Spanish GP – Race: Hamilton in Vettel’s slipstream

At the start, it’s Fernando Alonso who takes the lead ahead of Sebastian Vettel after a brief battle between the two Red Bull drivers on the starting line. Michael Schumacher also gets a very good start, gaining 4 positions, while Nick Heidfeld moves up to 17th place. Jenson Button, on the other hand, has dropped to tenth place behind Sebastien Buemi. Kobayashi is forced to pit to change tires due to a puncture on the rear left.

From the second lap, both Red Bulls each take turns setting the fastest laps, but they don’t get close enough to Fernando Alonso. The top four drivers led by Fernando Alonso are well ahead of the others, with Vitaly Petrov alone in front of another pack led by Michael Schumacher.

The first wave of tire changes begins, and it’s Sebastian Vettel who comes in first, making two overtakes on his out lap before Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso follow suit. The Spaniard exits ahead of everyone, while Mark Webber gets stuck behind Felipe Massa, whom he eventually overtakes, but the Australian loses a position to Lewis Hamilton. The top three drivers are on a frantic pace.

Further back in the pack, Jenson Button manages to overtake Michael Schumacher, who lost some time behind Paul di Resta’s Force India.

After spending several laps stuck behind Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel is the first to pit for the second stop and clocks a very fast out-lap, allowing him to gain an advantage over the Spaniard who pits the following lap along with Mark Webber.

Lewis Hamilton is thus leading 15 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who is attacking very hard, setting the fastest lap on track more than seven-tenths quicker than everyone else.

Right behind him, Mark Webber put pressure on Fernando Alonso, hoping to pass Lewis Hamilton during his stop, but the Briton had built enough of a lead to come out ahead of the Spaniard, a little less than five seconds behind the new leader Sebastian Vettel.

In the pack, the two Team Lotus drivers are also having a great race considering their car, with Heikki Kovalainen even putting pressure on Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton is gradually closing in on the reigning world champion, while Fernando Alonso is struggling to keep the Red Bull’s Australian behind him. Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso pit at the same time to switch to hard tires, and the Spaniard just manages to come out ahead of Mark Webber with a slight skid as he leaves his pit box. The Ferrari driver could be penalized for this maneuver. Both drivers then lose a lot of time on the front-runners with the hard tires, while Sebastian Vettel stops in the pits. Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber engage in a thrilling duel as Lewis Hamilton also changes tires, finding himself behind the reigning world champion.

The McLaren driver’s teammate, Jenson Button, overtakes Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso while on soft tires and is now on the attack aiming for the podium in the long term.

The Spanish driver then returns to the pits to fit new hard tires, while Michael Schumacher and Vitaly Petrov both enter the pits as well. At the front of the race, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton are both hindered by the Indian HRT driver. The two leaders also lap the two Mercedes drivers, as Mark Webber changes tires, followed by his teammate Sebastian Vettel. Both drivers have put on hard tires for the final 17 laps. Jenson Button also returns to the pits for his 3rd stop for his final stint, as does his teammate, rejoining behind Vettel.

It seems that Jenson Button’s gamble to save a pit stop is paying off, while Mark Webber is catching up to him like a bullet. Heikki Kovalainen has an issue that eventually sends him into a wall at the braking zone, causing a yellow flag while Sebastian Vettel laps Felipe Massa. The battle for first place is intense, with Lewis Hamilton pushing hard to catch up with Sebastian Vettel and finds himself right behind him. Further down the pack, Felipe Massa is overtaken by Sergio Perez and then by Nick Heidfeld, the Brazilian is struggling with his hard tires and retires a few moments later. The German from Lotus Renault then overtakes Sergio Perez using the DRS.

The two leading drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, are neck and neck after lapping Fernando Alonso, while Lewis Hamilton seems to have a slight issue with his front right tire, which is causing him to lose a bit of time.

So it is Sebastian Vettel who wins for the 4th time this season in five Grand Prix, ahead of Lewis Hamilton who put up a tough fight against the reigning world champion, and Jenson Button who benefited from his tire-saving driving. Great disappointment for Fernando Alonso who finishes a lap behind the leader despite having led for many laps at the beginning of the Grand Prix.

Results of the 2011 Spanish Grand Prix: