Korean GP : Barrichello 12th while a DNF for Maldonado
Rubens Barrichello
By Andrew Hooper
October 16 2011
The 2011 Korean Grand Prix would again see a disappointing result for the AT&T Williams F1 team with Rubens Barrichello coming home twelfth while Pastor Maldonado would retire in his pit with an engine issue. Not a result that the team would be hoping for but at least Rubens was not lapped and continued to fight right to the end of the race.
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For the AT&T
Williams F1 team their drivers would start the fifty five lap 2011 Korean
Grand Prix from sixteenth and eighteenth with Pastor Maldonado leading
Rubens Barrichello. Hamilton was on pole from Vettel, Button, Webber, Massa,
and Alonso. The top eight drivers would all start on the supersoft tyre. It
was expected that there could be a light shower early on in the race. The
Force India cars of Di Resta and Sutil were on a split strategy with Di
Resta on the super soft tyre and Sutil the harder tyre. For Williams Pastor
was on the prime tyre while Rubens would start on the super soft as the cars
took off on their parade lap. They would come back around and form up and
the lights would go out and it would be Hamilton away first with Vettel
second from Button, Webber, Massa, and Alonso. Button would drop down the
order while Vettel was able to get past Hamilton. Webber was now third from
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Alguersuari would pass Di Resta
for tenth as Di Resta complained about graining of his front tyres. Hamilton
was not able to hold on to Vettel with the gap now 2.0 seconds after lap
seven. Buemi had passed Kobayashi for thirteenth as there was more spots of
rain. Both Massa and Alonso had closed in onto third placed Webber as Vettel
extended his lead to 2.9 seconds after lap ten. Button was also closing in
onto the rear of Alonso's Ferrari as Pastor and Rubens continued to run at
fifteenth and sixteenth. Kobayashi and Rubens would pit on lap eleven with
Ruben's use of the super soft tyre in his first run seeming to be
ineffective. Di Resta would pit from thirteenth on lap twelve as Button had
moved right up behind Alonso. Lap twelve and Vettel was leading by 3.8
seconds over Hamilton and Webber. Pastor was now in thirteenth while Rubens
had dropped to twenty first. Massa was defending his position from Alonso and Button, with Rosberg closing in onto Button. Button and Rosberg would pit on lap fourteen with Rosberg getting out in front of Button only to make a mistake and have Button pass him as they left the pit lane. But Rosberg would pass Button going into Turn three. Webber and Massa would pit on lap fifteen, joined by Petrov and Schumacher. Webber took on the prime tyre as Buemi pitted seeing Pastor now in twelfth. Rubens was up to seventeenth. Hamilton would pit on lap sixteen joined by Alonso. Hamilton took the super soft while Alonso took the soft tyre. There was a variety of tyre strategies in play. Pastor was now in tenth but Rubens remained in seventeenth. Vettel would pit on lap seventeen taking on the super soft tyre covering McLaren's strategy. Sutil, Pastor, and Perez would all pit as we had the Safety car come out. Petrov had hit the rear of Schumacher's car under braking at Turn three, damaging the rear wing of the Mercedes. Schumacher would pull off to retire as Petrov made it to the pits. Alguersuari would pit from third on lap eighteen. Petrov would retire in his pit with damaged steering. As the cars ran behind the Safety Car it would be Vettel leading from Hamilton, Webber, Button, Rosberg, Massa, Alonso, Alguersuari, Di Resta, and Sutil in tenth. |
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Pastor was in eleventh while
Rubens had moved up to fifteenth. Vettel, Hamilton and Button were using the
supersoft rubber for this stint, with Webber, Rosberg, Massa and Alonso on
prime tyre. The Safety car would come in on lap twenty with Pastor looking
to pass tenth placed Sutil. Button was looking to pass Webber while at the
front Vettel was away cleanly from Hamilton. Lap twenty one and Vettel's
lead was out to 1.1 seconds. Pastor was under investigation for hitting a
bollard at the entry to the pit lane. Pastor would get a drive through for
been on the wrong side of the bollard. This will see Pastor drop down
through the order. He would take his penalty on lap twenty three while
team-mate Rubens was up to thirteenth. Pastor had dropped to twenty first
while Kobayashi would fight over fourteenth with Senna taking this spot
going into Turn four. Kobayashi would pit with front wing damage after
making contact with Senna. At the front fifth placed Rosberg would see Massa
and Alonso close in onto him with all three on the prime tyre. Rosberg would
lock up at Turn three seeing both Ferrari's pass him and he would pit his
Mercedes on lap twenty eight. Hamilton was now 1.2 seconds behind Vettel while Webber was 0.7 seconds behind Hamilton. Both Vettel and Hamilton were on the super soft tyre while Webber was on the soft tyre and was running faster than the pair in front. Webber was able to now use his DRS as he ran behind Hamilton as Pastor again pitted from seventeenth on lap twenty nine with Rubens now in twelfth. Button was running in a lonely fourth followed by Massa, Alonso, Alguersuari, Sutil, Di Resta, and Buemi in tenth. Senna would pit from fourteenth on lap thirty one taking on the super soft tyre. Pastor would again put but this time it was to retire. Lap thirty two and Di Resta and Rubens would pit from eleventh and thirteenth. Webber was right behind Hamilton but could not get past as Vettel continued to extend his lead over Hamilton to 3.2 seconds. On lap thirty four both Hamilton and Webber would pit coming back out together to resume their fight. Lap thirty five and Vettel, Button, and Massa would all pit. Webber and Hamilton were fighting hard running side by side but Hamilton was able to keep ahead. |
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RIt was confirmed that Pastor
was out with an engine issue. Webber continued to push setting a new fastest
lap while we would see Sutil pit from tenth. Rubens was now down in
sixteenth and 2.5 seconds behind Senna. Lap thirty six and Alonso was
leading from Vettel, Alguersuari, Hamilton, Webber, Button, and Massa. Buemi and Perez would pit from eighth and tenth on lap thirty seven. Rubens had moved up to fifteenth as we had Alonso pit from the lead on lap thirty eight, joined by Alguersuari. Alonso would get back out in front of Massa as Kovalainen would pit from fourteenth on lap thirty nine. This would see Rubens move up to fourteenth as fourth placed Button would start to close in onto Webber. Alonso was 5.5 seconds behind Button, followed by Massa, Rosberg, Alguersuari, Di Resta, and Buemi. Hamilton, Webber, and Button were still running together but the gaps remained fairly static. Rubens was now 6.4 seconds behind Senna and looking like he would finish in a lowly fourteenth. Lap forty five and Vettel's lead was now 11.7 seconds over Hamilton. Webber was still looking to pass Hamilton but despite using his DRS could not get past. Webber would close right up to the rear of Hamilton going down the pit straight but he could not find the pace to get past the McLaren. As Hamilton and Webber went past a Lotus going down the pit straight Webber was able to pass Hamilton going into Turn one. But Hamilton was then able to use his DRS to get back past Webber. But Webber would not give up in his efforts to get past Hamilton with six laps remaining. Rubens had closed in onto Senna with the gap just 1.2 seconds after lap fifty. Rubens would pass Senna on lap fifty one to be thirteenth. Even if he is outside the points Rubens still continued to fight for positions. At the front Hamilton, Webber, Button, and now Alonso were all running close together. With only a handful of laps remaining it would be unlikely that Rubens would get past twelfth placed Perez.
Vettel was now 12.2 seconds
ahead of Hamilton at the end of lap fifty two. Webber was third from Button,
Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, Alguersuari, Buemi, and Di Resta in tenth. Vettel
would start his last two laps as Alonso came on the radio saying that he had
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Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h30:01.994 2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 12.019 3. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 12.477 4. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 14.694 5. Alonso Ferrari + 15.689 6. Massa Ferrari + 25.133 7. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 49.538 8. Rosberg Mercedes + 54.053 9. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:02.762 10. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:08.602 11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1:11.229 12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1:33.068 13. Senna Renault + 1 lap 14. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap 15. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 16. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 17. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 1 lap 18. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 1 lap 19. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 1 lap 20. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 1 lap 21. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:39.605 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 31 Petrov Renault 17 Schumacher Mercedes 16 |
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