12/06/2011
NEWS STORY
It began several hours ago, and with the race around ninety minutes away it continues.
"It's cold, grey and damp," tweet McLaren, "rain, rain, rain," echoes Renault.
While a couple of races earlier in the season were predicted to be hit by rain, it finally looks as though the forecasters have got it right, as the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve continues to be lashed by showers. What started as light drizzle a couple of hours back continues to increase in intensity, it looks like we're in for a soggy afternoon.
Consequently, the form book looks to be heading out of the window, and we finally get to see how well the Pirellis work in the wet.
Paul Hembery is confident, and while Pirelli hasn't yet had a proper wet race it has tested in the wet on several occasions and there was one wet session in Turkey last month. That said, a number of drivers, including Jenson Button, have never run on the Italian rubber in the wet, the Englishman opting not to run because he wanted to save his wet tyres for the remainder of the weekend in case the weather didn't let up. Similarly, teammate Lewis Hamilton only ran a few wet laps during one of the Barcelona tests.
With the experts predicting a 60 percent chance of rain today, McLaren is the most high profile team believed to have sacrificed its qualifying bid in an attempt to be ready should they be proved right, though Button denied this. Renault also is said to have prepared for a wet race.
With McLaren widely thought to be the favourites going into this weekend, such a move might explain the Woking team's relatively poor performance yesterday afternoon.
An hour before the race is due to get underway, Bob Constanduros emails to say that Alguersuari is to start from the pitlane as the front torsion bars, upper rear wing flap and lower rear wing gurney have been changed on his car and they are different from the ones originally used. Changes have also been made to the set up of the suspension. All this is anticipation of it remaining very wet this afternoon, the Spaniard looking to emulate something of the performance of Sebastian Vettel at Monza in 2008.
Worth noting that Renault have changed the engine in Heidfeld's car but without penalty.
Even in the dry there have been incidents aplenty this weekend with Vettel hitting the Champions' Wall on Friday morning and Adrian Sutil, Kamui Kobayashi and Jerome d'Ambrosio all crashing in the afternoon.
Complaining of feeling unwell after the Friday morning session, Sergio Perez, who crashed heavily in Monaco, has been replaced by Pedro de la Rosa.
Five minutes before the pitlane opens it stops raining. Mike Gascoyne claims that there won't be any further rain for a while however, the high humidity means the track won't dry out very quickly. There are already numerous parts of the track with standing water and it almost certain that the start will be on intermediates or wets. There is also talk of starting behind the Safety Car.
With so little experience of such conditions nobody is in a hurry to take their place on the grid, instead driver return to the pits in order to try practice starts and evaluate the tyres.
Lotus' weather people (Meteo France) claim there won't be any further rain for the first thirty minutes of the race.
One of the last onto the grid is Rosberg, the Mercedes driver running full wets. The German makes it onto the grid by the skin of his teeth. Ross Brawn says that both of his drivers will start the race on full wets with "no chance" of starting on inters. Heidfeld complains that grip is "incredibly low".
Five minutes before the start, the air temperature is 19 degrees C, while the track temperature is 20 degrees.
Sadly, the officials announce that the race will start behind the Safety Car. In the pitlane, McLaren team members are using blowers to dry their particular bit of tarmac. Because we're starting behind the Safety Car it means that everyone must start on full wets and DRS is disabled until Race Control decides otherwise. It also means the race is underway the moment the Safety Car leaves the grid.
As the field heads off, Schumacher is advised that no further rain is expected until fifteen minutes into the race. Onboard footage from Hamilton's car shows just how poor the visibility is.
Massa is told that "reasonably heavy" rain is expected in fifteen to twenty minutes.
It's noticeable that some cars are running a lot more wing than others.
At the end of lap 4 the Safety Car pulls off into the pitlane. Vettel leads field and makes a move but the Red Bull German has it covered. The Spaniard tries again at the first corner, he fails again, behind them Hamilton hit Webber but they both continue, albeit several positions down in the Australian's case. Further around the lap Schumacher passes both McLarens in one move around the outside.
At the end of lap 5 it's Vettel, Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, Schumacher, Hamilton, Button, di Resta, Heidfeld and Kobayashi.
As Hamilton makes a move on Schumacher at the hairpin the German forces the McLaren driver wide. Out front Vettel posts a new fastest lap (34.827). Webber is down in twelfth as the replay shows that the Red Bull driver made room for Hamilton at the start but the McLaren still hit him unable to find any grip.
As Massa keeps Alonso honest, Vettel has a 4.2s lead.
As the Race Stewards announce that they are investigating the Webber/Hamilton clash the Englishman collides with his teammate as he tries to overtake him on the pit straight. The 2008 world champion has sustained damage, "what was he doing?" shouts Button over the radio. Hamilton parks his car in the middle of Turn 5, in the pits Ron Dennis is clearly angry. The Safety Car is deployed.
Button pits for intermediates and to check for damage, the McLaren driver rejoining in fourteenth.
As Anthony Hamilton watches the replay impassively, the Race Stewards announce that no further action will be taken over the Webber/Hamilton clash. However, they are now investigating the Hamilton/Button incident. Is it because he is… oh, forget it!
So, after 9 laps, and still behind the Safety Car, it's: Vettel, Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, Schumacher, Kobayashi, Heidfeld, Petrov, Webber and di Resta.
It's bad news for Button as the rain begins to fall again, the Englishman having switched to inters. Elsewhere, Webber has an "intermittent downshift problem" that could mean a new steering wheel.
To add to McLaren's misery Hamilton and Button are both under investigation not only for their clash but for exceeding the speed limit behind the Safety Car. Ho Hum.
At the end of Lap 12 the Safety Car pulls off for the second time.
Vettel maintains his lead as Schumacher tries a move on Rosberg. All get away cleanly, no silliness.
Button is handed a drive-through for exceeding the Safety Car speed limit. He serves it immediately, rejoining in fifteenth behind Buemi.
As Vettel builds a 3.4s lead, Button - the only driver not on full wets - passes Buemi and closes in on Barrichello. Replay catches a great fight between Webber and Petrov.
Button is fastest man on track, carving his way through the field, making short work of Sutil and Maldonado. The two Ferraris continue to shadow Vettel.
Button is lapping 4s quicker than most of the cars ahead of him. Webber is also on a charge, the Australian now all over Heidfeld.
At the end of lap 17, Alonso pits, a wise move from Ferrari. Rosberg also stops as do Maldonado and Buemi. Alonso rejoins is seventh, immediately finding himself in a scrap with the Renault. Rosberg rejoins in eleventh.
Schumacher pits at the end of lap 18, the Mercedes driver rejoining in eleventh.
It raining harder as Button passes Petrov for seventh. As Massa warns that it is not a good time for inters the Safety Car is deployed. The sky is black.
Behind the Safety Car, Alonso, Button, Rosberg, Alguersuari, Barrichello, Kovalainen, and Maldonado all pit. A lap later (at the end of lap 19) Vettel pits. Shortly after, his Red Bull teammate pits.
New race leader Massa pits at the end of lap 21, the Brazilian rejoining in third. Schumacher and Buemi, the only drivers still on inters, both pit.
"Just for information," says Vettel, "from Turn 9 to Turn 13 it's undriveable".
Behind the Safety Car, Kobayashi - who has yet to stop - is second, with Heidfeld, Petrov and di Resta - who also have yet to stop - in fourth, fifth and sixth.
"There's so much water you cannot re-start the race like this," says Vettel. And he's at the front with perfect visibility.
After 24 laps, it is raining much, much harder. Indeed, the race is red flagged such is the intensity of the downpour.
As the field waits on the grid - with just the one retirement, Hamilton - it's Vettel, Kobayashi, Massa, Heidfeld, Petrov, di Resta, Webber, Alonso, de la Rosa, Button, Rosberg, Schumacher, Sutil, Alguersuari, Glock, Barrichello, Liuzzi, Buemi, Karthikeyan, Maldonado, Kovalainen, Trulli and d'Ambrosio.
Drainage is really a problem here and standing water is a real concern. As a vehicle attempts to push the water from the track at Turn 1 the sheer volume is obvious and worrying.
Before the race resumes drivers will be given a 10 minute warning. Consequently, while some remain in their cars others are out chatting or doing whatever drivers do at such times.
At 14:24 (local time) Mike Gascoyne tweets that the rain is about to ease off with no more showing up on the radar. However, he admits that the big problem is with the standing water. However, his forecast is contradicted by Red Bull's weather people.
At 15:08 it finally stops raining, much to the delight of the crowd. However, the standing water remains a major problem.
At 15:35 Race Control announces that the race will resume - behind the Safety Car - at 15:50, all cars to be fitted with full wet tyres.
At 15:45 it starts raining again but Rob Smedley tells Massa that it will only last for five minutes. The 5-minute warning klaxon is sounded.
At 15:50 the field heads off behind the Safety Car, all get away cleanly. In the stands the fans are clearly delighted to have something to watch again. Remember, we are only one-third of the way through the race - a race that started almost three hours ago.
On lap 29, asked about the visibility, Massa simply replies, "ok!" Elsewhere, Kovalainen is crawling around with what sounds like a terminal problem. "I've hardly got any drive," he complains. He is told to pit.
The Safety Car starts lap 32 still leading the pack, a dry line beginning to emerge and a number of drivers clearly gagging to resume the racing.
As d'Ambrosio pits for a set of inters, it is announced that the Safety Car is pulling in at the end of the lap (34).
Vettel backs up the pack at the hairpin then lets rip catching Kobayashi by surprise. Into Turn 1 Massa makes a move on the Sauber but the Japanese driver holds station. Schumacher, Sutil, Glock, Barrichello and Buemi all pit for inters.
At the end of lap 35 Heidfeld, di Resta, Button, de la Rosa, Alguersuari and Maldonado all pit.
As d'Ambrosio gets a drive-through for having the wrong tyres Sutil runs wide.
At the end of lap 36 Kobayashi, Massa, Petrov, Webber, Alonso, Rosberg and Trulli all pit. D'Ambrosio servers his drive through. A nightmare for Ferrari with both cars pitting at the same time.
More misery for Ferrari as Alonso sits stranded between Turns 3 and 4 his car beached on the kerb. Elsewhere, Button heads back to the pits with a puncture. As the Safety Car is deployed Vettel pits. It's Alonso's first DNF since Spa last year.
Replay shows Button and Alonso colliding when the Spaniard firmly shuts the door on the McLaren driver.
After 37 laps, behind the Safety Car, it's: Vettel, Kobayashi, Heidfeld, Massa, di Resta, Webber, Schumacher, Petrov, Rosberg and Sutil. Button, after his fifth stop of the day, has rejoined in twenty-first.
At the end of lap 39 the Safety Car pulls off yet again. Meanwhile the stewards announce that they are investigating the Alonso/Button incident.
Once again, Vettel catches Kobayashi on the hop, Massa is all over the Japanese youngster. Schumacher is hard on the heels of sixth placed Webber.
Heidfeld under pressure from di Resta, Webber and Schumacher as Vettel extends his lead to 1.5s. Rosberg is concerned that he might have a puncture after being hit by Sutil but he's assured that all is OK.
Webber gets all out of shape coming out of the hairpin, appearing to brush the barrier, Schumacher is through. Subsequently di Resta also gets it wrong as he battles Heidfeld. The Scot, having damaged his front wing is struggling for grip and consequently has to pit.
Sutil is handed a drive-through for overtaking behind the Safety Car as di Resta rejoins in twenty-first position. Schumacher is all over Heidfeld with Webber in hot pursuit.
"Get him out of the way, get past him," Rob Smedley tells Massa as the Brazilian loses time behind Kobayashi. Elsewhere, Sutil serves his drive-through.
On lap 45, Schumacher posts a new fastest lap (29.215) as the Race Stewards announce that DRS is now enabled. There are two DRS zones here, one on the straight leading into the final corner and the other on the pit straight. The stewards announce that they are investigating the di Resta/Heidfeld incident.
Sensing a podium, Schumacher ups the ante, going quickest in the first sector. As Webber shadows Heidfeld, Petrov closes in.
On lap 47 Vettel goes quickest (28.105) as he extends his lead to 5.5s, Massa continuing to harry Kobayashi. Massa is told that he is activating his DRS at the wrong spot.
Alguersuari and Maldonado are having a great battle when Button closes in and makes short work of the pair of them moving up to tenth. Elsewhere, another fastest lap for Vettel (27.202).
Di Resta gets a drive-through as the Sutil/Rosberg incident is under investigation.
Webber pits at the end of lap 50, fitting the option (supersoft) dry rubber. Barrichello also fits the dry tyre.
Unseen, Schumacher has passed Massa and Kobayashi, thereby taking second place. Replay shows the two getting up close and personal in Turn 8 and Schumacher passing the pair of them. He's back!
At the end of lap 51 Button pits for slicks, as do Alguersuari, Maldonado and Glock. Next time around, Schumacher, Massa, Heidfeld and de la Rosa all pit. Webber posts a 24.626 indicating that the switch to options was the right one - Vettel currently running at 37.4.
At the end of lap 53 Vettel pits as do Kobayashi and Petrov. Massa has damaged the nose on his Ferrari and pits having lost control of the car and clouted the barriers.
Vettel still leads with Schumacher second and Webber third. The Australian uses his DRS in an attempt to pass the Mercedes but fails, Schumacher is on a charge.
Behind the leading three, it's: Kobayashi, Button, Heidfeld, Petrov, Barrichello, Alguersuari and Rosberg. Button and Webber are the fastest men on track as Schumacher closes to within 8.7s of Vettel.
Heidfeld gets over confident runs into the back of Kobayashi, loses his front wing, runs over it, clouts the barriers and heads down the escape road at high speed. "I don't know what he was doing there," says the German of his Japanese rival.
As Webber crawls all over Schumacher, Button is lapping 2s quicker than the cars ahead of him.
The Safety Car is deployed in order that debris from Heidfeld's incident can be removed from the track.
It's Vettel, Schumacher, Webber, Button, Kobayashi, Petrov, Barrichello, Alguersuari, Rosberg and Maldonado.
There's mayhem on the track as the marshals attempt to clear the debris, one falls over twice and for a moment it looks as though he's going to be hit. Indeed, one car has to lock-up in an attempt to avoid him.
The Safety Car pulls off at the end of lap 59, as Button asks about Vettel's tyre situation. The world champion makes his move but Schumacher sticks with him. Game on!
Webber is all over Schumacher but the Australia has his own problems in the form of Button. Vettel is already 2.2s down the road.
Yellow flags wave in S1 as Maldonado stops moments after pitting. However, all attention is focussed on the three-way battle for second.
Webber passes Schumacher having made great use of his DRS but misses the final chicane. Consequently he has to hand the place back to the Mercedes driver. While giving way to the German the Australian somehow holds off Button.
Next time around he once again overshoots the corner, almost hitting Button who slips through - on the damp part of the track - to take third.
At the end of lap 65 Button is able to pass the Mercedes with relative ease, posting a new fastest lap into the bargain (18.886). Once past Schumacher, Button sets off after Vettel. Webber continues to shadow Schumacher.
On lap 66 Button is 1.5s quicker than Vettel closing in to within 1.6s of the race leader.
There are three laps to go but we are on the cusp of the two hour race distance.
Webber makes his move at the usual place at the end of lap 67 and this time it sticks, indeed, Schumacher misses the final corner. Elsewhere, the stewards announce they are investigating the Petrov/Kobayashi incident.
As Button closes in Vettel ups his pace, as di Resta's race comes to an end at Turn 9.
As they begin the final lap Button is 0.9s behind the leader. The German makes a mistake, runs wide, loses the back end and Button is through.
The Englishman takes a dramatic win in what has been an epic race - in every sense of the word. After all, what with his drive-through he has made six stops. After the penultimate Safety Car period he was twenty-first.
However, the drama doesn't end there, Massa uses his DRS to pass Kobayashi on the pit straight at the death, the Brazilian taking a fine sixth place.
Schumacher is all over Webber but the Mercedes simply isn't up to it, nonetheless the German has every reason to feel absolutely delighted.
While there were times this afternoon when it looked as though we weren't going to get any racing, we finally ended up with a thriller, a race that we will be talking about for some time.
To sum up, Button wins, ahead of Vettel, Webber, Schumacher, Petrov, Massa, Kobayashi, Alguersuari, Barrichello and Buemi.
Rosberg finished eleventh, ahead of de la Rosa, Liuzzi, Karthikeyan, d'Ambrosio, Glock, Trulli and di Resta.
That said, with a number of stewards investigations still ongoing - including Button's clash with Alonso - there could be a few changes, however, the guys at the front truly deserved to be there.
It might have taken forever but ultimately it was worth the wait.
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