The 2011 season provided yet another eventful and to a certain extent unpredictable Grand Prix at Istanbul Park, Turkey on Sunday. Sebastian Vettel lead from the front and never looked like being beaten. However as happened in Australia and Malaysia a fascinating battle unfolded behind him right down the field.
Here are the major talking points after the event:
Vettel dominant
One has to wonder if anyone can stop Sebastian Vettel. The raw speed of the RB7, Vettel’s qualifying pace and ability to drive away from the field are making him almost unstoppable.
Vettel drove another controlled race from the front, his pole position provided a real advantage not only was he on the clean side of the track, but he was also in clear air as the rest of the pack jostled for position, Vettel streaked away with a lead of 1.8 seconds by the end of the first lap, building that lead to over seven seconds before Mark Webber was able to find a way past Nico Rosberg who was in second place on lap 5. Vettel was able to use that cushion to control the race from that point on.
Alonso bounces back
Fernando Alonso put in his most impressive drive of the year, taking his Ferrari to third position. He was engaged in an entertaining battle with Mark Webber during the third and fourth stints, in the third Alonso held an advantage with slightly newer tyres, he was able to use this to build a lead of around 3 seconds heading into the final stops.
However in the final stint, Webber held the upper hand with a fresher set of soft tyres and was able to pull in the gap and pass Alonso using DRS in the braking zone at turn 12. From that point Webber edged away but Alonso was secure in his first podium of the year. Prior to the race Ferrari did not expect to see such an improvement for 1 – 2 more races, making this result even sweeter.
McLaren battle and gamble on strategy
The McLarens of Jensen Button and Lewis Hamilton appeared to spend most of the race battling each other. Hamilton was aggressive off the line but lost time after running wide at turn four while attempting to find a way past Mark Webber. This allowed Fernando Alonso and Button to sneak through on the inside. In the early laps Hamilton appeared to have a significant pace advantage, yet when he did make a move Button took the place back in scenes reminiscent of their 2010 battle.
Ultimately Hamilton got the job done, but the time he lost fighting his way past and in a slow pit stop meant he was never a threat to the top three.
Button took a gamble by running a three stop race when the rest of the front runners made four stops. On the face of it this strategy backfired and Button was a sitting duck for Hamilton and Rosberg in the final stint. After the race Button suggested that the problem was not in the number of stops but in when they were occurred. He felt they could have run longer in the first two stints which would have shortened the final stint and potentially left him with fresher rubber and better able to protect his position.
Yet another fascinating insight into the layers of complexity in modern F1 strategy.
Schumacher looking uncertain
While Mercedes will be happy to take fifth place, they would be disappointed not to have made more out of Nico Rosberg’s third on the grid. On soft tyres Rosberg appeared to have quite strong pace, unfortunately this evaporated when he moved to the harder tyre. He tumbled down the order only to fight his way back again in the final stint on the softer tyre.
Michael Schumacher was beaten up all over the place in a performance that the 7 time world champion would likely regard as utterly embarrassing. He lost a position to Vitaly Petrov early in the race, yet for reasons known only to him, decided to turn in on Petrov’s rear wheel. Petrov was able to continue but Schumacher was forced to make an early stop to replace a damaged rear wing.
That put him back amongst the pack and he spent the day battling with Williams, Force Indias and Torro Rossos. His race wrapped up with the final embarrassment of being forced wide by former protege Felipe Massa in a battle for 11th position.
After the race Schumacher sounded absolutely despondent, stating that “the big joy is not there right now”. One has to wonder whether he is starting to feel this comeback is not the best idea after all.
DRS – Too easy
The debate about DRS is not going to go away after this race, the benefit offered to the driver following appeared to be far too strong. In Melbourne DRS was largely irrelevant, in Sepang and China it seemed about right; creating an opportunity for an overtake in the braking zone. This week in Turkey more often than not the overtake was completed before the cars even arrived in the braking zone.
The FIA will review the race and no doubt closely consider how long the DRS zone should be for the Spanish GP.
Looking for great odds on racing and sport? Get into the action with PlayUp today. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
The Australian finished second but had to work for it, as he fought off food poisoning, a race day engine change, and his own overheating body.
Nico Hulkenberg's move to a German team will hopefully bring back some of the German flare Formula 1 had just seven years ago.
Given how exclusive and precious a commodity scoring an F1 point is, why is it that mediocrity should be rewarded?
Team Penske is under the same umbrella of ownership as the IndyCar Series itself, so it was imperative for to drop the hammer and protect their integrity—which, thankfully, they did.
Red Bull can’t rest on its laurels and if Perez can’t provide them with cover on the rare days that Verstappen is having trouble, it's time to look elsewhere.
The absolute vitriol against the Canadian that has come from the incident is beyond reprehensible.
