Turkish GP – Race: Vettel wins, Alonso back!

After a Saturday where the front row was locked out by the two Red Bulls, all the drivers had the goal, on this Turkish Grand Prix Sunday, to dislodge these drivers.

From the start, Nico Rosberg succeeded in his bet by overtaking Mark Webber, while an overly optimistic Lewis Hamilton went wide and was overtaken by Fernando Alonso, who then put pressure on the Australian. The 2008 world champion was also overtaken by his teammate and narrowly managed to keep Michael Schumacher behind him.

The beginning of the race is highly contested with Sergio Pérez breaking his front wing, as well as Michael Schumacher breaking his on Vitaly Petrov’s LRGP during an aggressive overtaking move.

After five laps, Sebastian Vettel created a gap of about three seconds over Nico Rosberg, before the latter was overtaken by Mark Webber thanks to DRS, but both drivers remain in contact, caught up by Fernando Alonso. The world champion, meanwhile, sets the fastest laps in the race to secure his lead. Mark Webber also attacks and widens the gap on Nico Rosberg, pursued by Fernando Alonso who eventually overtakes him on the straight.

The two McLaren drivers, on the other hand, overtake each other in turn, not necessarily using their DRS, showing everyone that overtaking is possible. At the back of the pack, Michael Schumacher gradually moves up to 19th place, while Timo Glock has retired. The first real pit stop is by Vitaly Petrov, before several drivers follow suit, with Felipe Massa ahead of Lewis Hamilton. A battle in the pits between these two, who were side by side at the exit of the pit lane. At this point in the Grand Prix, the soft tires seem to last about ten laps! Of all the top-team drivers, only Jenson Button hasn’t made his stop, but he’s losing a lot of time, three seconds slower than Mark Webber’s fastest lap.

Overtakes are extremely numerous, but it is not the DRS that allows the most, but rather the management of the tires. Jenson Button’s radio communication announces that he is trying to make one fewer pit stop than his opponents by driving more smoothly. In the pack, Michael Schumacher offers a good show with some great battles but suffers numerous contacts as his front wing is damaged. The seven-time world champion takes a lot of risks being this aggressive. Further ahead, the fight continues for fourth position, with Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, and Felipe Massa within two small seconds of each other, while the German driver is the only one on hard tires, having saved a set of new soft tires yesterday. There’s an opportunity for the Mercedes GP driver.

The second wave of pit stops is initiated by Vitaly Petrov once again, on the 20th lap. A very nice battle between Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg, the German was overtaken at the exit of turn 8 but managed to regain the advantage in a somewhat intense tussle between the two. The following lap, the Brazilian takes the lead, while Jenson Button climbs quickly and overtakes the German in the last corner. Most of the drivers head to the pits, while Nico Rosberg also returns, even though he was on hard tires. This raises the question about the longevity of the prime tires.

In third position, Fernando Alonso sets fastest lap after fastest lap to catch up with Mark Webber, before Sebastian Vettel responds, even though he is eight seconds ahead of the Australian. Midway through the race, almost all drivers have already made two pit stops, and it seems impossible to make only three stops.

Fernando Alonso manages to overtake Mark Webber thanks to the DRS and attacks hard to close the gap with Sebastian Vettel. The fifth place seems highly coveted with no fewer than six drivers within five seconds. Nico Rosberg makes his third stop, followed by Lewis Hamilton who faces a major issue in the pits, with his right front wheel refusing to come off. The McLaren drivers are not spared from troubles during these pit stops, which have become so crucial now.

Sebastian Vettel sets the fastest lap in the race while his teammate switches to hard tires, followed by several other drivers. Mark Webber records the best second sector on his out-lap from the pits, while Lewis Hamilton sets the fastest first sector. With twenty laps to go, the question arises whether the drivers can finish the race on the tires they just put on. The Australian does not really try to save his tires, improving the best time by seven-tenths before being overtaken by Fernando Alonso. The German from Red Bull Racing loses about half a second per lap and decides to stop, switching to hard tires. The top three drivers (Vettel, Alonso, Webber) are within 10.5 seconds of each other, while Lewis Hamilton is more than thirty seconds behind Webber. Nico Rosberg makes his fourth stop and switches to soft tires on lap 44, while Pastor Maldonado is penalized. Paul di Resta, meanwhile, is forced to retire on lap 44 due to a mechanical issue.

On the leading drivers’ side, Mark Webber stops again to change tires, as does Fernando Alonso who switches to hard tires. The leader also stops and switches to hard tires, while Mark Webber sets the fastest lap at an extremely quick 1’29’945. The Australian is gaining rapidly on Fernando Alonso! The Red Bull driver is aiming for a double and could target first place, being only eight seconds behind his teammate. For fourth place, Jenson Button is stuck due to his three-stop strategy and is overtaken by his teammate, while Nico Rosberg surges forward like a bullet on his soft tires.

Sebastian Vettel, still in the lead, sets a time of 1’29 as well, while Mark Webber makes an overtake in the last corners of the circuit on Fernando Alonso, who immediately tries to regain his position, without success. In the pack, a very nice battle unfolds between Felipe Massa, Michael Schumacher, and Jaime Alguersuari who arrive at the pit lane side by side, before Felipe Massa takes the advantage.

Nico Rosberg, meanwhile, can overtake Jenson Button who is struggling with his tires, while Nick Heidfeld overtakes an impressive Sebastien Buemi, who only made three stops, for the seventh position.

The 2010 world champion finishes ahead of Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso, achieving the first double of the 2011 season. Sebastian Vettel dominates once again and extends his lead in the championship, scoring 93 out of a possible 100 points in the first four Grand Prix races.

Result of the 2011 Turkish Grand Prix