Monday, May 23, 2011

Spanish GP Race Highlights - Lap By Lap

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15before start of Race:
Everything is looking fine. Sun is shining bright out in Catalunya. All the drivers are on track. Rubens Barrichello is enjoying his moment before the race start as Vettel looks tensed.

Track Temp: 32 degree Celsius.

Formation Lap:
Nick Heidfeld is on the hard compound tyres. All the front running drivers are on soft compound. Webber will be having the clear part of the track. Cars are in position. Race is about to start.

Lap 1:

As the five red illuminates, Red Bulls seem to have a good start. Fernando Alonso take a move past outside Webber on turn 1 to take the lead. This hassle helped Vettel to climb up Webber for 2nd. Alonso leads the pack. Webber dropped to third. Button lost a lot of ground and dropped to 10th. This helped Michael Schumacher to climb the grid to 6th. Vettel on 2nd, Webber on 3rd. Massa struggling. Rosberg in 7th. Paul Di Resta up on 14th. The top of the order is - Alonso, Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Petrov, Michael Schumacher, Rosberg.

Replays suggest: Alonso moved past Webber while he was defending his position to Vettel. As Alonso moved ahead, Vettel got a chance to pass Webber, which dropped him to 3rd. Michael Schumacher took outside of Massa to get ahead of him only to be blocked behind Vitaly Petrov but by that time he was up in 6th position. Button had a very slow start. All the cars moved past him.

Lap 2:

Kobayashi in pits. He had blown left rear tyre. Button attacking on Buemi for 9th position.

Lap 3:

Michael Schumacher is advised to look after his tyre. Sebastian Vettel set the fastest lap (Lap 2) 1min 30:633sec. Button trying hard on Buemi.

DRS Enabled.

Lap 5:

Hamilton set the fastest Lap (Lap 4) 1min 30.311sec. Button pass Buemi for 9th position.

Order on track:

Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Vitaly Petrov, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa, Jenson Button, Sebastien Buemi, Sergio Perez, Jaime Alguersuari, Pastor Maldonado, Paul Di Resta, Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen, Nick Heidfeld, Adrian Sutil, Rubens Barrichello, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Timo Glock, Narain Karthikeyan, Jerome D'Ambrosio, Kamui Kobayashi.

Lap 7:

Button trying to get past Massa for 8th. Alonso set the fastest lap (Lap 7) - 1min 30:007sec.

Lap 8:

Perez is the first to pit and come out on 20th position. As Perez comes out of the pits, it had wheel to wheel moment with Liuzzi for 20th position.

Lap 9:

Maldonado pits, dropped to 18th.

Lap 10:

Vettel is the first front runner to pit. Thats interesting to see the top runners taking pits at early stage of the race as the soft tyres degrades quickly. He dropped to 9th. Just nearly making contact with Button as he comes out. Vettel highly aggressive and pass Button for 8th. Takes Massa also on the same lap for 7th. This shows how quick he is on the fresh tyres.

Lap 11:

Alonso also in pits. Webber dives into pit too. Alonso comes out in P3 and Webber in P6. Michael pitted too and comes out in P13. Button takes a pass on Massa using DRS.

Lap 12:

Webber pass Massa for 7th. Hamilton in pits. Dropped to 3rd. Petrov in pits. Massa also in pits.

Lap 13:

Webber takes a pass on Button. Barrichello car has a problem in the pits as smoke comes out of the front left tyre. There seems to be some issue with gear box but he continue racing.

Alonso sets the fastest lap (Lap 12) - 1min 29:323sec.

Order on Track:

Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Jenson Button, Paul Di Resta, Michael Schumacher, Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen, Vitaly Petrov, Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa, Nick Heidfeld, Sebastien Buemi, Pastor Maldonado, Jaime Alguersuari, Adrian Sutil, Sergio Perez, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Timo Glock, Jerome D'Ambrosio, Kamui Kobayashi, Narain Karthikeyan, Rubens Barrichello.

Paul Di Resta upto 6th, as he still has to make a pitstop. Trulli up in 8th and Kovalainen in 9th. Vettel is told to use all the KERS on every lap. Sutil comes in for 2nd stop.

Lap 14:

Button in pits. It seems that Button is on 3stop strategy. Comes out in 7th position. Michael Schumacher is blocked by Di Resta.

Lap 15:

Schumacher is also looking to be on three stop strategy.

Lap 16:

Di Resta in pits from 6th position. Dropped to 12th. Button comes on tail of Schumacher on fresh tyres. Button takes a pass on Schumacher. As for the top position, we have Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton fighting each other.

Lap 17:

Heidfeld is yet to make his first pitstop. There is a strong battle betwwen Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso for top position.

Lap 18:

Vettel in pits for his 2nd stop. An early stop for Vettel. He comes out on soft tyres again. Lets see what will Mclaren and Ferrari do. Surely it will be a four stop strategy for Vettel.

This was a clever move by Vettel to regain the top position as new set of tyres will provide shorter lap times to overtake Ferrari for top position.

Lap 20:

Alonso and Webber both head to pits. Red Bull strategy worked and Vettel takes the track position from Alonso. Vettel is in 2nd position right now, he will be surely taking the lead, when the Hamilton heads to pits.

Lap 21:

Hamilton sets the fastest lap (Lap 20) in response with 1min 28.024sec.

Order on track:

Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Vitaly Petrov, Felipe Massa, Sebastien Buemi, Jaime Alguersuari, Paul Di Resta, Pastor Maldonado, Nick Heidfeld, Sergio Perez, Jarno Trulli, Adrian Sutil, Kamui Kobayashi, Heikki Kovalainen, Rubens Barrichello, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Timo Glock, Jerome D'Ambrosio, Narain Karthikeyan.

Lap 22:

Sebastian Vettel sets the fastest lap (Lap 21) 1min 27:394sec. Massa comes in for 2nd pitstop. Dropped to 12th.

Lap 23:

Webber closing in on Alonso for P3. Vettel is gaining 2sec a lap on Hamilton. heidfeld in pits for his first pit stop on Lap 22. Di Resta passes Alguersuari.

Lap 24:

Hamilton in pits. Vettel passes Hamilton in P2. Alonso in P3. Webber in P4. A clever strategy by Red Bull and Mclaren.

Lap 27:

Michael Schumacher and Vitaly Petrov in pits. Comes out in 8th and 10th respectively.

Lap 28:

Order on track:

Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa, Michael Schumacher, Paul Di Resta, Vitaly Petrov, Sergio Perez, Jarno Trulli, Pastor Maldonado, Sebastien Buemi, Adrian Sutil, Jaime Alguersuari, Nick Heidfeld, Heikki Kovalainen, Rubens Barrichello, Kamui Kobayashi, Timo Glock, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Jerome D'Ambrosio, Narain Karthikeyan.

Rosberg pits in from 6th and dropped to 9th.

Lap 29:

Alguersuari takes on Sutil for P15. Vettel going to lap Heidfeld.

Lap 30:

Alonso and Webber in pits. Alonso and Webbers goes alongside in pits. Alonso nearly get an edge over Webber in pits and comes ahead of Webber for P4. Rosberg overtake Di Resta for 8th.

Lap 31:

Perez and Trulli in pits. Button in pits also. Alonso and Webber are on hard tyres. Button rejoin in 5th place.

Liuzzi stopped and out of race.

Lap 32:

Webber in not able to activate KERS.

Lap 33:

The top 4 drivers Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Webber are on 4stop strategy. Di Resta in pits from 10th position. Di Resta rejoins in 14th.

Lap 34:

Webber trying hard to pass Alonso but not able to do so as KERS is not working. Button on softer compound tyres is on move to catch Alonso and Webber.

Lap 35:

Vettel in pits. As Webber pass Alonso for 3rd, but Alonso fights back, takes the position back from Webber. Great racing from the the two drivers. Vettel rejoins in 2nd position.

Lap 36:

Hamilton in pits. Vettel takes the lead from Hamilton. Dropped to 2nd again. Meanwhile Button closes on Webber for 4th position and passes him with ease. Button is now trying on Alonso for 3rd. Soft tyres are way too fast for the spanish driver to hold on. Button passes Alonso.

Barichello and D'Ambrosio in pits.

Order on track:

Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Felipe Massa, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Vitaly Petrov, Pastor Maldonado, Sebastien Buemi, Jaime Alguersuari, Nick Heidfeld, Paul Di Resta, Sergio Perez, Kamui Kobayashi, Jarno Trulli, Rubens Barrichello, Adrian Sutil, Heikki Kovalainen,Timo Glock, Jerome D'Ambrosio, Narain Karthikeyan

Lap 37:

Massa in pits dropped to 9th from 6th. Maldonado in pits. Heidfeld and Alguersuari are also in pits. Heidfeld in P17 now. Di Resta up in 11th.

Lap 40:

Alonso in pits. Dropped to 5th. Rosberg just on tail of Michael Schumacher.

Lap 41:

Alonso early pit stop will most probably give Webber the track position when he comes out of pits.

Lap 42:

Schumacher in pits rejoins out in 7th. Petrov in pits comes out in 9th. Massa up in 8th. Rosberg in 6th.

Lap 43:

Hamilton closes in on Vettel for the race lead. Rosberg in pits from 6th and comes out behind his teammate for 7th.

Lap 44:

Vettel lapped all the cars upto 9th position. Hamilton was slowed down by lap down, backmarker Narain Karthikeyan ahead of him.

Lap 45:

Massa is lapped down by Vettel and Hamilton. Vettel storm past Massa. Only 8drivers on the leading lap. Vettel KERS is not working. Webber's KERS is also not working.

Lap 46:

Hamilton is charging on Vettel for the race lead. Alonso had used an extra set of tyres during the qualifying that has compromised his race today. Heidlfeld takes on Petrov for 11th. Heidfeld has started the race on 24th position.

Lap 47:

Vettel is going to lap Rosberg for 7th. Vettel lapped Rosberg. Only 6 cars left on the lead lap. Vettel is going to lap Michael Schumacher.

Lap 48:

But it will be difficult to get pass Michael, as he will not easily give away the lead lap. Webber in pits. Retaining his 4th position. This is the last stop for Webber. Red Bull ready for Vettel for final pitstop.

Lap 49:

Vettel in pits. Watch for track position. 3.2sec stop for Sebastian Vettel. Vettel comes out on 2nd. 6cars on lead lap.

Button in pits. Rejoins the race in 3rd position. Excellent strategy by Mclaren. Hamilton in pits. Watch out for the race lead. Vettel pass through, Hamilton comes out in P2.

Lap 50:

Order on track:

Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa, Paul Di Resta, Nick Heidfeld, Vitaly Petrov, Pastor Maldonado, Sergio Perez, Kamui Kobayashi, Sebastien Buemi, Jaime Alguersuari, Adrian Sutil, Rubens Barrichello, Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen,Timo Glock, Jerome D'Ambrosio, Narain Karthikeyan.

Lap 51:

Vettel is advised to use KERS. Kovalainen is out of race. He had an accident, run wide on the gravel trap to hit the tyre barrier. It looks similar to Lewis Hamilton accident on track last year. Narain Karthikeyan in pits.

Lap 52:

Heidfeld, Alguersuari in pits. Heidfeld comes out in 14th. This is the last pitstop for Heidfeld.

Lap 53:

D'Ambrosio in pits from 21st position. Maldonado, Kobayashi and Heidfeld fighting for 13th position. Di Resta also in pits.

Lewis Hamilton sets the fastest lap (Lap 52) - 1min 26:727sec.

Lap 54:

Vettel and Hamilton fighting for race win while Button and Webber for final podium place. Only 7drivers on the lead lap.

It is clear at this point, that if all goes well, then the record of Race win by pole setting driver from last ten years will be broken this time.

Lap 55:

Vettel KERS is still not working, Vettel just avoided collision with Jarno Trulli. That is Nico Rosberg being overlapped by Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel KERS is working again. It seems that it works at some point and then stops working for him.

Lap 56:

Hamilton on a move to overtake Vettel. Using KERS and DRS. Vettel speed is 290kmph on the final corner to turn 1 while Hamilton was in 320kmph. Only 5 drivers left on lead lap. Michael Schumacher is also being lapped by Vettel and Hamilton.

Lap 57:

Final corner to Turn 1 speed -

Vettel - 280 to 296kmph.

Hamilton with DRS activated. 300 to 317kmph. Hamilton is advised to use the yellow button.

Lap 58:

Hamilton tried again on Vettel. Only 0.5sec behind Vettel.

Lap 59:

Just could not able to overtake this time also. Hamilton is advised to save all KERS for the start finish line. Webber is just 3sec behind Button. Perez overtakes Massa for 8th position. Heidfeld also overtakes Massa for the 9th position. That Ferrari is struggling for sure.

Massa is out of the race as he moves his car out of track on gravel.

Lap 61:

Heidfeld takes pass over Perez for 8th position.

Order on track:

Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Nick Heidfeld, Sergio Perez, Kamui Kobayashi, Vitaly Petrov, Paul Di Resta, Sebastien Buemi, Adrian Sutil, Pastor Maldonado, Jaime Alguersuari, Rubens Barrichello, Felipe Massa ( Ret ) , Jarno Trulli, Timo Glock, Jerome D'Ambrosio, Narain Karthikeyan.

Lap 63:

Sebastian Vettel is going to lap Alonso. Only 4 driver will be left on the lead lap. Hamilton trying his way pass Vettel. Vettel KERS is not working again.

Lap 64:

Vettel lapped Alonso on 5th. Only 2teams - Red Bull and Mclaren are on the lead lap. All other team's drivers are lapped by Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

Lap 66:

Final Lap:

Final Chance for Lewis Hamilton to try on Sebastian Vettel. But he could not able to do it.

Sebastian Vettel won the race. 4th of this season out of 5th. Vettel breaks the 10year record at Barcelona. What a race it was. DRS and Pirelli have changed the way F1 is governed. Hamilton finished the race just 0.6sec behind the race leader.

Only 4drivers completed the race on lead lap all other are lap down. Michael Schumacher beats his teammate with personal best result from him this season.

Vettel screams "YABADABADI" on the radio as he congratulate and thanked his team.

Classification:

Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Nick Heidfeld, Sergio Perez, Kamui Kobayashi, Vitaly Petrov, Paul Di Resta, Adrian Sutil, Sebastien Buemi, Pastor Maldonado, Jaime Alguersuari, Rubens Barrichello, Jarno Trulli, Timo Glock, Jerome D'Ambrosio, Narain Karthikeyan.

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