GreenBkk Ferrari F1 | Brazilian GP - A podium keeps Drivers’ title race alive

Brazilian GP - A podium keeps Drivers’ title race alive

Interlagos, 7 November – Fernando Alonso fought his way from fifth on the grid to third at the flag, in the Brazilian Grand Prix, to keep his lead in the Drivers’ championship. However, with a one-two finish for Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, the Constructors’ title has already gone to Red Bull Racing with one race in hand. Felipe Massa had an unlucky day, when a pit stop problem robbed him of any chance of putting on a show in front of his home crowd. And now there is only one week to wait until a thrilling final showdown in the twilight race in Abu Dhabi.

When the lights went out, the suprising Nico Hulkenberg, starting from his first pole, was immediately surprised by Sebastian Vettel who roared into the lead at the first corner, while from fifth on the grid, Fernando was already trying to pass Lewis Hamilton, which he did shortly afterwards. On lap 2, Mark Webber also demoted the German Williams driver, but Fernando had to wait until lap 7 until he got past Hulkenberg. By then, the Red Bull duo had pulled out a substantial lead (the Spaniard was 10 seconds behind the leader) and it was clear that, barring incidents for Vettel or Webber, third was likely to be Fernando’s position after the 71 laps.

Felipe meanwhile, from ninth on the grid, was in a train, behind Hamilton, Kubica and Barrichello, who were all being held up by Hulkenberg, so on lap 12, Felipe made his pit stop, but had to come in again next time round as there had been a problem with the front right wheel. From then, there was little he could do, always stuck in traffic with slower cars and although he passed a few, a collision as he mounted an attack on Buemi, saw him slip back down the order. From then on the Brazilian also had to keep his eye on the mirrors for the approaching race leaders, which made it even harder for him to race.

Having made his pit stop on lap 24, a glimmer of hope for Fernando to maybe try and force a Red Bull into an error came on lap 50, when Liuzzi crashed heavily in the Force India, bringing out the Safety Car for five laps, but by then, the order was jumbled up and there were several backmarkers between the Ferrari and Webber, so the Spaniard managed his car to the flag, keeping an eye out for the pursuing McLarens that had stopped to change tyres again, during the safety car period: Hamilton and Button finished fourth and fifth, with the remaining points going to the Mercedes duo of Rosberg and Schumacher in sixth and seventh, followed by Hulkenberg and Kubica, with Kobayashi taking the final point for tenth place.

As Fernando said after the race, if he had been offered a third place finish after qualifying he would have signed for it and it means he still has an eight point lead in the Drivers’ classification over Mark Webber in second place.

Credit: Ferrari S.p.A.