Brazilian GP: Barrichello secures great 12th grid position


Great effort

By Andrew Hooper
November 26 2011

For the AT&T Williams F1 team qualifying for the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix would see Rubens Barrichello secure a great 12th position. This would see him well placed for Sunday's race but the same could not be said for team-mate Pastor Maldonado who could only manage 18th. His weekend has been a real struggle and his race will be more of the same.

 
 Brazilian GP Qualifying
 
Barrichello
 
In the final qualifying session for the 2011 Formula One season qualifying for the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix would commence with a the Lotus cars coming out first. They would be followed by a rush of drivers including both AT&T Williams F1 drivers, Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado. The track was very busy with just three cars still in their pits. Trulli would set a 1m:16.940 but he would be passed by Buemi with a 1m:15.639. Senna was now second but quickly Hamilton would go fastest, 1m:13.876, followed by Button, Kobayashi, and Pastor in fourth, 1m:15.513. Rubens had seta 1m:21.058 as Pastor dropped to fifth. Alguersuari was in fourth with a 1m:15.505. Now we had Webber second with a 1m:13.904 followed by Button, Sutil, Di Resta, and Petrov. Rubens was in seventh but he would drop to ninth as Vettel went fastest, 1m:13.687, and Alonso was in fifth.

Rubens was now in ninth but as Rosberg moved into sixth and Petrov ninth Rubens had dropped to eleventh. Pastor was now in fourteenth, 1m:15.513. Hamilton was now second with a time of 1m:13.817. Button was now third from Webber, Alonso, Sutil, Rosberg, Di Resta, and Massa in tenth. Rubens was now fifteenth and back in his pit while Pastor had dropped to seventeenth. Hamilton would pit as Schumacher moved into eighth with a 1m:14.432. Button was on a better lap setting a 1m:13.281 running on the medium tyre. Webber was second and Vettel third from Hamilton and Alonso. Rubens was now in seventeenth and Pastor eighteenth with Pastor also pitting. With ten minutes remaining in the twenty minute period the track had quickly emptied as drivers came in to consider changing tyres. Massa was now in eighth with a time of 1m:14.269.
 
Maldonado
 

Third placed Vettel continued to run as we had Kovalainen running on the soft tyre moving only to nineteenth. The top ten were all still in their pits but seventh placed Rosberg would come out with seven minutes remaining. Trulli was now in seventeenth with both Williams cars back out for a run on the soft tyres. Rubens and Pastor were now in eighteenth and nineteenth. Alonso and Sutil would join Rosberg out on the track followed by fourth placed Hamilton. Alguersuari was up to seventh, 1m:14.225, while Senna moved into tenth. Petrov was now in fifth as Pastor moved up to fourteenth but he would drop to sixteenth as others went faster, 1m:14.625. Rubens was on a far better lap moving up to ninth with a 1m:14.117. Di Resta was now in fourth while the top three; Button, Webber, and Vettel, remained in their pits. Sutil was now third, 1m:13.480, while Pastor had dropped to eighteenth. Rubens was now in tenth as Hamilton moved up to second with a time of 1m:13.361.

Schumacher was now sixth with one and a half minutes remaining. Alonso was ninth from Rosberg and Rubens. Rubens had pitted as the period drew to a close. As the period came to an end Button would be fastest from Hamilton, Webber, Sutil, Vettel, Schumacher, Di Resta, Petrov, Alonso, Rosberg, and Rubens in eleventh. For Pastor his qualifying was over after having failed to make the cut. Joining Pastor would be Kovalainen, Trulli, Liuzzi, Ricciardo, D'Ambrosio, and Glock.

 
Maldonado
 

With Rubens in eleventh it would be interesting to see if he could make it into the final period of qualifying in what is Rubens home race. Also making an appearance at Williams was Patrick Head who was making his last official appearance at a Grand Prix. The cars would line up at the end of the pit lane with soft tyres been the tyre of choice. There were reports of the possibility of rain explaining the urgency in setting a time. Rubens would join this group of drivers with all seventeen cars now out on the track. With all the cars out on the track the times would come quickly with Sutil setting a 1m:13.276 followed by Di Resta and Buemi. Vettel would go fastest with a 1m:12.446 while Hamilton moved into second, 1m:12.910. This would become fourth as Button went second and Webber third. Rosberg was now in second with a 1m:12.569. Button was now third from Webber and Hamilton. Rubens was now in fifteenth with a time of 1m:14.219.

Vettel would pit joined Rosberg. Alonso was now sixth followed by Sutil, Senna, Massa, and Di Resta in tenth. Rubens was now sixteenth as Hamilton moved into fourth with a 1m:12.811. Button was now in fifth as drivers started to pit. The track was now empty with seven and a half minutes remaining. Rubens was well inside the drop zone as Alguersuari was the first driver to come back out. He would be joined by Buemi and Sutil and Di Resta. Rubens was also back out as the top six remained in their pits. Massa was back out as Alguersuari set a 1m:13.804 to be twelfth. Three minutes remaining and Di Resta would stay tenth as Rubens first lap would see him jump up to twelfth with a time of 1m:13.801. Sutil was seventh from Massa, Senna, and Schumacher in tenth after setting a 1m:13.571. Rubens was on his next lap as Buemi complained of a loss of power and would pit. The period would come to an end with Rubens not able to improve pitting.

Through to the top ten were Vettel, Rosberg, Webber, Hamilton, Button, Alonso, Sutil, Massa, Senna, and Schumacher. Those not making the cut were Di Resta, Rubens, Alguersuari, Buemi, Petrov, Kobayashi, and Perez.

 
Barrichello
 

The final period of qualifying for 2011 would commence with Rosberg first out. There was very little risk of rain as Hamilton followed Rosberg out onto the track. We would have Vettel and Alonso come out, joined by Button and Webber. Rosberg would set a slow 1m:16.581 as Massa, Schumacher, Senna, and Sutil remained in their pits. Hamilton was also on a slow lap setting a 1m:17.588. Rosberg would set a 1m:13.159 but he would be passed by Vettel who would set a 1m:12.268 to be fastest. Webber was second from Button and Alonso. Alonso had been second but was beaten by Webber and Button. Hamilton was now in fifth with a time of 1m:12.906.

Sutil was out on the track while the other drivers had all pitted. Massa, Schumacher, and Senna had yet to come out for a run as Sutil started his timed lap. Vettel would also come back out as Massa came out for his first run. Senna was also out on the track and with Schumacher coming out we had all ten cars on the track. Vettel would go faster in sector one as Sutil moved into seventh with a 1m:13.348. Vettel was faster in sector two and would complete his lap setting a stunning 1m:11.918. Button would move up to second but Webber would pass him with a time of 1m:12.099. Hamilton's last lap would see him fourth from Alonso, Rosberg, Massa, Sutil, Senna, and Schumacher. A fantastic lap from Vettel would see him secure pole from Webber and Button. For Williams Rubens twelfth placed result was a great effort and is well placed for a good race on Sunday. But Pastor has struggled all weekend and his race is likely to be more of the same.

 

Bookmark or share this story with:

Brazilian GP: Barrichello secures great 12th grid position
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 26/11/2011 17:22
Williams F1
26/11/2011 17:22
What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.

rpralon
26/11/2011 17:33
great 12th grid position??
(Sm147)

Francesc
26/11/2011 19:15
Yes, it's great considering the last results.

Ozzy Osbone
26/11/2011 19:28
Nice one Ruby. Lets hope for rain tomorrow and a change in his traditional Interlargos luck. Maybe he run in second behind Jenson.

seltaeb
26/11/2011 20:38
Great lap from Rubens today. He had a couple great ones in Q2. It would be fantastic for him to end the season with a points finish tomorrow.

rpralon
26/11/2011 23:09
Be 12th in the grid is not a position to celebrate, anyway.
a Williams car is not HTR car , yet.

seltaeb
27/11/2011 00:57
Quote:
rpralon
Be 12th in the grid is not a position to celebrate, anyway.
a Williams car is not HTR car , yet.
No offense, but you're just a troll. You and I both know that 12th on the grid is a lot better than this car has shown in the past 5 GPs!

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment. We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals. We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards. If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing abuse@sportnetwork.net