The Indian Grand Prix - Sunday, October 28th 2012

 

Indian GP: Vettel cruises to fourth consecutive victory

Sebastian Vettel stretched his Formula 1 world championship lead to 13 points with a fourth straight dominant victory in the Indian Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso was at least able to minimise the damage to his title bid by battling through to second place.
Red Bull's rivals may have claimed pre-race that they were determined to prevent Vettel making a clean break, but the champion team actually looked more dominant than ever on lap one, as Vettel and Mark Webber cruised away while the McLarens and Ferraris grappled with each other.
Alonso managed to draft past both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button on the long straight, then saw them go back around him - one either side - at Turn 4.
Button came out best and took third, with Alonso managing to get back past Hamilton into fourth.
Alonso then overtook Button for third as soon as DRS was available. Hamilton did likewise soon afterwards.
Third looked like being Alonso's limit until the second half of the race, when Webber began drifting off Vettel's pace and into the Ferrari's sights.
As Webber reported a lack of KERS, Alonso stepped up his chase - despite also having to try to save fuel.
The Ferrari breezed past with 10 laps to go, and - encouraged by some unusual sparks from under Vettel's car - kept pushing to the flag. It was in vain, though, as yet again Vettel was safely heading for victory.
Hamilton, who required a rapidly-fitted new steering wheel at his pitstop, charged onto Webber's tail in the final moments but could not separate the Red Bull from the podium.
Button was a lonely fifth, losing time with a long spell behind a yet-to-stop Romain Grosjean.
Felipe Massa resisted Kimi Raikkonen for sixth. The Lotus jumped the Ferrari by pitting one lap later, only for Massa to use DRS to immediately re-pass.
Grosjean fell into the midfield at the start, then recovered with some successful overtaking and by running until lap 36 before pitting for fresh softs.
The Lotus got back up to ninth, chasing Nico Hulkenberg's Force India.
Hulkenberg had initially sparred with Sergio Perez, but the Sauber made an early pitstop then retired after picking up a puncture while jousting with Daniel Ricciardo's.
Perez was one of three drivers who sustained tyre damage in combat. Jean-Eric Vergne tagged Michael Schumacher at the first corner of the race, breaking the Toro Rosso's wing and slicing the Mercedes' tyre.
Pastor Maldonado also got a puncture in a tussle with Kamui Kobayashi. But Bruno Senna saved Williams's day with an assertive drive to 10th that included a late pass on Nico Rosberg's Mercedes.

RACE RESULTS

The Indian Grand Prix
Buddh International Circuit, India;
60 laps; 307.249km;
Weather: Hazy and dry.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h31:10.744
 2.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +     9.437
 3.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    13.217
 4.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    13.909
 5.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    26.266
 6.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    44.674
 7.  Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault              +    45.227
 8.  Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes       +    54.998
 9.  Grosjean      Lotus-Renault              +    56.103
10.  Senna         Williams-Renault           +  1:14.975
11.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +  1:21.694
12.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +  1:22.815
13.  Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:26.064
14.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:26.495
15.  Vergne        Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
16.  Maldonado     Williams-Renault           +     1 lap
17.  Petrov        Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
18.  Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
19.  Pic           Marussia-Cosworth          +     1 lap
20.  Glock         Marussia-Cosworth          +    2 laps
21.  Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps
22.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +    5 laps

Fastest lap: Button, 1:28.203

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
De la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth                 41
Perez         Sauber-Ferrari               21


World Championship standings, round 17:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel       240        1.  Red Bull-Renault          407
 2.  Alonso       227        2.  Ferrari                   316
 3.  Raikkonen    173        3.  McLaren-Mercedes          306
 4.  Webber       167        4.  Lotus-Renault             263
 5.  Hamilton     165        5.  Mercedes                  136
 6.  Button       141        6.  Sauber-Ferrari            116
 7.  Rosberg       93        7.  Force India-Mercedes       93
 8.  Grosjean      90        8.  Williams-Renault           59
 9.  Massa         89        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         21
10.  Perez         66       
11.  Kobayashi     50       
12.  Hulkenberg    49       
13.  Di Resta      44       
14.  Schumacher    43       
15.  Maldonado     33       
16.  Senna         26       
17.  Vergne        12       
18.  Ricciardo      9 

By Matt Beer

http://www.autosport.com 

 

 

The Korean Grand Prix Sunday, October 14th 2012

Vettel grabs commanding win, moves into championship lead

Sebastian Vettel swept into the Formula 1 world championship lead by delivering a dominant victory in the Korean Grand Prix.
Vettel's third consecutive race win came at the head of a Red Bull one-two, with team Mark Webber in second.
Polesitter Webber had immediately lost the lead to Vettel off the line, and after fending off the Australian's attempted retaliation at Turn 3, Vettel was free to pull away. His lead got up to around 10 seconds before he focused on nursing his tyres to the flag.
Fernando Alonso muscled his way up to third in a busy first lap, but had no answer to the Red Bulls' pace.
The erstwhile points leader kept Webber vaguely in sight as he completed the podium.
McLaren had a disastrous day. Jenson Button was taken out on lap one when Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi hit both Button and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg at Turn 3.
Lewis Hamilton ran fourth behind Alonso in the first stint before losing pace on his second set of tyres. He was overtaken by both Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen before switching to a three-stop strategy.
That left Hamilton back in 10th, his efforts to recover positions stymied when he picked up a large piece of astroturf in the final laps.
Having dispatched Hamilton, Massa closed in on Ferrari team-mate Alonso. He received a radio message requesting that he hold formation, and duly finished fourth, ahead of Raikkonen's Lotus.
Nico Hulkenberg drove an excellent race to sixth for Force India, delivering one of the most exciting moments of a largely tedious race when he passed both Romain Grosjean and Hamilton in one sweep as the Lotus and McLaren diced. Grosjean took seventh.
Toro Rosso had a superb afternoon. Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo came through from their lowly grid positions to eighth and ninth, swapping places late on as Ricciardo's tyres faded. Hamilton's astroturf drama meant the McLaren fell back after putting the STR duo under heavy pressure.
Mercedes' race was as disappointing as McLaren's. Following Rosberg's early exit, Michael Schumacher lacked pace throughout and was eventually pushed back to 13th behind Sergio Perez and Paul di Resta.

RACE RESULTS

The Korean Grand Prix
Korean International Circuit, Korea;
55 laps; 308.630km;
Weather: Clear.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h36:28.651
 2.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +     8.200
 3.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    13.900
 4.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    20.100
 5.  Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault              +    36.700
 6.  Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes       +    45.300
 7.  Grosjean      Lotus-Renault              +    54.800
 8.  Vergne        Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:09.500
 9.  Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:11.700
10.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +  1:19.600
11.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:20.000
12.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +  1:24.400
13.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +  1:29.200
14.  Maldonado     Williams-Renault           +  1:34.900
15.  Senna         Williams-Renault           +  1:36.900
16.  Petrov        Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
17.  Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
18.  Glock         Marussia-Cosworth          +     1 lap
19.  Pic           Marussia-Cosworth          +    2 lap2
20.  Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Webber, 1:42.037

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
De la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth                 17
Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari               17
Rosberg       Mercedes                     2
Button        McLaren-Mercedes             1


World Championship standings, round 16:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel       215        1.  Red Bull-Renault          367
 2.  Alonso       209        2.  Ferrari                   290
 3.  Raikkonen    167        3.  McLaren-Mercedes          284
 4.  Hamilton     153        4.  Lotus-Renault             255
 5.  Webber       152        5.  Mercedes                  136
 6.  Button       131        6.  Sauber-Ferrari            116
 7.  Rosberg       93        7.  Force India-Mercedes       89
 8.  Grosjean      88        8.  Williams-Renault           58
 9.  Massa         81        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         21
10.  Perez         66       
11.  Kobayashi     50       
12.  Hulkenberg    45       
13.  Di Resta      44       
14.  Schumacher    43       
15.  Maldonado     33       
16.  Senna         25       
17.  Vergne        12       
18.  Ricciardo      9 

By Matt Beer 

 

The Japanese Grand Prix - Sunday, October 7th 2012

Japanese GP: Vettel cruises to victory as Alonso retires

Sebastian Vettel demolished Fernando Alonso's Formula 1 world championship lead by dominating the Japanese Grand Prix as the points leader retired in a first-lap crash. The reigning champion is now just four points behind with five races to go, and has momentum on his side after back to back victories.
Felipe Massa came through from 10th on the grid to second for his first podium finish in nearly two years.
But for the home crowd everything was insignificant compared to Kamui Kobayashi fending off Jenson Button for his maiden F1 podium in third place, as he equalled the best ever finish for a Japanese driver.
Vettel's third Suzuka victory in four starts at the venue came easily as several likely challengers were eliminated in a chaotic first lap.
The carnage began when Alonso's Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus banged wheels on the run to the first corner. That caused damage to the Ferrari and left it spinning into the sand trap.
Kobayashi had thrust his Sauber between the Red Bulls off the line, and things then got much worse for Mark Webber when Romain Grosjean slid into him at the second corner.
The Lotus driver picked up front wing damage and a 10-second stop/go penalty, while Webber was spun to the back and needed a pitstop for checks.
As the chain reaction unfolded behind, Nico Rosberg's Mercedes was taken out in a clash with Bruno Senna's Williams.
Once the resultant safety car had come in, Vettel was free to dominate, leading by as much as 20s on his way to a third victory of 2012.
Kobayashi held second until the first pitstops, when both he and the chasing Button were leapfrogged by Massa. Like Button, the Ferrari driver had gained a lot of ground in the first-corner shambles, and once ahead of the McLaren and Sauber, Massa was quick enough to pull away.
Button tried his utmost to similarly demote Kobayashi, but a slightly slow final pitstop did not help and the local hero to keep last year's Suzuka winner at bay.
Lewis Hamilton had a quiet start to the race in the second McLaren before coming through to fifth. He fell victim to a superb dive-bomb pass from McLaren replacement Sergio Perez in the first stint - the Sauber having dropped behind in a failed outside-line bid to pass Raikkonen at the first corner.
Hamilton then got back ahead of Perez at the first pitstops, and as he tried to retaliate down the outside at the hairpin, Perez ran wide and spun into retirement.
The McLaren then jumped Raikkonen for fifth at the second stops - emerging alongside the Lotus and muscling it aside at the second turn despite Raikkonen seeming to have the momentum.
Nico Hulkenberg's Force India chased Raikkonen home in seventh while resisting pressure from Pastor Maldonado's Williams.
Webber recovered to ninth, pitting just once more after his lap-one stop.
Daniel Ricciardo made it two Australians in the points as Toro Rosso's mini-resurgence continued. Ricciardo resisted pressure from Michael Schumacher to the finish, preventing Mercedes from scoring this weekend.
The lap one mess gave Caterham a sniff of an opportunity as Heikki Kovalainen emerged in 11th. He could not stay ahead of the recovering frontrunners, though.

RACE RESULTS

The Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka, Japan;
53 laps; 307.471km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h28:56.242
 2.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    20.639
 3.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +    24.538
 4.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    25.098
 5.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    46.490
 6.  Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault              +    50.424
 7.  Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes       +    51.159
 8.  Maldonado     Williams-Renault           +    52.364
 9.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    54.675
10.  Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:06.919
11.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +  1:07.769
12.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +  1:23.460
13.  Vergne        Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:28.645
14.  Senna         Williams-Renault           +  1:28.709
15.  Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
16.  Glock         Marussia-Cosworth          +     1 lap
17.  Petrov        Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
18.  De la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth               +     1 lap
19.  Grosjean      Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:35.774

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Pic           Marussia-Cosworth            39
Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth                 34
Perez         Sauber-Ferrari               19
Alonso        Ferrari                      1
Rosberg       Mercedes                     1


World Championship standings, round 15:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Alonso       194        1.  Red Bull-Renault          325
 2.  Vettel       190        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          283
 3.  Raikkonen    157        3.  Ferrari                   263
 4.  Hamilton     152        4.  Lotus-Renault             239
 5.  Webber       135        5.  Mercedes                  136
 6.  Button       131        6.  Sauber-Ferrari            115
 7.  Rosberg       93        7.  Force India-Mercedes       81
 8.  Grosjean      82        8.  Williams-Renault           58
 9.  Massa         69        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         15
10.  Perez         65       
11.  Kobayashi     50       
12.  Di Resta      44       
13.  Schumacher    43       
14.  Hulkenberg    37       
15.  Maldonado     33       
16.  Senna         25       
17.  Vergne         8       
18.  Ricciardo      7 

By Matt Beer 

http://www.autosport.com