A FERRARI ON THE PODIUM ON F1'S FIRST PASSAGE TO INDIA
Sebastian Vettel won the 2011 Formula 1 Airtel Grand Prix of India, but it might as well have been a replay of his victory in Korea a fortnight ago as he simply ran away and hid and left Jenson Button to chase him from a distance.
Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber were even further behind while yet another clash with Felipe Massa left a bitterly disappointed Lewis Hamilton to a seventh-place finish in the McLaren behind the Mercedes duo of.
Fernando pitted twice, using the Soft tyres in the first two stints of the race and Hards in the third and final one. Felipe, who started off with one less set of Softs than his team-mate was on a similar strategy. After the seventeenth round of the Championship, the team and driver positions remain the same in their respective classifications: Fernando is still third in the Drivers, with Felipe sixth: the Scuderia is still on the lowest step of the podium in the one for Constructors.
Fernando Alonso:
“It’s nice to jump on the podium for India’s debut in Formula 1 and I’m pleased to have a new trophy to take home. However, today was a special day, full of contrasting emotions. In fact, the satisfaction at getting a podium finish cannot cancel out the sadness which has been with us for several days, because of the deaths of two of our colleagues, two special people – Dan Wheldon and Marco Simoncelli. After this race, second place in the Drivers’ championship is still possible, but it will be very difficult because McLaren is on great form at the moment, even if the gap is only 13 points.
We are aware that on paper, we are behind the two Red Bulls and two McLarens: then, if something unusual happens, we can make it to the podium. Today, the team was fantastic, managing to fix a problem on the front wing which was only identified twenty minutes before the start. At the start, I did not get away particularly well and so Button was able to pass me. Then I tried to stay close to Webber and when he slowed down a bit, I closed right up and, staying out on track a few laps longer than him, I was able to get ahead of him. Being patient paid off. Now we head for Abu Dhabi, a race that is a bit unusual…Maybe I will go to the Ferrari Park to play golf to relax prior to the race and then, on Sunday night, I will try and bring home the only trophy not yet in my collection.”
Felipe Massa:
“There’s not much to say at the end of a weekend like this. I am really unhappy that I was not able to finish a race in which I showed I had the pace to fight for the podium. As for the collision with Hamilton, I can only say I do not share the opinion of the Stewards who inflicted the punishment. I simply stayed on the ideal line, braking on the limit and staying on the part of the track that was rubbered in. What else could I do? It’s the umpteenth time that Hamilton runs into me this year and it seems it’s some sort of fatal attraction…
In the past, I tried to talk to him but he did not seem to be interested in doing so. Now it’s best to immediately turn the page and think of the final two Grands Prix of the year. They are both special, because Abu Dhabi is a sort of second home race for Ferrari, with that amazing theme park which sits alongside the circuit and then comes Interlagos, which is always special for me. I will try and forget this trip to India as quickly as possible, but that will be absolutely nothing to do with the country
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