F1 - The Indian Grand Prix - 30.10.11

Sebastian Vettel cruises to Indian GP victory ahead of Jenson Button

Sebastian Vettel strolled to his 11th victory of the season at the Buddh International Circuit to become the winner of Formula 1's first ever Indian Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver's latest triumph was one of his most straightforward of his ultra-successful year. As his front row partner and team-mate Mark Webber was attacked by Jenson Button's McLaren and Fernando Alonso's Ferrari at the start, Vettel was free to pull clear.

He sat on a four to five second lead for most of the distance, as he led every lap and completed a perfect performance with the fastest lap of the race as well.

Button got through to second on the first lap, as Alonso twitched under braking and ran wide, letting Webber keep third. The Australian mounted some vigorous attacks on Button over the opening laps, before the McLaren managed to escape and head off for an ultimately uncontested second.

Webber then lost third to Alonso at the final stops, when being the first of the frontrunners to change to the hard Pirellis cost him.

Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa's turbulent season continued with yet another collision between them. The Ferrari had got ahead of the McLaren on the first lap and was a safe distance ahead until an error just before half-distance left Massa vulnerable to attacks from Hamilton.

They eventually collided as Hamilton went down the inside at Turn 5 - with the stewards deciding Massa was at fault for leaving insufficient room and giving the Brazilian a drive-through penalty. Massa later retired when he smashed his suspension on a kerb, just as he had in qualifying, while Hamilton recovered from ninth to seventh after pitting for a new front wing.

He finished behind the two Mercedes, which were led by Michael Schumacher, who had moved onto Nico Rosberg's tail with a fast start then jumped him for fifth with a late final pitstop.

Toro Rosso looked set to get both cars in the points until Sebastien Buemi stopped with smoke pouring from his machine. Jaime Alguersuari went on to take eighth, ahead of Adrian Sutil in the leading Force India, and Sergio Perez, as the Sauber man proved the most successful of those who ran ultra-short opening stints on hard tyres then switched to softs for the duration.

Perez narrowly beat Renault's Vitaly Petrov, who followed the same strategy. Bruno Senna challenged for points in the second Renault but was hampered by KERS issues and finished 12th, followed by Paul di Resta (Force India) and Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus - which showed strong race pace to run as high as 10th.

The Buddh layout proved tricky for the field to safely navigate as one on the first lap. First a brush between the two Williams sent Rubens Barrichello into Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber, which then rejoined in the path of Timo Glock's Virgin. Among several other brushes of wheels around the lap, Jarno Trulli was left with a puncture after his Lotus was punted into a spin by an HRT.

The Indian Grand Prix
Noida, New Delhi, India;
60 laps; 308.220km;
Weather: Dusty.

Classified:

Pos Driver Team Time
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h30:35.002
2. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 8.433
3. Alonso Ferrari + 24.301
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 25.529
5. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:05.421
6. Rosberg Mercedes + 1:06.851
7. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 1:24.183
8. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
10. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
11. Petrov Renault + 1 lap
12. Senna Renault + 1 lap
13. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
14. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 2 laps
15. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 2 laps
16. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps
17. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps
18. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps
19. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 4 laps

Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:27.457

Not classified/retirements:

Driver Team On lap
Massa Ferrari 33
Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 25
Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 13
Glock Virgin-Cosworth 3
Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1


World Championship standings, round 17:

Drivers: Constructors:
1. Vettel 374 1. Red Bull-Renault 595
2. Button 240 2. McLaren-Mercedes 442
3. Alonso 227 3. Ferrari 325
4. Webber 221 4. Mercedes 145
5. Hamilton 202 5. Renault 72
6. Massa 98 6. Force India-Mercedes 51
7. Rosberg 75 7. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 41
8. Schumacher 70 8. Sauber-Ferrari 41
9. Petrov 36 9. Williams-Cosworth 5
10. Heidfeld 34
11. Sutil 30
12. Kobayashi 27
13. Alguersuari 26
14. Di Resta 21
15. Buemi 15
16. Perez 14
17. Barrichello 4
18. Senna 2
19. Maldonado 1

By Matt Beer
http://www.autosport.com

RACC Rally de Espana - 20 - 23 Oct 11

Sebastien Loeb clinches victory for Citroen in Spain

Sebastien Loeb will take an eight-point lead into the World Rally Championship decider in Wales next month after clinching victory in Spain.

The Citroen driver led home title rival Mikko Hirvonen, who had struggled for speed all weekend and only gained second via team orders issued to his Ford team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala. Sebastien Ogier (Citroen) retired on the final loop.

Loeb's rivals' hopes rested on the champion losing time when running first on the road on the mostly-gravel first day - but they would be disappointed when the dust hanging in the air proved a bigger obstacle for drivers behind than the slippery surface was for Loeb.

As conditions improved on Friday afternoon, Latvala moved past Loeb to lead and Ogier closed to within two seconds of him, only for both Latvala and Ogier to lose time with punctures and errors.

Latvala remained second, but fell half a minute behind Loeb - a gap he could not close on the remaining two days on asphalt. In any case, Latvala was always likely to be asked to relinquish second to Ford's title contender Hirvonen, with the switch occurring when Latvala deliberately picked up a penalty for checking in early before the final stage.

Ogier dropped more time with a second puncture on Saturday morning, and was only fifth when an engine problem brought his rally and championship hopes to an end with one stage to go.

Mini's Dani Sordo lost too much ground in Friday's dust to repeat his France podium, but finished fourth ahead of team-mate Kris Meeke. Meeke and Sordo took a one-two on the bonus points power stage, having correctly taken soft tyres for the damp conditions.

Petter Solberg never had chance to join the lead fight, taking a wheel off his Citroen on the very first stage of the weekend.

Mads Ostberg was a lonely sixth in the top Stobart Ford. His regular team-mate Evgeny Novikov switched to a Citroen Racing Tecnologies entry this weekend to sample the DS3 and beat Stobart's Henning Solberg to take his first points of the year in seventh. Third Stobart driver Matthew Wilson crashed out of a points finish on the penultimate stage when pressured by Dennis Kuipers' FERM Ford.

Juho Hanninen added the 2011 S2000 WRC class title to his 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge crown by beating Nasser Al-Attiyah to the division victory and 10th overall in Spain. Hanninen's championship rival Ott Tanak's title hopes ended with a crash on the very first stage.

Production champion Hayden Paddon failed to start Friday's leg due to electrical problems, leaving Patrik Flodin to beat Michal Kosciuszko to class victory by just two seconds.

Leading finishers after SS18:

Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen 4h05m39.3s
2. Mikko Hirvonen Ford + 2m06.9s
3. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford + 2m32.4s
4. Dani Sordo Mini + 3m24.1s
5. Kris Meeke Mini + 5m15.0s
6. Mads Ostberg Stobart Ford + 5m54.2s
7. Evgeny Novikov CRT Citroen + 9m31.8s
8. Henning Solberg Stobart Ford + 9m40.1s
9. Dennis Kuipers FERM Ford + 11m13.8s
10. Juho Hanninen Red Bull Skoda + 13m49.2s

Other WRC finishers:

12. Khalid Al-Qassimi Ford + 14m39.0s
16. Federico Villagra Munchi's Ford + 17m36.6s
17. Peter van Merksteijn Van Merksteijn Citroen + 18m45.7s
25. Daniel Oliveira Brazil Mini + 38m50.0s

WRC retirements:

Sebastien Ogier Citroen SS17
Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford SS17
Ken Block Monster Ford SS13
Armindo Araujo Italia Mini SS13
Kimi Raikkonen Ice 1 Citroen SS3
Petter Solberg Solberg Citroen SS1

Leading power stage times:

1. Kris Meeke Mini 2m45.7s
2. Dani Sordo Mini + 0.2s
3. Sebastien Loeb Citroen + 4.9s
4. Daniel Oliveira Brazil Mini + 8.0s
5. Juho Hanninen Red Bull Skoda + 8.9s

By Matt Beer
http://www.autosport.com

F1 - The Korean Grand Prix - 16.10.11

Vettel takes commanding win in Korea

Sebastian Vettel cruised to his 10th win of the season at the Korean Grand Prix, wrapping up back-to-back Constructors' World Championship titles for Red Bull in the process.

The German, who took the drivers' title last weekend in Japan, started second on the grid alongside Lewis Hamilton, but outbraked his McLaren into Turn 4 on the opening lap to take a decisive advantage.

A four-second lead was wiped out when Vitaly Petrov took Michael Schumacher out of the race at Turn 3, the resultant debris bringing out the safety car. But when racing resumed, Vettel was again able to pull away. His eventual winning margin over Hamilton was 11s.

Hamilton's runner-up spot was anything but easy. Mark Webber, in the second Red Bull, was never more than 1.5s behind him, and closed onto the McLaren driver's tail during the second half of the race.

A quick decision to bring Hamilton in for his final pitstop just as his rear tyres were beginning to go off managed to keep him ahead of Webber - who stopped on the same lap.

The Australian seemed to have more pace than the Briton, the pair running side-by-side for a number of corners on lap 34, and Webber eventually making it into second at the first corner with five laps to go.

Blessed with the superior traction of the McLaren, and employing a tactic of using all his KERS and DRS at the same time, Hamilton retook the position seconds later on the long run down to Turn 3, and held it to the finish, even setting the fastest lap on the penultimate tour.

Jenson Button fell from third to sixth on the opening lap following strong starts from Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso. Such was Massa's lack of pace on worn tyres, that Nico Rosberg made it a four-way battle for the position as they approached the opening round of pitstops.

While Alonso dropped out of the battle after staying out too long on worn rubber, the action concerned Button and Rosberg, who pitted together on lap 14.

Rosberg got out ahead of Button, the Briton giving way at the pit exit after running side-by-side with the Mercedes driver down the pitlane, but then surrendered the position by outbraking himself and running wide as the rejoined the track.

Rosberg regained the place with the aid of DRS a few seconds later, but could only keep the McLaren behind him for another lap.

Massa, by this stage, had fallen behind the pair, and was also overtaken by Alonso at the second round of stops, after a couple of sensational laps from the Spaniard on old rubber.

Button and Alonso finished fourth and fifth, just behind the Hamilton/Webber battle, while Massa was next up.

Jaime Alguersuari put in another strong performance to finish seventh, the Spaniard passing Rosberg for the position on the final lap after a couple of unsuccessful earlier attempts, while his Toro Rosso team-mate Sebastien Buemi was one place further back.

Paul di Resta completed the points scorers, ahead of his Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil, while Pastor Maldonado - who was in the mix with the Force Indias behind the safety car, was given a drive-through penalty for hitting a bollard at pit entry, and later retired.

The Korean Grand Prix
Korea Auto Valley, Yongam, Korea;
55 laps; 305.909km;
Weather: Dry.

Classified:

Pos Driver Team Time
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h30:01.994
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 12.019
3. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 12.477
4. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 14.694
5. Alonso Ferrari + 15.689
6. Massa Ferrari + 25.133
7. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 49.538
8. Rosberg Mercedes + 54.053
9. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:02.762
10. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:08.602
11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1:11.229
12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1:33.068
13. Senna Renault + 1 lap
14. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap
15. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
16. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
17. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 1 lap
18. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 1 lap
19. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 1 lap
20. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 1 lap
21. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps

Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:39.605

Not classified/retirements:

Driver Team On lap
Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 31
Petrov Renault 17
Schumacher Mercedes 16


World Championship standings, round 16:

Drivers: Constructors:
1. Vettel 349 1. Red Bull-Renault 558
2. Button 222 2. McLaren-Mercedes 418
3. Alonso 212 3. Ferrari 310
4. Webber 209 4. Mercedes 127
5. Hamilton 196 5. Renault 72
6. Massa 98 6. Force India-Mercedes 49
7. Rosberg 67 7. Sauber-Ferrari 40
8. Schumacher 60 8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 37
9. Petrov 36 9. Williams-Cosworth 5
10. Heidfeld 34
11. Sutil 28
12. Kobayashi 27
13. Alguersuari 22
14. Di Resta 21
15. Buemi 15
16. Perez 13
17. Barrichello 4
18. Senna 2
19. Maldonado 1

By Jamie O'Leary
http://www.autosport.com

F1 - The Japanese Grand Prix - 09.10.11

Vettel clinches second F1 title as Button wins the Japanese Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel clinched the 2011 Formula 1 world championship with third place in the Japanese Grand Prix, as Jenson Button took victory for McLaren ahead of Fernando Alonso's Ferrari.

The result was Button's first win for McLaren in a totally dry race, and while Vettel's Suzuka winning streak ended, the Red Bull man's podium finish was still more than adequate to make him the champion for a second consecutive year.

Vettel clearly would have preferred to clinch his title with a win - underlining his determination by very firmly defending his lead against the faster starting Button off the line. The McLaren had to flirt with the grass in the close call, prompting Button to enquire over the radio whether Vettel ought to get a penalty. The incident was investigated, but no action was taken.

As Button lost momentum, his team-mate Lewis Hamilton swept around the outside of him into second, where he would stay until signs of a right rear puncture forced him to slow abruptly and make a slightly early pitstop at the end of lap seven. This would drop Hamilton to fourth once the first stops were completed, behind Alonso - who had passed his Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa into the first corner early on.

Button was keeping his tyres in better shape than Vettel, and closed right in on the Red Bull at the end of the stint. Vettel pitted a lap earlier and stayed ahead in the first stops - but not in the second stops on laps 19 and 20, where Button's superb in-lap pace and a great McLaren stop got the Briton out in the lead.

The safety car came out shortly afterwards to clear some debris, including a chunk of Massa's Ferrari bodywork deposited at the chicane when he made contact with Hamilton while trying to go around the outside of the McLaren for fourth. This clash was also investigated, but no action was taken.

With the pack bunched up by the yellow, Vettel found himself back in traffic when he made an early third stop to switch to medium tyres on lap 33.

Button ran three laps longer and extended his lead, with Alonso staying out a further lap still and emerging just ahead of the frustrated Vettel.

The soon-to-be-champion was all over Alonso for a while, until Red Bull suggested now was not the time to take any risks. Alonso then shot off after leader Button, closing to within a second before the McLaren raised its pace in response.

Mark Webber jumped Massa and Hamilton with an early second stop and secured fourth, while having lost out to Massa in the same pit sequence just after their clash, Hamilton overtook the Ferrari again into the first corner on lap 37.

Michael Schumacher took sixth, staying out very late before his third and final stop and therefore leading a grand prix for the first time in his F1 comeback. That strategy also allowed the Mercedes driver to beat Massa to sixth.

Two-stop strategies worked brilliantly for Sergio Perez (Sauber) - who surprisingly set the fastest lap - and Vitaly Petrov (Renault) as they took eighth and ninth. Nico Rosberg charged from the back row to take the final point for Mercedes.

Home hero Kamui Kobayashi's hopes of a great race were ruined by a poor start that left him in traffic all afternoon. He could only finish 13th for Sauber, behind the two Force Indias.

Bruno Senna also lost out on lap one, getting away slightly slowly, then running wide. That and a slow first stop left his Renault only 16th.

The only retirement of the race was Sebastien Buemi, whose Toro Rosso left its first stop with its right front wheel dangling off.

The Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka, Japan;
53 laps; 307.573km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos Driver Team Time
1. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h30:53.427
2. Alonso Ferrari + 1.160
3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 2.006
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 8.071
5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 24.268
6. Schumacher Mercedes + 27.120
7. Massa Ferrari + 28.240
8. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 39.377
9. Petrov Renault + 42.607
10. Rosberg Mercedes + 44.322
11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 54.447
12. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:02.326
13. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:03.705
14. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:04.194
15. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1:06.623
16. Senna Renault + 1:12.628
17. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1:14.191
18. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 1:27.824
19. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 1:36.140
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps
21. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps
22. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
23. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps

Fastest lap: Button, 1:36.568

Not classified/retirements:

Driver Team On lap
Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 35


World Championship standings, round 15:

Drivers: Constructors:
1. Vettel 324 1. Red Bull-Renault 518
2. Button 210 2. McLaren-Mercedes 388
3. Alonso 202 3. Ferrari 292
4. Webber 194 4. Mercedes 123
5. Hamilton 178 5. Renault 72
6. Massa 90 6. Force India-Mercedes 48
7. Rosberg 63 7. Sauber-Ferrari 40
8. Schumacher 60 8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 29
9. Petrov 36 9. Williams-Cosworth 5
10. Heidfeld 34
11. Sutil 28
12. Kobayashi 27
13. Di Resta 20
14. Alguersuari 16
15. Buemi 13
16. Perez 13
17. Barrichello 4
18. Senna 2
19. Maldonado 1

Rallye de France Alsace - 29 Sep - 02 Oct 11

Sebastien Ogier brings himself back into title hunt with Rally of France victory

Sebastien Ogier is now just three points behind Sebastien Loeb with two rounds of the World Rally Championship to go after winning a hard-fought Rally of France.

Loeb had led the first two stages of his home event, only to suffer a rare Citroen engine problem on SS3 and have to retire.

That left his team-mate Ogier in a huge three-way battle with Petter Solberg (Solberg Citroen) and Dani Sordo - who was driving a remarkable rally in the new Mini.

All three had spells in the lead, and while Solberg fell back to third with a puncture on Saturday, Sordo kept the pressure on Ogier until the end.

Ogier had got his lead up to 9.5s on Saturday night, only for Sordo to strike back and get it back down to 4.9s on day three's first three stages. But Ogier was able to edge clear again on the home stretch and secure a vital fifth win of the year by 6.3s.

"Very good feeling, it was a bit difficult at the end, I had a not so good drive on the power stage but the most important thing is to get the victory," said Ogier. "For sure it's good for the championship, now we'll have to do two good last rallies of the season."

Sordo admitted to some disappointment at not winning, but was still thrilled to claim Mini's best

"It's incredible," said Sordo. "A little bit disappointed because in the end I didn't take the victory, but we have to be happy."

Ford was unable to fully capitalise on Loeb's misfortune. Both Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala made mistakes on Friday morning, and the former was off the pace all weekend - requiring team orders to receive Latvala's fourth place on the final stage. Latvala checked in early at the pre-SS23 regroup to take a two-minute penalty and fall to fifth. Hirvonen is also now within three points of Loeb in the standings.

FERM Ford driver Dennis Kuipers produced his best WRC performance yet to hold off Henning Solberg's Stobart Ford and take sixth.

Three punctures relegated Mads Ostberg to eighth in another Stobart entry, while team-mate Evgeny Novikov had a puncture on Friday then crashed on Saturday.

Ken Block was another man showing his best WRC form to date as he took the Monster Ford to ninth, just ahead of Pierre Campana, driving a Mini entered by the French federation. Armindo Araujo looked set for seventh in another private Mini before crashing out this morning.

Ott Tanak moved into the S2000 championship lead by taking a dominant win on a weekend when rival Juho Hanninen was delayed by a puncture then crashed while trying to fight back.

Leading finishers after SS23:

Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Sebastien Ogier Citroen 3h06m20.4s
2. Dani Sordo Mini + 6.3s
3. Petter Solberg Solberg Citroen + 1m23.8s
4. Mikko Hirvonen Ford + 3m26.6s
5. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford + 3m30.3s
6. Dennis Kuipers FERM Ford + 6m42.0s
7. Henning Solberg Stobart Ford + 7m08.3s
8. Mads Ostberg Stobart Ford + 7m58.3s
9. Ken Block Monster Ford + 8m25.5s
10. Pierre Campana France Mini + 8m38.7s

Other WRC finishers:

11. Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford + 10m00.8s
13. Khalid Al Qassimi Abu Dhabi Ford + 12m28.2s
24. Evgeny Novikov Stobart Ford + 39m25.8s

WRC retirements:

Armindo Araujo Italia Mini SS18
Daniel Oliveira Brazil Mini SS15
Kris Meeke Mini SS13
Peter van Merksteijn Van Merksteijn Citroen SS8
Sebastien Loeb Citroen SS3
Kimi Raikkonen Ice 1 Citroen SS3

Leading power stage times:

Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford 3m09.4s
2. Dani Sordo Mini + 2.1s
3. Sebastien Ogier Citroen + 2.5s
4. Mikko Hirvonen Ford + 2.5s
5. Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford + 4.6s

By Matt Beer
http://www.autosport.com