Webber finally takes a win in finale

With all the talk of rain, it was actually quite a disappointment the clouds failed to burst; it would certainly have given the finale race in Brazil an extra kick in what wasn’t the thrilling spectacle that had been promised.  But that’s not to say there weren’t some moments to savour; Mark Webber was fast, consistent, and finally took a win this year. Alonso and Button fought hard for the final podium, little battles all down the field enlivened proceedings and the world champion delivered a champions drive.

It was great to see Webber finally make his mark on the season; claiming his seventh career victory and his second in Brazil and give a little light to a season in which he has been over shadowed by his team mate.

The Australian had run Sebastian Vettel pretty close all weekend, being just over a tenth off in qualifying to start second. He made his customary lousy start, but this time managed to fend off the attention of Jenson Button.

The early laps were all Vettel as usual. No one else can push the Pirelli tyres  at the start and yet still keep them fresh, it has been one of the hallmarks of his success this year. He was over two seconds ahead in just two laps and continued to inch out a gap.

Webber though was not for breaking today, he started to manage to peg the gap when an ominous radio message was sent to his team mate on lap 14. He had a gearbox problem and throughout the race was urged to short shift through gears two and three. Something he seemed to cope with very well as for at least the first part of the race his lap times remained constant.

All the teams anticipated a two stop race, but unexpectedly the tyres weren’t holding up as well as predicted; early stops from the front runners were duly executed with Vettel still in the lead. However, the gearbox gradually needed more love and care, an urgent message sent to him on lap 25 as Webber showed his interest for the win setting fastest lap.

Eventually the inevitable happened, Vettel let Webber through into turn 1 on lap 30, and the battle for victory was over. Mark demonstrated he was as quick as anyone out there today, reeling off fastest laps including the final lap of the race to take a well-deserved victory.

Vettel finished in second only 17 seconds behind, it kind of made you wonder if he could have fought harder for the win, as until the closing stages he remained fairly close behind. Red Bull boss Christian Horner has remarked they’d like to get Webber a win, but those thoughts are for suspicious minds.

In reality the team were amazed that Vettel even reached the finish, when they spotted the problem the original predictions had him only making half distance. But by instructing him to drive a certain way they were able to manage the problem and goes to further show just what a strong drive Vettel had.

Red Bull were more dominant today than they’d ever been, no one could really touch them, as the year ends on their fantastic success they go towards 2012 confident they can repeat it.

Passing moves of the race

Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso fought for the final podium spot of the year producing the outstanding moments of the race.

Alonso steadily moved his Ferrari into attack mode as we came into lap 11. Slip streaming the McLaren of Button down to turn 4, he tucks back in picking up the slipstream again through turn 5, edging ever closer, he pulls to the left. On the outside line, he whips round Button in a fantastic pass.

He soon scampered away but as is the story of the year for Ferrari as soon as he put on the harder tyre (this race it’s the medium compound) he couldn’t keep up the pace. Button actually preferred these tyres to the soft, using an extra set compared to most others.

Button wanted his own back, he couldn’t live with the pace of the Red Bull’s but he was sure going to finish best of the rest. After the final pit stops he had dropped behind the Ferrari to over five seconds, but immediately slashed into it.

Into lap 62 Button was brilliant. He’d tried a move the previous lap, seen what wasn’t working and set this one up perfectly. He pulled to the outside down the pit straight, forcing Alonso to go defensive into turn 1 taking a tighter line. This in turn slowed the Ferrari down through turns 2 and 3, whereas Button swept down on the wider line into the apex, exploiting his smoother turn in and accelerated onto the back of Alonso, activating the DRS down the following straight and sweeping past into third place.

Alonso’s move had been ballsy, Button’s was intelligently thought out, but both were brilliant, best action of the race.

Wheel banging and hugging

Michael Schumacher went back to wheel banging ways, although this time it wasn’t his fault, in fact it was probably just a racing incident as he and Bruno Senna in the Renault went for the same piece of road into turn 1. The stewards thought differently and sent Senna for a drive through penalty which coupled with a gearbox problem eventually ended him in 17^th having started an impressive 9^th. I think he’s done just enough to be given a chance to race next year.

Schumacher suffered a puncture in the incident, leaving him to crawl back to the pits for a whole lap. It meant he was lapped and his race was over, but despite this he fought back to 15^th and again showed some good speed.

There was some good racing between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa today. On different strategies, Lewis had come out behind his nemesis of the year, but just as things were beginning to get a bit tasty, the McLaren was another one to be affected by gearbox problems, it seemed to be the day for it.

Massa ended up in a lonely 5^th place, but I suppose that’s better than ending up in another accident and a trip to the stewards. It was nice to hear also that Hamilton went to visit Massa after the race to clear the air and share a hug after their many incidents this year.

Despite a disappointing race, Lewis seems to be in a positive frame of mind now, this gesture as well shows his determination to put this year behind him and begin a new more focused attack on 2012 and prove again that he’s the man to beat.

Adrian Sutil stars in final drive with Force India?

Adrian Sutil performed strongly today for Force India, he’s had a good end to the year and fought his way up to finish sixth passing Nico Rosberg for the place into turn 1, with a tight squeeze down the straight ensuring the Mercedes would stay behind.

He’s out performed his highly touted team mate Paul di Resta in the second half of the year and deserves a drive for 2012, however it looks likely he is to be dropped by his current team in favour of Nico Hulkenberg, the teams reserve driver.

I’ve a feeling he’ll end up at Williams after discussions with Kimi Raikkonen came to nothing. He should be in Formula 1, especially after performances like today, he was hooked up, consistent with his lap times; one of the stars of the race.

Rest of the top 10

Rosberg continued his aptitude for finishing lower than where he started with a 7^th place finish from 6^th in qualifying. A two stop strategy didn’t really work for him and he was easy meat for Sutil.

In the other Force India di Resta climbed from 11^th to 8^th finishing with another helping of points to cap a fine debut season. With a year’s experience I expect him to fly next year, let’s not forget di Resta beat Vettel in the lower formulae, this guy has talent.

Kamui Kobayashi takes his second consecutive points finish to round off the year nicely and ensure his Sauber team maintained their 7^th position in the constructors championship over Toro Rosso.

Vitaly Petrov grabbed the final point after climbing from 15^th on the grid. Disappointing final half of the season for Renault in general, the team have claimed only 5 points since Nick Heidfeld left the team before Belgium.

Special mention to Rubens Barrichello who finished 14^th, this is potentially his last ever race. He’s still looking for a drive to continue into his 20^th consecutive season in the sport and add to his 326 races, it would be a shame for this to be his swansong as the passion still burns strong and he’s as quick as ever.

End of the road

And so we come to the end of the 2011 season, a year which despite one man’s domination has provided tremendous racing from Australia to Brazil. We’ve had wheel to wheel action aplenty, provided by Pirelli and the DRS zones, which have proved beneficial mostly even if slightly artificial.

We’ve had grudge matches, intense chases, action packed spectaculars, strategic thrillers, but it all mostly ended up with the same result; Sebastian Vettel, winner. 2011 has been Vettel’s year; a record 15 pole positions in one year, 11 wins, only twice off the podium.

He may have had the best car, but he crushed his team mate, learnt and used the new Pirelli tyres better than anyone else, handled any pressure thrown at him, and was as fast as anyone out there and even showed us how good he is at overtaking; no one could have done it better and that’s why he is now double world champion.

all photos taken from autosport.com