4.7s lead, Alonso is shadowing Rosberg, the Spaniard unable to use his DRS to his advantage. Hamilton makes a great move on Button, using his KERS to great effect to make a nice clean pass. As the two McLarens scrap, Massa closes in.
At the end of lap 8, Petrov is the first driver to make a scheduled pit stop, Schumacher and Perez having made unscheduled stops.
Hamilton falls away from Button into the clutches of Massa, however, moments later both pit. Amazing stops from both drivers, the two side-by-side as they head down the pitlane however, the McLaren has the slight edge. They rejoin in twelfth and thirteenth.
Next time around (lap 11), Webber, Alonso, Rosberg, Heidfeld, Barrichello and Sutil all pit. The Australian rejoins in third.
At the end of lap 12, Vettel pits, as does di Resta. The German rejoins in second.
Elsewhere, the two Renault drivers enjoy some awesome argy-bargy, indeed, they both gesticulate at one another.
Consequently, after 12 laps, Button leads Vettel by just 0.9s though the Englishman still has to stop. Webber is third, 3.7s down on his teammate, with Alonso fourth, ahead of Kobayashi, Rosberg and Hamilton.
Button pits at the end of lap 13, as does Kobayashi, however, Vettel had already passed the Englishman. Elsewhere, Schumacher is passed with ease by former teammate Barrichello. A frustrating day for the German.
Hamilton leaves Rosberg for dead, the German putting up no fight whatsoever as he struggles for straightline speed.
With most of the first stops out of the way, after 14 laps it's: Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Hamilton, Rosberg, Massa, Button, Petrov, Heidfeld and Buemi.
Button is told that most of the drivers ahead are probably on a four-stop strategy. Elsewhere, Schumacher is passed by both Kobayashi and Sutil in one go. Replay suggests that the two Germans actually touched.
At one-third distance, Virgin finally confirms that Glock will not be taking part in today's race.
Despite starting from the very back of the field, Kobayashi is now up to eleventh, 3s down on Buemi.
Hamilton is now 9.6s down on Alonso and only 1.6s ahead of Rosberg who is still under attack from Massa. Button is a further 4.2s behind the Brazilian.
On lap 18, as Perez posts a new fastest lap (32.261), Glock - who didn't even start - is still, effectively, the only retirement.
Petrov makes his second stop at the end of lap 19, the Russian up to ninth at that stage, just ahead of his Renault teammate.
Rosberg and Massa having a fantastic scrap, passing and re-passing one another, both making use of their KERS and DRS. As they continue to fight Button joins in the fun, going around the outside of the German, who has just been passed by the Ferrari, and catching him totally off guard. Fantastic stuff.
At the end of lap 22, Rosberg and Heidfeld both pit, promoting Kobayashi to seventh, the Sauber driver having made a great move on Buemi.
Button closes in on Massa forcing the Brazilian to lock up. The Ferrari dives straight into the pits immediately afterwards, just as Alonso is leaving. He rejoins ahead of a massive traffic jam. Buemi and Kobayashi also pitted.
Heidfeld passes di Resta to take eleventh, the Scot having just been passed by Rosberg who is working his way through the traffic. Next time around, the Force India driver and Barrichello both pit.
Vettel pits at the end of lap 25, rejoining still leading by a country mile. Elsewhere, third placed Alonso posts a new fastest lap (32.050).
Button pits at the end of lap 26, leaving Alguersuari, Kovalainen, d'Ambrosio and Karthikeyan as the only drivers still to have pitted only once. The Englishman encounters a problem with his left-rear which costs him a couple of seconds.
With the second round of stops out of the way, Vettel leads Webber, who heads Alonso, Hamilton, Petrov, Massa, Button, Rosberg, Heidfeld and Schumacher.
No sooner has Webber been told to push and open the gap to Alonso than the Spaniard, just 0.4s behind the Red Bull, is told of the message.
The gap from third placed Alonso to fourth placed Hamilton is now up to 17.6s, as the Spaniard makes short work of Webber, using his KERS with great effect to take second place.
Petrov heads a train of several cars including Massa, Button, Rosberg and Heidfeld. Schumacher makes his third stop of the afternoon.
Out front, Vettel is having a quiet afternoon, enjoying an 8.8s advantage over Alonso. Webber is now 2s behind the Ferrari but 16.8s ahead of Hamilton.
Rosberg makes his third stop of the afternoon at the end of lap 33, taking on another set of softs. He rejoins in eleventh.
Next time around Hamilton pits for hards, however, he loses a massive amount of time, and a few positions, due to a problem with his front left. He rejoins in seventh.
Webber, Petrov and Massa pit at the end of lap 35, as Rosberg goes quickest in the first sector. Elsewhere, Massa runs wide in Turn 8 allowing Kobayashi to pass him.
Alonso pits at the end of lap 36, as Hamilton and Webber trade fastest sector times. The Australian rejoins behind Alonso as Hamilton posts a new fastest lap (31.586).
Now 1.7 behind Alonso, but 21s clear of Button, Webber posts a new fastest lap (31.005).
After 38 laps, it's: Vettel, Alonso, Webber, Button, Buemi, Hamilton, Rosberg, Barrichello, Petrov and Heidfeld.
Massa, now down in twelfth, closes in on former Ferrari teammate Schumacher, the German clearly struggling with the rear end of his Mercedes. As the Brazilian makes full use of his DRS to pass the German, Button pits for the third time.
No sooner has the Englishman rejoined in seventh, than Vettel also stops, rejoining the race still leading. 18 laps to go and sixth placed Buemi finally makes his third stop, Barrichello and Sutil pit also.
Alonso gets a radio communication - in Italian - as he pushes remorselessly trying to reel in Vettel, the gap now down to 7.1s. Webber, 3.1 down the road is over 32s clear of Hamilton.
At the end of lap 44, Rosberg makes his fourth stop of the afternoon, thereby posing the question; how many of his rivals will have to follow his example.
Next time around Webber stops, as does di Resta, thereby answering our question. Indeed, the Ferrari crew is in the pitlane, where Alonso joins them shortly afterwards. Back on track, di Resta has pulled off to the side of the track in S1.
As Hamilton and Heidfeld pit, Massa follows suit, the Brazilin having been passed by Rosberg who uses his DRS to great advantage. Surprisingly, Vettel also pits.
After 47 laps, fourth placed Button is the only one of the front runners who hasn't made a fourth stop. Can he make his current set go the distance, another 10 laps?
Webber posts a new fastest lap (29.703) as he closes to within 1.7s of Alonso. Button is clearly struggling on his tyres, allowing Hamilton to close to within 0.8s. Indeed, the 2009 champion offers no resistance when his teammate makes his move to take fourth.
With 8 laps remaining, Webber is now 0.8s behind Alonso, while Vettel enjoys a 6.3s comfort zone. Rosberg reeling in Button at a great rate of knots.
Webber makes a great move on Alonso in the final complex of corners at the end of lap 52. However, the Spaniard isn't used to surrendering and fights back all the way down the main straight and again for much of the rest of the next lap. Eventually however, he realises that resistance is futile, the Ferrari is no match for the Red Bull. It was good while it lasted but at least he still appears to have a podium position sewn up.
In seventh, Buemi is under increasing pressure from the Renaults. A great drive from the Swiss. Elsewhere, Alguersuari, Schumacher and Massa fighting are for eleventh. At one stage there are three cars abreast going around a corner, Schumacher coming off best. However, in Turn 1 the Brazilian squeezes his former teammate off track to take the position.
Rosberg passes Button for fifth, the McLaren driver's tyres now clearly shot to pieces. He, along with several other drivers, opted for a three-stop strategy. Clearly it didn't pay off.
Heidfeld has passed Buemi and now the Swiss is under pressure from Petrov.
Despite having led the race from the start and enjoying an 8s lead, Vettel is told to "push on".
In the final moments, Sutil and Perez are enjoying the mother of all scraps, the two banging wheels as they fight for thirteenth. Elsewhere, a late charge sees Petrov pass the struggling Buemi to take eighth.
Vettel takes the flag, having led from the moment the lights went out ninety minutes earlier. Webber takes a commanding second place while Alonso will be delighted to finish third.
Hamilton finishes fourth, ahead of Rosberg, Button, Heidfeld, Petrov, Buemi and Kobayashi.
Massa is eleventh, ahead of Schumacher, Sutil, Perez, Barrichello, Alguersuari, Maldonado, Trulli, Kovalainen, d'Ambrosio, Karthikeyan and Liuzzi.
A totally dominant win for Vettel and his team, however, surely Ferrari will feel buoyed by today's result. That said, Alonso's fine third place probably owes more to the Spaniard's dogged determination than improvements to the F150th Italia.
For once, it wasn't hype, McLaren really weren't up to the job here, while Rosberg demonstrated that yesterday's qualifying performance, and his race in China, was no fluke.
Renault will probably feel disappointed, whereas they don't have any real cause, not considering the budgets of the teams they are up against.
Great drives from Buemi and Kobayashi, while Williams is one of several teams that clearly has much work to do in the next two weeks.
Lots and lots happening today, but not as edge-of-the-seat excitement as witnessed in China. Indeed, even during the course of the race we received e-mails from readers complaining that DRS is killing the spectacle.
"Turkey used to have the best overtaking moves and now everyone just sails by," complained one reader. "They are just overtaking on the outside! What contrived racing!"
Then again, much like the reaction to our redesign, you can't please all the people all the time.
To check out our Turkish GP gallery, click here.