Webber cruises to victory at Spanish Grand Prix
10 May 2010|546 views
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In front though, the Red Bulls continued their strong form in qualifying this season, with Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel proving virtually unstoppable and closing out the front row. Australian Webber just managed to pip his German teammate Vettel to pole position, making it five out of five poles for the Red Bull team this season.
Unlike the previous races, the weather was perfect in Barcelona, and Red Bull made good use of their front row positions to pull away in front when the race got underway, despite pressure from the McLaren-Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and home hero Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari. Further behind, Renault's Robert Kubica has a slight altercation with the Mercedes GP car of Nico Rosberg, which saw Rosberg go off the track briefly and lose position.
Most of the action happened at the rear, with Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi suffering from a poor start to drop down the grid, while Barrichello and Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari took advantage to make up several positions. Bruno Senna was the first casualty of the race, going off the track at turn 3, while Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Buemi clashed at the samecorner, which damaged the Swiss driver's front wing and caused a puncture to de la Rosa's rear tyre, while Rosberg lost more places in the chaos.
Out in front though, all was smooth sailing, and the running order at the end of the first lap was Webber, Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Schumacher, Massa, Sutil, Alguersuari and Kubica. Rosberg was now 11th, fending off the fast approaching Williams of Barrichello in 12th.
The race soon got into a rhythm, with the Mark Webber in front pulling away from the rest of the pack. The Australian set a string of fastest laps to assert his authority on the race, while Hamilton was trying his best to catch Webber's teammate Vettel for second.
The first set of pit stops came around lap 14, with Schumacher and Massa the first frontrunners to opt for a change of tyres. Rosberg's disastrous race continued when he left his pit stop too early and had to be dragged back in order for his wheels to be fitted properly, costing the German even more time and track position.
Back out on the track, Sebastian Buemi in his Toro Rosso managed to pass the Lotus of Jarno Trulli, but met with the Force India of Vitantonio Liuzzi, who was emerging from the pits. Buemi managed to take avoiding action and skidded off the track, but was found to be at fault and made to serve a drive-through penalty later in the race.
Vettel, Button and Alonso were the next to pit, and Button was a bit too slow getting out of the pits, allowing Michael Schumacher to grab 5th position off the reigning World Champion. Hamilton and race leader Webber were the last to pit, and Hamilton managed to jump ahead of Vettel for 2nd after an incident involving a lapped Virgin Racing car, which forced Vettel off the track and allowed the Brit to gain the advantage.
Schumacher's car in 5th however, was slower than the chasing McLaren of Button and Ferrari of Massa, and the two, Button especially, were left frustrated as they tried to get past the Mercedes GP driver. Massa, in his futile efforts to pass Button, brushed his front wing against the Hispania car of Karun Chandhok while lapping the Indian, sustaining some minor but insignificant damage.
Massa was not the only driver to have a coming together with Chandhok, as Jaime Alguersuari cut into the Indian's path while overtaking, taking out the Hispania's front wing and causing Chandhok to retire as a result. Alguersuari then became the second Toro Rosso of the day to serve a drive-through penalty thanks to the incident.
Webber was now holding a commanding lead in front with two-thirds of the race gone, ahead of Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso. Schumacher was still holding up Button and Massa, with Sutil, Kubica and Barrichello rounding up the top 10.
Buemi joined the list of retirements with hydraulic failure, after an eventful day in the Spanish sun, while Vettel was reporting problems on his car, further adding to Red Bull's reliability woes this season. The German went off the road briefly on lap 54, and then made another pit stop to replace his tyres. Red Bull had informed Vettel that the problem was a jammed front wing flap adjuster as well as a possible problem with the wheels, and Vettel subsequently lost third to Alonso as a result.
Alonso was now charging down Hamilton in second place, while Vettel, with a struggling car, had a considerable gap between the Ferrari driver in third place and Schumacher in fifth. The seven-time world champion had, by now, started to find some pace and pull away from his chasers Button and Massa. Vettel was advised to slow down after it was apparent that his brakes were failing, and the young German carefully nursed his car around the circuit in the closing stages.
More drama was to follow on the second last lap, when Hamilton, under little pressure, went into the barriers at turn 3. Replays showed what appeared to be a puncture, and the incident cost the McLaren team a potential second place and 18 valuable points.
Hamilton's accident thus promoted Alonso up to second, much to the delight of the Spanish home crowd. Webber though, drove a fantastic race to take the chequered flag after dominating the entire weekend, and grabbed a well-deserved victory, surprisingly only the third of his career.
Vettel limped home in third with his damaged car, followed by Michael Schumacher, who was fourth, his best finish of the season. Button and Massa settled for fifth and sixth, while Sutil got seventh as a result of his solid drive. Kubica was 8th, ahead of Barrichello in 9th, and Alguersuari took the final point in 10th place at his home circuit, despite an eventful race.
In the Drivers Championship, Jenson Button remains in front with 70 points, but Fernando Alonso is now 2nd with 67. Sebastian Vettel is 3rd on 60 points, while Webber is 7 points behind in fourth on 53. Nico Rosberg leads a pack of chasers in 5th on 50 points, one ahead of Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton, who both have 49. Robert Kubica rounds up the top 8 with 44 points.
In the Constructors Championship meanwhile, the top 3 are separated by a mere 6 points. McLaren-Mercedes lead the way on 119, while Ferrari is 3 points behind with 116. Red Bull Racing is another 3 points behind in 3rd with 113, while Mercedes GP sits fourth with 72 points. Renault are fifth with 50 points.
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In front though, the Red Bulls continued their strong form in qualifying this season, with Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel proving virtually unstoppable and closing out the front row. Australian Webber just managed to pip his German teammate Vettel to pole position, making it five out of five poles for the Red Bull team this season.
Unlike the previous races, the weather was perfect in Barcelona, and Red Bull made good use of their front row positions to pull away in front when the race got underway, despite pressure from the McLaren-Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and home hero Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari. Further behind, Renault's Robert Kubica has a slight altercation with the Mercedes GP car of Nico Rosberg, which saw Rosberg go off the track briefly and lose position.
Most of the action happened at the rear, with Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi suffering from a poor start to drop down the grid, while Barrichello and Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari took advantage to make up several positions. Bruno Senna was the first casualty of the race, going off the track at turn 3, while Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Buemi clashed at the samecorner, which damaged the Swiss driver's front wing and caused a puncture to de la Rosa's rear tyre, while Rosberg lost more places in the chaos.
Out in front though, all was smooth sailing, and the running order at the end of the first lap was Webber, Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Schumacher, Massa, Sutil, Alguersuari and Kubica. Rosberg was now 11th, fending off the fast approaching Williams of Barrichello in 12th.
The race soon got into a rhythm, with the Mark Webber in front pulling away from the rest of the pack. The Australian set a string of fastest laps to assert his authority on the race, while Hamilton was trying his best to catch Webber's teammate Vettel for second.
The first set of pit stops came around lap 14, with Schumacher and Massa the first frontrunners to opt for a change of tyres. Rosberg's disastrous race continued when he left his pit stop too early and had to be dragged back in order for his wheels to be fitted properly, costing the German even more time and track position.
Back out on the track, Sebastian Buemi in his Toro Rosso managed to pass the Lotus of Jarno Trulli, but met with the Force India of Vitantonio Liuzzi, who was emerging from the pits. Buemi managed to take avoiding action and skidded off the track, but was found to be at fault and made to serve a drive-through penalty later in the race.
Vettel, Button and Alonso were the next to pit, and Button was a bit too slow getting out of the pits, allowing Michael Schumacher to grab 5th position off the reigning World Champion. Hamilton and race leader Webber were the last to pit, and Hamilton managed to jump ahead of Vettel for 2nd after an incident involving a lapped Virgin Racing car, which forced Vettel off the track and allowed the Brit to gain the advantage.
Schumacher's car in 5th however, was slower than the chasing McLaren of Button and Ferrari of Massa, and the two, Button especially, were left frustrated as they tried to get past the Mercedes GP driver. Massa, in his futile efforts to pass Button, brushed his front wing against the Hispania car of Karun Chandhok while lapping the Indian, sustaining some minor but insignificant damage.
Massa was not the only driver to have a coming together with Chandhok, as Jaime Alguersuari cut into the Indian's path while overtaking, taking out the Hispania's front wing and causing Chandhok to retire as a result. Alguersuari then became the second Toro Rosso of the day to serve a drive-through penalty thanks to the incident.
Webber was now holding a commanding lead in front with two-thirds of the race gone, ahead of Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso. Schumacher was still holding up Button and Massa, with Sutil, Kubica and Barrichello rounding up the top 10.
Buemi joined the list of retirements with hydraulic failure, after an eventful day in the Spanish sun, while Vettel was reporting problems on his car, further adding to Red Bull's reliability woes this season. The German went off the road briefly on lap 54, and then made another pit stop to replace his tyres. Red Bull had informed Vettel that the problem was a jammed front wing flap adjuster as well as a possible problem with the wheels, and Vettel subsequently lost third to Alonso as a result.
Alonso was now charging down Hamilton in second place, while Vettel, with a struggling car, had a considerable gap between the Ferrari driver in third place and Schumacher in fifth. The seven-time world champion had, by now, started to find some pace and pull away from his chasers Button and Massa. Vettel was advised to slow down after it was apparent that his brakes were failing, and the young German carefully nursed his car around the circuit in the closing stages.
More drama was to follow on the second last lap, when Hamilton, under little pressure, went into the barriers at turn 3. Replays showed what appeared to be a puncture, and the incident cost the McLaren team a potential second place and 18 valuable points.
Hamilton's accident thus promoted Alonso up to second, much to the delight of the Spanish home crowd. Webber though, drove a fantastic race to take the chequered flag after dominating the entire weekend, and grabbed a well-deserved victory, surprisingly only the third of his career.
Vettel limped home in third with his damaged car, followed by Michael Schumacher, who was fourth, his best finish of the season. Button and Massa settled for fifth and sixth, while Sutil got seventh as a result of his solid drive. Kubica was 8th, ahead of Barrichello in 9th, and Alguersuari took the final point in 10th place at his home circuit, despite an eventful race.
In the Drivers Championship, Jenson Button remains in front with 70 points, but Fernando Alonso is now 2nd with 67. Sebastian Vettel is 3rd on 60 points, while Webber is 7 points behind in fourth on 53. Nico Rosberg leads a pack of chasers in 5th on 50 points, one ahead of Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton, who both have 49. Robert Kubica rounds up the top 8 with 44 points.
In the Constructors Championship meanwhile, the top 3 are separated by a mere 6 points. McLaren-Mercedes lead the way on 119, while Ferrari is 3 points behind with 116. Red Bull Racing is another 3 points behind in 3rd with 113, while Mercedes GP sits fourth with 72 points. Renault are fifth with 50 points.
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