Aug 28, 2011
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From pole to victory for Vettel and P3 on the grid to the podium for Webber, it wasn’t all quite as straight forward as it sounds. As Sebastian said over the team radio on the inlap – what a race.
From several cars coming (in true Spa style) a little too close at La Source on Lap One, to seeing Michael Schumacher race from 24th to fifth, and watching Jenson Button make steady progress up the field and Lewis Hamilton crash out – it was everything a Spa grand prix should have been. But with sunshine.
Both our drivers had to earn their podium places. Mark had a poor start and slipped to eighth by the end of the first lap. Seb too lost the lead to a rocket-like Rosberg who flew into P1 from a grid fifth, but Vettel fought back and overtook him a lap later. In fact, this was (another) race which will have put paid to many of the Vettel Can’t Overtake Brigade’s whining. It’s always been unfounded, but he once again demonstrated it’s not just qualifying he’s quite good at…
Mark’s drive was equally heroic: it took true Aussie grit to overtake Fernando as the pair raced up Eau Rouge and from his eighth place he kept calm, collected and thoroughly deserved his second step.
Sadly for Jaime Alguersuari his best grid position advantage was cut several short at the first turn when Senna didn’t give him much quarter and his team-mate Sébastien Buemi also failed to finish.
So, it managed to be a classic Spa race, even without the classic Belgian weather and means we leave the Ardennes more than 130 points ahead of McLaren and Sebastian leads from Mark in the drivers’ title race with Alonso, then Button, behind our Australian. It’s a great way to start the second half of the season.
For Sebastian, it was a quieter (and more successful) Spa than last year and another major trophy for his collection. And another smiley face to stick to the inside of his cockpit for a return to Monza. Monza!
Credit: Red Bull Racing Formula one Team (www.redbullracing.com)
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