Safety Car

On his 200th Grand Prix start and the 5th anniversary of his maiden victory in Hungary, Jenson Button drove a perfectly judged race to take his 11th victory and his second of the season.

As in the most recent one in Canada, it was Sebastian Vettel who followed him home. Once again it was a great outcome for his championship challenge as he extended his lead to 85 points, the largest margin at any point this season.

Fernando Alonso finished third despite a series of mistakes by himself and strategy mistakes by the team. He was only 10 seconds behind at the end.

“It’s good to have a couple of weeks break because it could take me that long to get over tonight. My 200th race, I don’t know why I like these conditions so much.. a great call by the team not to go to the inter. We go into the break on a nice high,” said Button.

It was a tricky race – there were a record 88 pit stops and a day for not making mistakes. Button once again showed his cool head to rise above it. He also had an amazing wheel to wheel battle with his team mate Lewis Hamilton.

The race started in unexpectedly drizzly conditions, which made the track slippery and further brief rain shower later in the race, which caused some strategy mistakes. As all the running up to race day had been dry, the first few laps were all about the drivers finding the grip level and braking points on a damp track with intermediate tyres.

At the start Vettel got away well from pole as Button attacked Hamilton for second place. THe two Mercedes cars made great starts with Rosberg up to fourth and Schumacher following him.

Massa was tentative into Turn 1 and Alonso got bogged down behind him, as the Mercedes cars sailed past.

Alonso passed Schumacher on the second lap, and then Rosberg as the leaders were slithering around on a surface that looked as grippy as ice, particularly in Turn 2 where Vettel, Alonso and Massa all had moments.

Hamilton put huge pressure on Vettel on lap 4 and at that point the FIA said that the DRS wing was enabled.

Alonso made a mistake allowing Rosberg back past him. Another mistake allowed Massa to pass. Alonso repassed him soon after.

With the lap times over 20 seconds slower than in qualifying, the McLaren was clearly faster than the Red Bull in the treacherous conditions. On lap 6 Hamilton forced Vettel to run wide and he swept past into the lead. he immediately began pulling away at three seconds a lap.

Webber and Massa were the first drivers to come in lap 11 for slick tyres. The number two drivers effectively for both teams, were used to gain information on the dry tyres for their more competitive team mates.

Meanwhile Alonso pumped in fastest laps to that point and got the gap down to Hamilton and Vettel to 10 seconds by the time they all stopped on lap 13.

Schumacher stayed out and this put him into the lead for the first time since he made his comeback. He pitted straight after.

Button had a great pitstop and a very fast out lap and this set him up for an attack on Vettel on lap 14, which he converted into a pass.

Webber passed Alonso at the same time, as the Ferrari struggled on the dry tyre on a still slightly damp track, its weakness at not warming up the tyres – even the supersoft – very evident.

On Lap 26 Heidfeld’s Renault caught fire and exploded after a pit stop, there was no safety car, but Webber, Alonso and Massa pitted, with Hamilton pitting a lap later, his tyres clearly shot.

This was what Jenson Button wanted to see, his tyres were in better shape and he continued, as did Alonso, another driver whose tyres were looking good at the end of the stint.

Button pitted on lap 28 while Vettel decided to stay out, but he lost five seconds in the process, bringing him back towards Webber.

But Vettel simply drove away from his team mate, who came under pressure from Alonso on lap 34.

Kobayashi, the only front runner to take the soft tyres rather than supersofts, had made one less stop than the cars around him and was 6th at the mid race phase, but Massa went past him on lap 35 and the Japanese driver dived into the pits straight away.

Alonso, unable to pass Webber, pitted a third time on lap 37 trying the undercut on Webber. He managed it as he was hugely faster on his new tyres.

Webber reacted, Red Bull putting him onto the soft tyres, which he would take to the finish. Vettel went for the same strategy, as did Button.

Button got the tyres up to speed straight away and was faster than Hamilton who was on the supersofts.

On Lap 47 Hamilton spun and Button passed him as rain began falling again at the back of the circuit only. The McLarens stayed out, Alonso pitted for softs, having realised the mistake they’d made at their third stop.

The rain began to make life difficult for the drivers on lap 50 with lap times 6 seconds slower than the lap before. As Rosberg and Webber pitted for internediates, McLaren’s drivers passed and repassed each other, but it was Hamilton in front at the crucial moment when it was time to pit for intermediates.

He decided to go for them, which proved for a mistake.

Rather than queue behind him, Button had to do another lap, but as he did so, it became clear that he didn’t need to stop again. This was the decisive moment. The move to inters was the wrong one and it cost Hamilton and Webber dear.

Hamilton also got a drive through penalty for almost hitting Di Resta after a spin and he came out behind Massa and Webber in 6th place.

On lap 58 Webber passed Massa for 5th, and Hamilton attacked and passed too on the same lap to move up to 5th.

He passed Webber for 4th on lap 63 as the pair negotiated traffic. Kobayashi got in their way on very worn tyres and Webber lost out. Kobayashi pitted at the end of that lap.

There were strong performances from Di Resta in seventh place, Buemi 8th and Alguersuari 10th again for Toro Rosso. Daniel Ricciardo had a strong day in the HRT beating Liuzzi and D’Ambrosio. Both Lotus cars retired again.

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/07/je...rand-prix/

Cita:On his 200th Grand Prix start and the 5th anniversary of his maiden victory in Hungary, Jenson Button drove a perfectly judged race to take his 11th victory and his second of the season.

As in the most recent one in Canada, it was Sebastian Vettel who followed him home. Once again it was a great outcome for his championship challenge as he extended his lead to 85 points, the largest margin at any point this season.

Fernando Alonso finished third despite a series of mistakes by himself and strategy mistakes by the team. He was only 10 seconds behind at the end.

Pero qué p**** asco ¿Qué les duele que haga podio Alonso?

EL QUE SE PICA AJOS COME

Jo**** , parece que para el James Allen este, sólo Alonso ha cometido mistakes. No dice nada de los mistakes que cometieron los dos que hay delante de Alonso en el podio , dos veces se salieron de pista cada uno que se haya visto (y no han hecho más porque uno iba primero solo y el otro segundo de amarrategui con el tercero ya lejos), ni tampoco de los que cometieron los que están por detrás.

¿Que Ferrari cometió un error en la estrategia?

¡¡¡JA!!! Ferrari ACERTÓ en la estrategia, estuvieron de 10.

El Gran Premio de Hungría fue una carrera fantástica, una vez más estrecha entre los cuatro mejores coches, cualquiera de ellos podría haber ganado. La cercanía de la competencia y las condiciones cambiantes hizo otra carrera donde la estrategia fue el elemento decisivo.

El ganador armar la combinación correcta de decisiones, basadas en los datos recogidos en la práctica y un juicio cuando una lluvia repentina cayó al final de la carrera, no para enfrentar a los neumáticos intermedios, pero para que esperar.

Mientras tanto, varios pilotos vieron sus carreras en peligro por las llamadas mala estrategia y que había tres corredores el centro del campo en los puntos, todo ello como resultado de una buena estrategia.

. La lluvia había pronosticado para el domingo por la mañana, pero no para la carrera. There was a lot of doubt among teams about the forecasts. No había muchas dudas entre los equipos de las previsiones.

Adelantar no es fácil - no se encuentra en Budapest -, pero las condiciones ayudado en esta carrera. No era mucho menos de un viento en contra en el pitstraight durante la carrera que se había producido durante la calificación, que es la razón por la zona de DRS no fue particularmente exitoso, muchas personas estaban golpeando el limitador de revoluciones sin el viento que aminore su velocidad, ya que tenía el sábado.

. Otra razón por la DRS no se producen grandes cantidades de adelantamiento se había reducido a la duración relativamente corta de la recta y la cantidad de ejecutar el ala de los coches. t. Nunca antes de alcanzar la velocidad terminal del punto de frenada.

Por lo que permite "ver de cerca la forma en que las decisiones fueron tomadas.


Button acierta en la estrategia
De 11 victorias de Jenson Button en el Gran Premio, seis han llegado en condiciones mixtas como la que tuvimos el domingo. Una combinación de experiencia, suavidad al volante y el juicio del nivel de adherencia son fundamentales para esto. Button comenzó la carrera en los intermedios, al igual que todos los demás, luego cambió a neumáticos superblandos en la vuelta 11.

Webber, Massa y Barrichello llegó en la vuelta 10 y Webber ha marcado el mejor tiempo del sector de inmediato, todas las señales correctas estaban allí. Sin embargo, Massa fue increíblemente provisional con neumáticos de seco sobre una pista mojada, que luchan para llegar a la temperatura. Button, en tercer lugar, reaccionó y paró en boxes en la vuelta 11, Alonso no lo hizo. Y tampoco lo hizo el líder, Hamilton, ni P3 Vettel y Rosberg P5. Esperaron hasta el 12 de vuelta a cambio.Todos ellos, excepto Hamilton, que había tenido una ventaja de cinco segundos, el tiempo perdido y las posiciones como resultado, button se adelantó a Vettel para P2, mientras que Webber tiene por delante de Alonso y Rosberg en P4.

. Los neumáticos superblandos no duró mucho tiempo.. Antes de la carrera se preveía que serían buenos para 20 vueltas, pero la realidad era más como 15 o 16 años - menos en el caso de Hamilton. Había un nuevo conjunto que había salvado en la clasificación y empujado muy duro con ellos para abrir una ventaja de nueve segundos sobre Button.Pero después de 14 vueltas tuvo que entrar en boxes otra vez, Button se detuvo una vuelta más tarde.Permanecieron unos seis segundos de diferencia, pero el momento decisivo llegó cuando Hamilton se fue para otro conjunto de supersofts en la vuelta 40. No había manera de que él sería capaz de llegar a la meta en ellos. Button fue para los neumáticos blandos en la vuelta 42, a sabiendas de que sería el final.

Así es como sus decisiones se tomaron, la supersuave utilizado fue 0,8 s más rápido por vuelta que los neumáticos blandos nuevos, por lo que táctica de Hamilton fue a abrir una ventaja de más de 18 segundos con el fin de enfrentar de nuevo y mantener el liderazgo.Debería haber hecho esto con facilidad de una temporada la vuelta 15, pero en realidad Button fue tan rápido, si no más rápido en los blandos.En la vuelta 47 como lluvia comenzó a caer, Hamilton trompeo , perdiendo el liderato a Button. Ahora detrás de su compañero de equipo y en el neumático equivocado, fue atrapado entre la espada y la pared. . Vettel, que también estaba en los neumáticos blandos al final, iba a saltar en su parada en boxes y así fue Webber.

Aunque Hamilton atacó Button y tomó la delantera, que necesitaba un movimiento de cambio de juego, que es lo que el neumático intermedio podría haber sido cuando él lo tomó en la vuelta 52, mientras la lluvia persistía. Sin embargo, resultó ser la decisión incorrecta. A pesar de los tiempos de vuelta se fue por 11 segundos, mantener la cabeza tranquila era vital como la lluvia cesó y el plazo de tres vueltas, los tiempos han vuelto a la normalidad.. Los conductores de los intermediarios que parar de nuevo para los neumáticos de seco.

. Button, Vettel y Alonso no tuvo el intermedio y se quedó por delante de Hamilton, Webber lo tomó y se quedó.

Así que la decisión sobre los neumáticos intermedios fue importante en el resultado, pero no fue decisivo, y la decisión de los neumáticos blandos anterior fue el decisivo.

. Alonso hizo muchas de las mismas cosas que Hamilton. A juzgar por la longitud de sus temporadas, tenía previsto hacer cuatro paradas, especialmente después de perder el tiempo detrás de Rosberg desde el principio. . Él se subió por Webber en el cambio de productos intermedios para las manchas porque se quedó demasiado tiempo. Su primer período seco en supersuave fue de 13 vueltas, segundo stint 11 vueltas, 11 vueltas tercera tanda y tanda cuarto suave fue de 23 vueltas.Él se adelantó a Webber en la tercera parando tres vueltas antes y no cometiendo el error de ir a la intermedia en la vuelta 50 lo pasó por encima de Hamilton Fue una buena recuperación de un medio desordenado primero de la carrera.

The two Toro Rosso drivers had strong results; Sebastien Buemi went from 23rd to 8th, while Jamie Alguersuari got points for the fourth time in five races, by again running a long middle stint on the harder tyre and doing one less stop than the others. Los dos Toro Rosso había conductores sólidos resultados, Sebastien Buemi fue del 23 al octavo, mientras que Jamie Alguersuari consiguió puntos por cuarta vez en cinco carreras, corriendo de nuevo por un largo período medio en el neumático más duro y hacer una parada menos que los demás. This tactic has been so successful for them and Sauber this year it's surprising more midfield teams haven't tried it. Esta táctica ha sido tan exitoso para ellos y Sauber este año es aún más sorprendente equipos el centro del campo no lo he probado. But being kind on the tyres is a pre-requisite! Pero ser bueno en los neumáticos es un requisito previo!

Di Resta consults with engineers before the start (Force India/Sutton) Di Resta consulta con los ingenieros antes del inicio (Force India / Sutton)

Breakthrough result for Paul di Resta Avance resultado de Paul di Resta
Paul Di Resta got his best F1 finish to date with seventh place, a breakthrough result in many ways. Paul Di Resta obtuvo su mejor resultado en F1 hasta la fecha con el séptimo puesto, un resultado avance en muchos aspectos. His engineers were amazed at his composure and authority in the most tense moments of the race, such as when it rained on lap 50. Sus ingenieros se sorprendieron de la compostura y la autoridad en los momentos más tensos de la carrera, como cuando llovía en la vuelta 50. It was his call not to pit for intermediates on lap 50. Fue su llamada no entrar en boxes para los intermedios en la vuelta 50. Di Resta has struggled for results since the early races, but this one will have made other teams sit up and take notice. Di Resta ha luchado por los resultados desde las primeras carreras, pero este se han hecho otros equipos de sentarse y tomar nota. It was not the drive of a rookie. No era la unidad de un novato.

. Y es interesante ver su estrategia de carrera, ya que coincide exactamente con Button.

Él comenzó con los neumáticos superblandos, aunque sus nuevos porque no entrar en la Q3 y por lo que tuvo un par de repuesto de otras nuevas. Button se detuvo en la vuelta 27 para otro juego utilizado de supersofts y Di Resta hizo lo mismo. A continuación, en la vuelta 42 fue Button de un nuevo conjunto de materias primas agrícolas y Di Resta lo mismo. No hay sugerencia aquí que él estaba copiando Button, que es una coincidencia. Pero es interesante porque las dos opciones de neumáticos slick se basaron en los datos de los entrenamientos del viernes, donde consiguieron una buena vida y un buen ritmo de los neumáticos blandos. Por lo tanto, estaba claro que lo haría hasta 30 vueltas en un coche más ligero cerca de la final de la carrera.

Di Resta estaba compitiendo con Rosberg, que había ido con los neumáticos blandos en el segundo stint. Pero la decisión del piloto de Mercedes de cambiar a compuestos intermedios se decidió a favor de Di Resta. It was the second race in a row that Force India has finished ahead of Mercedes. Era la segunda carrera consecutiva que Force India ha terminado por delante de Mercedes. While it was the seventh time in 11 races that Rosberg has finished lower than his start position. A pesar de que era la séptima vez en 11 carreras que Rosberg ha terminado por debajo de su posición inicial.

Como nota al margen, ya que Button ha ganado seis de sus 11 carreras en estas condiciones en los últimos años, probablemente no es una mala idea de copiarlo en días como estos - que a menudo no se equivocan!


http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/08/ma...m-hungary/

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/08/do...r-ferrari/


domenicali en su ultimo interview

Kobayashi knows he needs to unlock speed if he’s to take the next step

Kamui Kobayashi has won many fans in his brief F1 career to date for his swashbuckling style; not just his signature bold overtaking moves, but also his defensive driving, which has also been very effective.

I’ll put my hands up and admit I love Kobayashi as a racer, he’s top quality entertainment and I love his spirit in a car, which reminds me a little bit of Jean Alesi.

Alesi made a big impression in a midfield Tyrrell car and ended up in a Ferrari, something which many fans would like to see happen with Kobayashi. It would be an amazing thing, and would align with Stefano Domenicali’s recent statement that for the future they would be looking to put a young driver alongside the experienced Fernando Alonso, who is tied to the team for five years. This is what they did with Felipe Massa, also a former Sauber driver, whom they placed alongside Michael Schumacher in 2006.

Sauber has been an important proving ground for Ferrari over the years, they take a supply of their engines and Ferrari is able to keep close tabs on the drivers’ performance. Sergio Perez is highly rated at Maranello; he was briefly, a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy before he signed his Sauber contract.

So they will be able to monitor Kobayashi in comparison with Perez and there’s a fair chance that one of them might end up in the Scuderia. Sadly, one just can’t quite imagine them taking a gamble on the Japanese driver.

As one of the world’s leading markets for luxury brands, Japan is important; it’s Ferrari’s number two market after the United States and the company opened its own office there in 2008. But it’s the strategic importance of Ferrari’s sponsors which counts for more, companies like Santander and Shell. Brazil is a critical market for both and this hasn’t done Massa any harm in recent years.

Then from the point of view of F1′s bigger picture, the sport has been in decline in Japan in recent years and could do with a shot of adrenaline, which the first Japanese driver in a top car would bring.

But above all those considerations, what a top team is looking for is speed and this is where the question mark lies with Kobayashi. He’s proved he can score points consistently and come through the field, which requires speed and racecraft.

Qualifying is an area where Kobayashi himself admits quite openly that he needs to do better if he is to get the chance to progress his career with a top team. He’s been outqualified five times by Perez, who is a rookie and although he’s had some good Saturdays, like Silverstone where he qualified 8th and Malaysia where he was 10th on the grid, he’s not been consistent or fast enough this year.

Kobayashi: Has he got the speed? (Darren Heath)

“Drivers always have to develop, never think they are perfect,” said Kobayashi. “I’m still learning, for sure Peter isn’t happy, they are waiting for leadership in the team. Last year there were a couple of mistakes and reliability problems, but this year we try to score points regularly which we managed to do quite well. Next year I need a different approach; maybe we need one more step, fight a bit more, for sure I need to find some target.”

I asked him whether he can see specifically where he can improve as a qualifier, or whether he is perhaps a tenth or two too slow. His answer was surprisingly candid,
“I know that there aren’t enough strong performances in qualifying,” he said. “The thing is, when the car is good, I’m always okay. But if the car isn’t comfortable then I’m not using the whole performance. This is where I have to improve. It’s everything; confidence, warm up, balance and set up. Then I cannot make a good performance.”

Admitting a weakness is quite rare in a racing driver, even if it’s obvious to observers. But Kobayashi knows that an inability to drive around an imbalance could be the difference between him being a good driver and a great driver and that is why he says he is focussing most of his attention on it at the moment. He believes that it is something that can be learned.

To watch him on a Sunday, ripping through the field from 12th to 5th, like Monaco or 14th to 10th, as he did in Spain, (results which were not achieved by saving sets of new tyres) he clearly has the talent.

All eyes will be on Kobayashi over the remainder of this season and the first half of next. If he can show that the speed is there, he might just get that dream move up the grid.

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/08/ko...next-step/

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/08/al...-pr-gaffe/


Con el fin de semana es el 20 aniversario del debut de Michael Schumacher en la F1, ha habido homenajes abundancia de los demás conductores, pero ninguno más efusivo que de su gran rival de mediados de los años 2000, Fernando Alonso.

"Tengo un gran respeto por él, él es uno de los más grandes o más grandes de nuestro deporte", dijo Alonso. "Los números están ahí y es imposible de repetir para nosotros. Ha sido un gran placer de conducir con él todos estos años. Siempre me acuerdo de todas las batallas con él. Fue un privilegio para conducir en contra de Michael Schumacher.

"Se decidió parar y luego volver y ahora el coche no es lo suficientemente competitivo para él ganar carreras, pero estoy seguro de que sigue disfrutando. Existen algunas críticas acerca de sus resultados ahora, pero no estoy de acuerdo con ellos. Michael estaba viendo las carreras en casa hace tres años, ahora está séptimo o noveno, pero estoy seguro de que es feliz cada mañana porque está compitiendo en la F1. Es lo que él quiere hacer, es un piloto.

"Veinte años son muchos. Si pienso en mí mismo que sería 2021 y no creo que yo puedo hacer eso! Quiero felicitarlo por estos 20 años y le dicen que es un placer competir contra él. "

El español no siempre fue tan efusiva. En 2006, cuando Schumacher giró durante la calificación en Mónaco, la prevención de su rival desde la pole de él, Alonso le dijo a Mark Webber en la cena que si los comisarios no castigó a Schumacher que se acostaba en la parrilla por delante del coche de Schumacher, para simbolizar que el alemán "paseos de todo los demás pilotos".

En el caso de que esto no era necesario ya que los comisarios decidió que Schumacher había hecho girar a propósito y lo puso en la parte trasera de la parrilla.

Tal vez pensando en esto y otros momentos que desea no hubiera ocurrido, Schumacher estaba en el estado de ánimo filosófico de esta tarde,

"Tomando los 20 años, teniendo todo lo que he estado haciendo .... sin duda, va hacia atrás, me gustaría hacer ciertas cosas de manera diferente, pero en la vida hay que cometer algunos errores con el fin de entender que es un error y que tipo de conjunto de las directrices de su ..

"Después de todo, creo que el chaleco que llevo, que estoy usando en mi interior, es muy blanca, y estoy bastante contento con esto. No tengo muchos pesares y, en general, ciertamente me siento muy emocionado y orgulloso de lo que ha sucedido. "

Antes había dicho: "El reglamento deja siempre que ciertas zonas grises y te deja unas directrices claras en algunos momentos. Usted siempre ha de adaptarse a las directrices y de los mismos y que, obviamente, los límites que se busca y, en ocasiones puede sobrepasar (los límites) y usted puede tomar el castigo por ello. "

Hubo una fuerte muestra de apoyo y respeto a Schumacher de su compañeros pilotos en la actualidad. Sebastian Vettel lo llamó su "héroe de la infancia". Consciente de que era demasiado efusivo, que cambió de táctica y le dijo: "Creo que es un piloto OK!"

El ex compañero de equipo de Schumacher, Felipe Massa habló de cuando era un niño en Brasil y Schumacher parecía ser un fenómeno, asumiendo y superando el héroe nacional de Ayrton Senna en 1994.

"Él fue el primero en el campeonato y recuerdo que Michael muy fuerte y se hizo muy famoso en Brasil porque era un joven que ya era más rápido que Ayrton", dijo Massa.

Le pregunté para aclarar este punto, hizo que realmente quiere decir que en su opinión Schumacher fue más rápido que Senna?

Aprovechó la oportunidad para aclarar: "Yo quería decir que ya estaba rompiendo las bolas de Senna", se rió el brasileño. "Senna tenía más poles, pero Michael estaba por delante en el campeonato. No creo que Michael era más rápido que Senna, no. Creo que Senna fue el calificativo más increíbles, pero me puse los dos en el mismo nivel (en términos de velocidad). "

Despite suffering from severe tyre blistering in the early stages, which forced him to pit twice for new tyres by lap 15, Sebastian Vettel won the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull team mate Mark Webber and Jenson Button, who started 13th on the grid and survived a scare when his front wing was broken early on and he was forced to stop.

Given the problems he faced, it was one of Vettel’s most impressive wins, if not the most impressive win of his career to date. It was greatly helped by the Red Bull being more competitive here in Spa than it has been in recent years, but there was still a lot of work to do for him and Webber.

It was Vettel’s 7th win of the season and the 17th of his career and it makes his grip on the world title even more secure with Lewis Hamilton crashing out of the race. Vettel’s win extended his lead at the top of the championship to 92 points with only seven races to go. At this rate he could wrap his second world title up by the Indian Grand Prix in October. Surprisingly it was only Red Bull’s second one-two finish of the season.

There had been some behind the scenes action on race morning with some teams, including Red Bull, suffering from blistering problems on the front tyres in qualifying and asking the FIA for some dispensation to get new fronts for the start of the race. This did not happen.

“We had a lot of concern going into the race given the damage on the tyre so we took quite a risk,” said Vettel. “We (he and Webber) both stopped early and the target was to see how the tyres and not think too much about the outcome. It was more management than usual, but the car worked brilliantly. I’m very happy with how we managed the tyres.”

There were some fantastic performances throughout the field with Webber recovering from a poor start to finish second, Jenson Button making up 10 places from his grid slot and Michael Schumacher coming through from last place to fifth at the finish.

The track was dry at the start and everyone except Michael Schumacher started on the soft tyre.

Nico Rosberg made an electric start, up to second on the first corner from fifth on the grid and then into the lead on the Kemmel Straight. Vettel slotted in second, with Hamilton under attack from Alonso who went past the Englishman on lap 2.

There was quite a bit of contact in the first corner, Alguersuari, Senna, Kovalainen all had some damage. Vettel retook the lead on lap four. Senna missed the corner and went straight on into Alguersuari. Senna hadn’t driven a race for a while and he was given a drive through penalty.

Webber and Button both pitted on lap 5, Webber’s tyres suffering already.

Alonso and Massa attacked Rosberg and we had a sequence of fantastic racing, as Alonso passed Massa and as the Brazilian tried to resist, Hamilton went through as well.

Vettel pitted on lap 7, reporting vibrations on his first set. He rejoined in 9th place.

Alonso passed Rosberg for the lead, great progress from his 8th place starting position. Meanwhile Hamilton was starting to see blisters on his front tyres. He still managed to pass Rosberg using DRS on lap 8, for second place.

Hamilton passed Kobayashi but then the pair collided with Hamilton having a big impact with the barriers and going out of the race.

The safety car was deployed on lap 15 and as some cars came into the pits, Webber found himself in second place behind Alonso, the difference being that Webber had got his medium tyre phase out of the way, Alonso had not.

Vettel pitted for the second time under the safety car. Behind the safety car the order of the top ten was Alonso, Webber, Vettel, Massa, Rosberg, Sutil, Perez, Petrov, Schumacher, Barrichello.

The race restarted on lap 16. Alonso held the lead, but Vettel passed Webber on the straight and set about Alonso, using his fresh tyres. He got ahead into the lead, but Alonso seemed to be managing the tyre wear, apparently planning to make one less stop.

Button was making great progress at this stage, having already got his medium tyre phase out of the way early on. He passed Sutil and Massa in quick succession.

Vettel was trying hard to avoid making an extra stop at the front on his third set of tyres. He managed it and only pitted for the medium tyre when Alonso did so on lap lap 30. He had coped very well with the compromise enforced by the blistering early on, a tough job but one he and the team managed superbly. Understanding and working the tyres just right seems to be one of his strongest traits, as he also showed in the final part of qualifying.

In the closing stages the main interest was Webber on soft tyres trying to catch Alonso on the mediums.

Michael Schumacher had a great day to celebrate his 20th anniversary, starting at the back of the grid he used an inverted strategy starting on and running mainly mediums with soft tyres at the end to get into the top six and fight with his team mate Rosberg, who started fifth. Rosberg was told to “save fuel” in the closing stages and Schumacher passed him for fifth place.

Webber passed Alonso on the medium tyre very easily, the Red Bull a lot faster on it than the Ferrari. Meanwhile Button on the soft tyre was catching Alonso at a second a lap with six laps to go. He passed him with four laps to go for the final podium spot.

Webber closed on Vettel in the closing stages at around 7/10ths of a second a lap, but Vettel managed that gap too.

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Martin Whitmarsh has singled out Fernando Alonso's acrimonious departure at the end of 2007 as a "massive regret" of his 20-year McLaren career.

Whitmarsh, now team principal, was Ron Dennis' deputy two years ago, when Spaniard Alonso notoriously clashed with Dennis and rookie Lewis Hamilton and fled back to Renault after a single season under Mercedes power.

"A massive regret to me is losing a star like Fernando," Whitmarsh told the German news agency DPA. "He's one of the greatest racing drivers. I regret that we didn't make it work: we failed to manage the situation.

"This a good team, he is a good driver. We could have had more success than we've had."

His praise of double world champion Alonso, 27, is not an immediate bid to woo the driver back to McLaren, given that at Valencia on Friday he said confidently that Alonso is bound for Ferrari in 2010.

Whitmarsh is however running McLaren with a different style to that of his predecessor Dennis, and it seems reuniting with a driver like Alonso cannot now be ruled out.

"Sometimes we've been too arrogant, we have to accept it," he admitted. "I have been always very open in the company, my style is completely open."



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No es de Allen, pero como es en version original lo pongo aqui