Turkish GP on this weekend \:d/

Vettel Wins Turkish Grand Prix for 3rd Victory This Season
By BRAD SPURGEON
Published: May 8, 2011
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CloseLinkedinDiggMySpacePermalink ISTANBUL — The Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul on Sunday looked like a go-kart race run by cars worth millions of dollars, as the formerly staid Formula One became a riveting affair of jockeying for position from beginning to end.

Although the Red Bull cars dominated qualifying to take the top two spots on the grid, the race turned into a battle of not only the fastest cars, best strategists and tacticians, but also the most adept drivers.

Still, the man who started on pole position, the reigning world champion, Sebastian Vettel, again controlled the race throughout, to win his third race in four this season and strengthen his lead in the championship.

“A very good race today, very smooth, and pretty much in control from start to finish,” said Vettel.

The German driver gained an immediate strong lead after his teammate, Mark Webber, lost position to Nico Rosberg in a Mercedes at the start.

“It was a bit of a comfortable situation having Nico behind me for the first five laps, because I was able to open a gap quicker than if Mark was behind,” Vettel said. “This way, throughout the race we were able to react rather than act.”

Webber retook second position but later again dropped to third behind Fernando Alonso, until he managed to pass the Ferrari driver with six laps left in the race.

“Seb got the cushion, and it’s a bit like tennis or squash when you have the ball in control,” Webber said of his teammate’s early lead on Rosberg. “At the end of the race, we had a comeback, and I think I had a better set of tires than Fernando did, and these days the tires are everything.”

Alonso finished third, in his best finish of the season. Vettel leads the series with 93 points to 59 for Lewis Hamilton, 55 for Webber and 46 for Jenson Button, who is Hamilton’s McLaren Mercedes teammate.

Trying to follow the exact order of the drivers throughout the race was nearly impossible. But among the most exciting battles were those between the teammates at McLaren Mercedes, Button and Hamilton, who passed each other and several other drivers throughout the race to finish in fourth and sixth.

A messy pit stop after Lap 34 very likely cost Hamilton a third-place finish. His mechanics had a problem bolting on the right front wheel, and then he had to wait before leaving the pit stand as Felipe Massa in a Ferrari had just entered the pits driving past him.

Alonso, started in fifth, had a perfect strategy and drove masterfully.

“Obviously we capitalized on our opportunities,” Alonso said. “This is only the first step. We want to win races. First we need to be on the podium.”

Because of his advance at the start with Rosberg blocking Webber, Vettel was able to use a slightly different strategy than the other drivers, making his pit stops later, making his fourth stop after Lap 40 while he had a 23.2 second lead on Alonso.

The team was desperate not to repeat the failed strategy of the previous race, in Shanghai three weeks ago, where Vettel had led the race until Hamilton passed him with five laps to go because the Red Bull car’s tires had worn too much.

“It wasn’t easy from the start to know what was going to happen, you really have to wait the first or maybe second stint to see, ‘This is the trend, this is where we are going,”’ Vettel said.

After Lap 41 of the 58-lap race, Vettel led by 7.1 seconds on Alonso with Webber in third at 3.0 seconds from the Ferrari driver and Hamilton in fourth 32.2 seconds back.

But with 10 laps left in the race, and after all the leaders made a fourth pit stop for a tire change, the race for second position open up again as Webber began to attack Alonso.

“In the last part I think Mark had a new set of prime tires and I didn’t, and that made a difference,” said Alonso. “Fighting with Red Bull is not easy.”

Until this year’s new rules to facilitate overtaking, Formula One organizers used say that its racing style was comparable to soccer, where there were few goals, just as in Formula One passing was rare. Other forms of car racing, with lots of passing maneuvers, were like basketball.

What made Formula One exciting was the wait for the passing procedure, while nothing mattered much until the end — like a Nascar race, or even a go-kart race — where there was constant passing. Today’s race in Istanbul presents a different idea, and while the jury may still be out as to how effective it is, as with so often in the past, one man and team continues to dominate.

“The day you start to think you are unbeatable is the day you get beaten,” Vettel said.

Turkish Grand Prix 2011: Force India's British driver Paul Di Resta frustrated after first F1 retirement
Paul di Resta was left rueing a potential missed opportunity after suffering his first retirement in Formula One.

Out of it: Force India's British driver Paul Di Resta was told by his team to retire Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Telegraph staff and agencies 10:30PM BST 08 May 2011 Comment
After making his fourth pit stop as tyre wear dominated the Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park, Di Resta was told by his Force India team to pull over.

Data suggested the wheel had not been fitted properly, at least preventing a potential accident, but also denying Di Resta a run to the line for a points finish.

“It was a tough start to the race, although I managed to hold my position on the first lap,” said Di Resta, who started from 13th on the grid.

“However, as the race unfolded the pace didn’t seem quite there and so we decided to change our strategy and make a fourth stop. When I was leaving the pits after my final stop, the team came on the radio and instructed me to pull to one side of the track.

“There was obviously a problem, so I pulled up as soon as I could.

Perez ruled out of Monaco GP

Perez ruled out of Monaco - FORMULA 1
Reuters
Sergio Perez will not take part in the Monaco Grand Prix following his qualifying accident.

The third and final phase of the session was red-flagged with two minutes and 26 seconds remaining when Perez smashed into the barriers at the tunnel exit, the fastest point of the street circuit.

The 21-year-old was attended to by the emergency medical team in his wrecked Sauber, while marshals shielded the scene with a large sheet.

He was then extracted and taken away in an ambulance while the shattered car, with most of its side missing and wheels dangling, was lifted and taken back to the pits on a truck.

Perez escaped serious injury but his concussion means he will be unable to race in the Monte Carlo event.

The Mexican rookie also suffered a sprained thigh but no broken bones. Perez will stay in the Prince Grace hospital at least overnight.

"Of course we are very relieved that Sergio wasn't seriously injured," said team boss Peter Sauber.

"Up to the accident he was doing very well in qualifying, and also better than expected as he had outperformed all his direct competitors."

Technical director James Key added: "First and foremost we are obviously relieved with the reports that Sergio is okay. It's always very worrying for a team when you see an accident of that magnitude, so it's good to hear that he is fundamentally okay.

"We are looking into what happened. There is no indication at the moment from the data we have seen that there was a problem with the car. But we have to talk to Sergio to investigate further what happened."

"The most important thing was to hear that Sergio is okay," said championship leader Sebastian Vettel, who took pole.

"There was a bit of a shadow over qualifying when you see a colleague crash and not jumping out of the car immediately," he added. "It is difficult to keep the focus and you don't feel 100 percent well when you don't know what is going on."

Jenson Button, who had a similar accident at the same spot in final practice with BAR Honda in 2003 and had to miss the showcase race that year, sympathised.

"I know how much it hurts (to crash there)," he said.

The rookie's absence means team-mate Kamui Kobayashi will be the only Sauber in the race.

ualifying - Vettel on pole in Monaco after Perez shunt 28 May 2011
Pole sitter Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull Racing in parc ferme. Formula One World Championship, Rd 6, Monaco Grand Prix, Qualifying Day, Monte-Carlo, Monaco, Saturday, 28 May 2011 The damaged Sauber C30 of Sergio Perez (MEX) Sauber is craned away after he crashed during qualifying. Formula One World Championship, Rd 6, Monaco Grand Prix, Qualifying Day, Monte-Carlo, Monaco, Saturday, 28 May 2011 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren MP4/26 leads Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 150 Italia. Formula One World Championship, Rd 6, Monaco Grand Prix, Qualifying Day, Monte-Carlo, Monaco, Saturday, 28 May 2011 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) Team Lotus T128. Formula One World Championship, Rd 6, Monaco Grand Prix, Qualifying Day, Monte-Carlo, Monaco, Saturday, 28 May 2011 Narain Karthikeyan (IND) Hispania Racing F1 Team (HRT) F111. Formula One World Championship, Rd 6, Monaco Grand Prix, Qualifying Day, Monte-Carlo, Monaco, Saturday, 28 May 2011 Alguersuari and Kobayashi tangle

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was in the right place at the right time in a dramatic final qualifying session in Monaco on Saturday afternoon, to take his fifth pole of the season. Just after the world champion had gone fastest, the session was red flagged with 2m 26s remaining when Sergio Perez, who had done a great job to run ninth in Q2, lost his Sauber over the bumps exiting the tunnel.

Perez was wider off line than Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg had been in the morning, but thereafter his accident followed the trend of the German’s as he crashed first into the right-hand barriers. That crushed the right-hand side of the C30, which then ran down the road and broadsided, on the right-hand side again, into the same chicane wall that Sauber driver Karl Wendlinger had struck back in 1994.

Medical services were on the scene quickly, and the young Mexican was gently removed from the cockpit and placed in the ambulance, conscious and responding to questions from Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn, at 15.08 local time.

At the time of the accident Vettel led McLaren’s Jenson Button, 1m 13.556s to 1m 13.997s, with Red Bull’s Mark Webber next on 1m 14.019s from Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso on 1m 14.483s and Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher on 1m 14.682s. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was next on 1m 14.877s.

Perez’s crash was a disaster for Rosberg, who had only done 1m 17.104s after spoiling the first sector, and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who had been fastest in Q1 and Q2 and had deliberately held back in search of a clear run. He was on his first fast lap when Perez crashed and thus saw it lost. As the session restart approached, he faced starting from eighth place.

All chance of pole for the Englishman had disappeared, and as eight rivals prepared to do one last banzai lap, McLaren moved into damage limitation mode. Hamilton had to grasp any improvement he could. He got out first when the session resumed at 15.35, but when he ran across the chicane it was all over and qualifying petered out to its unsatisfactory conclusion. The only consolation was that his 1m 15.280s moved him ahead of Rosberg (1m 15.766s) into seventh. After qualifying, however, the stewards decided to delete his best time for the jump over the chicane and he is expected to drop down to ninth on the Monaco grid. Williams’ Pastor Maldonado, meanwhile, who set the ninth-fastest time with a lap of 1m 16.528s is thus expected to start from eighth.

Hamilton had led the way in Q2 with 1m 14.275s, but Vettel was only two-hundredths slower. Further back, Renault’s miserable weekend continued. Vitaly Petrov was the first to be knocked out, taking 11th place with 1m 15.815s. Rubens Barrichello was 12th in the second Williams on 1m 15.826s and Kamui Kobayashi was the last man below 1m 16s with 1m 15.973s for Sauber.

The Force India boys had an excellent set-to, which was eventually resolved right at the end in Paul di Resta’s favour, but only just. He lapped in 1m 16.118s to Adrian Sutil’s 1m 16.121s. Behind them, Nick Heidfeld struggled for grip in his Renault R31 and only managed 1m 16.214s for 16th, with Sebastien Buemi 17th for Toro Rosso on 1m 16.300s.

Earlier, Hamilton had headed the Q1 times with 1m 15.207s from Button on 1m 15.397s, as Mercedes did a great job to get Rosberg running. Rosberg did an even better job to put his rebuilt car in fifth place. The session weeded out both Lotuses as Heikki Kovalainen improved 1m 17.343s in the closing moments to push Jarno Trulli down to 19th on 1m 17.381s.

Jaime Alguersuari didn’t get out at the end to try to improve on his 1m 17.820s (sharp contrast to Toro Rosso team mate Buemi’s 11th on 1m 16.358s), and the Virgins of Timo Glock and Jerome D’Ambrosio (1m 17.914s and 1m 18.736s respectively) rounded out the field as neither of the HRTs appeared and thus failed to qualify. They will be allowed to race, however, based on their practice times.

The stewards are also looking at a Q1 incident in which Kobayashi appeared to block Alguersuari at Rascasse as the Sauber driver slowed to pit, prompting minor contact between the two cars.

Can Webber win second Monaco Grand Prix?

James Phelps in Monaco
From: Sunday Mail (SA)
May 30, 2011 12:00AM

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Mark Webber

Australian Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing prepares to drive during practice for the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix at the Monte Carlo Circuit. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) Pic. Getty Images A2343086 Source: Getty Images

MARK Webber will today try to cement his place among the F1 giants by winning his second straight Monaco GP.

Following a mixed start to the season, the Red Bull driver has begun to find his speed, and on a track where experience counts for everything, Webber will be among the favourites to win the world's greatest motor-race.

As the rich and famous descend on the narrow and unforgiving 3.3km Monte Carlo street circuit, the Sunday Mail takes a look at what Webber must do to win and put his season back on track.

QUALIFYING

WHILE there is no doubt qualifying well at Monaco is more important than at any other track, all hope will not be lost for Webber if he fails to land pole.

With the new tyre manufacturer Pirelli introducing a highly degradable "super soft" rubber for this race, strategy will be almost important as topping the time-sheets on Saturday.

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"It is a very difficult circuit to overtake on," McLaren driver Jenson Button said.

"But I think this year, because of the way it has been with tyres and KERS, pole position is still the best place to be but that doesn't mean you won't have a chance if you start in position three."

THE START

ON one of the narrowest grids in world motor-sport, Webber can not afford to drop a place on the line.

With next to no passing opportunities on the run-off-less track, he will have to scream off the line and get turn one inch perfect before motoring up the hill towards the famed Monte Carlo Casino.

"It is a very tight corner," Webber said. "Especially on the first lap."

THE TRACK

THERE are very few passing opportunities at Monaco with the Nouvelle Chicane after the tunnel the most popular section to make a move.

DRS (Drag Reduction System) and KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) have been introduced this year to encourage overtaking but the drivers are claiming it will be the high-wear rate in the tyres that may create more opportunities.

Webber must take his opportunities to pass because there won't be many.

"It is a unique circuit," Webber said.

"You'd never design a track like this now, but there's so much history and nostalgia surrounding the place that the race is allowed to continue.

"The thing about Monaco is that we don't get to do much wheel-to-wheel racing ... it becomes a battle between you and the racetrack".

STRATEGY

WITH the new tyre an unknown at Monaco, Red Bull Racing will have to think on their feet to bring Webber in at the right time. It will be a genuine chance to move up the order but only if the stop is perfect. Staying out too long could prove catastrophic.