Williams F1
Indian GP: Another disappointing result for Williams
Rubens Barrichello
By Andrew Hooper
October 30 2011
The 2011 Indian Grand Prix would see another disappointing result for the AT&T Williams F1 team with Rubens Barrichello finishing a distant fifteenth, while Pastor Maldonado had retired with a gearbox issue. For Rubens his fifteenth was lucky after having made contact with Pastor at Turn one right at the start of the race. Rubens would have to pit for a new front wing putting him at the rear of the field. Pastor's retirement with a gearbox issue must have added even further frustrations as the Williams team tries to produce a good result in the final races of the season.
| Indian GP Race Review |
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AT&T Williams F1
drivers Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello qualifying fourteenth and
sixteenth for the sixty lap 2011 Indian Grand Prix. But various grid
penalties would see Pastor and Rubens start from thirteenth and fifteenth.
On pole was Vettel with Webber starting the race from second. Alonso was
third from Button, Hamilton, Massa, Rosberg, Sutil, Buemi, and Alguersuari
in tenth. Hamilton had dropped from second to fifth after a grid penalty.
For this race there would be two DRS zones one of the start-finish straight
and the other on the long back straight. All except Sutil, Buemi, and
Alguersuari would start on the soft tyre while while those three drivers
would have a choice. Sutil was also on the soft tyre with the other tyre
been used in the race was the hard Pirelli. Pastor was also on the soft tyre
while we had Di Resta and Kobayashi start on the hard tyre. |
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ALap four and Vettel was leading
by 3.3 seconds from Button and Webber. Webber would try to pass Button using
his DRS but Button would defend his line. Alonso was 1.3 seconds behind
Webber while Pastor was right behind Buemi. After lap six he had dropped
back slightly while at the front Vettel's lead continued to grow, 4.5
seconds. Alonso and Massa continued to fall away from Webber. Hamilton was
running in sixth Alguersuari would pass Senna for tenth using his DRS.
Pastor was now 1.2 seconds behind twelfth placed Buemi. Buemi would also
pass Senna going into Turn one having used his DRS. Pastor had closed right
up to Senna but was looking right on the raged edge locking tyres. Lap
eleven and Button had closed the gap slightly to Vettel, 4.5 seconds, while
Webber dropped further away from Button. Lap twelve and Vettel was now
leading by 4.2 seconds from Button. Both Torro Rosso cars had passed Senna
quite easily while Pastor was struggling to get past. Pastors race would come to an end having pulled off to the side of the track. It sounded like a broken gearbox. Rubens was one lap down and still in twenty first. This was a race that the Williams team will want to forget. Alguersuari had passed Sutil for ninth. Buemi was now also attacking Sutil for tenth and Sutil would pit on lap sixteen. Lap seventeen and we would have Webber, Alonso, Hamilton, and Alguersuari all pit. Massa would pit the next lap joined by Rosberg. Vettel was still leading from Button,. Alonso had been passed by Schumacher when he came back out from his pit stop but he would pass the German. Button would pit on lap nineteen followed by Schumacher and Buemi. Vettel would pit on lap twenty taking on a set of the soft tyres. Di Resta would pit from sixteenth also on lap twenty. Schumacher would pass Senna at Turn four for eighth, with Senna having yet to pit. Pastor would say that that he thinks it was a problem with his gearbox. A really disappointing moment he added. |
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Lap twenty two and Kovalainen
would pit from eleventh while at the front Vettel was leading Button by 3.6
seconds. The next lap and Senna would pit from tenth while Karthikeyan and
D'Ambrosio would also pit. Hamilton had been following Massa for several
laps and would try to pass going into Turn five. With his nose next to
Massa's car Massa would turn in and the pair would make contact. Massa would
run off while Hamilton was forced to pit to get a new front wing. Massa was
able to continue and was still fifth. The contact involving Massa and
Hamilton was under investigation. Buemi would retire at the side of the
track with smoke coming from his car. Hamilton was now in ninth while after
lap twenty seven Vettel was 3.4 seconds in front of Button. Webber was still
third from Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, Schumacher, Alguersuari, Hamilton, and
Sutil tenth. With retirements and the like Rubens had now moved up to seventeenth. Massa was now complaining of down
shift issues. It was announced that Massa would get a drive through penalty
for his part in the incident with Hamilton. Lap thirty one and Massa would come in while Hamilton would pass Alguersuari for eighth at Turn one. Massa would again pit on lap thirty two changing to the hard tyres and also getting a new front wing. Replays had shown Massa's front wing vibrating wildly under braking forcing a change. Rubens was now in sixteenth having got past Ricciardo. Now in front of Rubens was Kovalainen. Petrov and Senna were now twelfth and thirteenth. Massa would slow down with broken front suspension ending his race. Petrov would pit from eleventh on lap thirty five. Massa's suspension failure was as a result of hitting the raised inside kerb. Lap thirty six and Perez would pit from tenth with Rubens now fifteenth. Vettel was still leading comfortably from Button with Webber 8.8 seconds behind Button. Lap thirty seven and Sutil would pit from ninth. With Rubens thirty five seconds behind fourteenth placed Di Resta it would be unlikely that he would make up any further places. |
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With his pit stop on lap thirty
eight Rubens would drop even further down the order while at the front
Webber would also pit. He would take on the hard tyre and now having to run
with them until the end of the race. Rubens was now two laps down and
running in sixteenth. Alonso would pit from third on lap forty also taking
on the harder rubber. Alonso was able to come back out in front of Webber
while Di Resta pitted from fourteenth. Lap forty and Vettel's lead was 5.3
seconds over Button while Alonso was 35.8 seconds behind Button. lap forty
seven and Rosberg and Hamilton would pit for their hard tyres. Button would
pit the next lap also taking on the hard tyre. Vettel would also come in for
his final stop coming back out still in the lead. Lap fifty and Vettel was
leading by 3.2 seconds over Button and Alonso. Lap fifty one and Schumacher
would pit from fifth for his hard tyres. He would come back out in front of
team-mate Rosberg. Hamilton was now seventh from Alguersuari, Senna, and
Sutil in tenth. For Williams Rubens continued to rundown the order in a lonely fifteenth. Lap fifty three and Vettel continued to extend his lead now 4.1 seconds ahead of Button. With five laps remaining Vettel's lead was now 5.4 seconds. Webber had not been able to close the gap to third placed Alonso. After two stints of the soft tyre Senna was forced to stop for the hard tyres on lap fifty eight. But in one last effort Webber would close the gap Alonso after lap fifty eight. But he was going to not have enough laps in order to close in onto and pass Alonso. Vettel was looking set to take his eleventh victory of the season. Vettel would cross the finish line to take victory with Button coming home in second. Alonso would beat Webber followed by Schumacher, Rosberg, Hamilton, Alguersuari, Sutil, and Perez in tenth. For Williams Rubens would come home a disappointing fifteenth after what must have been a frustrating race for the team seeing Rubens make contact with Pastor at Turn one right at the start of the race and for Rubens to have to pit for a new front wing. Pastor's retirement with a gearbox issue must have added even further frustrations as the Williams team tries to produce a good result in the final races of the season. |
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Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h30:35.002 2. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 8.433 3. Alonso Ferrari + 24.301 4. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 25.529 5. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:05.421 6. Rosberg Mercedes + 1:06.851 7. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 1:24.183 8. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 10. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 11. Petrov Renault + 1 lap 12. Senna Renault + 1 lap 13. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 14. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 15. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 2 laps 16. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 17. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps 18. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps 19. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 4 laps Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:27.457 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Massa Ferrari 33 Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 25 Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 13 Glock Virgin-Cosworth 3 Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1 |
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