09/06/2013
NEWS STORY
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Mat Coch writes:
A controlled lights-to-flag victory for Sebastian Vettel saw the German not only break Red Bull’s Canada duck but also extend his lead at the top of the championship to 36 points. On a weekend when Kimi Raikkonen floundered it was an important result, as was Jean-Eric Vergne’s sixth place.
The rain which had punctuated the opening two days of the Grand Prix had disappeared as the teams ventured in to the unknown; they'd had comparatively little dry running and none since Friday. It meant all drivers had free choice of tyres, most opting for the supersoft to start with, and plenty of new Pirelli's to last them the race.
With a number of drivers out of position, most notably Kimi Raikkonen in tenth place, and two powerful DRS zones, the 70 lap race promised to be a dramatic departure from the procession that was Monaco; the short run down to the first turn often a scene of opening lap incidents.
Away from the lights, a slow start from Valtteri Bottas meant the Finn was immediately on the defensive as Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber streaked past the Williams, leaving Fernando Alonso harrying the youngster before finally edging by as the field poured in to the final chicane for the first time. Bottas had defended valiantly into the first corner, Webber rounding him on the left as Rosberg squeezed by on the right under braking.
Out front Sebastian Vettel had transformed his pole position in to an early advantage, extending a two-second lead after the first lap, which grew to 2.8 seconds by the end of the second. The biggest mover at the start was Caterham's Giedo van der Garde who'd moved up four places to seventeenth, while Esteban Gutierrez and Bottas lost three apiece.
Bottas was the cork in the bottle, the Williams falling down the order rapidly as Jean-Eric Vergne and Adrian Sutil attacked. While Vergne scampered through Sutil was too optimistic heading around Turn 3, Bottas squeezing him on the apex leaving the German spinning in front of the pack which forced a number of drivers to take to the grass on the inside to avoid him.
Just half a lap later Sutil was again in amongst the action as Pastor Maldonado slid in to the rear of the Force India under braking for the final hairpin, the Williams driver damaging his front wing.
A DRS problem for Paul Di Resta was hurting his progress, the team advising its driver how to override the system via the steering wheel.
There were also issues for Raikkonen, the Finn suffering from an apparent brake issue, the team telling its man to move the brake balance as far forward as possible.
Vettel, with an almost seven second lead, was still pushing hard – so hard he brushed the wall with his rear wheel on the exit of Turn 3.
Raikkonen appeared to be struggling with his supersoft tyres early in the race; after just ten laps his tyres looked to be graining as Massa began attacking the Lotus. Encouraged by the attacking Massa, Raikkonen made a move on Daniel Ricciardo for eighth place as they began lap twelve, moving around the outside of the Toro Rosso before the Australian headed to the pits at the end of the lap.
Webber was the first of the leading runners to pit, switching to the medium tyres and emerging in fifth place. It triggered the first round of pit-stops, with a large hole behind the front runners in the space Bottas had occupied before his first stop.
Race leader Vettel stopped on the fifteenth lap, Hamilton taking the lead while Alonso followed the Red Bull into the pits. Both opted for the medium compound, rejoining second and fifth respectively.
A drive-through penalty was handed to Maldonado for his part in the earlier incident with Sutil, a seemingly harsh penalty for sliding into the back of Sutil and doing more damage to his own car than anything else.
Hamilton headed in for fresh tyres on lap 19, handing the lead back to Vettel as the Mercedes driver switched to the medium compound Pirelli tyres.
Team radio advised Bottas, who’d fallen to fourteenth, that he would need another twenty-five laps from his tyres, a comparatively straight forward task given much of the field had stretched their supersoft tyres to almost lap twenty.
Raikkonen, who’d been told to save fuel, dived into the pits on lap 23, his troubles compounded by a poor stop thanks to a slow rear tyre change after the jack slipped. He emerged fourteenth behind Sergio Perez, whom Bottas had dispensed with the lap before.
Jenson Button proved easy meat for Sutil and Massa; the Force India easing by at the final chicane while Massa out-dragged him heading into the first corner. Massa then turned his attention on Sutil, heading into the chicane two abreast before the Ferrari driver had to yield.
Webber then attempted a similar move on Rosberg, the Australian dropping a wheel on to the grass under braking for the final chicane, barely keeping control of the Red Bull while Alonso closed.
Button, clearly on a one stop strategy, had fallen well off the back of the battling duo after twenty-seven laps on his opening set of tyres, McLaren finally pitting the 2009 world champion from a lowly sixteenth place.
Unable to clear Rosberg, Webber was coming under increasing pressure from Alonso as the Mercedes driver held up the chasing pair to the tune of some half a second a lap. A good exit from the final hairpin gave Webber his best opportunity to that point, Rosberg swerving right to block the inside to the final chicane before leaving Webber just a Red Bull’s width under braking.
For a lap the pair danced, Webber moving around to get better drive out of the corners while Rosberg tried valiantly to defend, the Mercedes driver finally a sitting duck in the DRS zone on the following lap. Alonso then make quick work of Rosberg heading into the first corner, the German having scarcely put up a fight.
It prompted Mercedes to call Rosberg in for a fresh set of medium tyres, the German maintaining his fifth position well ahead of Vergne’s Toro Rosso. It was Rosberg’s only planned stop, needing to extract thirty-nine laps from his tyres.
With an 18 second lead after thirty-two laps Vettel looked almost untouchable out front. Such was his pace that he was soon lapping Raikkonen, who himself was engrossed in a battle with Bottas for twelfth place after his early race dramas.
Released from behind Rosberg both Webber and Alonso were in pursuit of Hamilton, lapping more than half a second a lap faster that the second placed man.
Webber’s charge was compromised by Van der Garde, the Caterham driver opening the door for the Red Bull to lap him at the final hairpin before strangely cutting in on the Australian. The pair inevitably touched, damaging Webber’s front wing which eventually broke at the next corner. Stewards were immediately on the case, investigating the incident before promptly handing down a 10 second stop-go penalty to the Dutchman for ignoring blue flags and causing a collision.
Soon after, a locked brake from Webber at the hairpin compromised his exit allowing Alonso to close. Holding position in to the chicane the Ferrari driver used both KERS and DRS to pass the Red Bull driver heading into the first turn.
Yet to pit were Grosjean and Di Resta who continued to turn laps on their first set of medium compound tyres. The Lotus driver eventually stopped on lap 44, dropping to eleventh place in the process.
The following lap saw Perez in the pits, returning to the track in just twelfth position in what was turning into a dismal race for McLaren. Button could manage no better than thirteenth place, the pair running nose to tail after being lapped by Alonso and Webber.
Webber dived in for his final stop after forty-six laps, a quick tweak of front wing made in what was a slow stop after problems at the rear of the car. He took to track as Van der Garde rounded the first turn, his front wing totally askew before it came away completely, the result of being tagged by Hulkenberg two corners earlier.
Both were forced to retire, Hulkenberg with suspension failure on the left rear where he’d moved over on Van der Garde, and the Caterham driver pulling over with a dangerously damaged car as the front wing stuck out from under his car.
Alonso took the yellow flag opportunity to stop, followed on the next lap by Hamilton, who’d enjoyed a comparatively quiet race in second place. With 49 laps under his belt Vettel too made his final stop, the Red Bull driver serenely on his way some 18 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
Fifty laps in and di Resta remained out on track, the only man not to have stopped as the race wore on. He’d moved his way up the order to seventh, 24 seconds ahead of teammate Sutil and with a pit-stop taking in the order of 15. The decision on when to stop had been left with the Scot, the team relying entirely on his judgement as to when the tyres began to fade.
A strange moment for Vettel saw the race leader run off the circuit at the first turn, allowing Bianchi to temporarily un-lap himself. Vettel soon regained his composure by setting the fastest sectors on his way to posting a new fastest lap on lap 55.
Di Resta finally headed to the pits after 56 laps. He had enjoyed a 25 second lead over his teammate in what was effectively a free stop to return to the track in seventh place. Vergne in sixth and Rosberg in fifth also stopped, free pit stops for the pair as they changed tyres to be on the safe side heading to the finish – Rosberg having badly flat-spotted his tyres early in his second stint.
Alonso, who had been closing on Hamilton since mid-distance, moved in to DRS range with ten laps remaining, the pair lapping Sutil’s Force India. Shortly thereafter the German was slapped with a drive through penalty for ignoring blue flags, a penalty which would drop him out of the points while promoting Raikkonen, Massa and Button.
Alonso attempted to pounce on Hamilton at the exit of Turn 9, the Ferrari driver appearing to hesitate as though making sure he was eligible for DRS down the following straight. Defending desperately Hamilton took a sweeping line through the hairpin, pushing Alonso wide before parking his car on the apex to prevent the Spaniard from getting the drive out of the corner.
It came to no avail however, as Hamilton defended in to the final chicane, off line he was slow on the exit allowing Alonso to sneak through around the outside into Turn One, the former teammates clashing wheels in the process.
A lap later the pair were at it again, Alonso defending his position into the final chicane before Hamilton touched the back of the Ferrari with his front wing, an opportunity created after a mistake from Alonso in Turn 8.
Four laps from the end Gutierrez crashed out of the race at Turn 1 in a strange incident where the Mexican appeared to have gone straight on from the pit exit, burying the nose of his Sauber into the barrier.
Elsewhere Vergne had driven a strong race to remain in sixth place, all the more impressive given teammate Ricciardo languished in fifteenth. Also out of the points were both McLarens, Sutil having recovered to take tenth after his drive-through penalty.
Massa demoted Raikkonen to ninth place at the final chicane on the penultimate lap as first Alonso, then Webber, set a new fastest lap, thereby stealing Vettel’s thunder.
It was all they could do however as Vettel cruised to victory some fifteen seconds ahead of Alonso, Hamilton, Webber and Rosberg. The result saw Vettel extend his lead in the championship standings over Alonso to thirty-six points while in the Constructors Championship, seven races in, Williams remained pointless.