On Saturday, Fernando
Alonso said it would be nice to end the inaugural Indian
Grand Prix by discovering the view from the podium and
that’s exactly what happened, as he finished third
behind winner Sebastian Vettel and second placed Jenson
Button. The Spaniard’s Ferrari team-mate did not have
such a good day, retiring after 23 laps, when the left
front suspension of Felipe Massa’s 150º Italia was
broken going over a kerb, as the Brazilian tried to make
up time after having to pit for a penalty and then for
repairs as a result of yet another collision with
Hamilton.
On the grid, fifteen minutes before the start, there was
a minute’s silence in memory of Dan Wheldon and Marco
Simoncelli, both tragically killed in racing accidents
in the last fortnight. At the somewhat chaotic start
Vettel maintained the lead in the Red Bull, with Button
getting a great getaway off the line going from fourth
to second in the McLaren, followed by Webber in the
other Red Bull, while Fernando went down one place from
third in the 150º Italia. Felipe had moved up one place
to fifth, then came Hamilton in the other McLaren, the
Mercedes duo of Rosberg and Schumacher, Sutil’s Force
India, with Senna in the Renault completing the top ten.
Barrichello in the Williams and Trulli in the Lotus had
already been in the pits after various first lap
collisions. As Vettel pulled away building a 2.7 gap by
lap 3, his team-mate Webber was closing on Button, while
Fernando was 1.2 behind the Australian and Massa a
further 1.1 down.
Lap 15 and Sutil was the first to pit for new tyres from
11th place, while at the front Vettel led Button by 4.7
as Webber, Fernando and Hamilton all pitted, followed by
Alguersuari. The Spaniard found himself seventh behind
Webber and Schumacher when he rejoined and Felipe came
in for new Softs on lap 17, coming out just behind his
team-mate. Fernando then passed Schumacher to go up to
fourth, when Rosberg pitted. Button changed tyres on lap
18, leaving Vettel still leading as he had yet to pit.
Schumacher and Buemi came in at this point and the
leading Red Bull was the last of the leaders to stop on
lap 19. At one third distance, lap 20 of 60, the order
was now Vettel, Button, Webber, Fernando, Felipe,
Hamilton Rosberg and Schumacher eighth.
Lap 22 and Felipe in fifth was coming under attack from
Hamilton and unbelievably, given their past history this
season, on lap 25, they collided again, as the
Englishman tried to come up the inside of the Ferrari.
The McLaren pitted immediately, but Felipe continued
nearly going off the track at one chicane. The Brazilian
was given a drive-through penalty for “causing an
accident” which he took on lap 30. At this point
Fernando was fourth trailing Webber by 3.3 seconds.
Alguersuari in the Toro Rosso was trying to fight off
Hamilton, but the Englishman got by to go seventh. On
lap 31, Felipe came in again, this time to replace the
nose damaged in the collision, but two laps later he was
out, when the left front suspension gave way as he hit a
kerb. The failure was due to an unfortunate combination
of factors, starting with the collision, followed by a
puncture and ending with the kerb.
Fernando went up to third place when Webber made his
second tyre change on lap 37, with the Spaniard coming
in two laps later to change onto the slower Hard tyre
and his pace on the clear laps had been enough to bring
him out ahead of the Australian, over half a minute
behind second placed Button who had yet to make a second
trip down pit lane. Rosberg came in from sixth on lap
45, as did Hamilton from seventh, followed immediately
by Button from second. Alguersuari made his stop from
seventh on lap 47, followed in by Vettel, who maintained
what was now a slim 2.8 lead ahead from Button, with
Fernando 16.6 behind the McLaren, and with a 1.3 lead
over Webber, who was followed by the Mercedes duo of
Schumacher and Rosberg.
The positions seemed settled in the closing laps, even
if at one point Button looked as though he was closing
on the leader and Webber definitely did get very close
to Fernando on the final lap. At the flag, Vettel and
Button took the top two places, with Fernando making it
to the first ever Indian F1 podium in third spot. Behind
him the rest of the points went to Schumacher, Rosberg,
Hamilton, Alguersuari, Sutil and Perez taking the last
point for tenth, the Sauber man promoted into the points
when Senna made a very late final tyre change. Next
stop, the penultimate round of this long season, at the
Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, in a fortnight’s time.
Stefano Domenicali: “The result of this
grand prix could be described as bitter sweet. On the
one hand, there is the satisfaction of seeing Fernando
on the podium, which given our current situation in this
last run of races, represents our most realistic target.
Once again, the Spaniard drove a great race, fighting
lap after lap to bring home another trophy to add to his
collection. On the other hand, there’s disappointment
for what happened to Felipe, who could have got a good
finish, given the pace the Brazilian was demonstrating.
As regards the incident with Hamilton, as usual Ferrari
respects the decision of the Stewards, even if, in this
case, we have a different view to theirs. It’s true we
did not have the pace to fight for the win, but I think
everything we are doing in these final races will have a
great importance when it comes to the 2012 season. We
are learning a lot and we have to continue like this for
the two remaining Grands Prix this year. Finally, let me
say that seeing a Ferrari on the podium at the inaugural
Indian Grand Prix was very pleasing, given what this
market could represent in the near future.”
Fernando Alonso: “It’s nice to jump on
the podium for India’s debut in Formula 1 and I’m
pleased to have a new trophy to take home. However,
today was a special day, full of contrasting emotions.
In fact, the satisfaction at getting a podium finish
cannot cancel out the sadness which has been with us for
several days, because of the deaths of two of our
colleagues, two special people – Dan Wheldon and Marco
Simoncelli. After this race, second place in the
Drivers’ championship is still possible, but it will be
very difficult because McLaren is on great form at the
moment, even if the gap is only 13 points. We are aware
that on paper, we are behind the two Red Bulls and two
McLarens: then, if something unusual happens, we can
make it to the podium. Today, the team was fantastic,
managing to fix a problem on the front wing which was
only identified twenty minutes before the start. At the
start, I did not get away particularly well and so
Button was able to pass me. Then I tried to stay close
to Webber and when he slowed down a bit, I closed right
up and, staying out on track a few laps longer than him,
I was able to get ahead of him. Being patient paid off.
Now we head for Abu Dhabi, a race that is a bit
unusual…Maybe I will go to the Ferrari Park to play golf
to relax prior to the race and then, on Sunday night, I
will try and bring home the only trophy not yet in my
collection.”
Felipe Massa: “There’s not much to say
at the end of a weekend like this. I am really unhappy
that I was not able to finish a race in which I showed I
had the pace to fight for the podium. As for the
collision with Hamilton, I can only say I do not share
the opinion of the Stewards who inflicted the
punishment. I simply stayed on the ideal line, braking
on the limit and staying on the part of the track that
was rubbered in. What else could I do? It’s the
umpteenth time that Hamilton runs into me this year and
it seems it’s some sort of fatal attraction…In the past,
I tried to talk to him but he did not seem to be
interested in doing so. Now it’s best to immediately
turn the page and think of the final two Grands Prix of
the year. They are both special, because Abu Dhabi is a
sort of second home race for Ferrari, with that amazing
theme park which sits alongside the circuit and then
comes Interlagos, which is always special for me. I will
try and forget this trip to India as quickly as
possible, but that will be absolutely nothing to do with
the country!”
Pat Fry: “There are many elements
worthy of note that have come out of this weekend in
India. Again today, we had a suspension failure, this
time the front left on Felipe’s car: first analysis
indicates the break was generated by a series of
factors, starting with the collision with Hamilton.
After that came the punctured tyre and it ended with the
impact with the kerb. As for the front wing used on
Felipe’s car which has generated so much interest, we
knew that in certain conditions, we could have been on
the limit and when we saw that this situation might
arise, we decided to change it for a different
specification of wing. As for the race, we managed with
our strategy to stay out on track longer than our
closest opponent, taking back from Webber the position
we had lost at the start to Button, thus getting
Fernando to the podium. Honestly, our performance today
did not allow us to fight for the win. On the Hard tyre,
which we have not raced on since Barcelona, the pace
wasn’t bad, which is a sign that improvements introduced
during the year on the car have seen us make progress in
an area that was very difficult for us at the start of
the season. We are working on two fronts and everything
we can learn now will be useful for the future: these
are all opportunities which should be exploited when
they present themselves.”
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