Belgian GP : Single point for Maldonado

Pastor Maldonado
By Andrew Hooper
August 28 2011

The 2011 Belgian Grand Prix would see AT&T Williams F1 team driver Pastor Maldonado finish in tenth and score his first point in Formula One. Having started from 21st to finish tenth without been lapped and score a point for the Williams team was a great effort. It certainly must make him happy to score his first point given the issues that he had to deal with in qualifying. He was backed up by Rubens Barrichello who, despite finishing sixteenth, also had a strong race. Certainly a small boost for all those at Williams who are working so hard to turn their season around.

Belgian GP Race Review

For the AT&T Williams F1 team qualifying for the forty four lap 2011 Belgian Grand Prix would see drivers Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado qualify in fourteenth and sixteenth. Despite having new parts on the car the FW33 still lacked pace. For Pastor his qualifying would see him involved in contact with Hamilton at the end of the second period. For his part in the clash Pastor would receive a five place grid penalty, seeing him start from twenty first. After much lobbying by various teams who suffered blistering on their front tyres during qualifying the FIA made it clear that the tyres could only be changed if the blistering had been caused by an accident. As the blistering was as a result of car setup they could not be changed. This may have an impact on strategy for some of the front runners, including both Red Bull cars, Hamilton, and Alguersuari. It would be very much an unknown for these teams in the early stages of the race.

In an interview prior to the race Rubens would say that on the dry there is limitations with the car, with no rain forecast for the race. With Vettel on pole from Hamilton, Webber, Massa, Rosberg, Alguersuari, Senna, Alonso, Perez, and Petrov in tenth. There would be a single DRS on the long straight into Les Combes. The grid would move away on their parade lap with the top ten all on the soft tyre. Button and Schumacher were on the harder medium tyre. Both Williams drivers were on the softer tyre for the start. The grid would form up with a lot of smoke coming from Rosberg. As the lights went out it would be Vettel leading from a fast starting Rosberg. Rosberg would take the lead under braking at Les Combes. Massa was in third from Hamilton, Alonso, Buemi, Perez, and Webber in eighth.

Rubens had dropped to eighteenth and Pastor twenty first. In the first corner Alguersuari would make contact with another car damaging his front suspension seeing him limp back to the pits. Several drivers would pit including Senna, Glock, and Kovalainen. Senna would take on a new front nose. Rubens had moved up to fourteenth but was passed by Schumacher. Pastor would get past Rubens seeing the Williams cars in fifteenth
and sixteenth. Up at the front Rosberg was holding on to the lead with Vettel on his tail. Vettel would pass Rosberg at Les Combes using his DRS. Schumacher was up to thirteenth having past Di Resta. Lap four and Webber and Button would pit. Button would have a new nose fitted while Webber would take on the medium tyre. Alguersuari had made contact with Alonso and would retire his car prior to getting back to his pit. Lap four and Vettel was 2.1 seconds ahead of Rosberg as on lap five Schumacher would pit.

Massa would try to pass Rosberg at Les Combes but would fail. But Alonso would get past Massa with Hamilton also coming past. Lap five and Vettel would pit from the lead joined by Perez from fourteenth. Vettel would take on another set of the soft tyre. Pastor was now up to eleventh and Rubens thirteenth. Buemi would come around with a damaged rear wing. he would pit while Glock and Senna would get drive through penalties for there part in the earlier accidents. Alonso would pass Rosberg using his DRS while Hamilton would start to attack Rosberg. Pastor was now in tenth and Rubens twelfth. Hamilton would talk of the blistering of his fronts as the lined up Rosberg. He would pass Rosberg at Les Combes using his DRS.

Vettel would pass Kobayashi for fifth while Webber was now tenth having got past Pastor. Alonso would pit on lap eight taking on the soft tyre. Pastor and Rubens were now eleventh and twelfth. Alonso would come back out in front of Webber but Webber would pass Alonso on the outside at Eau Rouge. Massa would pit on lap ten while team-mate Alonso would pass Webber using his DRS. Hamilton would pit on lap eleven while Vettel would say that his tyres were blistering again. Hamilton would again come out on the soft tyre while for Williams Pastor and Rubens were tenth and eleventh. Lap twelve and Rosberg would pit from third while at the front Vettel was again leading from Alonso, Kobayashi, and Webber. Rubens would get past Pastor to be tenth and Pastor now eleventh. Petrov would pit from seventh on lap thirteen.

Hamilton would come up behind Kobayashi and move alongside him going into Les Combes, but the Sauber and the McLaren would make contact seeing Hamilton crash heavily into the barrier. As Hamilton moved across the road to take the line for Les Combes the pair would make contact with Hamilton turning sharp left into the barrier. The Safety Car would come out seeing a rush of drivers making pit stops. This would include Vettel, Sutil, Rubens, Schumacher, Button. The next lap we would see Kobayashi and Di Resta both come in. The order was now Alonso from Webber, Vettel, Massa, Rosberg, Sutil, Perez, Petrov, Schumacher, Rubens, Button, Pastor, Di Resta, and Kobayashi. They continued to run behind the Safety Car but it would come in on lap seventeen with Alonso leading. Rosberg would pass Massa for fourth while Button would pass Rubens for tenth.

Vettel would get past Webber and close in onto Alonso. Rubens and Pastor were now eleventh and twelfth. Vettel would pass Alonso using his DRS into Les Combes. Button would get past Petrov and Perez at Le Source. Lap eighteen and Vettel would set a 1m:52.281 as Rubens started to attack Perez. He would pass the Sauber at Le Source but Perez would use his DRS to get past Rubens. Both Williams cars were using the new rear wing and were running close together as Rubens continued to chase Perez. Button was in eighth and running behind Schumacher. Lap twenty and Vettel was leading by 3.5 seconds over Alonso. Webber was 1.4 seconds behind the Ferrari. Button would finally get past Schumacher while Perez was given a drive through penalty. Button would try and pass sixth placed Sutil at the Bus Stop chicane, but he would fail. Lap twenty two and Vettel was leading by 4.4 seconds over Alonso. Button was quickly catching Massa and would pass him at the Bus Stop taking fifth.

Vettel's front left was again blistering as Button started to attack Rosberg. Button would get the job done at Les Combes using his DRS. So after lap twenty seven Vettel was leading from Alonso, Webber, Button, Rosberg, Massa, Sutil, Schumacher, Petrov, and Pastor was now in tenth and Rubens eleventh. Pastor was nine seconds behind Petrov as Perez retired in his pit. On lap thirty Alonso would pit taking on the medium tyre. Pastor would also pit from eleventh and Kobayashi from thirteenth. Rubens was now up to tenth as Vettel pitted on lap thirty one. He would also take on the medium tyre looking to finish the race on these tyres. Rosberg, Massa, and Petrov would also pit. Rubens would find himself with Rosberg and Massa attacking him. Rosberg would pass him at les Combes while on lap thirty two Webber would pit. Sutil and Schumacher would also come in. Webber would take another set of medium tyres. Rubens would also come in from tenth as Vettel past Button taking the lead back.

Button would pit on lap thirty three taking the soft tyre. Massa would pit again due to a puncture. Vettel was now leading by 6.5 seconds from Alonso, Webber, Button, Rosberg, Sutil, Schumacher, Petrov, Pastor, and Di Resta in tenth. Schumacher would pass Sutil for sixth in the run-up to Les Combes. Rubens was now in thirteenth and behind Kobayashi. Massa was now in eleventh while Webber would close in onto team-mate Alonso and looking to pass shortly. Webber would pass Alonso at Les Combes making it a Red Bull one-two. Massa had also passed Di Resta for tenth. Now it would be interesting to see if he could close in onto Vettel. Rosberg and Schumacher were running close together in fifth and sixth. Massa would pass Pastor for ninth under braking at Les Combes. Lap thirty eight and Vettel was leading by 7.1 seconds from Webber with Alonso 2.4 seconds behind Webber. Four laps remaining and Vettel was looking comfortable in the lead.

Rubens would pit on lap forty one after having made contact with the rear of Kobayashi. He was able to get into the pits as the contact was made at the Bus Stop chicane. He would get a new front wing and return to the track. At the front Button would pass Alonso going into Les Combes using his DRS. Schumacher would also pass his team-mate Rosberg at the same spot to now be fifth. Vettel was now leading from Webber with Button third. Alonso was now fourth from Schumacher, Rosberg, Sutil, Petrov, Massa, and Pastor in tenth. Button was staring to close in onto Webber but it would be hard with only two laps remaining. Rubens was now in sixteenth as Vettel started his final lap. Vettel would complete his final lap to take victory in the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix. Webber was second from Button. Alonso was fourth from Schumacher, Rosberg, Sutil, Massa, Petrov, and Pastor. Massa would pass Petrov on the last lap.

Having started from twenty first the finish tenth without been lapped and score a point for the Williams team was a great effort. It certainly must make him happy to score his first point given the issues that he had to deal with in qualifying. He was backed up by Rubens who, despite finishing sixteenth, also had a strong race. Certainly a small boost for all those at Williams who are working so hard to turn their season around.

Pos  Driver  	   Team		              Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h26.44.893
 2.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +     3.741
 3.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +     9.669
 4.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    13.022
 5.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +    47.464
 6.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    48.674
 7.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +    59.713
 8.  Massa         Ferrari                    +  1m06.076
 9.  Petrov        Renault                    +  1m11.917
10.  Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth          +  1m17.615
11.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +  1m23.994
12.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +  1m31.976
13.  Senna         Renault                    +  1m32.985
14.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault              +     1 lap
15.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault              +     1 lap
16.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap
17.  D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth            +     1 lap
18.  Glock         Virgin-Cosworth            +     1 lap
19.  Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth               +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Massa, 1:23.415

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             27
Ricciardo     HRT-Cosworth               13 
Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           12
Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         6     
Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         1

Belgian GP : Single point for Maldonado

Posted by: Williams F1 (IP Logged)

Date: 28/08/2011 15:13

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