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2011 Spanish Grand Prix

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2011 Spanish Grand Prix
Race 5 of 19 in the 2011 Formula One World Championship
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Circuit de CatalunyaCircuit de Catalunya
Race details
Date 22 May 2011
Official name Formula 1 Gran Premio de España Santander 2011
Location Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló, Catalonia, Spain
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.655 km (2.892 miles)
Distance 66 laps, 307.104 km (190.826 miles)
Weather

Mainly sunny, Fine and Dry Air Temp 27 °C (81 °F)


Track Temp 33 °C (91 °F) to 44 °C (111 °F)
Attendance 78,300
Pole position
Driver Red Bull Racing-Renault
Time 1:20.981
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:26.727 on lap 52
Podium
First Red Bull Racing-Renault
Second McLaren-Mercedes
Third McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders
Motor car race

The 2011 Spanish Grand Prix, formally the Formula 1 Gran Premio de España Santander 2011, was a Formula One motor race that was held on 22 May 2011 at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló, Spain. It was the fifth round of the 2011 Formula One season. The 66-lap race was won by the championship leader, Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel after starting from second on the grid. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton finished in second place, and his teammate Jenson Button completed the podium in third position.

As a consequence of the race, Vettel extended his lead in the World Drivers' Championship to 41 points over Hamilton. Mark Webber, who started the race from pole position, finished fourth in the race but he maintained third place in the championship, 10 points behind second-place Hamilton, and six ahead of Button. In the World Constructors' Championship, Red Bull extended their championship lead to 47 points over McLaren, with Ferrari a further 63 points behind in third position, after only Fernando Alonso reached the finish for the team, in fifth position. Sergio Pérez finished 9th and became the first driver from Mexico to score a point since Héctor Rebaque in the 1981 Dutch Grand Prix.

Report

Ferrari's new rear wing was banned after Friday practice.

Background

Heading into the race, Sebastian Vettel led the Drivers' Championship with 93 points, 35 more than Lewis Hamilton on 58 points, who had 3 more than Mark Webber on 55 points. Other championship rivals throughout the season, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso were fourth and fifth on 46 and 41 respectively.

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought its silver-banded hard compound tyre as the harder "prime" tyre and the yellow-banded soft compound as the softer "option" compound. This was the same tyre selection that Bridgestone had chosen to bring to the Spanish Grand Prix for the past two years.

In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull Racing held an advantage of 43 points over McLaren, with 148 points to McLaren's 105. Ferrari were a further 40 points behind McLaren on 65 points, and were building a gap from Renault – on 42 points - who were now having to fend off Mercedes GP who were on 26 points.

Ferrari introduced a new rear wing for the race, which came under scrutiny from the stewards and was subsequently banned.

Practice and qualifying

The first practice session saw upgrades by every single team, and took place in sunny conditions. Mark Webber led at the end of the first practice, 1.007 seconds ahead of his teammate Sebastian Vettel, with Nico Rosberg in third place in the Mercedes.

Sebastian Vettel's run of five consecutive pole positions was ended by teammate Mark Webber

In the second practice session, Webber topped the timesheets again, this time with Lewis Hamilton coming second splitting the Red Bulls with Vettel in third.

In the third practice session, Vettel topped the timesheets despite electrical problems that limited his running. Nick Heidfeld's car suffered a fire, causing extensive damage to his car that could not be fixed in time for the qualifying session.

In qualifying, Mark Webber took his first pole of the season, with his teammate Vettel, who had been unable to use his KERS during the session, behind him in second. In third and fifth places were the McLarens of Hamilton and Button, split by the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. Further down the grid Team Lotus celebrated their first ever entry to the second qualifying session on a dry track, with Heikki Kovalainen qualifying 15th, ahead of both Force Indias.

Heidfeld was unable to set a qualifying time, however, he was allowed to participate in the race due to having set competitive times in practice prior to the accident. This was a similar situation to the previous race in Turkey where Kamui Kobayashi had not posted a qualifying time, but had been allowed entry due to his consistent lap times within the 107% time during practice.

Race

Fernando Alonso made a perfect start to the race, overtaking both Red Bulls and Hamilton into the first corner to the cheers of the Spanish fans, and leading the race until lap 18. However, Alonso faded after the first round of pitstops where Sebastian Vettel took the lead, a position which he held to the end of the race in spite of the efforts of Lewis Hamilton, who fought him all the way to the close, finishing only 0.6 seconds behind the winner, with his teammate Button over half a minute behind in third. Button had used a three-stop strategy instead of a four-stop strategy, like most other drivers, to get ahead of Webber and Alonso. On lap 31, Liuzzi's car stopped near the Pirelli tunnel due to a gearbox failure, forcing his retirement.

Mark Webber came in fourth, after spending much of the race behind Fernando Alonso, only overtaking him on the 39th lap when the Spaniard pitted. Kovalainen crashed on lap 51, damaging the left side and wheels of his car. On Lap 57, Massa, struggling with his gearbox, beached his car in the Turns 6 and 7 chicane while running tenth, his game was over. Despite starting in the pits, behind all the other cars, Nick Heidfeld had a successful race, bringing his car home in the points with an eighth-place finish. After saving a set of tyres by not setting a Q3 time, Michael Schumacher finished sixth ahead of teammate Rosberg. The race was notable for Ferrari's lack of pace on the prime tyre with Alonso slipping from first to fifth in the pit stops alone. Sergio Pérez scored his first Formula One points with ninth place, after he was disqualified from seventh place at the Australian Grand Prix.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Grid
1 2 Australia Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:23.619 1:21.773 1:20.981 1
2 1 Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:24.142 1:21.540 1:21.181 2
3 3 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:24.370 1:22.148 1:21.961 3
4 5 Spain Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:23.485 1:22.813 1:21.964 4
5 4 United Kingdom Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:24.428 1:22.050 1:21.996 5
6 10 Russia Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:23.069 1:22.948 1:22.471 6
7 8 Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:23.507 1:22.569 1:22.599 7
8 6 Brazil Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:23.506 1:23.026 1:22.888 8
9 12 Venezuela Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1:23.406 1:22.854 1:22.952 9
10 7 Germany Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:22.960 1:22.671 no time 10
11 18 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:23.962 1:23.231 11
12 17 Mexico Sergio Pérez Sauber-Ferrari 1:24.209 1:23.367 12
13 19 Spain Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:24.049 1:23.694 13
14 16 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:23.656 1:23.702 14
15 20 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1:25.874 1:25.403 15
16 15 United Kingdom Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:24.332 1:26.126 16
17 14 Germany Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:24.648 1:26.571 17
18 21 Italy Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1:26.521 18
19 11 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:26.910 19
20 24 Germany Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:27.315 20
21 23 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1:27.809 21
22 22 India Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:27.908 22
23 25 Belgium Jérôme d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:28.556 23
107% time: 1:28.767
24 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Renault no time 24
Source:

Notes:

  1. – Michael Schumacher experienced a problem with his KERS device in the final period of qualifying that led to him aborting his single timed lap in Q3.
  2. – Nick Heidfeld's Renault R31 caught fire in the final practice session on Saturday morning, seriously damaging the exhaust system and floor of the car. Renault mechanics were unable to get the car repaired in time for the first qualifying session, meaning Heidfeld was unable to set a lap time. As he had demonstrated competitive lap times during free practice sessions, he was permitted to start the race, which he did from the back of the grid.

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 66 1:39:03.301 2 25
2 3 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 66 +0.630 3 18
3 4 United Kingdom Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 66 +35.697 5 15
4 2 Australia Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 66 +47.966 1 12
5 5 Spain Fernando Alonso Ferrari 65 +1 Lap 4 10
6 7 Germany Michael Schumacher Mercedes 65 +1 Lap 10 8
7 8 Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes 65 +1 Lap 7 6
8 9 Germany Nick Heidfeld Renault 65 +1 Lap 24 4
9 17 Mexico Sergio Pérez Sauber-Ferrari 65 +1 Lap 12 2
10 16 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 65 +1 Lap 14 1
11 10 Russia Vitaly Petrov Renault 65 +1 Lap 6
12 15 United Kingdom Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 65 +1 Lap 16
13 14 Germany Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 65 +1 Lap 17
14 18 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 65 +1 Lap 11
15 12 Venezuela Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 65 +1 Lap 9
16 19 Spain Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 64 +2 Laps 13
17 11 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 64 +2 Laps 19
18 21 Italy Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 64 +2 Laps 18
19 24 Germany Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 63 +3 Laps 20
20 25 Belgium Jérôme d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 62 +4 Laps 23
21 22 India Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 61 +5 Laps 22
Ret 6 Brazil Felipe Massa Ferrari 58 Gearbox 8
Ret 20 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 48 Accident 15
Ret 23 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 28 Gearbox 21
Source:

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos. Driver Points
1 Germany Sebastian Vettel 118
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 77
3 Australia Mark Webber 67
4 United Kingdom Jenson Button 61
5 Spain Fernando Alonso 51
Source:
Constructors' Championship standings
Pos. Constructor Points
1 Austria Red Bull Racing-Renault 185
2 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 138
3 Italy Ferrari 75
4 United Kingdom Renault 46
5 Germany Mercedes 40
Source:

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Formula 1 Gran Premio de España Santander 2011". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. Archived from the original on 15 May 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  2. "2011 Spanish Grand Prix". Motor Sport. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  3. Weather History for Barcelona, Spain | Weather Underground
  4. ^ "FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA SANTANDER 2011 (Race)". f1standings.net. F1Standings. 22 May 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  5. "World Motor Sport Council: 03/11/2010". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 3 November 2010. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  6. Benson, Andrew (22 May 2011). "Vettel holds off Hamilton to win Spanish Grand Prix". BBC Sport. BBC. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
  7. "Pirelli announce tyre choices for remaining races". Formula1.com. Formula One Group. 7 October 2011. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  8. "Bridgestone announce tyre compounds for remaining races". Formula1.com. Formula One Group. 7 September 2010. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  9. "Bridgestone announce tyre compounds for remaining races". Formula1.com. Formula One Group. 24 August 2009. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  10. Noble, Jonathan (21 May 2011). "FIA bans Ferrari's new rear wing". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
  11. Benson, Andrew (20 May 2011). "Lewis Hamilton challenges Red Bull pace in Spain". BBC Sport. BBC. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  12. "Webber leads Vettel by a second in Spanish sun". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 20 May 2011. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  13. "Webber again, but Hamilton splits the Red Bulls". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 20 May 2011. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  14. Benson, Andrew (21 May 2011). "Webber beats team-mate Vettel to take pole in Spain". BBC News. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  15. "FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA SANTANDER 2011 - Qualifying Results". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  16. "FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA SANTANDER 2011 - Race Results". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  17. ^ "Spain 2011 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.

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