Paul Henman formula1 Brazilian Grand Prix – Race

Brazilian Grand Prix – Race

A huge downpour in Qualifying resulted in a delay before the start of Q3. (Let’s skip over the suckage which was TSN’s coverage.)

The tyre compounds for this weekend are: prime = hard (orange) and option = medium (white), although the intermediate (green) and full wets (blue) have had more use so far today.

My GridBids picks for the race are: VET, WEB, BUT, HAM & BOT.

Provisional grid: VET, ROS, ALO, WEB, HAM, GRO, RIC, VER, MAS, HUL, KOV, DIR, BOT, BUT, SUT, MAL, GUT, PIC, PER*, VDG, BIA, CHI.
* “Perez originally qualified 14th, but received a 5-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.” [source: FIA]

Air temperature 19°C; track 24°C; wind 5.2m/s; humidity 80%
60% chance of rain during the race.

VET leads everyone away on the formation lap
Quali was wet so everyone can choose which of the dry compounds to start the race
Looks like everyone is starting on the options (medium) except BUT & GUT who presumably are hoping to delay pitting until it rains
Radio from WEB confirming his visor heater is off

01/71: Great start for ROS – he’s past VET before Turn 1
Clean through the first few corners
HAM past ALO for P3
VET attacking ROS for P1, and takes it

02: VET, ROS, HAM, ALO, WEB, MAS, HUL, GRO, RIC, BOT
ALO around HAM to take P3 in Turn 1
WEB attacking HAM now – takes P4

03: VET fastest lap 1:18.402
BUT takes P10 from BOT
DRS now enabled
Smoke from the engine of GRO – he eventually finds a safe place to pull off

04: ALO takes P2 from ROS

05/71: VET, ALO, ROS, WEB, HAM, MAS, HUL, RIC, BUT, BOT; retirements: GRO

06: VET f/lap 1:17.806

07: VET has a massive 5.6sec lead over ALO
WEB past ROS for P3

08: HAM closing on his teammate in P4
GUT inside SUT for P11
PER follows GUT past SUT

9: BUT takes P8 from RIC
Incident involving cars 6 and 14 (PER and DIR) under investigation – forcing another driver off track
Radio from ROS – struggling with rear tyres

10/71: VET, ALO, WEB, ROS, HAM, MAS, HUL, BUT, RIC, BOT
PER past GUT for P11
Radio for ROS – if problem with tyres, let HAM pass; if tyres are coming back, push

11: Official FIA timing chart just reset – “No live session”!?!
VER pits
HAM takes P4 from his teammate
WEB harrying ALO over P2

12: Incident involving cars 6 and 14 (PER and DIR) – no further action

13: VET continues to open his lead – nearly 10secs
WEB takes P2 from ALO
PER past BOT for P10

14: BUT has a run at HUL – takes P7
PER closing on RIC

15/71: VET, WEB, ALO, HAM, ROS, MAS, BUT, HUL, RIC, PER; retirements: GRO
RIC pits from P9 – rejoins P17
MAS past ROS for P5
Radio for MAL – stay out – risk of showers

16: KOV pits
VET locks up – visible graining on his front tyres
Radio for ALO – no rain expected for 20 mins
Forecast on pit wall says no rain in next 30 minutes

17: MAL on the tail of GUT

18: Lap times are dropping
BOT & SUT pit nose to tail – SUT exit ahead of BOT – good stop by Force India

19: VET locking up as tyres near end of life
BOT passes VER but BOT runs wide – VER reclaims P17 – KOV follows VER past BOT

20/71: MAS and PER pit
Spots of rain?

21: BUT pits, as do HUL and DIR

22: ALO and HAM pit
MAS f/lap 1:17.049
Looking quite grey overhead

23: BUT making most of new tyres – past GUT for P7
ROS pits
GUT pits

24: WEB pits – slow stop – rejoins P3
ALO f/lap 1:16.966
Radio for VET – box, box, box

25/71: VET pits – OK but not great stop – rejoins still well clear in P1
Everyone except VDG, PIC and CHI have stopped now
VDG pits

26: VET, ALO, WEB, MAS, HAM, BUT, ROS, PER, HUL, RIC
WEB f/lap 1:16.957
WEB takes P2 from ALO but the Ferrari driver fights back
PIC pits – just CHI yet to stop

27: HAM closing on MAS
CHI pits

28: BBC interview Christian Horner; ask if the Lotus engine failure concerns him (because Red Bull use same engine)

29: WEB f/lap 1:16.927
VER pits – 2nd stop

30/71: VET, WEB, ALO, MAS, HAM, BUT, ROS, PER, HUL, RIC
VET f/lap 1:16.901
WEB f/lap 1:16.774
Incident involving car 4 (MAS) under investigation – crossing the white line at pit entry

31: Replay shows MAS did cross the line after the last point it’s ok
GUT and BOT touch wheels as they fight over P14
Radio for MAS – don’t cross the pit entry line

32: MAS locks up into Turn 1 – HAM locks up too
Drive through penalty for car 4 (MAS)
Radio for HAM telling him of MAS penalty, so hold off

34: Radio from MAS – “it’s unbelievable FIA; it’s unacceptable”

35/71: VET, WEB, ALO, MAS, HAM, BUT, ROS, PER, HUL, RIC; retirements: GRO
MAS serves his drive-through penalty; gesticulates at the stewards as he passes them (will he get another penalty?); drops from P4 to P8
Spots of rain on the TV camera lens

Half distance

37: Radio for BUT – recommend taking care of front right – BUT says don’t talk to me in braking zones

38: DIR all over the rear of his teammate SUT
SUT pits, giving DIR P11

39: VET leads by 11.5secs

40/71: VET, WEB, ALO, HAM, BUT, ROS, PER, MAS, HUL, RIC

41: Radio for WEB warning him to stay away from the white line at pit entry – we’ll get no (more?) warnings

44: BUT pits, as does MAS
SUT passes VET to unlap himself!

45/71: ROS and PER pit; clean stops

46: MAS closes on DIR – easy pass to take P9

47: RIC passes VET to unlap himself
Radio from HAM – rain check
BOT off – he’s lost his rear right wheel
HAM has a right rear puncture

48: VET pits – team weren’t ready
WEB has to wait while Red Bull team finish VET’s stop
Replay shows contact between BOT and HAM
Lots of pit stops
Replay of radio from BOT claiming HAM turned in on him

49: ALO is right on the tail of WEB
Incident involving cars 10 and 17 (HAM and BOT) under investigation – causing a collision

50/71: VET, WEB, ALO, BUT, ROS, PER, MAS, HAM, HUL, SUT
ALO f/lap 1:15.810

51: ALO takes a look at WEB
ALO f/lap 1:15.496
Drive-through penalty for HAM – causing a collision

52: WEB f/lap 1:15.436
Radio from HAM asking for update re: floor damage – told he has drive through – take it ASAP in case of rain

53: Radio from HAM – “but it wasn’t my fault”
HAM serves drive-through penalty; rejoins P11
Incident involving car 21 (VDG) under investigation – ignoring blue flags

54: Drive-through penalty for VDG
Looks like a few more spots of rain
VDG serves penalty

55/71: VET, WEB, ALO, BUT, ROS, PER, MAS, HUL, SUT, RIC; retirements: BOT, GRO
Radio for VET – localised rain
PER attacking ROS for P6 – the Mercedes stays ahead

56: Radio for ROS telling him he needs to stay ahead of PER (duh!)
Rain starting to fall more consistently but not heavy yet

58: HAM past RIC for P9

60/71: VET, WEB, ALO, BUT, ROS, PER, MAS, HUL, HAM, RIC

61: PIC off – suspension failure – pulls off

62: Marshals struggling to push PIC’s car uphill to gap in fence

63: VER hassling MAL for P15

64: SUT inside KOV to take P13

65/71: VET, WEB, ALO, BUT, ROS, PER, MAS, HUL, HAM, RIC; retirements: BOT, GRO
MAL spins – BUT tries to lap him but MAL makes him fight for it
Replay shows VER inside MAL into Turn 1 – MAL closes the door way too late – contact causes MAL to spin

66: Incident involving cars 18 and 16 (VER and MAL) will be investigated after the race – causing a collision

67: Radio for VET – rain is going to pick up – don’t think it’ll be enough to change tyres (to intermediates)

69: Humidity evident – air turbulence visible coming off the rear wing of many cars
CHI pits – 3rd stop

70/71: VET, WEB, ALO, BUT, ROS, PER, MAS, HUL, HAM, RIC

71 = final lap: GUT all over SUT

VET takes the chequered flag – 9 consecutive GP wins (equalling Ascari) in one season (first one to do it); also equals Schumacher’s record of 13 wins in a season.
WEB P2 in his last F1 race
ALO P3
BUT P4 – McLaren’s best result of the season

Provisional result: VET, WEB, ALO, BUT, ROS, PER, MAS, HUL, HAM, RIC; DIR, GUT, SUT, KOV, VER, MAL, BIA, VDG, CHI
DNF: PIC, BOT, GRO.
(From lap 66: Incident involving cars 18 and 16 (VER and MAL) will be investigated after the race – causing a collision)

WEB takes off his helmet & gloves on the cool-down lap
VET does doughnuts on the main straight
MAS spinning his car too – his last race in a Ferrari

So Mercedes take 2nd in the Constructors’ Championship, ahead of Ferrari.

2 thoughts on “Brazilian Grand Prix – Race”

  1. Final update from GridBids: “You scored 57 points for this race and have a total of 968 points this season. You ranked 39 for this race and 28 overall.”

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