World champion Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) had to settle for second place, as his car suffered from gearbox problems. His team-mate Mark Webber took advantage of his misfortunes to take his first victory of the season at the Brazilian GP.
The expected rain didn't bother making an appearance at the last Grand Prix of the year, which might have been a problem for the Red Bulls, said to be setup for a wet-race. But in the end, Webber was satisfied with the outcome.
Vettel got away well at the start, and looked as if he had it in the bag. On his end, Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) took advantage of a great get-away to nail Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) at the start. He then put a spectacular move on Hamilton's team-mate, Jenson Button, around the outside of Turn 6, to take third.
As Webber was managing the gap to the Spaniard, the call broke-out that Vettel was having problems with his gearbox. It was not long before they swapped position, Vettel admitting on the radio he did not want to get in Webber's way.
Later on, the German then surprisingly picked up the pace again, setting a new lap record, only to be reminded by his race engineer, Guillaume Rocquelin, that his gearbox was dramatically loosing oil pressure and would not make it to the end of the race if he kept on like that.
Behind the leaders, Button experienced some balance problems on the soft tyres. Once he switched to the harder compound, his speed improved and he started reeling Alonso back in, and eventually passed him for the last podium spot. On the sister McLaren, Hamilton wasn't as lucky as Vettel nor Button.
The 2008 champion, just like Vettel, had some difficulties with his transmission, only his terminated his race on lap 48.
Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) was involved once more in a tangle with another car. This time it was with the Lotus Renault of Bruno Senna. Schumacher went around the outside of Corner 1 to try and take ninth spot away from Senna.
They touched and even though both made it to the checkered flag, the race was effectively over for them, after each ruined his strategy with the unscheduled pitstops forced by the incident. Senna, deemed responsible by the stewards, even had to serve a drive-through penalty.
The race for seventh, eighth and ninth spot in the constructors' championship ended well for Force India as the two cars finished in the points. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) rallied to 10th and picked up an insurance point over Toro-Rosso.
It was a bad day for Red Bull's B-squad, loosing out in the battle for precious TV reward money by finishing 25 points behind Force India and three behind Sauber in the championship.
Neither did the day end well for Virgin and Timo Glock. Exiting the pits on lap 21, the German lost a wheel – and his chances of finishing the race. In comparison, Felipe Massa (Ferrari) had a good race, finishing fifth, but was 31 seconds adrift his team-mate Alonso.
Nevertheless, happy to be on home soil, Massa put on a 'donut' show for the fans before bringing the car back in at the end of the race.
Race results – Brazilian Grand Prix (Interlagos)
1 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB7-Renault) - 71 laps 1.32'17"464
2 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB7-Renault) – 16"983
3 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) – 27"638
4 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari 150) – 35"048
5 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari 150) – 1'06"733
6 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 1 lap
7 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W02) - 1 lap
8 - Paul di Resta (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 1 lap
9 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C30-Ferrari) - 1 lap
10 - Vitaly Petrov (Renault R31) - 1 lap
11 - Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso STR6-Ferrari) - 1 lap
12 - Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR6-Ferrari) - 1 lap
13 - Sergio Perez (Sauber C30-Ferrari) - 1 lap
14 - Rubens Barrichello (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1 lap
15 - Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus T128-Renault) - 2 laps
16 - Bruno Senna (Renault R31) - 2 laps
17 - Jarno Trulli (Lotus T128-Renault) - 2 laps
18 - Jérôme d'Ambrosio (Virgin VR02-Cosworth) - 3 laps
19 - Daniel Ricciardo (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 3 laps
Fastest lap of the race by Mark Webber (Red Bull) in 1'15”324
Retirements
Lap 21 - Timo Glock (Virgin)
Lap 26 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams)
Lap 48 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
Lap 61 - Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT)
Drivers' championship
1.Vettel 392; 2.Button 270; 3.Webber 258; 4.Alonso 257; 5.Hamilton 227; 6.Massa 118; 7.Rosberg 89; 8.Schumacher 76; 9.Sutil 42; 10.Petrov 37; 11.Heidfeld 34; 12.Kobayashi 30; 13.Di Resta 27; 14.Alguersuari 26; 15.Buemi 15; 16.Perez 14; 17.Barrichello 4; 18.Senna 2; 19.Maldonado 1.
Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 650; 2.McLaren-Mercedes 497; 3.Ferrari 375; 4.Mercedes 165; 5.Renault 73; 6.Force India-Mercedes 69; 7.Sauber-Ferrari 44; 8.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 41; 9.Williams-Cosworth 5
The expected rain didn't bother making an appearance at the last Grand Prix of the year, which might have been a problem for the Red Bulls, said to be setup for a wet-race. But in the end, Webber was satisfied with the outcome.
Vettel got away well at the start, and looked as if he had it in the bag. On his end, Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) took advantage of a great get-away to nail Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) at the start. He then put a spectacular move on Hamilton's team-mate, Jenson Button, around the outside of Turn 6, to take third.
As Webber was managing the gap to the Spaniard, the call broke-out that Vettel was having problems with his gearbox. It was not long before they swapped position, Vettel admitting on the radio he did not want to get in Webber's way.
Later on, the German then surprisingly picked up the pace again, setting a new lap record, only to be reminded by his race engineer, Guillaume Rocquelin, that his gearbox was dramatically loosing oil pressure and would not make it to the end of the race if he kept on like that.
Behind the leaders, Button experienced some balance problems on the soft tyres. Once he switched to the harder compound, his speed improved and he started reeling Alonso back in, and eventually passed him for the last podium spot. On the sister McLaren, Hamilton wasn't as lucky as Vettel nor Button.
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| Hamilton was catching up his nemesis Massa when gearbox problems ended his race (Photo: WRi2) |
The 2008 champion, just like Vettel, had some difficulties with his transmission, only his terminated his race on lap 48.
Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) was involved once more in a tangle with another car. This time it was with the Lotus Renault of Bruno Senna. Schumacher went around the outside of Corner 1 to try and take ninth spot away from Senna.
They touched and even though both made it to the checkered flag, the race was effectively over for them, after each ruined his strategy with the unscheduled pitstops forced by the incident. Senna, deemed responsible by the stewards, even had to serve a drive-through penalty.
The race for seventh, eighth and ninth spot in the constructors' championship ended well for Force India as the two cars finished in the points. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) rallied to 10th and picked up an insurance point over Toro-Rosso.
 |
| Kobayashi was told 'not to crash' because the championship results were so critical (Photo: Pireilli) |
It was a bad day for Red Bull's B-squad, loosing out in the battle for precious TV reward money by finishing 25 points behind Force India and three behind Sauber in the championship.
Neither did the day end well for Virgin and Timo Glock. Exiting the pits on lap 21, the German lost a wheel – and his chances of finishing the race. In comparison, Felipe Massa (Ferrari) had a good race, finishing fifth, but was 31 seconds adrift his team-mate Alonso.
Nevertheless, happy to be on home soil, Massa put on a 'donut' show for the fans before bringing the car back in at the end of the race.
 |
| Massa, 5th, was the best brazilian-finisher (Photo: WRi2) |
Race results – Brazilian Grand Prix (Interlagos)
1 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB7-Renault) - 71 laps 1.32'17"464
2 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB7-Renault) – 16"983
3 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/26-Mercedes) – 27"638
4 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari 150) – 35"048
5 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari 150) – 1'06"733
6 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 1 lap
7 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W02) - 1 lap
8 - Paul di Resta (Force India VJM04-Mercedes) - 1 lap
9 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C30-Ferrari) - 1 lap
10 - Vitaly Petrov (Renault R31) - 1 lap
11 - Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso STR6-Ferrari) - 1 lap
12 - Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR6-Ferrari) - 1 lap
13 - Sergio Perez (Sauber C30-Ferrari) - 1 lap
14 - Rubens Barrichello (Williams FW33-Cosworth) - 1 lap
15 - Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus T128-Renault) - 2 laps
16 - Bruno Senna (Renault R31) - 2 laps
17 - Jarno Trulli (Lotus T128-Renault) - 2 laps
18 - Jérôme d'Ambrosio (Virgin VR02-Cosworth) - 3 laps
19 - Daniel Ricciardo (Hispania F111-Cosworth) - 3 laps
Fastest lap of the race by Mark Webber (Red Bull) in 1'15”324
Retirements
Lap 21 - Timo Glock (Virgin)
Lap 26 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams)
Lap 48 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
Lap 61 - Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT)
Drivers' championship
1.Vettel 392; 2.Button 270; 3.Webber 258; 4.Alonso 257; 5.Hamilton 227; 6.Massa 118; 7.Rosberg 89; 8.Schumacher 76; 9.Sutil 42; 10.Petrov 37; 11.Heidfeld 34; 12.Kobayashi 30; 13.Di Resta 27; 14.Alguersuari 26; 15.Buemi 15; 16.Perez 14; 17.Barrichello 4; 18.Senna 2; 19.Maldonado 1.
Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 650; 2.McLaren-Mercedes 497; 3.Ferrari 375; 4.Mercedes 165; 5.Renault 73; 6.Force India-Mercedes 69; 7.Sauber-Ferrari 44; 8.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 41; 9.Williams-Cosworth 5