Spanish GP : Another frustrating race for Williams
Pastor Maldonado
By Andrew Hooper
May 22 2011
The 2011 Spanish Grand Prix would be another frustrating race for the AT&T Williams F1 team. Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello would finish in fifteenth and seventeenth. For Rubens his race, even with his stock of tyres, was such that his overall package was not fast enough. For Pastor he would lose places at the start and again did not have the pace to get anywhere near the top ten.
| Spanish GP Race Review |
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For the AT&T
Williams F1 team the sixty six lap 2011 Spanish Grand Prix would be a race
that the team needed to produce a good result after the disappointing
opening races of the season. Qualifying would see Pastor Maldonado finish in
an encouraging ninth but after suffering a gearbox problem in qualifying
Rubens Barrichello would have to start the race from nineteenth. Rubens'
frustration was evident in interviews after qualifying. But at least Rubens
would have a stock of tyres in which to use during the race. |
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Tenth placed Buemi would pit
while Vettel would come out behind Button. He would pass Button under
braking followed by Massa. Alonso and Webber would also pit on lap eleven.
Schumacher would pit from seventh. Vettel had passed Rosberg going into Turn
one. Pastor had come out behind Rubens but Pastor would move ahead to now be
seventeenth. Hamilton would pit from the lead on lap twelve. Petrov,
Rosberg, and Massa would also come in, joined by Alguersuari and Rubens.
Pastor had passed Sutil for sixteenth while at the front Alonso was again
leading, setting a fastest lap on lap twelve, 1m:29.323. Rubens pit stop was
quite long with a problem at the rear. Pastor was up to fifteenth and Rubens
now twenty fourth and last. Lap thirteen and a 1m:29.076 from Hamilton,
running in third. Alonso was leading with Vettel and Hamilton right behind him. Webber was now fourth followed by Button, Di Resta, Schumacher, Petrov, Trulli, and Rosberg in tenth. Button would make his first stop on lap fifteen, taking on the option tyre. Di Resta would pit from fifth on lap sixteen. Button would pass fifth placed Schumacher. At the front Alonso still lead with Vettel and Hamilton close behind. Lap sixteen and a 1m:28.792 from Button, with Button 23.8 seconds behind fourth placed Webber. Pastor was now eleventh and Rubens twentieth. It was looking like Button was planning on making one less stop. Lap nineteen and Vettel would pit again taking on the softer tyre. Vettel would return out on a clear track as on lap twenty Alonso would also pit joined by Webber. Ferrari were covering the move by Vettel. As Alonso came back out Vettel would go into Turn one to take the lead. Hamilton was now leading and on lap twenty set a 1m:28.024, pushing hard to see if he can come back out in front of Alonso in his next stop. Pastor would pit from thirteenth on lap twenty one. Rubens was still in twentieth as on lap twenty one sets a 1m:27.394 to be fastest. Massa would pit from ninth followed by Heidfeld from fifteenth. Hamilton's lead was 14.4 seconds with Alonso 5.5 seconds behind Vettel. Webber was right behind Alonso while Button was in fifth followed by Schumacher, Rosberg, Petrov, Buemi, and Alguersuari in tenth. Hamilton would pit from the lead on lap twenty four, taking on another set of soft tyres. Hamilton would come out in front of Alonso, with Vettel leading. Pastor was down in sixteenth and Rubens would pit on lap twenty four. Massa would pass Di Resta at Turn one, taking tenth. Lap twenty five and Alguersuari would pit from twelfth. Lap twenty six and Buemi would pit. On lap twenty seven Schumacher would pit from sixth, followed by Petrov from eighth. |
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Pastor was now up to thirteenth
as on lap twenty eight Rosberg would pit from sixth. Vettel's lead was 2.7
seconds from Hamilton. Alonso was 8.4 seconds behind Hamilton while Webber
continued to run close behind the Ferrari. Lap thirty and both Alonso and
Webber would pit taking on the hard tyre. Perez and Trulli pit together from
fourteenth and fifteenth. Button would pit from third on lap thirty one, taking on the soft tyre. Sutil would pit from fifteenth with Rubens in seventeenth. Pastor had moved up to eleventh as on lap thirty one Vettel's lead was just 1.6 seconds. Button was now fifth followed by Massa, Schumacher, Rosberg, Di Resta, and Petrov in tenth. Pastor was 8.4 seconds behind Petrov. Lap thirty three and Di Resta pitted from tenth. Webber continued to attack Alonso but could not get past even with DRS. Lap thirty five and Vettel would pit while Webber would pass Alonso at Turn ten but Alonso was able to get back past. Pastor was now in tenth while at the front Hamilton would pit on lap thirty six. He would return on a brand new set of hard tyres. Button had closed the gap to Webber and was able to pass Webber going into Turn one. Rubens would pit on lap thirty seven as Button passed Alonso for third, as the McLaren marched forward on the soft tyre, as those around him ran on the hard tyre. Massa would pit from eighth, joined by Pastor from tenth. Heidfeld and Alguersuari would pit from fourteenth and fifteenth. Rubens had been lapped in a race for him that was must be so frustrating for the Brazilian. Lap thirty eight and Vettel was leading by 2.3 seconds from Hamilton. Button was third followed by Alonso, Webber, Schumacher, Rosberg, and Petrov in eighth. Lap forty and Alonso would pit taking on the hard tyre. If he was now going to stop again Alonso would have to do twenty six laps on this tyre. It was looking like his chances of making it onto the podium all but impossible. Pastor had dropped to fourteenth with Heidfeld a second behind. Rubens was again in twentieth as on lap forty two Schumacher would pit from seventh, taking on the harder tyre. Petrov also came in from eighth. Vettel's lead was now down to 1.2 seconds as Rosberg pitted from sixth on lap forty three. Buemi would also pit from twelfth. Massa who was running eighth was about to be lapped. It was all going to come down to when Vettel and Hamilton would make their final stops. Kobayashi would pit from thirteenth as it was confirmed that Vettel was now running without KERS. Heidfeld would pass team-mate Petrov for eleventh. |
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Rosberg in seventh was now
lapped as Webber pitted on lap forty eight, taking on the hard tyre. Vettel
would pit the next lap also taking on the hard tyre. Button would also come
in with Perez stopping from eleventh. Hamilton would pit on lap fifty taking
on the hard tyre. It looks like the top runners were all of the same tyre
strategy. Sutil would pit from fifteenth as Pastor saw himself now in
twelfth. Would Vettel's lack of KERS hinder his chances of |
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Massa would go off the track at Turn six
running over the gravel to retire with a gearbox problem. Heidfeld was now
able to pass Perez for eighth. Kobayashi was now in tenth while Pastor and
Rubens were in fifteenth and seventeenth. Webber was running in fourth and
trying to close in onto Button. Vettel was maintaining his small lead over
Hamilton as the laps counted down. But Hamilton was still trying to close
the gap to Vettel. Fifth placed Alonso had been lapped as the leaders
started their penultimate lap. Vettel would start his final lap with
Hamilton still trying to pressure Vettel. But Vettel was able to keep that
small gap between them and would come down the main straight to take victory
in the 2011 Spanish Grand Prix. Hamilton was second with Button third.
Webber was fourth from Alonso, Schumacher, Rosberg, Heidfeld, Perez, and
Kobayashi in tenth. For the Williams team they would come home fifteenth and
seventeenth. In the final chicane Pastor and Alguersuari would make contact
with damage to Pastor's front wing. For Rubens even with his stock of tyres he did not have the package to benefit from them. Pastor's race was much the same as Rubens. Once he lost those places at the start he did not have the pace to get anywhere near the top ten. Another day of disappointment and frustration for the Williams team. But they will not have the time to dwell on it given that the next race in Monaco is just one week away. |
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Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h39:03.301 2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 0.630 3. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 35.697 4. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 47.966 5. Alonso Ferrari + 1 lap 6. Schumacher Mercedes + 1 lap 7. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap 8. Heidfeld Renault + 1 lap 9. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 11. Petrov Renault + 1 lap 12. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 14. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 15. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 16. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 2 laps 17. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 2 laps 18. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps 20. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps 21. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:26.727 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Massa Ferrari 60 Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 49 Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 29 |
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