The 2011 Indian Grand Prix Review

Text by Dana Larkin

When the sun rose over the Buddh International Circuit, a mix of dust, fog and air pollution threatened to put a damper on India's inaugural Grand Prix. But soon the air cleared revealing a racing circuit that may be among track designer Herman Tilke's best work. Despite complaints about a dirty track, high curbs and a stray dog that interrupted the first practice session, the driver's unanimously praised the circuit and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone declared the event a huge success.

In the first free practice session, the drivers cautiously took to the track until a clear racing line - free of dust and slightly rubbered in - began to appear. Once it did, the boys attacked the circuit with reckless abandon. In particular, Lewis Hamilton seemed to handle the tight corners and long straights with style and aggression This landed Hamilton at the top of the time sheets. Yet, in keeping with his up and down season, Lewis was slapped with a 3-spot grid penalty for disregarding a yellow-flag towards the end of the session. Hamilton would not contest the penalty.

Following Hamilton were the Red Bulls, his teammate Jenson Button, the Mercedes duo and Ferrari's Felipe Massa. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso suffered an engine failure just four laps into the session which landed him at the back. Home-grown Indian talent Karun Chandok ended 19th and Narain Karthikeyan 21st, while Force India - the so-called "local" team - had a tremendous session with Adrian Sutil running eighth fastest.

In the second practice session Ferrari came out swinging. As rumors about 2012 test parts swirled, both Alonso and Massa shot to the top of the time sheets. Soon - however - Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel would split the two Ferraris and his teammate Mark Webber would do the same to the McLarens in fifth position. Both Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg appeared to be running race-day setups and settled for spots well down the grid in 19th and 21st.

Practice three contained quite a bit of competition and many spirited hot laps. Nevertheless, Vettel ran fastest in the session - but just three tenths ahead of Jenson Button who looked dominant early on. Webber, Hamilton and the Ferraris would follow in order. In a real treat for the Indian fans, Force India came in fastest among the middle-running teams with di Resta in seventh and Sutil in ninth place.

Like a broken record, qualifying would belong to Vettel. Battling a dusty track, Vettel was able to find a few tenths in the first sector to nip teammate Mark Webber for pole position. Sparking promise for Ferrari, Fernando Alonso would lineup first on the second row in third spot. Jenson Button - who was hindered by a Felipe Massa shunt during his final hot lap - landed in fourth place. Although posting the second best time of the session, Hamilton lined up fifth on the grid due to his three-spot penalty. Massa and Rosberg would follow with Adrian Sutil snagging a surprise eighth spot.

Despite the oppressive dust that caused poor visibility and a slippery track, the Indian Grand Prix produced a successful weekend that bodes well for the event's future. Although the turnout for the practice sessions and qualifying was disappointing, the race itself drew a massive and passionate crowd.

Unfortunately, the race turned out to be a somewhat dull affair as Sebastian Vettel once again crushed the competition. It was his eleventh victory of the season which brings him even closer to Schumacher's record of thirteen. Even more impressive, Vettel completed a rare driver's "grand slam" by taking pole position, leading each lap of the race and setting fastest lap.

As the lights went out, Jenson Button surged up the grid into second place as he passed Alonso - who had run wide into turn one - and powered past Webber into turn four. Yet Vettel continued to disappear into the distance. This created a spirited battle for second place among Button, Webber and Alonso.

Early on, Button looked particularly competitive and separated himself from the rest into second position. This left Webber and Alonso to fight for the final spot on the podium. Webber would eventually lose the battle as Alonso ran a few laps longer before his final stop and jumped the Australian in the pits. Webber never faded entirely - however - pushing the Spaniard to the end.

As Button battled on in his pursuit of Vettel, each effort was met with perfection from the young German. Each time Button would gain a bit, Vettel would settle into a rhythm and pull away. While Vettel's lead had never been much more than five seconds going into the final few laps - and had even been reduced at one point to 2.8 seconds - he would end up taking victory by more than eight seconds over Button.

Despite Button's podium effort, it was his teammate Lewis Hamilton who would take top billing as he - once again - tangled with Felipe Massa. Massa passed Hamilton on the first lap and had developed a slight edge going into lap 23. But a small mistake by Massa on that lap would open the door for Hamilton to run him down. On the next lap Hamilton tried a bold move into a difficult turn five and the two came together for the sixth time this year. Both drivers went off track and Hamilton lost his front wing. In the end, Massa was judged to be at fault and served a drive-through penalty as a result. Later, Massa would vehemently deny that he had done anything wrong.

Hamilton would return and ultimately finish in seventh place behind Rosberg in sixth and Schumacher in fifth place. Although he recovered from the run-in with Hamilton, Massa would eventually retire from the race due to a broken front suspension sustained as he ran hard over a curb into turn nine.

The final laps of the race saw Webber and Vettel swap fastest lap times as Vettel - unwilling to concede anything - pushed hard and completed his grand slam on the final lap. In a moment of humor, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner would jokingly chide Vettel on the radio for taking unnecessary risks as the end of the race. Everyone knew that Vettel wouldn't have it any other way.

The podium ceremony was somewhat somber as all three men dedicated their races to the memories of Dan Wheldon and Marco Somoncelli who were killed in racing incidents in the weeks prior to the event.

RACE RESULTS

The Indian Grand Prix
Buddh International, New Delhi, India;
60 laps; 307.249km;
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

More Images:

 

Great recap thanks Dana!

 

Nice review Dana!! Wish I could have seen some of the race, but it sounds like I didn't miss that much.

 

Thanks guys. I wish more folks would read and discuss.

What did people think of the race?

Who was at fault in the Hamilton/Massa incident?

What did you think of Buddh International Circuit?

What to do about the stray dog??

And the like.

 

Nice recap...I love the ongoing Masa/Hamilton saga, it reminds me of the epic Prost and Senna battles back in the day when I first began to watch F1, waking up at 4 am watching the races live on the West Coast.

Not sure about you guys, but I think it all stems from Brazil 2008, last race, last lap, last corner with the championship in the balance. Masa crossed the checkers, was told he won over the radio by his team, when suddenly Hamilton passed a back marker, or the guy simply pulled over and let him go by (may have been Timo Glock?) at the last turn to gain the extra point and clinch the title. Great moment for Hamilton, not so great for Masa…

 

The Hammy and Massa rivalry is great imo. I like to see two drivers go at each other on the track, makes for exciting racing.

Massa was at fault this time, he didnt give Lewis anywhere to go. You can see him check his mirrors, He knoew Lewis was there. It could have went both ways imo. if Massa would have taken the inside line in the first place, it wouldn't have created the opening for Hammy to squeeze into.

 

I enjoy the Hamilton/Massa rivalry as well but it seems a shame that while Hamilton is busy making Massa his b*tch, Button is out there looking like McLaren's rockstar. In the case of the incident during the race, I think Massa was at fault. There's no way he couldn't have seen Hamilton or at least anticipated that he'd make a move there. And it didn't look like Hamilton cut the corner or anything to intentionally cause contact either.

I missed the stray dog problem but I can't say that surprises me.

To be honest, I haven't actually watched the whole race and I'm getting a little bored with F1 this season because Vettel so easily wrapped up the title and the only thing worth watching is to see who will break something first when Massa and Hamilton crash.

I'm also disappointed that Webber hasn't been closer to Vettel as of late. It's as if his spirit was crushed after last season's result and he no longer feels like he should even try anymore.

 

Best moment in F1 history.

Massa loses WDC/ Ferrari mechanic loses temper - YouTube