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This afternoon at Silverstone Scuderia
Ferrari finally took its the first win of
the year thanks to a fighting drive from
Fernando Alonso on the very same track where
sixty years ago José Froilan Gonzalez
claimed the team’s first ever win. |
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It was the dream result
in so many ways: it was the halfway point of the season,
it took place at one of the most historic venues on the
Formula 1 calendar and it came only hours after he drove
the Ferrari that took the win here sixty years ago. So,
it was almost too much to hope for, but at the end of 52
laps, Fernando Alonso gave Scuderia Ferrari its very
first win of the 2011 season, while Felipe Massa also
drove an attacking race to pick up more valuable points
with a fifth place finish. The Spaniard was joined on
the podium by the two Red Bull drivers, Sebastian Vettel
who finished second and Mark Webber third.
Sunday looked like being the first completely dry day of
the meeting, but shortly before the start, a short
shower ensured that all 24 cars started the race on
intermediate rain tyres. As the lights went out, Vettel
immediately passed his Red Bull team-mate Webber to take
the lead, with Fernando attacking the Australian but
staying in third. Felipe lost out to Button, but retook
the McLaren on lap 2 to regain his grid position
(fourth.) Button was then passed by his team-mate
Hamilton, who had come up from tenth on the grid, so the
order on lap 3 was Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Massa,
Hamilton, Button with Di Resta seventh. Then came
Kobayashi, Schumacher and Maldonaldo completing the top
ten.
Vettel, with a clear track ahead had built up a 5.4
second lead after 6 laps, while Fernando was 2.6 behind
Webber, with Felipe a further 2.4 behind his team-mate.
On lap 7, the Spaniard had slashed a further half second
off the gap to the Australian. Two laps later and
Fernando was right on the Red Bull’s gearbox, while
Felipe was coming under increasing pressure from fifth
placed Hamilton. Schumacher brought his Mercedes in on
lap 9 after losing his front wing, having crashed into
Kobayashi. At this point, the German then became the
first driver to try slick tyres. Button, Sutil and
Kobayashi all switched to slicks on lap 11. Also in were
Maldonaldo, Buemi, Petrov, Barrichello, Glock, and
Liuzzi. Meanwhile Hamilton got past Felipe but only
briefly as the McLaren ran wide.
Webber, Alonso and Hamilton all stopped on lap 12. They
were followed in by Perez and Alguersuari. Vettel and
Felipe pitted on lap 13, the German maintaining the lead
as he rejoined the track. Felipe now found himself under
attack from the other McLaren, that of Button, who
actually got past the Ferrari at Vale corner. At this
point, Schumacher was given a stop-go penalty for
causing the incident with Kobayashi. The McLarens were
evidently more comfortable on slicks in the damp as lap
15 saw Hamilton demote Fernando to fourth. This meant
that with the whole field on slicks, the order at the
front, was Vettel, 1.2 ahead of Webber, who had a huge
6.1 lead over Hamilton, the Englishman leading fourth
placed Alonso by 0.8. Button was almost four seconds
down on the Spaniard and had Felipe 3.6 behind him. On
lap 24, Fernando was getting on terms with Hamilton
again, pulling alongside and eventually going past to
get back to third place. The Spaniard set a race fastest
lap, as Hamilton pitted for a second time. Kobayashi
parked the Sauber at the side of the track with smoke
coming from the back.
Di Resta who had started sixth lost a lot of time when
he made his second stop, as the crew had his team-mate’s
tyres out instead of his. Webber pitted on lap 26,
followed down pit lane by Button and Felipe and Buemi.
Vettel and Alonso pitted together on lap 27, but the
German had a slow stop which meant that as the red 150º
Italia rejoined the track, Fernando Alonso was leading
the British Grand Prix, but he had Hamilton all over his
gearbox, as the Englishman’s tyres were more up to
temperature than his. Meanwhile the second run of pit
stops meant that behind Alonso and Hamilton, Vettel was
now third, followed by Webber and Button with Felipe in
sixth, comfortably ahead of Rosberg.
With 20 laps of the 52 remaining, Fernando had a 6.8
second lead over Hamilton, with Vettel half a second
back in third. Webber was 0.8 behind his team-mate,
followed by Button who was closing up on the lead four,
with Felipe trailing the McLaren by 3.3 seconds. Vettel
made his third stop on lap 36 and when Hamilton came in
one lap later the German was back ahead of the
Englishman. Webber came in on lap 38 and Fernando one
lap later, followed by Button, who parked his McLaren
after exiting the pit lane, as his right front wheel nut
had not been replaced. This meant that, on lap 40, with
all the leaders except Felipe having made three pit
stops, the order was, Fernando leading by 10.3 seconds
from Vettel, with Hamilton third and Felipe fourth ahead
of Webber. The Brazilian Ferrari man made his third stop
on lap 41, rejoining in fifth spot. Lap 45 and there was
a change in the podium order as Webber managed to take
third off Hamilton, who had been told to save fuel.
As has so often been the case this year, the closing
laps, as tyres reached the end of their life, got very
exciting. Webber was all over the back of second placed
Vettel until team instructions from the pit wall told
him to maintain station, but the biggest excitement came
at the very last corner, as Felipe made one last
desperate attempt to take fourth place off Hamilton,
even going off the track in his efforts and having to
settle for fifth at the flag. By this stage, Fernando
had buzzed the pit wall, comfortably ahead of Vettel and
Webber. Hamilton had been told he had to save fuel so
Felipe had been closing and closing, even pulling
alongside the McLaren. But catching and passing are very
different and the Brazilian just could not manage it,
even though he went off the track at the final corner he
was trying so hard. This meant Hamilton hung onto fourth
and Felipe was classified fifth ahead of Nico Rosberg.
The rest of the points went to seventh placed Perez,
then came Heidfeld, Schumacher and Alguersuari. Next
stop the famous Nürburgring in a fortnight’s time. The
Scuderia can tackle with high hopes and in good spirit
after this great weekend in England.
Today’s victory is number
216 from 821 starts for Ferrari, of which 16 of them
have come at the British Grand Prix. This is Fernando’s
second victory at Silverstone, his 27th win from 168
starts, which puts him level with Jackie Stewart in
fifth place in the list of all-time winners. Today’s
result means that a Ferrari driver has been on the list
of winners every year for the past eighteen
championships.
Luca di Montezemolo: “At last! Hearing
the Italian National Anthem being played at Silverstone,
the same venue at which we won our first ever Formula 1
race, was something I found particularly emotional. This
is Ferrari, a team that never stops fighting, never
throws in the towel, at the top level for sixty years. I
want to thank Domenicali and the whole team, both those
at the track, who did a perfect job today and those at
home, whom I’d asked to put in a huge effort, not just
for us but also for our fans. Fernando was brilliant,
driving an extraordinary race and Felipe also did very
well, fighting right to the very end.”
Stefano Domenicali: “Today is a
wonderful day for all of Ferrari. Winning at such a
famous circuit as Silverstone, with its rich and
fascinating history, in front of an extraordinary crowd,
is cause for great satisfaction. This result has been a
long time coming but it’s definitely not down to any
miracles. We reacted after a very difficult start to the
season, working very hard with much determination, all
of us, including those who no longer work with us. We
were competitive all weekend long and in all conditions:
it confirms that everything went the right way.
Congratulations to Fernando who delivered an
extraordinary performance throughout the weekend and to
Felipe, who fought tooth and nail right to the very last
lap. The engineers say that if you are quick at this
track then you can be competitive at many of the tracks
on which we have yet to race. I hope that’s really the
case then! We don’t want to do any calculations
regarding the championship. We must tackle each race as
it comes with this same approach, without letup. This
evening we can enjoy the moment, but as from tomorrow
morning, we will turn our attention to the German Grand
Prix.”
Fernando Alonso: “What a wonderful
surprise! The team did an amazing job and I dedicate
this win to everyone at Maranello and at the track,
whose work has allowed me and Felipe to drive such a
good car. It is a very special win because it comes at a
legendary track like Silverstone, in front of a crowd
that is so enthusiastic about cars. Also, the track
characteristics were not really suited to our car, but
clearly, the improvements we brought here helped a lot.
At the start, it was not easy to drive because parts of
the circuit were very wet and others were only damp in
parts. There were some tricky moments, like when
Hamilton overtook me, but we stayed very calm all the
time, convinced we could get something out of it. I only
realised I could win when I came back out on track after
the final pit stop. Clearly the problem at Vettel’s stop
helped, as did the fact that, for a long time, Hamilton
kept the two Red Bulls behind him, but I have to say
that in the dry we were very strong. Earlier today, I
had the privilege to drive the 375 F1 and then, a few
hours later, to win the same race for Ferrari sixty
years later. In our team, there are children of people
who worked for the Scuderia back then and they have the
same love and passion for racing as there was back then.
We head for Germany with our morale up and with more
self confidence. The Red Bull is still the strongest
car, but the improvements we are introducing are
working. When we were struggling at the start of the
season, we did not get downhearted, but instead we
reacted: now we have reaped the rewards.”
Felipe Massa: “First of all, I want to
congratulate Fernando, who drove a great race to give
Ferrari a very important win. Sixty years ago, Gonzalez
won for the first time and today history has repeated
itself. I think we have made a step forward this weekend
in terms of performance, both in qualifying and the
race. It’s true my pace wasn’t amazing today, but that
could have had something to do with the fact my floor
was damaged, after I hit something at Turn 6; maybe a
part from another car. In terms of the strategy, maybe
we could brought forward the second stop a bit, but the
team did not want me to end up having to complete the
final part of the race on tyres that were too worn. In
the end, I closed right up to Hamilton, as he was
struggling, but when I was behind him, he fought and I
only just missed out by a fraction on getting past him.
We have to continue to push on the development of the
car: there are many races still ahead of us and having
improved the car means we can feel more confident about
the second half of the season.”
Pat Fry: “It’s very satisfying to get
the first win of the season here, on a track that
definitely did not suit us that well. Putting to one
side the entire saga regarding exhaust gases, I think
our performance today was mainly down to seeing the
benefit of the improvements we have introduced race
after race, especially here, where we had so many
updates aimed at increasing performance on tracks that
have these characteristics. For that, I want to thank
everyone who has worked so hard in Maranello over the
past weeks to close the gap that was there at the start
of the season. We were not particularly quick on the
intermediates, but probably Fernando wanted to avoid
pushing too hard in the opening laps in order to look
after the tyres. We also had a few difficulties when we
switched to the dry tyres because, as the track was
still damp, they did not get up to temperature
immediately, but after that our pace was very good.
Again today our pit stops were very good and even this
is an area where we introduced improvements that
delivered results. Maybe we didn’t get the calls quite
right when it came to Felipe’s strategy, leaving him out
on track a few laps too long. Now we must continue
working this way and turn up in Germany with a car that
is even quicker.”
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