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With both AT&T
Williams drivers qualifying in the top ten for the fifty seven lap 2010
European Grand Prix the Williams team was looking at their best chance of
late to come home with a good result. Nico Hulkenberg would qualify one
place ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello but both drivers had set the
same time. With the very small number of points that the team had achieved
so far this season this race was a very important opportunity for the
Williams team.
With Vettel on pole followed by Webber and Hamilton the first lap will be
interesting. Alonso and Massa were in fourth and fifth while Kubica and
Button were in sixth and seventh while Nico and Rubens were in eighth and
ninth. All the top ten would be starting on the super soft tyre with
predictions making it a one stop race. The field would move away with a lot
of the drivers at the rear of the grid on the harder tyre. The grid would
line up and as the lights went out it would be Vettel leading from Hamilton
and Webber. Both Ferrari's would pass Webber while Kubica would pass Button
for sixth.
Webber was now ninth with Rubens and Nico in eighth and ninth. Lap one and
Vettel was leading by 1.6 seconds from Hamilton and Alonso. Rubens was
running with the F-Duct system as Trulli pitted. Hamilton would complain
that he had been hit by Vettel. Lap two and a fastest lap from Vettel,
1m:43.768, as Webber tried to get past Nico. Buemi was in tenth while at the
front Vettel was 2.3 seconds in the lead. Alonso was 1.5 seconds behind
Hamilton as reports came back saying that Hamilton had lost parts off his
front wing as a result of making contact with Vettel at Turn one. Lap three
and a 1m:43.534 from Vettel followed by a 1m:43.153 on lap four. His lead
was now 2.9 seconds as Trulli pitted again.
Webber was still running right with Nico as on lap five Vettel set a
1m:43.055. Rubens was pulling away from Nico with the gap out to 1.3
seconds. Vettel's lead was now 3.0 seconds over Hamilton. Rubens was 1.0
seconds behind Button as on lap six Vettel set a 1m:42.684. The Red Bull
driver was looking very comfortable in the lead with his lead now 3.3
seconds. On lap eight Webber would pit dropping way down the order. He would
take on the harder tyre but there would be a delay seeing him stationary for
7.9 seconds. Rosberg would also pit swapping to the harder tyre. Lap eight
and Vettel was leading by 3.7 seconds from Hamilton and Alonso. Massa was in
fourth followed by Kubica, Button, Rubens and Nico.
But the safety Car would come out as a result of a massive accident when
Webber would run into the back of Kovalainen's Lotus seeing the Red Bull fly
through the air and crash back down and fly into the barrier. It looked like
a misunderstanding between the two drivers seeing Webber fly though the air.
There would be rush of drivers coming in to change tyres but the leaders had
already passed the pit entry seeing the likes of both Williams cars able to
pit. Schumacher would be one of the last to pit as Webber's Red Bull was
removed from the track and the debris cleared. Vettel and Hamilton were
picked up by the Safety Car with Vettel still leading from Hamilton,
Kobayashi, Button, Rubens, Kubica, Buemi, Sutil, and Nico.
Kovalainen would say that he was defending his position and that Webber hit
him. Alonso was down in tenth followed by De la Rosa, Petrov, and Rosberg
and thirteenth. Hamilton was able to change his front wing during his pit
stop. Schumacher would pit again on lap fourteen, taking on the harder tyre.
Vettel would slow the field as the Safety car came in on lap fifteen. Vettel
would lock up at the final turn but was able to keep Hamilton behind as
Button tried to pass Kobayashi. Rubens was fighting off Kubica for fifth
place. Alonso would pass Nico for ninth at Turn two. Now it was De la Rosa
trying to pass Nico while Vettel would pull out a 1.0 second lead over
Hamilton. Massa was down in a disappointing fifteenth.
Lap sixteen and a fastest lap from Vettel with a 1m:42.059. Kobayashi in
third was losing time to Hamilton seeing Button drop away from the leaders
as well. Hamilton was pushing going fastest with a 1m:41.828 on lap
seventeen, now 1.1 seconds behind Vettel. Lap eighteen and Vettel would
respond with a 1m:41.696 seeing his lead out to 1.3 seconds. As the laps
counted down everyone were setting personal bests with Rubens still in fifth
and Nico tenth. Lap twenty and a 1m:41.478 from Vettel while Rosberg was
told to try and save on his brakes. It was announced that Hamilton's car was
under investigation by the Stewards.
A 1m:40.943 from Vettel while fourth placed Button was 12.8 seconds behind
the leader. Kobayashi certainly seemed to be bunching up the field behind
him. As the laps counted down it was finally announce3d that Hamilton would
get a drive through penalty for overtaking the Safety Car earlier on in the
race. Lap twenty six and Hamilton was pushing and set a 1m:40.715 after been
told by his team to push prior to having to take his penalty. Hamilton would
pit on lap twenty eight after having reported that there was a glass bottle
out on the circuit. Hamilton was lucky to be able to come back out in front
of Kobayashi maintaining his second place. Vettel was now leading by 14.5
seconds leading the race comfortably.
Rubens was still in fifth and Nico tenth. Rubens still had Kubica right
behind him as Hamilton went fastest again on lap twenty nine, 1m:40.686.
Alonso was quite upset that Hamilton had maintained his second place while
he had lost out so much as a result of Hamilton's actions on the track.
Rubens was doing a great job holding off Kubica but was slowly dropping away
from Button. Hamilton would pull away from Kobayashi and start to close up
to Vettel. Lap thirty seven and Vettel's lead was now 13.0 seconds.
Kobayashi and Button would have to find their way past back markers and
shortly after Rubens would have to get past the same cars. Lap thirty eight
and Rubens was now 6.2 seconds behind Button while Kubica was right behind
the Williams. Nico was still down in tenth and running basically by himself.
Ninth placed Alonso was trying to pass Buemi but Alonso would not be able to
take advantage of a lockup by Buemi at the final turn. Vettel was now 11.2
seconds in front of Hamilton while there was some smoke briefly coming from
the back of Nico's Williams. The Williams mechanics would come out in the
pit lane while out on the track Nico was now right with Alonso. Nico would
continue as the Williams cars went back into their garage. Rubens was still
in fifth and had been able to pull away from Kubica to see the gap now 1.1
seconds on lap forty two. Eighteenth place Di Grassi would pit as it was
announced that a group of cars would all be investigated after the race for
been too fast behind the Safety Car. It included Button, Rubens, Nico, De la Rosa, Petrov,
Sutil, Liuzzi, Buemi, and Kubica. Six of these cars were all running in the
points.
Nico had now drop off the back of Alonso while the gap from Button to Rubens
was remaining fairly static. Lap forty seven and a 1m:39.776 from Hamilton
to see the gap to Vettel 7.9 seconds. Vettel would respond but Hamilton
would set a 1m:39.418 on lap forty eight to be 7.4 seconds behind Vettel.
Button was right behind Kobayashi while Rubens was now 9.3 seconds behind
Button. Lap forty nine and the gap was now 6.6 seconds from Vettel to
Hamilton while Kubica continued to run right behind Rubens. Third placed
Kobayashi had yet to make his pit stop with just seven laps remaining. For
Nico his race would come to an end when he would pull off the track and
retire at Turn twelve. Nico would be told to stop by a fire marshal while he
also had a delaminated right rear tyre and damaged rear bodywork. Nico would kick the tyre barrier in his obvious
frustration.
Lap fifty one and Vettel's lead was still 6.9 seconds as on lap fifty two
Vettel would set a 1m:39.141 to take his lead out to 8.0 seconds. He had the answer to
Hamilton's attack. With Nico's retirement De la Rosa was now in tenth. Such
a shame for Nico as he had put in a good showing in this race. Kobayashi
would pit on lap fifty four taking on the softer tyre. Button was now in
third and Rubens in fourth and Kubica fifth. Kobayashi would come out in
ninth just in front of his team-mate De la Rosa. Sutil was now sixth from
Buemi and Alonso. Lap fifty four and a 1m:38.766 from Button but he was 7.7
seconds behind Hamilton. Rubens was now 11.6 seconds behind Button with
Kubica still right behind the Williams.
Buemi, Alonso, and Kobayashi were all running right together looking to
either keep or secure seventh place. Kobayashi would pass Alonso for eighth
place as Vettel started his final lap. Vettel would complete his lap and
come round to cross the finish line and take what was an easy victory for
the Red Bull driver. Hamilton was second from Button, Rubens, Kubica, Sutil,
Kobayashi , Buemi, Alonso, and De la Rosa in tenth. Kobayashi had passed
Buemi at the final corner in what was a good race for the Sauber team. For
Williams it was great to see Rubens come home in fourth but there was a
degree of disappointment not to see both cars come home in the points with
Nico's retirement. But now there was the issue of the steward's investigation which could see
several drivers, including Rubens, get penalties. |