Girls Like F1 Too!: European GP Race Report

Elizabeth […] rather knew that she was happy, than felt herself to be so, wrote Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice. This description must have suited many fans last Sunday as most of us rather knew that we love F1 than felt it. After great race in Canada and total mayhem in Turkey, Valencia constituted counterbalance for the GPs overwhelmed with emotions. One might have thought that DRS, KERS and Pirellis are a magical cure that would turn EVERY race into a fascinating spectacle. Well… Valencia proved us all wrong. Even double DRS zone and the unknown new tyre compound didn’t help to increase the number of overtaking manoeuvres. Valencia, traditionally, delivered a procession.

When the track entered the F1 calendar, it aspired to be second Monaco. However, even the fabulous drawbridge cannot match the splendour of Monte Carlo. The track, though narrow and picturesque, lacks the Monaco glamour or the intensity of Singapore (another narrow street circuit). Despite all this, I would still argue that the race was not as bad as many now try to prove. Previous GPs got us used to absolute rush for the whole race and we easily and conveniently forgot that one of the most fascinating seasons in many years (2010) in terms of championship fight was actually full of much more boring races. This year, the championship is practically over with Sebastian Vettel having won 6 out of 8 first races so we try to make up for it with fascinating (or rather countless) fights (for positions 2–23 in most cases*), forgetting that we still lack the essence – that is the most important factor – the unknown of the winner, who’s no longer unknown. So deprived of all the gimmicks and left with the only certain thing (Sebastian Vettel winning) we lament over the lack of excitement. But to be honest – the biggest excitement is the one concerning the World Champion and this one is pretty much gone this year, no matter how many overtaking manoeuvres the Pirellis, DRS and KERS will give us. But... let’s go back to the race.

Sebastian Vettel, traditionally, didn’t have any problems with maintaining his P1 from qualifying after the lights went off. Behind his back, Felipe Massa (starting from p5) had a rocket start and got not only past his team mate (P4), but also past Lewis Hamilton (starting from P3). It even looked like the Brazilian would fight for P2 with Mark Webber, but the Aussie closed the door and Massa was forced to calmly queue behind the two Red Bulls in P3. Fernando Alonso (who also overtook Hamilton at the start) used the opportunity given to him, went for the outside of the first corner and put himself back in front of Massa. The next few laps brought us some close fights, but with hardly any breathtaking results. Button managed to get in front of Rosberg (lost a place to the German at the start), Alonso was following Webber closely, while Hamilton pursued Massa, but was unable to overtake the Ferrari even when the Brazilian made a mistake, went wide and found himself off the track for a moment. In the midfield the two Toro Rossos were fighting probably not only for position, but also for the next season racing seat.

First pit stops started around lap 14 with the drivers opting for another sets of much faster option tyres (most of the frontrunners saved one set of these tyres during the qualifying session and was able to use them as much as they only could putting prime tyres for only one, as short as possible, stint). It was when Michael Schumacher’s bad luck decided to take revenge for his very good race in Canada. The German changed tyres on lap 14 but hit Vitaly Petrov immediately after returning to the track destroying his front wing. Despite the damage and his speed dropping dawn rapidly, the 7-times World Champion put up a brave fight against Adrian Sutil, not letting his compatriot through easily. However the damage was too severe and Schumacher was forced to come back to the pits on lap 15. This compromised his whole race and caused him to finish way outside the points (17^th). After the first round of pit stops, Vettel was leading with about 2 seconds advantage over Webber and Alonso. The Spaniard managed to overtake Webber on lap 21, but his efforts soon came to nothing: Webber pitted on lap 28 and took another set of option tyres. Alonso waited one lap more before he got rid of his used tyres and as a result, emerged from the pit lane in P4, behind Webber yet again. In the middle of the race (around lap 30) the leading order was: Vettel, Massa (who pitted only once till that moment compared to 2 pit stops of other frontrunners), Webber and Alonso. The latter three drivers were very close to each other and it was only a matter of time when both Webber and Alonso would try to overtake Massa taking advantage of their tyres which must have been in a better shape than the ones in the Brazilian’s car.

Webber managed to get in front of Massa on lap 31 and we could now only wait for the duel between Ferrari team mates. To the disappointment of the fans, Massa ducked to the pit lane the moment Alonso got close enough to attack and the excitement was over. Felipe, who was driving one of his best races this season, encountered another problem during his pit stop (something he must be getting used to) – this time with a wheel nut. The delayed visit in the pits meant he was later unable to fight with much slower Lewis Hamilton for the 4^th position and had to settle for 5^th. Meanwhile Jaime Alguersuari who started the race 18^th was as high as P7 (due to his 2-stop strategy), but as his tyres were nearly gone, he was soon overtaken by Nico Rosberg to find himself in 8^th position, where he eventually finished the race (a great result nonetheless, considering the Spaniard’s starting position).

Sebastian Vettel was still leading, maintaining the safe gap of around 3 seconds over his closest rivals – Alonso (now in P3) and Webber (in P2), speeding up whenever he felt endangered by the drivers behind.

Webber was the first of the frontrunner, who decided to pit for the 3^rd and last time. He did so on lap 42. The prime tyres he had to take now where new, but they were still slower than used option tyres on Alonso’s car. This time Ferrari chose the strategy right in order to get their driver back in front of Webber. Alonso stayed out three laps longer, lapping faster than Webber and as a result he came back from his last pit stop in front of the Aussie. Vettel’s lead was, naturally, safe. Gearbox problems in Webber’s car meant that we were deprived of a battle for second position between the Red Bull and the Ferrari and Fernando Alonso was able to make his home crowd happy by finishing 2^nd and adding the Valencia trophy he lacked in his collection.

And so the race ended calmly without any surprises. Sebastian Vettel won with Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber completing the podium. behind them came Lewis Hamilton, who apparently decided to keep his word and think twice before trying any overtaking manoeuvre. The British driver must have been thinking a lot in Valencia and apart from overtaking Schumacher on lap 14, he was rather invisible. Struggling with tyres and the uncompetitive McLaren speed, Hamilton was lucky to secure 4^th spot thanks to Massa’s pit stop problems. The Brazilian came 5^th ensuring best Ferrari’s result of the year and was followed by Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg and Jaime Alguersuari (one of the brightest stars of the race). Adrian Sutil and Nick Heidfeld took the remaining points in the top 10.

After the race, even the fiercest drivers admit that the Championship is pretty much over with Sebastian Vettel already securing the title. To save the fans and delay the selection of the World Drivers Champion, colleagues should pay Sebastian to go on holidays till the end on July. Yet, even this wouldn’t be enough to beat him. The German has now 77 points advantage over 2^nd placed Jenson Button, which means that no matter what happens, he will still be leading even if he doesn’t finish the next 3 races.