Sebastian Vettel took his fourth win of the season ahead of Red Bull team mate Mark Webber to ensure the championship battle continues to the season finale at Abu Dhabi. Not only that but Red Bull’s impressive one-two finish clinched their first ever Constructors title. Although way off the pace of the Red Bull’s, Fernando Alonso took a solid third place which he still leads the Championship by eight points going into the final round. A second place finish in Abu Dhabi would seal his third world title. And you have to say, even though Red Bull are still clearly faster than everyone else, they are still shooting themselves in the foot at every given opportunity. Although providing Webber with an ultra quick car, he strongly feels that the team are not ‘emotionally behind’ him. Many will feel that mathematically Webber has a better chance at overhauling Alonso than Vettel and allowing Webber to get ahead of his team mate would have been the better option. However this is not how Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner operates and Webber knows he will have to beat his team mate on track, not through team politics. Elsewhere Lewis Hamilton effectively ruled his title charge over despite finishing fourth and keeping himself mathematically in with a shout. He is now 24 points behind Alonso with just 25 to play for. He will need a miracle. He finished ahead of team mate Jenson Button who clawed his way back from 11th on the grid to restore some pride on what has been a difficult weekend for the last year’s Champion. Button, his father John, manager Richard Goddard and trainer Mike Collyer were lucky to escape unhurt after a group of armed men approached his armoured car after leaving the Interlagos circuit before his undercover police driver made their escape through the Sao Paulo traffic. As for the pole sitter, Nico Hulkenberg finished in eighth position after yesterday’s qualifying heroics. It was still a superb weekend for the rookie and he will now feel more comfortable about racing in 2010.
Williams engineering director Patrick Head was quick to play down his driver’s sensational pole yesterday. Head said: “There’s no champagne for Saturday”. He knew that without the changeable conditions to make the most of, the Williams was just not quick enough to keep up with the championship contenders. His race pace is normally a second off both Red Bull and Ferrari. Nonetheless the start at Interlagos was crucial; Vettel got the jump on his fellow countryman almost immediately and never looked back for the remaining 70 laps. Webber, who had diced with Hamilton over third into the Senna ‘S’ corners, forced Hulkenberg into a mistake into turn 4. This was the ideal start the Red Bull’s were hoping for. Just as in Korea, Hamilton made an unforced error which allowed Alonso past and up into fourth and it just seemed a matter of time before he got past the fading Hulkenberg. After several laps of superb defensive driving by the rookie, Alonso produced a similar overtake to Webber by forcing him into a mistake at turn 4 and began setting his sights on the Red Bull’s who in seven laps had produced a gap of 10 seconds to the chasing pack. Hamilton was struggling to follow suit and complained of a lack of grip. It was one of many difficulties for the 2008 World Champion in the race.
Button was the first of the front runners to pit having been passed by the rejuvenated Michael Schumacher in the opening stages. This worked out perfectly for him as he was able to jump up to fifth place. Felipe Massa was the first to react to Button’s stop however he was in again one lap later due to a loose right-front wheel which effectively ruled him out of contention. Williams’ Rubens Barrichello also suffered problems at his pit-stop which made life easier for Button, who had also jumped Hulkenberg following his stop on lap 15. Hamilton pitted five laps later and was finally able to get ahead of the 2009 GP2 Champion up into fourth.
Alonso pitted on lap 25 having finally maintained the gap to the Red Bull’s however being stuck behind Hulkenberg in the early stages ruined his assault on victory. Vettel and Webber pitted on lap 26 and 27 respectively to remain the status quo. Webber than began to slowly but surely close the gap on his team mate. He was pushing hard, knowing full well that the team mate would not assist him in getting ahead of Vettel and that the German was on his engine’s third race. Had Webber got ahead of Vettel he would have been within one point of Alonso in the championship instead of seven. It wasn’t to be. The gap had closed to just 1.5secs as they encountered traffic however the race was thrown up in the air on lap 50 when Tonio Liuzzi crashed his Force India at the Senna ‘S’ bringing out the safety car. This allowed Alonso to close the gap to the Red Bull’s and also both Mclaren’s, Mercedes’, Massa and Kamui Kobayashi to pit for new soft tyres. How this added little excited as the leading five were separated by plenty of backmarkers and by the time the McLaren’s had cleared them, Alonso had more than enough pace to hold them off despite Hamilton’s best efforts. Vettel cruised to take the chequered flag ahead of Webber which means he is now 15 points behind Alonso going into the final round. Behind the leading five were the two Mercedes’ with Nico Rosberg ahead of Michael Schumacher once again. Hulkenberg finished a quiet eighth but his reputation will have gone through the roof following a fantastic weekend overall for the 23 year old German. The remaining points scorers were Renault’s Robert Kubica and the exuberant Kamui Kobayashi in his Sauber.
So as expected, the title battle roles onto Abu Dhabi. In my preview for next week’s race I will discuss the permutations for all four of the title contenders in their bid to become World Champion. The Brazilian Grand Prix wasn’t a thriller compared to other races this season but leaves us eagerly anticipating next weekend’s race. Championship leader Alonso must maintain the consistency which has typified his fight back this season. Vettel must continue what he done all the season; being the fastest driver out there. Webber must maintain his focus despite his obvious frustration with his team; he is in the best car by a mile and should just make the most of it rather than allude to factions within his team. As for Hamilton, he should just drive on instinct. He has the third quickest car out there and must hope the other drivers encounter problems if he is to win a second world title. I look forward to watching him drive his heart out once more. And as for the luckless Button, he will just be hoping to get out of Brazil altogether.
Brazilian GP - Classified Results
1. Vettel (Red Bull) 1h33:11.803
2. Webber (Red Bull) + 4.243
3. Alonso (Ferrari) + 6.807
4. Hamilton (Mclaren) + 14.634
5. Button (Mclaren) + 15.593
6. Rosberg (Mercedes) + 35.300
7. Schumacher (Mercedes) + 43.400
8. Hulkenberg (Williams) + 1 lap
9. Kubica (Renault) + 1 lap
10. Kobayashi (Sauber) + 1 lap
11. Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) + 1 lap
12. Sutil (Force India) + 1 lap
13. Buemi (Toro Rosso) + 1 lap
14. Massa (Ferrari) + 1 lap
15. Petrov (Renault) + 1 lap
16. Barrichello (Williams) + 1 lap
17. Heidfeld (Sauber) + 1 lap
18. Kovalainen (Lotus) + 2 laps
19. Trulli (Lotus) + 2 laps
20. Glock (Virgin) + 2 laps
21. Senna (Hispania) + 2 laps
22. Klien (Hispania) + 6 laps
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