11:15 In fact not only is it the first time Vettel’s chalked up four
wins in a row in one season but it’s the first time a driver has done so
since Jenson Button did in 2009. Champagne is now flowing on the podium and
we awat the interviews with Martin Brundle.
11:10 The three drivers that make up the podium looks utterly shattered
as they await their instructions. Red Bull now extend their lead in the
constructors to 407 with Ferrari seconds with 316. So it’s a 44th podium for
Vettel today and as I mentioned, it’s the first time he has won four
consecutive race in one season. German national anthem now being played.
Final lap he’s done it again then, from start to finish Vettel has won
his fourth consecutive race for the first time in his F1 career, he’s broken
the hoodoo and is now a step closer to a third world title. Alonso’s had a
great day also to take second and congratulations to Webber who’s done
tremendously well to hold on to third place from Hamilton. Button crosses in
5th and in doing so takes the fastest lap. Massa pulls over immediately
after crossing the line as his fuel is gone, good drive from the Brazilian
today, he’s held off Raikkonen very well. Vettel on the radio, he’s clearly
delighted and doing his crazy frog song…that’s not going to stay in my
head all day at all.
Lap 59 this may be a little too much for Hamilton to pull back now as
he goes wide on turn 3. Nothing to lose for the McLaren but he keeps locking
up and he’s losing time now as a result.
Lap 58 apologies for my neglecting the drivers outside the top four at
the moment, it really is tight between Webber and Hamilton for the final
podium position. Button, Massa Raikkonen, Grosjean, Hulkenberg, Senna in for
points today.
Lap 57 Horner looking a very nervous man in the Red Bull garage.
Weirdly, Schumacher is coming in, oh no, not for a stop he is being retired,
been a miserable day for him.
Lap 56 Boost for Vettel as Alonso is held up by Timo Glock but so long
as Vettel’s car holds up, this is his race. Hamilton on the radio “I
can’t catch him” and the team tell him Webber is struggling and
he can catch him. Patience.
Lap 55 Alonso really pushing now as is Hamilton, the gap between him
and third place Webber is 1.5 seconds. Five laps remaining and it’s all
happening at the front.
Lap 54 now it seems Vettel could be having a problem with his car, I
think he may have picked up some issue with the nose coming over a corner.
More on that when I hear soemthing. The German’s been told about his lap
times and that Alonso is catching.
Lap 53 Webber’s tyres looking tired and in fairness to him his pace is
not all bad but the speed from the McLaren is stunning, the gap now 2.1
seconds. Red Bull saying there’s been no more radio contact with Webber
since he reported KERS problems.
Andy Holgate: “Looking ominous for Vettel’s third crown. McLaren
imploding and Ferrari just not fast enough. Newey’s magic on the aeros has
put RB back at the front. The man should be knighted.”
Lap 52 A little further back Senna is really piling the pressure on
Rosberg and takes the position and is in the points! Great driving from
Senna and Rosberg yielded very easily there on the fourth turn. Encouraging
to see Senna driving well this weekend, he went a little off the pace
mid-season.
Lap 51 Hamilton really pushing for that podium, just 2.5 seconds
between him and Webber now and he’s taken six tenths off the Red Bull in the
first sector alone on this lap!
Lap 50 Hamilton told he “can get Webber” he has problems and
the McLaren is two seconds faster across the lap. Right battle for the third
podium place is on. Four secodns between Webber nad Hamilton.
1-10 Vettel, Alonso, Webber, Hamilton, Button, Massa, Raikkonen,
Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Rosberg
Lap 49 So as things stand, Vettel would move 13 points ahead of Alonso
in the title standings. Button now fastest on the track 1:29:381
Lap 48 DRS is enabled once again and Webber needs to find his pace no,
it’s too late, he’s lost his position to Alonso! That was a great move and
now you have to wonder what is wrong with Webber’s car, Alonso came from so
far back to take that position.
Lap 47 Ferrari now saying there is no problem with either car…well we
all heard what they said about fuel. Bizarre. Hamilton now fastest, 1:29:631
and Button told he is making good progress and to push all the way to the
e4nd now.
Lap 46 No DRS available for now while they clear DLR’s car off the
track and that will be good news for Webber. Schumacher will now be
investigated after the race, that’s owing to him ignoring blue flags.
Lap 45 Webber on the radio saying he has no KERS but his team reassure
him it will be back imminently. Alonso far enough back for this not to
affect position in theory. And we have a seconds retirement and it’s Pedro
de la Rosa but it’s unlikely that it will mean a safety car. Looks like
front brakes failure.
Lap 44 and they really are good laps he is out driving his team-mate.
Word from Perez: “We don’t know we are checking, I think rear
suspension damage. It’s a shame we should have got some points here, it’s a
shame for today.”
Lap 42-43 Webber now relieving the pressure he was under about 10 laps
ago, he had Alonso just half a second off him at one point but he has now
increased his lead on the Spaniard to over two seconds. Weber told “these
are good laps”.
Lap 41 Raikkonen now being told to “attack attack” Massa.
Ther Ferrari driver has been told he may encounter a fuel problem so it’s
time for the Lotus to push on now and he is really going for it. That’s the
battle for 6th while a little further ahead of them, Hamilton is closing the
gap between himself and Alonso, it’s now dipped under seven seconds.
Lap 40 Hamilton told he is the fastest car on the track…he responds
by saying he doesn’t think his tyres are going to last. Twenty laps to go
and the worrying thing for McLaren is that Hamilton’s only been on this set
for about eight laps. No further action on Maldonado or Kobayashi.
Lap 39 Vettel out in front and is 11 seconds ahead of Webber. Very slow
pits stop from Sauber as Kobayashi comes in. Now keep your eyes on Hamilton,
he’s been told to “floor it” and catch Alonso who’s times are
slowing. Just seven seconds between them now.
Lap 38 Schumacher’s day goes from bad to worse, he is now under
investigation for ignoring blue flags. If you missed the start of this race,
the seven-time champion picked up a puncture on the first corner of the race
and has been at the back of the pack ever since. Ferrari and Alonso talking
in Italian on the radio so the only thing I can tell you for sure is
something is “extraordinario”.
Lap 37 Hamilton told he does not need to save fuel and that Alonso is
slowing down so now is the time for him to move. Grosjean finally pits and
now Button can stretch his legs. The Lotus has come out behind Hulkenberg in
9th place and keep your eye on him he’ll drive a great second half to this
race.
Lap 36 So to re-cap, Vettel is out in frotn and has been leading this
race since the start, he is followed by Webber who’s under increasing
pressure from Alonso in 3rd. Hamilton is 4th with Grosjean behind (yet to
pit) and he is ahead of Button. Massa, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg and Ricciardo
complete the top 10.
Lap 35 Massa told the situation with his fuel is “critical”
well that’s not what you want to hear when you have just about got past the
halfway point of the race. Worryingly, I would imagine Alonso may be
experiencing the same thing. Oh and another near miss there, this time
between Button and Grosjean and the Frenchman is really damaging Button’s
race, the McLaren just cannot find a way through.
Lap 34 Alonso’s made his first move on Webber but for now the
Australian driver is holding him off well but the gap remains so small, just
0.55 seconds between them.
Lap 33 change of steering wheel and tyres for Hamilton and he’s come
out of the pits with some clean air in front. Alonso now dangerously close
to Webber, 0.6 seconds. Kobayashi and Maldonado are under investigation for
the incident a couple of laps ago. I can confirm though that Maldonado
remains in this race but is back in 20th place.
Lap 32 seems Maldonado moved over too early trying to make a move on
the Sauber. Vettel being warned by his team now as Alonso’s pace is
fantastic. Hamilton being called in.
Lap 31 Maldonado has a problem and it’s a right rear puncture and I
think his race may have ended, he is very slowly making his way back to the
pits. Just as I was about to tell you of a great battle bwteeen him,
Kobayashi and Senna it all went wrong.
Lap 30 wow, take a breath it’s all happening, Alonso has now pitted.
Vettel and Webber yet to stop as is Hamilton who’s up to 3rd with Alonso
behind in 4th and Grosjean 5th being chased by Button. So I was wrong,
McLaren’s decision to pit Button was not the right thing to do. Webber being
called in.
Lap 29 Massa now pits and this will be the start of the front runners
coming. Great stop from Ferrari and they have done very well to get him out
in front of Raikkonen but NO, the Lotus has warmer tyres and takes the
position, he’s only been waiting 29 laps! Unfortunately it lastes about
three turns and Massa is back ahead! Wonderful duel here.
Lap 28 Raikkonen has now pitted and that’s a sensible decision as he
was making no ground on Massa. Rosberg has also had his first stop, plenty
of cars now coming in and Button’s could have been very very good timing
from McLaren.
Lap 27 Alonso 1.8 seconds off Webber and the Red Bull driver is doing
very well to keep just that little too much ahead to hold off the threat.
Button came out in 9th and needs to get moving as there’s a four car duel
not far behind him, first obstacle for the Brit is the Lotus of Grosjean.
Lap 26 there we go then, Button has pitted and he is on for a one-stop
race as things stand and went on the hard tyre. Slow stop for McLaren as a
problem on the left rear.
Lap 25 Red Bull need to react now as Alonso is destroying Vettel’s
times at the moment, who will be in first? Hamilton on the radio saying his
car is feeling better as time goes on so that’s encouraging for McLaren.
Massa told he needs to complete four more laps on his current set. Wow and
there was very nearly another retirement just now at turn four with Senna
and Rosberg coming inches from a collision. Phew, that was close.
Lap 24 Vettel told that “Mark is struggling for pace” so I
would imagine that’s the team’s way of telling Vettel they’ll pit the
Australian first. A little further back, Ricciardo is enjoying a good day so
far he’s been in the top ten since the start, very encouraging few races
he’s had of late. He’s 10th and chasing Grosjean who has also done well to
get himself into the points.
Lap 23 the lead is now 7.1 seconds! And that’s because Vettel’s lap
pace is 1:30:637. Red Bull need to focus on Webber now as he is really
dropping off and Alonso is edging closer to taking second place from him.
Lap 22 Vettel pulling further out and the gap on Webber is 5.5 seconds.
And as expected, the damage to Perez’s car was too much and his race has
come to an end. The first retirement of the afternoon.
Lap 21 “the understeer is shuddering” says Button, he’ll need
to pit soon as his tyres are in a really bad state.
Lap 20 well that’s just about ruined Perez’s race, he’s back in the
pits. He’s on the hard tyres and that will be his final stop so long as
there are no more problems.
Lap 19 error from Perez, he looked like he was making a great move on
Ricciardo but then goes way out wide, locks up and slams his brakes too
late. Back to square one for the Sauber. And it’s got worse! Perez now has a
puncture and that’s doing his car no favours on his rear white it’s the
exact same problem that Schumacher had and what a shame.
Lap 18 it’s fairly hazy/foggy on the track at the moment as you can see
in the picture below but it’s to be expected from what I have read, still
makes visibility a little bit more of an issue that at other tracks.
Lap 17 Massa’s finding pace and pulling away from Raikkonen but the
Lotus has shown strong pace all weekend so there may be a tactical pit stop
for Kimi shortly.
Lap 16 Massa locks up on turn three and Raikkonen is still on his tail
and that error from the Brazilian comes from focusing too much on Button in
front in 5th. And there could be trouble in the battle for 10th as Grosjean
and Maldonado go wheel-to-wheel! The Frenchman takes the position and it
gets worse for Maldonado who drops to 12 as Senna sneaks by. Very smart
move.
Lap 15 looks like a possible problem now for Sauber as they’re first to
call their driver into the pits and it’s Perez, a good change and he remains
on the soft compound. McLaren likely to be next as they’ve lost all race
pace and will have to go for a two-stop. “I’ve lost a lot of time
behind Michael”. Three tenths of a second added to Hamilton’s lap time
as he struggles to get past Schumacher.
Lap 14 the duel for 8th continues and Hulkenberg made up a little
ground there as Perez locked up, just 0.25 between them and it’s third times
a charm for the Force India who goes 8th. Webber’s now gone fastest but
Vettel’s times are showing up purple
Lap 13 Now Ferrari really need to push Alonso a little here, Vettel
continues to pull away but in an ideal world to keep their title hopes
alive, Alonso needs a win today.
Lap 12 Back in 8th Hulkenberg is really jostling with Perez but can’t
find a way through he went left then right but the Sauber is defending very
well.
Lap 11 1:31:695 Vettel remains the fastest man on the track, Webber
behind him but half a second off the pace, perhaps nursing the tyres going
for a one-stop
1-10 Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Hamilton, Button, Massa, Raikkonen, Perez,
Hulkenberg, Ricciardo
Lap 10 Massa’s KERS not helping him catch Button at the moment and the
Brazilian would be wise focus on what’s ahppening behind him for a moment as
Raikkonen has plenty of KERS and is ominously close. Vettel pulling away
from Webber now, his lead just over three seconds.
Lap 9 Raikkonen really coming up Massa’s exhaust now and this battle
for fifth is spicing up, Button for now is holding on and his pace is
returning. As yet we have had no retirements but Schumacher is now being
lapped by Vettel.
Lap 8 McLaren reporting that Button is not having any problems with the
car despite yielding to Hamilton so easily. The latter McLaren driver is now
chasing down Alonso and they’re both matching the Red Bulls for pace so
Vettel may not have such an easy day of it.
Lap 7 Hamilton’s going to come under more pressure in 4th now as
Button, Massa and Raikkonen are right on his tail. Maldonado is 11th in
front of Grosjean so both of them running a little slower than I wouldn have
expected. Vettel is just over two seconds ahead of Webber at the front.
Lap 6 Massa now closing in on Hamilton and we all remember what
happened between them this time last year but hold on Hamilton’s found some
pace and has just overtaken Button for 4th but the McLaren’s are fighting
wheel-to-wheel, great to watch but they need to beware of the Ferrari behind
them.
Lap 5 replays of the start also show that Jean Eric Vergne also made
contact on that first turn and he has since come into the pits to get his
front wing sorted. It also seems that Schumacher’s puncture came after he
touched the front of the Toro Rosso.
Lap 4 Alonso’s Ferrari is in wonderful form and the team’s strategy is
paying off well as the Spanish driver overtakes Button to go back up to
third and get on the chase for the Red Bulls in front.
Lap 3 Vettel fastest on the track at the moment with a 1:32:642. I
think McLaren especially Hamilton will be disappointed with this start,
there was great inter team racing from them both but Alonso really took
advantage of that slip stream. Massa is 6th with Raikkonen, Perez,
Hulkenburg and Ricciardo completing the top 10.
Lap 2 Right to clarify that positioning, Vettel leads with Webber
second and Button has reclaimed third place with Alonso now 4th and Hamilton
5th. Further back, Di Resta has climbed two paces to 14th and Schumachers is
back out on the hard compound. DRS enabled
Lap 1 Alonso’s starts was outstanding! He’s taken the positions from
Hamilton and Button. Schumacher is having problems and is heading to the
pits with a rear right tyre puncture. What a start!
First corner: Vettel and Webber get out well but the McLaren’s are hot
on their tail. Everyone gets around the first safely and the McLarens are
wheel-to-wheel! Alonso is flying away and is climbing and takes both
McLarens!!!
9:30 Hamilton already reporting problems…it’s with his radio he’s
saying the line is very bad and he’s not hearing much of his team’s
instructions.
9:29 Top nine cars all on the soft compound tyre today and the cars are
heading our for their formation laps…almost race time
Here’s word from our F1 man Tom Cary who’s at the circuit and gearing
up for today’s race:
Just back from grid – wasn’t as packed or star-studded as I expected it to
be. Indian papers this morning were full of the celebs – MS Dhoni,
Tendulkar, various Bollywood stars – who would be here. Crowds are heavily
down on last year. Start today is absolutely crucial. If Red Bulls reach
first corner as they are, it could be a long race. I’m hoping to see the
McLarens and Ferraris make up some ground immediately. Interesting to see
birthday boy Bernie and Vijay Mallya on the grid, shaking hands so warmly.
Bernie has been very supportive of the Force India co-owner, whose
Kingfisher Airlines is massively in debt and the subject of frenzied
speculation out here.
Here’s a reminder of how today’s grid looks:
How they start:
1st row
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull)
Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull)
2nd row
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren)
Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren)
3rd row
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari)
Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari)
4th row
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus)
Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber)
5th row
Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams)
Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes)
6th row
Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus
Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Force India)
7th row
Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams)
Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes)
8th row
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso)
Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India)
9th row
Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber)
Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso)
10th row
Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Caterham)
Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/Caterham)
11th row
Timo Glock (GER/Marussia)
Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/HRT)
12th row
Narain Karthikeyan (IND/HRT)
Charles Pic (FRA/Marussia)
9:20 right, prediction time and I’m really hoping Hamilton pips past
Webber in the opening turns because if Vettel pulls away early then I fear
we’re in for a bit of a dull race. There’s great opportunity to move up a
few places in the opening corners as the cars will bunch together. So, not
seen it for a while no so I’m going for both McLarens on the podium with a
Red Bull [for anyone putting money on this race, my tips have been somewhat
inaccurate of late]. What do you think?
9:15 congratulations to Mr Bernie Ecclestone on turning the grand old
age of 82 today! The question on everyones lips…when will he slow down and
consider calling time on his tenure…the answer – no time soon.
Retirement? Not at the moment I still feel good. When I feel I can’t
deliver any longer, I’ll say ‘we’ll move on’. When you come to places like
this and see what it was and you convince people to have a race and build a
track, in the end you get a lot of satisfaction.”
9:13 Right, let’s take a closer look at the Buddh International Circuit
…watch out for turn 10-11 it’s a tyre killer….
Circuit length: 5.125km/3.324miles
Laps: 60
Race distance: 307.249km/190.161miles
Lap record: Sebastian Vettel 1min 27.249secs (2011)
2011 pole position: Sebastian Vettel 1min 24.178secs
2011 winner: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
Number of corners: 16 (7 left/9 right)
Tyre compounds to be used: Hard/soft
Overtaking chance: medium
Engine severity: medium/high
Average lap speed: 206kph (128.002mph)
2011 winning strategy: 2 stops (laps 19 47)
Number of safety cars last year: 0
9:05 While Vettel, Webber, Massa and the McLaren drivers have reason to
be cheerful at the moment, it was not all smiles from Paul Di Resta
yesterday after he managed only 16th place on the grid. He has since said he
wants an investigation into what went wrong with his car after enduring what
he described as the hardest qualifying session of his career. While he has
only once stared from further back, the main issue for the British driver is
the unusual disparity between himself and team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.
I can’t get any consistency or confidence in the car. I’ve never felt it as
nervous as that. You never see that much of a difference between me and
Nico. It’s always tenths (of a second), but here I can’t get close to him.
There are indications there is something not quite right with the car. I can
feel it in the car itself. Yesterday we put it down to issues with a
puncture, but it’s clear it’s more serious than that. It resulted in the
hardest qualifying session I’ve had to contend with in Formula One. So we
need to get on top of things, to understand what the actual issue is to
rectify it. We’re looking at it, with the data showing signs of some things
we can pick up on.”
8:50 three successive wins for Vettel means he now has 25 career
victories to his name, propelling him to joint sixth on the all-time list
alongside Jim Clark and Niki Lauda. However, in his two years of rising to
his world titles, the German has never won four races in a row in any one
single season…will he break that hoodoo today? Also looking to continue a
run of good form is Felipe Massa. His results in recent weeks have seen him
rewarded with a one year contract extension with Ferrari and I was thrilled
when that announcement came. Like so many I wrote him off after the first
five or six races and I’m pleased to have been proven wrong. Astoundingly,
Massa’s 30-point haul in Japan and Korea means he has scored more points in
the last two races than he managed in his first 11 this year!
8:45 Good morning/afternoon/evening F1 fans and welcome to coverage of
round 17 of the season, it’s the Indian Grand Prix! It’s becoming a little
deja-vu to what we saw this time last season now as for the third race on
the trot I can tell you that defending world champion Sebastian Vettel is on
pole – the 35th of his career to date. In fairness he is fortunate to be
there after making a braking error during qualifying as well as the fact
that McLaren are looking very dangerous this weekend.
While not doubt breathing a sigh of relief after clocking the fastest time
yesterday, Vettel insisted that despite being at the front he is taking
nothing for granted. Just six points separate him and Fernando Alonso in the
title race and with four races left (100 points) there’s still everything to
drive for. Here’s what he had to say yesterday:
Tomorrow
is the race. Today is qualifying. There are no points scored today. It’s
going to be a long race and what sort of race it is, we are going to find
out. That is why we are looking forward to it. I am happy to be in the
position we are, but we go from there tomorrow. I had to abort the lap and
focus on the second attempt, which was fine. I was happy, braking a bit
early for Turn 4. All in all a very good session for us, the car was
fantastic. The support we had from Milton Keynes and the factory was
incredible and a big thank you to the guys there. We took another step
forward. Today is a good result for us, but tomorrow is the main exercise.
The McLarens were very quick on long runs and the Ferrari strategy could be
a surprise, so we will see what happens.”
How they start:
1st row
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull)
Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull)
2nd row
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren)
Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren)
3rd row
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari)
Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari)
4th row
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus)
Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber)
5th row
Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams)
Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes)
6th row
Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus
Nico H|lkenberg (GER/Force India)
7th row
Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams)
Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes)
8th row
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso)
Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India)
9th row
Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber)
Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso)
10th row
Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Caterham)
Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/Caterham)
11th row
Timo Glock (GER/Marussia)
Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/HRT)
12th row
Narain Karthikeyan (IND/HRT)
Charles Pic (FRA/Marussia)