Formula 1 News

Vettel dominates the 2011 Singapore Grand Prix 

Button and Webber on the podium

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel took his ninth win in the 2011 season at the fourth edition of the Singapore Grand Prix held today at the Marina Bay street circuit.

McLaren’s Jenson Button finished second, ahead of Mark Webber and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.

Fifth place for Lewis Hamilton in the other McLaren, sixth for Paul di Resta in the Force India, seventh for Nico Rosberg in the first of the Mercedes GPs, eighth for Adrian Sutil in the other Force India, ninth for Felipe Massa in the other Ferrari and tenth for Sergio Perez in the Sauber.

2011 Singapore Grand Prix, lap by lap highlights:

The fourteenth race of the 2011 season is about to start at Singapore’s Marina Bay street circuit under the powerful artificial lights.

Championship leader Sebastian Vettel starts for the eleventh time in the season from pole position for Red Bull Racing ahead of team-mate Mark Webber. Jenson Button starts from P3 in the first of the McLaren’s ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa in the Ferrari, Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes GP, Adrian Sutil and Paul Di Resta in the Force India.

Formation lap: the grid clears ahead of the formation lap. Top ten drivers except for Di Resta will start with Pirelli’s Super Soft tyres.

Race start: The five red lights go off! Race start at Marina Bay and…into Turn 1, Vettel, Button, Alonso. P4 for Webber. Hamilton drops down to seventh.

Lap 2/61: Daniel Ricciardo is slowly heading to the pits after a damaged front wing. Vettel P1, Button P2, Alonso P3, Webber P4, Massa P5, Rosberg P6, Schumacher P7, Hamilton P8.

Lap 3/61: Race control informs that the DRS has been enabled.

Lap 4/61: Hamilton overtakes Schumacher on the DRS zone for P7.

Lap 5/61: Hamilton passes Rosberg for P6.

Lap 6/61: Vettel increases his lead to +7.0 seconds on Button. Sutil and Di Resta hold on on their starting positions, P9 and P10.

Lap 7/61: Perez in P11, ahead of Maldonado, Barrichello, Bruno Senna, Buemi, Kobayashi, Trulli, Alguersuari, Petrov, Kovalainen, D’Ambrosio, Glock, Liuzzi and Ricciardo.

Lap 9/61: Webber is now pressuring Alonso for P3, while Hamilton does the same with Massa for P5.

Lap 10/61: Webber overtakes Alonso for P3.

Lap 11/61: Alonso pits for a fresh set of tyres. Schumacher pits. Senna pits from P16. Glock pulls off and retires.

Lap 12/61: Massa and Hamilton pit. Sutil and Maldonado pit. Hamilton attempts to pass Massa but fails. Hamilton has damage to the front wing while Massa has a puncture. Replays show the pair making contact.

Lap 13/61: Webber has pitted.

Lap 14/61: Hamilton pits for a new front wing. Liuzzi pits from P21.

Lap 15/61: Race leader Vettel pits. Button pits. Race control: drive through penalty for Hamilton for causing a collision. Perez pits.

Lap 16/61: Hamilton serves his drive through. Vettel P1, Button P2.

Lap 17/61: Kobayashi pits from tenth. Trulli and Petrov pit. D’Ambrosio and Ricciardo pit.

Lap 19/61: Alonso passes Di Resta for P3 at Turn 7.

Lap 20/61: Di Resta pits. Vettel P1, Button P2, Alonso P3, Webber P4, Rosberg P5, Schumacher P6. Massa overtakes Buemi for P12.

Lap 22/61: Fastest lap for Vettel: 1:53.113. Webber has closed the gap to Alonso.

Lap 23/61: Rosberg pits from sixth and rejoins in ninth.

Lap 25/61: Massa pits.

Lap 26/61: Alonso pits from third. Hamilton makes it up to 11th after passing Barrichello.

Lap 27/61: Vettel is now on a 20.4 second lead to Button. Fastest lap for Schumacher: 1:53.096.

Lap 28/61: Fastest lap for Massa: 1:52.550. Kovalainen pits from 16th.

Lap 30/61: Safety car deployed. Schumacher run into the back of Perez’s Sauber, then crashed into the barriers causing a lot of damage to the Mercedes. Webber pits. Di Resta, Sutil, Perez, Rosberg, Senna, Hamilton, Ricciardo all pit. Vettel pits from the lead and is followed by Button.

Lap 33/61: the race is still under Safety Car. Vettel P1, Button P2, Alonso P3. Webber P4, Di Resta P5, Rosberg P6, Sutil P7. Safety car in this lap.

Lap 34/61: the race resumes. Webber overtakes Alonso for P3.

Lap 35/61: Fastest lap for Vettel: 1:51.139.

Lap 37/61: Hamilton overtakes Sutil for P7.

Lap 38/61: Hamilton passes Rosberg for P6. Kobayashi is under investigation for ignoring blue flags.

Lap 39/61: Hamilton up to fifth after passing Di Resta.

Lap 40/61: Drive through penalty for Kobayashi.

Lap 43/61: Vettel, Button, Webber, Alonso, Hamilton and Di Resta.

Lap 46/61: Maldonado pits for the third time.

Lap 48/61: Webber makes his third pit stop and rejoins in fifth behind Hamilton. Webber overtakes Hamilton for P5.

Lap 49/61: Button has pitted. Hamilton pits.

Lap 50/61: Vettel pits from the lead. Alonso pits. Liuzzi, Senna and Buemi pit.

Lap 51/61: Hamilton passes Sutil for P7.

Lap 52/61: Trulli retires after a gearbox failure. Hamilton passes Rosberg for P6.

Lap 54/61: Hamilton overtakes Di Resta for P5.

Lap 55/61: fastest lap for Button: 1:48.454. Kobayashi pits.

Lap 56/61: Button pushing hard to close the gap to Vettel, 8.6 seconds at the moment.

Lap 58/61: Vettel P1, Button P2 with a gap down to 6.5 seconds.

Lap 60/61: Alguersuari hits the barriers, he’s out.

Last lap: Massa overtakes Perez for P9. Sebastian Vettel dominates again and wins the fourth edition of the Singapore Grand Prix. Jenson Button finishes second ahead of Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Paul Di Resta, Nico Rosberg, Adrian Sutil, Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez.

2011 Singapore Grand Prix, Race results: