Monaco GP – Race: Sebastian Vettel adds a jewel to his crown

With Sergio Perez’s accident yesterday and Lewis Hamilton’s penalty, he was able to start from the ninth position with hard tires, which are slightly slower but more durable.

From the formation lap, Jenson Button, in second position, has vibration problems.

Fernando Alonso makes a good start to reach third place, while Nico Rosberg takes the advantage for fifth place. His teammate, on the other hand, is relegated to tenth position after a disastrous start but manages to get past Lewis Hamilton at the hairpin, with the Briton complaining about an issue with the right rear. The reigning world champion, Sebastian Vettel, takes a three-second advantage as usual by the second lap.

After a few laps, Jenson Button, who has a fairly clear track ahead of him given the four-second lead taken by Sebastian Vettel, is also pushing very hard, while Nico Rosberg is being chased by Felipe Massa.

The second Mercedes driver is also in trouble, pursued by Lewis Hamilton and caught by Rubens Barrichello, while Vitaly Petrov distances him little by little, as Fernando Alonso sets the fastest lap on track. Michael Schumacher is then forced to yield at the first corner thanks to a very nice maneuver by Lewis Hamilton, allowing him to break away. Both Mercedes drivers are affected by graining on the rear tires, while Pastor Maldonado takes advantage over the seven-time world champion before he stops for the first pit stop of the race. The super-soft tires seem to last a little less than fifteen laps at the start of the race.

Nico Rosberg is also in trouble, overtaken by Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado, while Jenson Button comes into the pits, the first of the leading drivers, but comes out ahead of the Brazilian Ferrari driver, who was held up for a long time by Nico Rosberg.

Big problems for the two Red Bull Renault drivers in the pits, losing 4 seconds for Sebastian Vettel and more than 10 seconds for Mark Webber. The mechanics seem to have had a major issue with the tires, which completely reshapes the race.

Fernando Alonso also switches to soft tires like Sebastian Vettel, unlike Jenson Button who has gone back out on super-softs and is widening the gap by taking advantage of his faster tires.

The McLaren driver gains almost a second per lap on Sebastian Vettel; the contribution of the tires seems very significant, while his teammate enters the pits without his team being ready to switch to the super-soft tires, and Lewis Hamilton loses 5 seconds in his stop.

After 24 laps, the two Mercedes drivers are about ten seconds ahead of Button…but he’s a lap ahead of them! The Silver Arrows are not at all to their advantage today.

Vitaly Petrov, on the other hand, is stuck behind Pastor Maldonado, who is struggling with his tires, as neither driver has made a pit stop yet. It seems that many drivers are attempting a tire-saving strategy. But not the 2008 world champion, who is pushing hard to catch up with Mark Webber, while Felipe Massa slips in between them after his stop. Paul di Resta, who was involved in a collision at the hairpin while attempting a somewhat overambitious overtake, suffers a well-deserved drive-through penalty.

Many problems in the pits today as half of the drivers have completed their first pit stop, with Vitaly Petrov also losing time. And as incredible as it may seem, on the thirtieth lap, only 3 drivers are within the same minute. Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, and Fernando Alonso are within 17 seconds, while the fourth at that moment, who has not made his stop, Rubens Barrichello, is 67 seconds behind!

Timo Glock is forced to retire after a contact with the rail, causing the arrival of a yellow flag. Jenson Button decides to pit to switch to new super-soft tires, hoping for the arrival of the safety car, which comes out when Felipe Massa crashes after slipping in the tunnel as Lewis Hamilton overtakes him. Lewis Hamilton, who had just made the same mistake as Paul di Resta earlier with Felipe Massa right before his accident, damaging the cars and is under a penalty investigation, remains to be seen with the stewards. Second retirement in a week for the Brazilian.

Hecatomb right now with Michael Schumacher stopping just in front of the pit entrance, victim of a technical problem, smoke coming from the car. Of the three leading drivers, only Sebastian Vettel did not take the opportunity to stop and is therefore on prime tires that have many laps. Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, on new tires, are just behind him and the safety car. But the Red Bull driver had done many laps on the prime tires during free practice. Sutil and Kobayashi also made a good deal by finding themselves in 4th and 5th, first stop made. The leading drivers are separated by lapped cars.

And the race is back on in the 40th lap, as the drivers battle each other while passing backmarkers, going three wide in some spots, while the incident between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa at the hairpin is under investigation. The Force India driver was previously penalized for a similar fault a few laps earlier.

And the penalty comes with a drive-through for Lewis Hamilton, while his teammate catches up to Sebastian Vettel struggling with his tires. But the Red Bull driver has only made one stop and must hold on for a few more laps with worn-out tires to hope for a shot at victory.

On his side, Jenson Button still has to use the mandatory prime tires, while Fernando Alonso might try to reach the end of the Grand Prix with the tires fitted during the Safety Car.

And it’s ultimately Jenson Button who stops at the pit first, despite having fresher tires, to switch to prime tires. It’s likely the final stop for the McLaren driver, while his teammate does the same, losing a bit of time once again during his stop.

And the 2009 world champion records the fastest lap on track, two seconds quicker than Sebastian Vettel’s lap. The Red Bull driver is being caught at a rapid pace, as is Alonso. Then it’s Mark Webber who comes into the pits to switch to hard tires, unable to overtake Kamui Kobayashi. Sebastian Vettel is almost 40 laps in with his set of prime tires, a significant performance from the Red Bull driver, while Fernando Alonso has closed the gap to four-tenths and is taking risks, as Jenson Button gains on them at a tremendous rate.

The three drivers are respectively at 1, 2, and 3 stops. Yet, they are all right behind each other. After 65 laps, the top three drivers are within 0.6 seconds of each other. And the Red Bull driver is using tires that have already done 49 laps. This is unique since the season started with the Pirellis. Just behind at one minute, Kamui Kobayashi passes Adrian Sutil with a slight contact, just ahead of Vitaly Petrov. And it’s very tense at the front, Fernando Alonso is putting a lot of pressure just behind Sebastian Vettel using DRS. Then, it’s Mark Webber who attacks strongly and overtakes Vitaly Petrov and Adrian Sutil. The German then stops, his tires being too worn after 35 laps.

Only 10 laps remaining and Sebastian Vettel is still in the lead, with Fernando Alonso making a small mistake at the braking after the tunnel, giving him a bit of a margin, with Jenson Button just behind. And the safety car makes its appearance, with a huge pile-up right in front of the three leaders who fortunately escape without damage, which benefits Sebastian Vettel whose tires are completely worn by the 54th lap. Many drivers are out of the race, and the red flag is out at this moment, with an ambulance on site. Jaime Alguersuari and Vitaly Petrov both hit the barrier very hard, while the rear wing of Lewis Hamilton, who got hit from behind, is completely bent. The drivers are thus forced to stop on the starting grid in the order they are in, waiting for the race to resume.

Vitaly Petrov reportedly experienced pain and could not exit without medical assistance, while the race is set to resume at 16:04, having initially started at 14:00. A long afternoon for the drivers. It seems the teams have the right to change the cars’ tires, nullifying the advantage some had, particularly Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button against Sebastian Vettel. The race restarts behind the safety car, with the majority of drivers on super-soft tires after a 72nd lap in 21’53’041 for the Red Bull driver.

The three leading drivers are fortunate to have no backmarkers between them or in front of them, but Jenson Button, unlike Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, is on prime tires. And just a few meters into the first lap without the safety car, Pastor Maldonado gets hit by a very optimistic Lewis Hamilton and ends up sideways at the first corner. The yellow flag is out, but the race marshals do a fantastic job clearing the track in less than a minute, which is incredible on a circuit like Monaco. And the incident is under investigation once again.

And Fernando Alonso sets the fastest lap by a mere eight thousandths ahead of Sebastian Vettel with two laps to go, as the three drivers push extremely hard for the first and second places. The Spaniard reiterates on the penultimate lap while Mark Webber overtakes Kamui Kobayashi for fourth place. And in the last lap, Sebastian Vettel sets the fastest race lap before Mark Webber crosses the line in fourth position.

The 2010 world champion thus adds the victory at the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix to his record and a fifth win this season, with 143 points out of a possible 150. Fernando Alonso also brings Ferrari’s second podium of the season, while Jenson Button completes the podium. These three drivers delivered an exceptional Grand Prix that was full of suspense until the red flag, which interrupted the world champion’s endurance race, allowing him to put on fresh tires like the majority of the drivers.

Lewis Hamilton may receive a penalty following his collision with Pastor Maldonado at the end of the race.

Results of the 2011 Monaco Grand Prix: