Brazilian GP : Disappointing end to season for Williams
Rubens Barrichello
By Andrew Hooper
November 27 2011
The results for the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix would be disappointing for the AT&T Williams F1 team. Pastor Maldonado would retire after spinning while for Rubens Barrichello his race would begin badly having made a poor start losing severl places. He would come home in fourteenth in what could be his last race in Formula One. For the Williams team it is now time to look forward to 2012 after a difficult 2011.
| Brazilian GP Race Review |
 |
|
Qualifying for
the seventy one lap 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix would see the AT&T Williams F1
team start from twelfth and eighteenth grid positions. Rubens Barrichello
would start from an encouraging twelfth but for Pastor Maldonado his
eighteenth grid position would make his day so much harder. With Vettel on
pole the cars would move away on their parade lap, with all the cars
starting on the soft tyre. The grid would form up with Vettel taking his
spot joined by Webber in second. With the lights going out Vettel would lead
with Webber second after an attack by Button into Turn one. Alonso was in
fourth while for Williams Rubens had made a poor start running in nineteenth and Pastor in twentieth.
It was going to be a long afternoon for the Williams F1 team. Hamilton was
in fifth followed by Massa. It was shown that Rubens had made a very poor
start and would lose several places prior to getting to Turn one. |
 |
|
Pastor's car would be cleared
out of the way as Webber continued to lead the race on lap thirty three. In
third was Alonso followed by Hamilton, Massa, and Button having made his
second stop. Hamilton would pit on lap thirty five with reports having the
possibility of rain as clouds covered the circuit. Rubens was still running
in a disappointing fifteenth as Alonso pitted on lap thirty seven. Rubens
would also pit as Perez had a spin at Urn nine but he was able to recover
and continue. Webber was leading by 2.8 seconds while Alonso would return in
front of Button and Hamilton. Hamilton was told that he also had a gearbox
issue. Webber would pit from the lead on lap thirty nine taking on the soft
tyres. Webber would come back out in second while for Rubens he would see
himself lapped. Vettel would pit the next lap also taking on the soft tyre.
Button had passed Massa for fourth while Hamilton would also start looking
for a way past Massa. But Massa would defend his position as Pastor sat at
the side of the track watching proceedings. A very disappointing way for
Pastor to end his season. At the front Webber was leading by 4.4 seconds with Alonso in third. Hamilton would pit taking on the medium tyre for what would be his run to the finish. Massa was in on the next lap taking the medium tyre also looking to run to the finish. Massa would come out just in front of Hamilton as Vettel's engineer continued to give his driver warnings about the gearbox issue. For Hamilton his race would end with his gearbox giving up, seeing him pull off the track at Turn five to retire. Rosberg was in sixth but was under attack by Sutil. Rubens was now in thirteenth as the Rosberg Sutil fight continued. Sutil would pass Rosberg going into Turn one. At the front Webber was now leading by 4.9 seconds from Vettel and Alonso. Rubens was coming under attack from Perez with just eighteen laps remaining. Button would pit on lap fifty four for his final stop while Rubens would drop down to fourteenth when Perez was able to get past using his DRS. |
 |
|
Alonso would make his last stop
on lap fifty five while Rubens would also make his last stop of the race.
Webber was now leading by 7.8 seconds from Vettel and Alonso. Rubens was
back out in fourteenth with Schumacher six seconds behind. Button was 3.8
seconds behind Alonso and closing rapidly. Webber would make his final pit
stop taking on the medium tyre. Vettel would pit the next lap also taking on
the harder tyre. Button was right behind Alonso and looking to pass. After
an attempted pass going into Turn one Button would eventually get past
Alonso using his DRS going into Turn four, to take third place. Vettel would
run wide at Turn five while Button's engineer would tell him that Vettel had
a gearbox issue, but Button was eleven seconds behind Vettel with only seven
laps remaining. With four laps remaining Button had made up some time but he
was going to run out of laps. Webber would start his final lap and would complete this with ease and would take victory in the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix. Vettel would come home second followed by Button, Alonso, Massa, Sutil, Rosberg, Di Resta, Kobayashi, and Petrov in tenth. Rubens would finish his race in fourteenth in what could be his last Formula One race. Massa would carry out some donuts on the track, something that may see him get fined. Rubens would park his car and wave to his fans. Well that was the final race of the of what was a very difficult season for the AT&T Williams F1 team. |
 |
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1h32:17.434 2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 16.983 3. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 27.638 4. Alonso Ferrari + 35.048 5. Massa Ferrari + 1:06.733 6. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 7. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap 8. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 9. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 10. Petrov Renault + 1 lap 11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 12. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 13. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 14. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 15. Schumacher Mercedes + 1 lap 16. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 17. Senna Renault + 2 laps 18. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 19. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps 20. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps Fastest lap: Webber, 1:15.324 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 62 Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 37 Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 27 Glock Virgin-Cosworth 22 |
 |
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.