Brazilian GP : Disappointing end to season for Williams


Rubens Barrichello

By Andrew Hooper
November 27 2011

The results for the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix would be disappointing for the AT&T Williams F1 team. Pastor Maldonado would retire after spinning while for Rubens Barrichello his race would begin badly having made a poor start losing severl places. He would come home in fourteenth in what could be his last race in Formula One. For the Williams team it is now time to look forward to 2012 after a difficult 2011.

 
 Brazilian GP Race Review
 
Barrichello
 

Qualifying for the seventy one lap 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix would see the AT&T Williams F1 team start from twelfth and eighteenth grid positions. Rubens Barrichello would start from an encouraging twelfth but for Pastor Maldonado his eighteenth grid position would make his day so much harder. With Vettel on pole the cars would move away on their parade lap, with all the cars starting on the soft tyre. The grid would form up with Vettel taking his spot joined by Webber in second. With the lights going out Vettel would lead with Webber second after an attack by Button into Turn one. Alonso was in fourth while for Williams Rubens had made a poor start running in nineteenth and Pastor in twentieth. It was going to be a long afternoon for the Williams F1 team. Hamilton was in fifth followed by Massa. It was shown that Rubens had made a very poor start and would lose several places prior to getting to Turn one.

As the laps counted down Vettel would lead easily while for Williams Rubens had moved up to fourteenth and Pastor fifteenth. Up to this point the only incident that had taken place was Schumacher and Senna making contact going into Turn one. Both cars would have to pit Senna was to receive a drive through penalty for his part in the incident. Vettel was warned of a gearbox issue with his car saying that he must short shift. After the first round of pit stops Rubens would be running in fifteenth and Pastor seventeenth. For Pastor his race would end when he was to spin off at Ferradura ending his race. Rubens was still running way down the order in fifteenth as Vettel's engineer continued to tell him that he had a serious gearbox issue. Webber would start to close in onto his team-mate with thirty laps completed. Webber would eventually pass Vettel for the lead at Turn one.
 
Maldonado
 
Pastor's car would be cleared out of the way as Webber continued to lead the race on lap thirty three. In third was Alonso followed by Hamilton, Massa, and Button having made his second stop. Hamilton would pit on lap thirty five with reports having the possibility of rain as clouds covered the circuit. Rubens was still running in a disappointing fifteenth as Alonso pitted on lap thirty seven. Rubens would also pit as Perez had a spin at Urn nine but he was able to recover and continue. Webber was leading by 2.8 seconds while Alonso would return in front of Button and Hamilton. Hamilton was told that he also had a gearbox issue. Webber would pit from the lead on lap thirty nine taking on the soft tyres. Webber would come back out in second while for Rubens he would see himself lapped. Vettel would pit the next lap also taking on the soft tyre. Button had passed Massa for fourth while Hamilton would also start looking for a way past Massa. But Massa would defend his position as Pastor sat at the side of the track watching proceedings. A very disappointing way for Pastor to end his season.

At the front Webber was leading by 4.4 seconds with Alonso in third. Hamilton would pit taking on the medium tyre for what would be his run to the finish. Massa was in on the next lap taking the medium tyre also looking to run to the finish. Massa would come out just in front of Hamilton as Vettel's engineer continued to give his driver warnings about the gearbox issue. For Hamilton his race would end with his gearbox giving up, seeing him pull off the track at Turn five to retire. Rosberg was in sixth but was under attack by Sutil. Rubens was now in thirteenth as the Rosberg Sutil fight continued. Sutil would pass Rosberg going into Turn one. At the front Webber was now leading by 4.9 seconds from Vettel and Alonso. Rubens was coming under attack from Perez with just eighteen laps remaining. Button would pit on lap fifty four for his final stop while Rubens would drop down to fourteenth when Perez was able to get past using his DRS.
 
Barrichello
 
Alonso would make his last stop on lap fifty five while Rubens would also make his last stop of the race. Webber was now leading by 7.8 seconds from Vettel and Alonso. Rubens was back out in fourteenth with Schumacher six seconds behind. Button was 3.8 seconds behind Alonso and closing rapidly. Webber would make his final pit stop taking on the medium tyre. Vettel would pit the next lap also taking on the harder tyre. Button was right behind Alonso and looking to pass. After an attempted pass going into Turn one Button would eventually get past Alonso using his DRS going into Turn four, to take third place. Vettel would run wide at Turn five while Button's engineer would tell him that Vettel had a gearbox issue, but Button was eleven seconds behind Vettel with only seven laps remaining. With four laps remaining Button had made up some time but he was going to run out of laps.

Webber would start his final lap and would complete this with ease and would take victory in the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix. Vettel would come home second followed by Button, Alonso, Massa, Sutil, Rosberg, Di Resta, Kobayashi, and Petrov in tenth. Rubens would finish his race in fourteenth in what could be his last Formula One race. Massa would carry out some donuts on the track, something that may see him get fined. Rubens would park his car and wave to his fans. Well that was the final race of the of what was a very difficult season for the AT&T Williams F1 team.
 
Barrichello
  
Pos  Driver  	   Team		              Time
 1.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           1h32:17.434
 2.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           +    16.983
 3.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    27.638
 4.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    35.048
 5.  Massa         Ferrari                    +  1:06.733
 6.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
 7.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +     1 lap
 8.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
 9.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
10.  Petrov        Renault                    +     1 lap
11.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
12.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
13.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
14.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap
15.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +     1 lap
16.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
17.  Senna         Renault                    +    2 laps
18.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
19.  D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth            +    3 laps
20.  Ricciardo     HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps

Fastest lap: Webber, 1:15.324

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth                 62
Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes             37
Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth            27
Glock         Virgin-Cosworth              22
 

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Brazilian GP : Disappointing end to season for Williams
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 27/11/2011 17:56
Williams F1
27/11/2011 17:56
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