COOPER: Japanese GP Team-By-Team

Formula 1

COOPER: Japanese GP Team-By-Team

A team-by-team breakdown and analysis of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend at Suzuka Circuit...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted October 09, 2011 Suzuka (JPN)

Red Bull team members look over the cars of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber on the Suzuka Circuit pitlane. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

The Japanese GP may have had no rain and only one retirement, but it turned into a thrilling contest that saw Jenson Button score a superb win for McLaren, chased home by Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel. For once, Red Bull didn’t quite get it right in a ‘normal’ dry race, but third was more than enough to win a second World Championship for the German. Here’s how the field performed:

Red Bull Racing
Sebastian Vettel’s weekend got off to a bad start when the German crashed in FP1 and destroyed his only example of the latest front wing. He struggled to match McLaren’s pace thereafter until a new wing arrived from the UK shortly before qualifying, and he just annexed pole. Mark Webber, meanwhile, was at a loss to explain why he was only sixth. Vettel had to lean on Button to hold onto the lead at the start, but he lost it when he came in first at the second stops. He pitted early again at the third stops, and traffic then ensured that he also dropped behind Alonso in third, still more than enough to clinch the title. Webber had a quiet race to fourth.

McLaren
McLaren looked good from the start of the weekend and Jenson Button was consistently on top in practice. In the end, he missed pole by the tiny margin of 0.009s. Lewis Hamilton was quickest on the first runs in Q3, but he got caught up with other cars on his out lap on his second run, and received the checkered flag. He thus had to settle for third. Button had to back off when Vettel pulled across at the start and he lost second place to Hamilton. However, a puncture led to an early first stop for Lewis and put him out of contention. Jenson gained the lead when Vettel came in first at the second stops and held on to it in brilliant style under pressure from Alonso at the end. Hamilton survived a clash with Felipe Massa to finish a disappointing fifth.

Scuderia Ferrari
Fernando Alonso was second fastest in FP2 and fourth in FP3 but when it mattered in qualifying, his teammate Felipe Massa got the better lap in and secured fourth place. Alonso was behind him in fifth and happy to be starting on the cleaner side of the track. The pair held station in the early laps but Alonso got ahead on lap five and then passed Hamilton at the first stops and Vettel at the third stops. He held off Vettel in the last part of the race while also closing in on Button, but in the end he couldn’t do anything about the Englishman. Massa had contact with Hamilton at the chicane which caused some damage but he brought the car safely home in sixth.

Mercedes GP
Mercedes was pushing the regular top three teams from the start of practice and Michael Schumacher duly started eighth, having not run a flying lap in Q3. He also received a €5000 fine for a dangerous pit entry on Friday. Nico Rosberg’s hopes were spoiled by a hydraulic problem early in Q1 which meant he did not do a lap. He had to settle for 23rd place, his first time outside the top 10 in 2011. Schumacher ran seventh in the early laps and then grabbed himself a bit of glory when he made a very late final stop and actually led for a few laps, before dropping back to seventh. Rosberg started on the prime tire and managed to work his way up to 10th by the flag.

Lotus Renault
After disappointment in Singapore, Renault was back on pace at the much faster Suzuka circuit, and the cars were consistently in the top 10. Bruno Senna had a big crash in FP3 but recovered to make Q3, as did Vitaly Petrov. Neither man did a flying lap in that session, so they started in number order, with the Brazilian in ninth and Petrov behind him. Both Renaults started on the prime tire, and some good driving and a very late stop saw Petrov running very strong throughout the race, his two-stop strategy helping to ensure that he ended up in a solid ninth. Senna dropped well down the order after a bad start and eventually finished a lowly 16th.

Rubens Barrichello will likely be off the grid for the 2012 season. (Photo: Getty Images)

Williams
Williams had a disastrous Friday as Rubens Barrichello had a heavy crash in FP2, and then shortly afterward, Pastor Maldonado stopped with an engine failure – albeit with a high-mileage unit. The lost track time was costly and Rubens was not happy in FP3, but the car was improved and he qualified 14th, a place ahead of his teammate, who was new to the track. Both drivers lost some ground at the start and spent much of the race in the same battle. Maldonado – who started on the prime tire – ultimately fared better and ended up in 14th, three places ahead of his veteran teammate.

Force India
Force India continued to show good form in Japan, although Renault had slipped ahead. Suzuka expert Adrian Sutil qualified 11th, while track newcomer Paul Di Resta settled in quickly. The Scot and did well to take 12th, some 0.2s off his teammate. Both drivers saved a set of new soft tires for the race. They also both made good starts, Di Resta jumping up to eighth, and Sutil to ninth. Both ran strongly in the top 10 for much of the race but, ultimately, strategy favored those who’d gone for two stops, and after a run of good finishes, they both fell outside the points, with Sutil 11th and Di Resta in 12th.

Sauber
Inevitably, Kamui Kobayashi was the focus of much attention in Japan, and the local hero set pulses racing when he was fastest in Q1 on soft tires. He made it to Q3 and although he didn’t do a flying lap he did at least start one, and that moved him up to seventh, ahead of those who didn’t. Suzuka rookie Sergio Perez had hydraulic problems in Q2 and was stuck in 17th place. Unfortunately, Kobayashi made a bad start and, having dropped to 12th, wasn’t able to show the sparkling form he demonstrated last year, eventually finishing 13th. Perez, meanwhile, had a great race, running a long first stint and eventually working his way up to eighth.

Toro Rosso
Jaime Alguersuari was an encouraging sixth in FP1 but when it mattered in qualifying the Italian team admitted that it didn’t quite get it right. Sebastien Buemi made a mistake in Q2 and had to settle for 15th, while Alguersuari struggled with understeer and could not better 16th. However, the team felt that he had a good setup for the race. Buemi had a good first lap and ran as high as 11th in the early stages. However, after his first pit stop at the end of lap 11, his right front wheel was not properly secured and it forced him to pull off into a gravel trap, becoming the race’s only retirement. Alguersuari was involved in the busy midfield pack and eventually finished 15th.

Team Lotus
Heikki Kovalainen lost track time as Karun Chandhok drove his car in FP1, but thereafter the Finn was happy with the progress as he took 18th place on the grid, missing Q2 by just over 0.3s. Jarno Trulli did little running due to mechanical gremlins on Friday but was pleased with the car in qualifying as he secured 19th, just behind his teammate. Kovalainen had a great first lap, passing the likes of Maldonado, Barrichello and Perez. However, reality soon hit home and he tumbled back down the order. The safety car allowed all the backmarkers to catch up, and he finished an unlapped 18th, just in front of his teammate.

HRT
Narain Karthikeyan drove Tonio Liuzzi’s car in FP1 and when the Italian took it over in the afternoon he did virtually no running due to a water pressure issue. He had more engine problems in FP3 and again in qualifying, and having failed to set a lap time, he started 24th and last. Suzuka newcomer Daniel Ricciardo settled in well and started in 22nd. Inevitably, both drivers ran around at the back of the field, the cars at least displaying good reliability as Ricciardo finished 22nd and Liuzzi 23rd, the latter surviving an early off-track moment and finally getting in some solid, untroubled laps.

Virgin Racing
Jerome D’Ambrosio knew Suzuka from running in FP1 last year and the Belgian did well to outqualify his teammate Timo Glock for once to take 20th place. Glock made changes to the car for Saturday that didn’t work so changed back for qualifying, which caught him out a little. He started in 22nd. The red and black cars ran near the tail of the field throughout the race, sandwiched as ever between the Lotuses and the HRTs. In the end, they had quite a close fight, which Glock ultimately won as he finished 20th, just 1.2s ahead of the Belgian youngster.

Adam Cooper notched up his 26th season as a racing journalist in 2010. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam Cooper

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