India analysis - Vettel just one of many winners
Sebastian Vettel may have won in New Delhi, but the real story was the huge success of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix weekend. The country truly embraced Formula One, the paddock revelled in its charm and hospitality, the stands were buzzing, and the drivers loved the new Buddh International Circuit. In a land where cows are sacred, it was perhaps inevitable that a Red Bull would triumph. One thing's certain - everyone can’t wait to go back next year and do it all again. We review Sunday’s historic race team by team…
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, P1
Mark Webber, P4
Vettel, naturally, had zero complaints after leading every lap from pole and setting fastest lap, though he was slightly puzzled why Button had better pace during and after the pit stops. He had, however, done all he had to in the opening laps and was thereafter able to control the race as he wished. Webber started well, then hurt his tyres fighting to try and regain second place for Button. Effectively he then ran out of tyres in the middle of the race and Alonso was able to jump him for third during the second pit stops.
McLaren
Jenson Button, P2
Lewis Hamilton, P7
Button said that, apart from the fact that Vettel won, McLaren had a near-perfect race after Saturday’s disaster, in which they got the best from the MP4-26. But he just lacked that extra bit of pace to challenge the Red Bull. Hamilton never seemed happy with his car, and after the collision with Massa on lap 24 and a new front wing, he said it felt as if something was amiss in the handling even though nothing could be detected.
Ferrari
Fernando Alonso, P3
Felipe Massa, retired lap 33, suspension damage
Alonso said he couldn’t find as much grip at the start as he’d expected and lost places as a result. He jumped Webber in the second pit stops, but lacked the pace to challenge Button’s second place. Massa was angry about the collision with Hamilton, and later took too much kerb, just as he had in qualifying, and broke the left front suspension.
Mercedes
Michael Schumacher, P5
Nico Rosberg, P6
Mercedes and a relatively uneventful race, in which they lucked in through the problems that beset Massa and Hamilton. Schumacher beat Rosberg fair and square for fifth after some astute conservation of his tyres in a crucial long mid-race stint.
Toro Rosso
Jaime Alguersuari, P8
Sebastien Buemi, retired lap 25
Alguersuari drove a typically feisty race to catch and pass Sutil’s Force India, and Buemi was following suit until he was forced to quit with an unspecified mechanical failure. The four-point haul brings the team level with Sauber on 41, 10 adrift of Force India in the fight for sixth place.
Force India
Adrian Sutil, P9
Paul di Resta, P13
Force India out-qualified Toro Rosso but lacked the pace to contain them in the race. Both Alguersuari and Buemi caught and passed Sutil, but he limited the damage by fending off a lengthy and persistent challenge from Perez and Petrov to score two points. Di Resta ran strongly early on despite running the hard Pirelli from the start, but the hoped for safety car failed to materialise and high tyre wear on the softs prompted stops that lost him far too much time.
Sauber
Sergio Perez, P10
Kamui Kobayashi, retired lap 1, accident
Perez, like Di Resta, gambled on the hard tyre for the first lap then switched to the softs and thereafter pushed like mad all race to move up into a points-scoring position that brings Sauber equal on 41 to Toro Rosso. Kobayashi got caught up in the aftermath of a collision off the start line between the Williams of Barrichello and Maldonado, and was an instant retirement.
Renault
Vitaly Petrov, P11
Bruno Senna, P12
Senna was troubled for the first five laps by loss of KERS, which enabled the Toro Rossos to find a way past. He had a strong run in ninth place towards the end, before a final tyre stop dropped him back. Petrov was for a long time involved in a mighty battle with Sutil and Perez, but couldn’t muster the pace to pass and was the first non-points scorer.
Lotus
Heikki Kovalainen, P14
Jarno Trulli, P19
Kovalainen drove a stonking race and at one stage during the pit stops was running 10th with competitive pace. Trulli was spun on the opening lap by Karthikeyan, and lost time trailing to the pits with a puncture and lost further time because of resultant damage to the floor which lost him downforce.
Williams
Rubens Barrichello, P15
Pastor Maldonado, retired lap 13, engine
Barrichello ran into the back of Maldonado as the field squeezed together going into the first corner, and as his front wing folded back under the front wheels be hit Kobayashi, who in turn his Glock. Barrichello made it to the pits for repairs but had lost far too much ground to make realistic progress. Maldonado ran with Senna, Perez and Petrov early on, but then stopped with a gearbox problem.
Virgin
Jerome d'Ambrosio, P20
Timo Glock, retired lap 3, accident
Virgin effectively lost Glock in the first corner on the opening lap as he got caught up in a collision between Barrichello and Kobayashi. He got back to the pits and briefly returned to the track, but there was ultimately too much damage to continue. D’Ambrosio said he’d had a bemusing weekend in regard to tyres; there didn’t seem to be any appreciable degradation, but the grip was rarely optimal either.
HRT
Narain Karthikeyan, P17
Daniel Ricciardo, P18
Karthikeyan said he was delighted with his race, in which he matched team mate Ricciardo on lap times and raced him hard despite damaging his front wing in a first-lap brush which spun Trulli. Ricciardo managed to catch and pass his team mate after a poor start but found his F111 behaving strangely on its second set of tyres and lost a lot of time as a result. That meant he had to do an extra pit stop, just when he was closing in on Karthikeyan near the end.
Credit: Formula One Administration Ltd (www.formula1.com)
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