Brazilian Grand Prix - 05 Nov 2010 - 07 Nov 2010 |
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Brazilian GP Lap by Lap Report
Welcome to Interlagos, Sao Paulo for the penultimate race in the 2010 season. This is the home track for four of the racers: Rubens Barrichello, Felipe Massa, Lucas diGrassi and Bruno Senna. Nico Hulkenberg's Williams had a fantastic run in the rain hit qualifying sessions, surprised all and claimed pole position. It's the rookie's first pole in his F1 career.
The Grid
Nico Hulkenberg is at pole with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel alongside him. Behind them are Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton. Fernando Alonso and Rubens Barrichello are next on the grid. Robert Kubica and Michael Schumacher are on row 4. Felipe Massa and Vitaly Petrov complete the top ten. The currently lacklustre Jenson button after a disappointing qualifying is in 11th alongside Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi. Nico Rosberg and Jamie Alguesuari are on row 7. Nick Hiedfeld and Vitantonio Liuzzi are next. Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli are on row 9. Sebastien Buemi , following a five place penalty from the previous race, and Heikki Kovalainen are next on the grid. Lucas diGrassi is in P20 alongside Vitantonio Liuzzi following a five place penalty from the previous race. Bruno Senna is the last man on the grid. Christian Klien will start from the pit lane.
Five lights illuminate...
It's a perfect start for all. Vettel shows how much faster his Red Bull is as he closes in on Nico Hulkenberg's Williams and by the end of turn 1, we already have a new race leader. Lewis Hamilton gets the run on Mark Webber but can't get past. Webber makes his move on Hulkenberg and claims second.
At the end of the first lap, it's Vettel with the race lead. Behind him are Webber, Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Alonso, Kubica, Barrichello, Schumacher, Massa and Petrov.
Lap 4
Alonso who overtook Hamilton 2 laps ago is still looking for a way to overtake the slower Williams of Hulkenberg. Hulkenberg's doing a great job holding Alonso behind. Ferrari shouldn't do anything stupid and be overaggressive to overtake Hulkenberg. Alonso's already on top of the championship and if he finishes at the current position, he'll still be on to top with a lead of 4 points.
Meanwhile, the Red Bulls are flying thought the track and Webber already has a 4 second lead over Hamilton.
Lap 7
Alonso finally overtakes Hulkenberg . He is 6.9 seconds behind the Red Bulls. He had been lapping a second and a half slower than Webber and Vettel, having been trapped behind the Williams. Now the only thing on Alonso's mind is closing that gap.
Lap 11
Hamilton's on the aggressive, trying to overtake the much slower Williams. Hamilton seems to be getting frustrated being stuck behind Hulkenberg. Hamilton is struggling for grip and that coupled with the dirty air from Hulkenberg's Williams is causing the McLaren to slide. Jenson Button dives into the pits for a tyre change. He's the first to pit.
Vettel with an empty track ahead has clocked the fastest lap at 1:16.799. Behind him are Webber, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Kubica, Barrichello, Massa, Schumacher and Button
Lap 20
Jenson Button's early pit stop strategy may have flopped. Almost all the drivers have pitted in the last few laps. Massa set the fastest lap – 1:16.704
Alonso is slowly closing the gap between him and the Red Bulls. He is eight tenths of a second faster in section 1 of the track and has already reduced Webber's lead to 9.9 seconds.
Lap 27
The last three laps saw the pit stops of the top three drivers. Alonso was first to pit. After a clean pit stop, he rejoins the race at third. Vettel too has a tidy pit stop and hands the race lead to his team mate Webber. Webber pits in the next lap, giving back the race lead to Vettel. Webber rejoins the race at second.
Lap 35
Barrichello has punctured his front left tyre in an overtaking manoeuvre. He clipped the front wing of Jamie Alguesuari's Toro Rosso. The Williams is limping back to the pit for a tyre change.
Lap 44
Lucas di Grassi is in the pits with some mechanical problem with his car. He rejoins the race in lap 48
The 4 Brazilian drivers seem to be quite unlucky in their home track. Barrichello with his flat tyre, diGrassi with his car troubles, Massa is in P15 and Bruno Senna is P22.
Lap 51
Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi is out of the race. He under-steered terribly at a corner and has crashed into the barrier. The Force India car is in a very dangerous part of the track. The safety car has been deployed. The cars bunch up together as they follow behind the safety car around the track as Liuzzi's car is removed and debris is cleared off the track.
Lap 61
Massa makes contact with Buemi and gets pushed off track. He rejoins the race damage free but a few places down.
Vettel has put in a string of fastest laps and has increased his lead to 4.4 seconds.
There are plenty of blue flags and plenty of battles. The track is extremely chaotic and some have to content with a long string of backmarkers thanks to the safety car. Sutil in this chaos pulls a fantastic move and overtakes Buemi.
Lap 69
Massa has another incident, this time with Petrov. With just two laps to go, it looks like a Red Bull 1-2.
Final Lap
Sebastian Vettel takes the chequered flag for the fourth time this season. Behind him is his team mate Mark Webber. Alonso claims third and the final podium position. The McLarens are next with Mercedes behind them. Nico hulkenberg who started at pole, finishes 8th. Kubica and Kobayashi complete the top ten.
With the win at Brazil, Red Bull has secured the constructor's championship. But the drivers' championship is still to be claimed with three drivers battling it out. Hamilton'll need a miracle to win now. He needs to finish first in Abu Dhabi and Alonso, Vettel and Webber should finish outside the point scoring positions.
See you guys in two weeks for the grand finale of the 2010 season at Abu Dhabi and the final leg of the battle for the 2010 driver's championship.
Click here for the brazilian GP Race Results.
Welcome to Interlagos, Sao Paulo for the penultimate race in the 2010 season. This is the home track for four of the racers: Rubens Barrichello, Felipe Massa, Lucas diGrassi and Bruno Senna. Nico Hulkenberg's Williams had a fantastic run in the rain hit qualifying sessions, surprised all and claimed pole position. It's the rookie's first pole in his F1 career.
The Grid
Nico Hulkenberg is at pole with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel alongside him. Behind them are Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton. Fernando Alonso and Rubens Barrichello are next on the grid. Robert Kubica and Michael Schumacher are on row 4. Felipe Massa and Vitaly Petrov complete the top ten. The currently lacklustre Jenson button after a disappointing qualifying is in 11th alongside Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi. Nico Rosberg and Jamie Alguesuari are on row 7. Nick Hiedfeld and Vitantonio Liuzzi are next. Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli are on row 9. Sebastien Buemi , following a five place penalty from the previous race, and Heikki Kovalainen are next on the grid. Lucas diGrassi is in P20 alongside Vitantonio Liuzzi following a five place penalty from the previous race. Bruno Senna is the last man on the grid. Christian Klien will start from the pit lane.
Five lights illuminate...
It's a perfect start for all. Vettel shows how much faster his Red Bull is as he closes in on Nico Hulkenberg's Williams and by the end of turn 1, we already have a new race leader. Lewis Hamilton gets the run on Mark Webber but can't get past. Webber makes his move on Hulkenberg and claims second.
At the end of the first lap, it's Vettel with the race lead. Behind him are Webber, Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Alonso, Kubica, Barrichello, Schumacher, Massa and Petrov.
Lap 4
Alonso who overtook Hamilton 2 laps ago is still looking for a way to overtake the slower Williams of Hulkenberg. Hulkenberg's doing a great job holding Alonso behind. Ferrari shouldn't do anything stupid and be overaggressive to overtake Hulkenberg. Alonso's already on top of the championship and if he finishes at the current position, he'll still be on to top with a lead of 4 points.
Meanwhile, the Red Bulls are flying thought the track and Webber already has a 4 second lead over Hamilton.
Lap 7
Alonso finally overtakes Hulkenberg . He is 6.9 seconds behind the Red Bulls. He had been lapping a second and a half slower than Webber and Vettel, having been trapped behind the Williams. Now the only thing on Alonso's mind is closing that gap.
Lap 11
Hamilton's on the aggressive, trying to overtake the much slower Williams. Hamilton seems to be getting frustrated being stuck behind Hulkenberg. Hamilton is struggling for grip and that coupled with the dirty air from Hulkenberg's Williams is causing the McLaren to slide. Jenson Button dives into the pits for a tyre change. He's the first to pit.
Vettel with an empty track ahead has clocked the fastest lap at 1:16.799. Behind him are Webber, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Kubica, Barrichello, Massa, Schumacher and Button
Lap 20
Jenson Button's early pit stop strategy may have flopped. Almost all the drivers have pitted in the last few laps. Massa set the fastest lap – 1:16.704
Alonso is slowly closing the gap between him and the Red Bulls. He is eight tenths of a second faster in section 1 of the track and has already reduced Webber's lead to 9.9 seconds.
Lap 27
The last three laps saw the pit stops of the top three drivers. Alonso was first to pit. After a clean pit stop, he rejoins the race at third. Vettel too has a tidy pit stop and hands the race lead to his team mate Webber. Webber pits in the next lap, giving back the race lead to Vettel. Webber rejoins the race at second.
Lap 35
Barrichello has punctured his front left tyre in an overtaking manoeuvre. He clipped the front wing of Jamie Alguesuari's Toro Rosso. The Williams is limping back to the pit for a tyre change.
Lap 44
Lucas di Grassi is in the pits with some mechanical problem with his car. He rejoins the race in lap 48
The 4 Brazilian drivers seem to be quite unlucky in their home track. Barrichello with his flat tyre, diGrassi with his car troubles, Massa is in P15 and Bruno Senna is P22.
Lap 51
Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi is out of the race. He under-steered terribly at a corner and has crashed into the barrier. The Force India car is in a very dangerous part of the track. The safety car has been deployed. The cars bunch up together as they follow behind the safety car around the track as Liuzzi's car is removed and debris is cleared off the track.
Lap 61
Massa makes contact with Buemi and gets pushed off track. He rejoins the race damage free but a few places down.
Vettel has put in a string of fastest laps and has increased his lead to 4.4 seconds.
There are plenty of blue flags and plenty of battles. The track is extremely chaotic and some have to content with a long string of backmarkers thanks to the safety car. Sutil in this chaos pulls a fantastic move and overtakes Buemi.
Lap 69
Massa has another incident, this time with Petrov. With just two laps to go, it looks like a Red Bull 1-2.
Final Lap
Sebastian Vettel takes the chequered flag for the fourth time this season. Behind him is his team mate Mark Webber. Alonso claims third and the final podium position. The McLarens are next with Mercedes behind them. Nico hulkenberg who started at pole, finishes 8th. Kubica and Kobayashi complete the top ten.
With the win at Brazil, Red Bull has secured the constructor's championship. But the drivers' championship is still to be claimed with three drivers battling it out. Hamilton'll need a miracle to win now. He needs to finish first in Abu Dhabi and Alonso, Vettel and Webber should finish outside the point scoring positions.
See you guys in two weeks for the grand finale of the 2010 season at Abu Dhabi and the final leg of the battle for the 2010 driver's championship.
Click here for the brazilian GP Race Results.
