Vettel cruises to victory at inaugural Indian Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel took his 11th victory of the season at the recently opened Buddh International Circuit in India with yet another dominant performance.

The Red Bull driver enjoyed a perfect race, starting on pole, clinching the fastest lap and leading from start-to-finish. Meanwhile front row compatriot and team-mate Mark Webber was embroiled in an early battle for position with Jenson Button (McLaren) and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), giving Vettel the opportunity to pull free from the chasing pack.

The German held a comfortable four second plus lead for most of the race, with Button only able to reduce the deficit briefly to three seconds after the second round of pitstops.

Button had moved up to second from P4 on the first lap, as Alonso ran wide into Turn 1 while Webber’s inability to defend position gave the Brit the chance to chase down the leader. The Australian briefly remained in contention for P2, doggedly pursuing the McLaren for several laps until Button was able to open up an advantage and claim a relatively uncontested second.

Alonso stole third from Webber at the final round of pitstops, where changing to the hard Pirellis ultimately cost the Red Bull man the final place on the podium.

Further down the grid Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and Felipe Massa (Ferrari) were involved in yet another collision. The Brazilian had overtaken and opened up a commanding lead over the Brit until a mistake midway through the race brought Hamilton back into contention. The McLaren driver had qualified in second but was handed a three-place grid penalty after the first practice session for ignoring waved-double yellow flags.

They eventually collided as Hamilton darted up the inside of Massa heading into Turn 5. The McLaren hit the inside of the Ferrari as it turned into the corner, although Massa was adjudged to be at fault by the stewards and was duly awarded a drive-through penalty for leaving insufficient room. Hamilton had to pit for a new front wing as a result of the incident, securing seventh after emerging in ninth after his pitstop. Massa on the other hand was forced to retire on lap 34 as he smashed his suspension on a kerb, just as he had at the end of qualifying.

Meanwhile Michael Schumacher won the battle of the Mercedes drivers, finishing fifth after jumping his team mate Nico Rosberg, who had to settle for sixth, after a late final pitstop.

The Toro Rossos of Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastian Buemi were looking good for points until the Swiss driver had to retire on lap 26 with a plume of smoke trailing from his car. Alguersuari managed to take eighth, ahead of Adrian Sutil (Force India) and Perez who finished ninth and tenth respectively.

The Renault duo of Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna had to settle for 11th and 12th, while Paul Di Resta in the other Force India could only manage 13th. Heikki Kovelainen in the Lotus took 14th, although at one point he was in P10 while others around him pitted.

The Buddh circuit initially proved difficult to navigate for some of the field, especially in the opening laps where several cars were forced to retire or pit. Rubens Barrichello flew into the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi after shunting his team mate Pastor Maldonado into turn 1.The Japanese driver then rejoined straight into the path of Timo Glock’s Virgin. The damage on the German’s car forced him to pit on the first lap, and ultimately to retire only a few laps later.

The most notable consequence of the weekend’s action is that McLaren secured second in the constructors’ championship, while Button strengthened his hold of second place in the drivers’ standings to 13 points over Alonso. Vettel managed to set a new record for most laps led in a single season, which was previously held by Nigel Mansell after his performances in the 1992 season.

The action resumes in two weeks time over the weekend of 12/13 November in Abu Dhabi.

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James Weeks