Mark Webber won his only race of the season at Interlagos on Sunday, pouncing on the misfortune of team mate Sebastian Vettel's sluggish gearbox on lap 30. Vettel, who had started on pole and still led the race at that point, eventually brought his Red Bull home in second, completing a near perfect year for himself and the Red Bull team. Jenson Button joined them on the podium in 3rd place, clinching the 2nd spot in the overall driver's championship. Webber's win also gave him the 3rd spot in the championship, nudging Fernando Alonso by a single point. Mark was happy but also clearly a bit ambivalent afterwards, "It feels very good; it's always nice to win. The battle with Sebastian wasn't a strong battle in the end because he had a problem, but even so, my pace was strong and I felt very good in the car. It's a nice way to finish the year.
For Vettel, after a year for the ages, a gearbox issue that merely deferred a win and still ended with Seb on the second step of the podium, was not really all that hard to swallow, "I got the message we had a problem, which was a shame as we had a great start to the race. After that, it was obvious that that I had to shift early and save the gearbox. I hoped it would recover so I kept pushing, but it didn't happen and then the target was to see the chequered flag. Mark had a great race and deserved to win. I got second and I'm happy to have a trophy.”
As for McLaren, Button's podium was a more than welcome end to a pretty good year, Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren Team Principal, put Jenson's day in perspective, "Today we saw yet another brilliant performance from Jenson, who has driven magnificently all season but particularly in the second half of it. It was his eighth podium finish in the past nine grands prix - and the odd race out in that splendidly consistent sequence was the Korean Grand Prix, in which he finished a fighting fourth. ...All things considered, 2011 was a pretty decent year for us - we finished second in the constructors' world championship, 122 points ahead of the third-placed team and 332 points ahead of the fourth-placed team - but we aim to win outright. Next season we intend to do just that."
Jenson's superb second half gave him a somewhat significant bragging right, he became the first ever team mate of the celebrated Lewis Hamilton to outscore Lewis in an F1 car. Hamilton's rough year also got a somewhat fitting end when he retired on lap 46 with a gearbox issue. The DNF did not really have an effect on his 5th place in the overall standings, but naturally was not the type of finish Lewis enjoys, “Of course, it's not the way I'd like to have ended the season, but it wasn't so bad. I enjoyed my race while it lasted. I was challenging Felipe and I was hoping I'd get him, but then the gearbox failure stopped me. It's been a long year, and I want to say a huge thank-you to the team.”
The Ferrari team would certainly agree with the idea of the 2011 campaign as a long one, and also one they would very much like to forget as soon as possible. With the final indignity of Webber's victory spelling the end of Alonso's modest hopes for 3rd place in the championship, Felipe Massa's almost customary (for 2011) and disappointing 5th place finish in front of his home crowd in San Paulo was the final icing on a sour cake for the proud Scuderia team. Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari Team Principal gallantly gave praise to the victors ahead of him, “Once again, we congratulate those who did a better job than us and we look forward to facing them again next year, when we will try to be the best of the lot. That is our target and we have no intention of hiding the fact. We have weeks of hard work ahead of us and we will only start to see the fruits of our labours in February, when it's time to fire up the engines again. Finally, let me say I am happy to hear that Lewis came round to see Felipe during his press meeting, which thus puts an end to all the recent misunderstandings."
Perhaps that was one of the better omens for Lewis, Felipe and their respective teams, finally seeming to bury the hatchet in what was looking like an actual simmering feud, "It was good to have a nice chat with Felipe," said Hamilton. "I have great respect for him and I'm looking forward to racing him again next year." Massa added: "I was pleased that Lewis came around to see me. It was a very nice gesture on his part."
Sebastian Vettel is the story of 2011, Vettel's absolute dominance etched his name in the pantheon of great F1 heroes of the past 60 years. The arrival of DRS movable wings and the return of KERS did provide for a lot more overtaking and exciting moments, but did nothing to derail Vettel's ascension.
Look for a review of the 2011 season and a look ahead to 2012 and beyond coming soon.....
Brazilian Grand Prix Results - 27 November 2011 - 71 Laps
POS DRIVER NATIONALITY ENTRANT LAPS TIME/RETIRE
1. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 71 1h32m17.464
2. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 71 16.983
3. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 71 27.638
4. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari 71 35.048
5. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 71 1m06.733
6. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 70 1 Lap
7. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes GP 70 1 Lap
8. Paul di Resta Britain Force India-Mercedes 70 1 Lap
9. Kamui Kobayashi Japan Sauber-Ferrari 70 1 Lap
10. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault 70 1 Lap
11. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 70 1 Lap
12. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 70 1 Lap
13. Sergio Perez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari 70 1 Lap
14 Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 70 1 Lap
15. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes GP 70 1 Lap
16. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Renault 69 2 Laps
17. Bruno Senna Brazil Renault 69 2 Laps
18. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Renault 69 2 Laps
19. Jerome d'Ambrosio Belgium Virgin-Cosworth 68 3 Laps
20. Daniel Ricciardo Australia HRT-Cosworth 68 3 Laps
R Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy HRT-Cosworth 61 Alternator
R Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 46 Gearbox
R Pastor Moldonado Venezuela Williams-Cosworth 26 Spin
R Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth 21 Wheel
FASTEST LAP:
Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 71 1:15.324
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