Formula One has its fun in Melbourne, Monaco and Montreal, but it gets its fix of high-adrenaline racing at Silverstone, Spa, and Suzuka where ridiculous speeds and fully committed corners deftly sort the men from the boys. Of these, the mighty and venerable Spa-Francorchamps – complete with Eau Rouge, Pouhon, Blanchimont and the unpredictable Ardennes weather – is the most likely to deliver an instant classic – and once again it did not disappoint.
It’s very difficult to find a driver who doesn’t say Spa is his favourite circuit
“Spa is a fantastic circuit.”
Sébastien Buemi
“Even driving it on your own is fun.”
Sebastian Vettel
“It’s my favourite circuit.”
Bruno Senna – Renault
“You always love driving here.”
Mark Webber
“It’s the best circuit in the world.”
Jérôme D’Ambrosio – Virgin
“I call it my living room.”
Michael Schumacher – Mercedes
Red Bull were cautious. This hasn’t been one of their better venues – they don’t generally have the horsepower to hold off Mercedes and Ferrari.
“We know the next two events have historically been our weakest venues in terms of our package [because of] the horsepower emphasis that is placed on these two circuits. If we want to get close to certain engines on the straight we have to run a bit less wing, so we carry less downforce.”
Christian Horner
There wasn’t much to learn on Friday, and that which there was mostly involved rain tyres – but Mark Webber did pop up to top the timesheet in FP2.
“There wasn’t much dry running – we just did some general housekeeping.”
Mark Webber
Mark stayed on top for FP3 but Seb took a last-second pole position in a rain-affected qualifying session, snatching it from Lewis Hamilton, who in turn had just snatched it from Mark.
“All weekend there wasn’t much running but we have been quite happy and quite competitive in all conditions. Mark more than myself. I wasn’t really happy yesterday, or this morning, but I think we did the right steps to come back, especially when it was drying up as I was feeling more and more comfortable. Tomorrow, I don’t know what is the forecast. They say dry, but I don’t know how much. What are the odds?”
Sebastian Vettel
“I think that clearly we’re quite strong.”
Lewis Hamilton – McLaren
“The guys ahead of me did a good job, that’s why their stopwatch stopped before mine did. I’m still happy to be up here. We’re certainly in the hunt for a good Grand Prix tomorrow – I’m looking forward to it. Yeah it was a tricky day for all of us, but that’s Spa.”
Mark Webber
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Other qualifying performances of note saw Jamie Alguersuari start a record best sixth position for Toro Rosso, Jenson Button 13th for McLaren after a mix-up with his team, and Michael Schumacher crash into a wall when one of his tyres didn’t want to join in his anniversary celebrations.
“The situation today is a bit special. It’s not going to be like this every weekend. We need to be happy… Toro Rosso is improving as a team, they are now on their second year or running themselves, without Red Bull Technology, and this is very important for them, you know?”
Jaime Alguersuari
“It’s very disappointing. In Q1, I was a second quicker than everyone. Our car is clearly one of the quickest around here, and it’s going to be tough starting back in 13th. But I’ve just got to deal with it now. I think I’ll just have a cup of tea and move on from it.”
Jenson Button – McLaren
"It is difficult to drive on three wheels – even if I should have the experience to do so in Spa.”
Michael Schumacher
At the start both Red Bulls suffered with their getaway – Vettel managed to just claw his way out of trouble and keep the lead but Webber was engulfed and hurled back into the midfield. Vettel’s lead was short-lived as the lightening start of Nico Rosberg created to the unusual sight of a Mercedes lead the first lap.
"I had a great start today and it was a special feeling to be leading the race in a Silver Arrow at this amazing circuit. It was great to see the traffic jam behind me with the Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari cars, but it was hard to realise that we just don't have the pace to stay at the top.”
Nico Rosberg – Mercedes
“I think Mark nearly stalled or had to pull the clutch again and I was just about to pull it. [I] Released the clutch and the revs went really low and I thought the engine nearly died. For a moment it was quite, quite critical… I was taking a very aggressive approach down to Eau Rouge but still it was enough. The tow, today, in general was very powerful so we saw a lot of manoeuvres after Eau Rouge and he [Rosberg] was able to take the lead. Quite busy initially…”
Sebastian Vettel
“The start was shocking. [I] dropped the lever and had anti-stall immediately… that was a very disappointing way to start the grand prix – on the back foot from there knowing, as Seb did, that we were going to stop pretty early as our tyres were badly damaged after qualifying.”
Mark Webber
Further back Jaime Alguersuari was an innocent victim of a collision, which ended his race in the middle of a typical La Source melee.
“Senna completely missed his braking point and hit me. However, there are many positive things we can take out of this weekend, as we clearly had a car capable of scoring many points today, which is a tribute to all the hard work of the team. I feel sorry for the guys, because starting sixth on the grid is not an everyday occurrence for us.”
Jaime Alguersuari
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Webber pitted at the end of lap two, Vettel on lap five. Both Red Bulls were concerned about tyre wear.
“You are driving into the unknown. We took a risk.”
Sebastian Vettel
Kobayashi and Hamilton clashed on Lap 13, ending Hamilton’s race and bringing out the safety car. Vettel takes advantage to steal a cheap pitstop while Alonso leads. Webber has radio problems and doesn’t pit, instead following Alonso around in second.
“After watching the replay, I realize it was my fault today 100%. I didn’t give Kobayashi enough room though I thought I was past. Apologies to Kamui and to my team. The team deserves better from me.”
Lewis Hamilton
“I don’t even know how it would have rolled out after that safety car. They wanted me to pit but we didn’t so we had to make it work by staying out and going very, very long and in the end it wasn’t a disaster either.”
Mark Webber
“We obviously decided to pit for the second time when the safety car came out. At that stage, I think the safety car didn’t necessarily help us, but it gave us a window…”
Sebastian Vettel
Vettel passes Webber and soon gets past Alonso, Webber takes longer on his medium compound tyres to catch the Ferrari, but makes it worth while with a stunning overtaking move. Alonso is also caught and passed by the charging Button.
“I was feeling very comfortable in the car and without too much effort I was able to keep up with the guys and get back into the lead. After the safety car, it was crucial to get back into the lead, jump Fernando, pass him and build a gap that made it more comfortable towards the end of the race. It was more management than usual, but I have to say the car worked brilliantly and I think, compared to previous years, we were very competitive.”
Sebastian Vettel
“Obviously we were very, very close going down into Eau Rouge… I got a tow and then I thought if I can get to the inside then I might have the line. Obviously both of us are very experienced, we don’t give much too easily, so it was a good battle and very, very rewarding that it worked out OK, but it takes two guys doing a good job to get all that right. In the end, it worked out for me today but in Monza, maybe it’s his turn to do it to me. I was breathing in at the bottom [of Eau Rouge], one of us had to lift and I had a slightly better line…”
Mark Webber
“Honestly, I didn’t think I had a real chance of winning, but a podium was within our grasp. The strategy saw me lead in the early stages, but then, we knew that in the final part, we would have struggled more.”
Fernando Alonso – Ferrari
“At that point of the race, it was reasonably easy. I could tow up to him [Alonso] on the straight, there was no one in front of him and I could do him with DRS.”
Jenson Button
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They finished in that order, with Vettel claiming his seventh victory of an increasingly one-sided 2011 season, crossed the line 3.7 seconds ahead of Webber, who in turn was 5.9 seconds ahead of Button.
“I think it is a team result today. Probably one of our best results ever as a team. Pretty stressful last night, pretty stressful this morning. We have brilliant rivals and that’s why we have to respond all the time. It’s why I said it’s a pretty special result for our team today considering what we went through, and also the venue we’re at.”
Mark Webber
“I had a fun race, it will be one of those races that I will look back on and say that it was enjoyable.”
Jenson Button
“Of course I’m very happy with today’s result and I know that it’s very important to finish ahead of those guys and anybody else, so it brought us closer to our final target, but it’s still a long way to go.”
Sebastian Vettel
And so, at a circuit where Red Bull aren’t supposed to be very good, Sebastian Vettel wins the race and Mark Webber is second. Webber also sets the fastest lap and has the highest speed through the speed trap in a car that’s supposed to struggle in a straight line. Monza might be a different story, but with Vettel’s lead up to 92 points in the Drivers’ Championship, and Red Bull’s Constructor’s Championship advantage up to an imperious 131, the challengers need to respond quickly, otherwise the Championships are going to get very boring – but the racing will probably continue to be superb.
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