A
“logical” result according to Scuderia Ferrari’s Pat
Fry, but there is still room for emotion in this
high-tech sport, so everyone in the team was hoping,
against logic, for something a bit better than the
fourth and fifth places that Fernando Alonso and Felipe
Massa brought home at the end of the 71 lap season
finale. Going into the nineteenth and final round, the
Spaniard had a theoretical chance of finishing in the
silver medal position in the drivers’ championship, but
instead he is in the same place as his race finish. As
for Felipe, a home race and his hundredth with the
Scuderia were two good reasons to hope for a fairytale
ending to his tenth season in the sport.
The Brazilian podium was eventually occupied by the
inevitable Red Bull Racing duo, although with a twist,
as for the first time this season, Mark Webber stood on
the top step, having convincingly beaten his world
champion team-mate Sebastian Vettel. Third and therefore
second in the drivers’ championship ahead of the
Australian was Jenson Button in the McLaren.
Rain tyres were ready down pit lane, but in the end they
were not needed and the race started in warm conditions,
with the top three getting off the line in grid order;
Vettel, Webber, Button, but Fernando and Felipe both got
great starts making up a place each in the early
moments, so the Spaniard was fourth and the Brazilian
sixth behind Hamilton. While the two Red Bulls pulled
out a lead, Fernando was all over the back of Button’s
McLaren, eventually passing him on lap 11 to go third,
6.6 behind Webber. Button made his first pit stop on lap
15, with Fernando and Hamilton coming in together one
lap later. The front runners were all going to be three
stopping, but Felipe briefly inherited the lead, only
because, deprived of a set of Soft tyres through a
puncture discovered on Saturday, he’d been consigned to
a slower two stop strategy, making his first tyre change
on lap 21. He was now sixth with Fernando still third.
On lap 30, Webber got past Vettel to take a lead he
would now keep to the chequered flag. Fernando made his
second stop on lap 35, again running the Soft tyres and
at this point the two Ferraris were running third and
fourth. As had happened so many times this season,
Felipe and Hamilton now began a thrilling duel that
would last even through their next run of pit stops –
Felipe’s on lap 45 - and ended finally when the
Englishman had to retire his McLaren at the side of the
track.
Alonso made his third and final stop, this time taking
on the Medium tyres on lap 54 of 71 and, as expected,
the 150º Italia was no longer so competitive on the
harder rubber. The result was that despite the
Spaniard’s best efforts, Button gradually reeled in the
Ferrari, giving the crowd another exciting moment in an
otherwise rather processional race. The McLaren moved
into third on lap 61 and from then on the positions
remained the same, with Fernando and Felipe both safe in
fourth and fifth places. Behind the Ferrari duo, the
rest of the points went to sixth placed Sutil, followed
by Rosberg, Di Resta, Kobayashi and Petrov. The season
thus came to a close in the usual way, with Red Bull the
dominant force and McLaren and Ferrari as the second and
third best teams.
Stefano Domenicali: “We had hoped and
wanted to end the season with at least one more podium
finish, even if we knew it would be very difficult given
the quality of opponent we had ahead of us after
qualifying. Fernando came close to achieving our wish,
fighting to the bitter end, but he had to settle for
looking up at the podium, which along with Webber’s win,
means he won’t be off to India to take part in the FIA
Gala for the top three finishers in the Drivers’
Championship: it’s a shame because given how he
performed this year – he even scored more points than in
2010 – he definitely deserved better. Felipe was forced
to adopt a strategy which looked slower on paper, but he
had a good race all the same and would have finished
fifth on track even without having to wait for the
retirement of the second McLaren. Now we can definitely
file away a year where our performance was insufficient
by our standards and think only of next season. Once
again, we congratulate those who did a better job than
us and we look forward to facing them again next year,
when we will try to be the best of the lot. That is our
target and we have no intention of hiding the fact. We
have weeks of hard work ahead of us and we will only
start to see the fruits of our labours in February, when
it’s time to fire up the engines again. Finally, let me
say I am happy to hear that Lewis came round to see
Felipe during his press meeting, which thus puts an end
to all the recent misunderstandings.”
Fernando Alonso: “Yet another race in
which we did everything to perfection, from the start to
the strategy and the work of the team. The final result
is more down to the performance of the others than our
own, because we could not have done more. Once again
today, we got a very good start, putting a nice passing
move on Button, but then, on the Medium tyres, we no
longer had the speed to fend him off. I also had a
problem with the DRS which would not activate: I was not
fighting closely with other drivers, but it would
certainly have helped me gain a few tenths while
overtaking. This Grand Prix produced an accurate
reflection of the season: we have almost always done our
maximum, fighting for a podium finish in a car that was
not as good as the top two. In terms of team work we
grew a lot in 2011 and we must absolutely make this the
starting point for a very different 2012. If I had to
score our performance, I can but repeat what President
Montezemolo said, giving us something between a five and
six, but all the same I am proud of what the team was
able to do. We need a car that is about five or six
tenths quicker: achieving that won’t be a walk in the
park, but I have every confidence in our engineers and
in a team that dominated the last decade in Formula 1
and holds every possible record in this sport. Let us
not forget that I managed to get on the podium ten times
and to score more points than last year. Losing out on
third in the Drivers’ Championship is definitely not a
big problem: first place is the only one that really
counts…”
Felipe Massa: “It was a difficult race,
at the end of a weekend that was not the best from a
technical point of view. We never managed to find the
right balance and then came the sting in the tail of the
puncture we discovered yesterday, which robbed me of a
set of Softs for the race and thus meant I had to make
only two stops. I knew it would be penalising because I
would have to do a lot of laps on the Medium, a tyre
with which we have a bigger performance gap than on the
Softs when compared to our closest competitors. Sure, I
would have liked to celebrate my one hundredth Grand
Prix with Ferrari with a much different result, but I
have to accept the way things went. In fact, the race
pretty much summed up the season: reasonably good on the
Soft, then struggling on the harder compound. I was very
pleased to feel the affection of the crowd, who
supported me from the start to the end of the weekend.
It’s been a difficult year for me and the team and now
we can turn the page. We must work on improving the car
and I will do all I can never to have such a
disappointing season again. I want to say I was pleased
that Lewis came round to see me while I was talking to
the journalists: it was a very nice gesture on his part.
What do I want from Father Christmas? Along with
Felipinho, I will be writing and asking for a fantastic
car right from start to finish in 2012…”
Pat Fry: “A logical outcome to a not
particularly exciting race. We had expected rain but it
did not come, even if it occasionally circled the area
around the track. Another surprise, unfortunately a
negative one, came last night, when we discovered that
the right rear tyre from the first set of Soft tyres
that Felipe had used in qualifying had a puncture: this
meant he had to run a two stop strategy, which we knew
would penalise him in terms of overall race time
compared to those who were three stopping. Both drivers
got great starts: they could have even gained another
place but at that point the track ran out! Fernando was
fantastic in the first half of the race, passing Button
with a very nice move and then he managed the gap in
impeccable fashion. Then, once he switched to the Medium
tyre, he paid the price we usually do with the harder
compound, when compared to McLaren and he was not able
to fend off Button’s comeback. A shame, as it would have
been nice to finish on the podium, but I have to say
Fernando has had an incredible 2011, if you just think
how often he managed to finish in the top three. Now
it’s up to us to give him and Felipe a much more
competitive car than this one. That is our aim, which we
have been thinking about day and night and on which we
are pushing as hard as we can. I want to congratulate
the entire team for the way they have worked at the
track this year. We have made significant steps forward
and we must continue down this route for next year. We
can expect some busy months ahead when there will be
plenty of opportunities to improve still further.”
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