Red Bull’s Renault engine liaison Cyril Dumont summed up the consequences of the revised rules on engine mappings in Valencia: “the rules have changed, but not the results”.
Sebastian Vettel romped to an easy victory and Mark Webber joined him on the podium.
| Sebastian Vettel | Mark Webber | |
| Qualifying position | 1 | 2 |
| Qualifying time comparison (Q3) | 1’36.975 (-0.188) | 1’37.163 |
| Race position | 1 | 3 |
| Laps | 57/57 | 57/57 |
| Pit stops | 3 | 3 |
Red Bull drivers’ lap times throughout the race (in seconds):
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | |
| Sebastian Vettel | 110.32 | 105.466 | 105.186 | 105.488 | 105.16 | 105.033 | 104.712 | 105.15 | 105.03 | 105.055 | 105.269 | 105.315 | 106.358 | 114.845 | 115.873 | 104.558 | 104.549 | 104.108 | 104.307 | 104.123 | 104.191 | 103.904 | 103.655 | 103.399 | 103.799 | 103.743 | 103.857 | 104.036 | 104.127 | 112.827 | 114.355 | 102.491 | 102.771 | 102.42 | 102.539 | 102.359 | 102.916 | 102.273 | 101.926 | 102.651 | 102.287 | 102.172 | 102.382 | 102.237 | 103.221 | 102.376 | 111.208 | 114.443 | 102.202 | 102.503 | 102.244 | 101.952 | 101.852 | 102.998 | 103.11 | 102.659 | 106.179 |
| Mark Webber | 111.682 | 105.931 | 105.584 | 105.363 | 105.113 | 105.111 | 105.375 | 105.169 | 105.012 | 105.317 | 105.5 | 105.584 | 114.4 | 115.536 | 104.97 | 105.61 | 104.405 | 104.241 | 104.033 | 104.39 | 105.913 | 104.032 | 103.583 | 103.88 | 103.929 | 104.073 | 103.787 | 112.466 | 113.145 | 102.993 | 103.113 | 102.908 | 102.848 | 102.582 | 102.577 | 102.615 | 102.836 | 102.771 | 102.534 | 102.638 | 102.793 | 112.072 | 114.565 | 102.699 | 103.523 | 104.819 | 103.667 | 103.685 | 102.635 | 102.574 | 102.823 | 103.285 | 106.432 | 104.598 | 104.781 | 105.886 | 109.038 |
Sebastian Vettel
On Friday Vettel tested the changes Red Bull intend to run on their car at Silverstone when the full force of the restrictions on ‘hot-blown’ diffusers comes into effect.
He got down to business on Saturday, topping final practice and clinching his seventh pole position of the year.
It was business as usual on Sunday as he was never seriously threatened for the lead. He only lost it for one lap following his pit stop.
Throughout the weekend he’d faced questions about whether the engine mapping changes would erode Red Bull’s advantage, and whether his last-lap slip in Montreal had showed he was vulnerable under pressure.
A crushing win, which puts him 77 points clear in the title chase, was the perfect response to all that.
Even so, he says he’s not getting distracted by thoughts of the championship yet: “I don?óÔé¼Ôäót look at the gap. It is a long season.
“We have had a phenomenal start to the season and to continue that way is our target. But we have to go step-by-step and take every single race as it comes.
“Surely we don?óÔé¼Ôäót have to win by taking too much risks but the target is to win races.”
Sebastian Vettel 2011 form guide
Mark Webber
Webber felt he had his strongest race of the year so far. He joined Vettel on the front row of the grid but lost out in a race-long battle with Fernando Alonso.
Alonso passed Webber in the DRS zone on lap 21. But a good call on the timing of his second pit stop allowed Webber to take the place back.
His final pit stop, to switch to medium tyres, was not so well-timed. Alonso hung on for three more laps on the soft tyres, eking out the margin he needed to stay ahead.
Traffic offered Webber a brief opportunity to get past, but shortly afterwards his gearbox began to play up.
The team told him to short-shift and later said the unit was overheating. (If they need to replace it at Silverstone, he will not get a penalty, because the first gearbox change is free).
Webber took responsibility for the pit call that cost him second place: “It was my fault basically not the team?óÔé¼Ôäós.
“I was worried about Fernando coming underneath me around the stops and it was not really known how the medium tyre would perform on the out lap.
“For sure, it is not as good as the soft but is it better than an old soft? That was the risk I decided to take. I lost out.
“Fernando stayed out for a few more laps and also I came out behind a little bit of traffic so my fault we missed second today and Fernando drove a good race.”
2011 European Grand Prix
- 2011 European Grand Prix: complete race weekend review
- Vote for your driver of the European GP weekend
- Red Bull: “Rules changed but not the result”
- Ferrari: Alonso says Red Bull up to a second faster
- McLaren: Only third-fastest in Valencia
- Mercedes: Schumacher takes blame for collision
- Toro Rosso: Alguersuari bounces back
- Sauber: Perez nearly grabs a point with one-stopper
- Renault: Boullier unhappy with single point
- Force India: Sutil cracks the top ten
Image ?é?® Red Bull/Getty images
VXR
27th June 2011, 17:13
Considering that Valencia was supposed to be Red Bull’s worst track…….
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
27th June 2011, 17:21
Nah, that’ll be Monza.
VXR
27th June 2011, 17:27
Possibly. But it might be all over by then.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
28th June 2011, 13:45
Hope not! I’m going! Though they could end it all there, that would be nice ;)
macahan
27th June 2011, 18:04
Canada and Monza are the ones that last year was considered RBR’s worst tracks. Canada we almost saw a 1,3 finish but got a 2,3 finish. For being one of the worst tracks for them I don’t think Monza will be that big a challange, alright might not win but be surprised if at least one of them are not on the podium and both in top 5.
dennis (@dennis)
27th June 2011, 19:37
A great factor this year in Monza will be how well the DRS works. Montreal might have shown us that it’s not 2010 all over again with Red Bull and straight line speed. Especially since it seems the McLaren is not the Dragster that it was last year.
Sven
27th June 2011, 17:43
It did not work to slow down Red Bull by banning blown diffusers. The only chance for the other teams to catch up is for the FIA to ban Adrian Newey.
PJ
27th June 2011, 18:32
Or how about we put him in charge of HRT?
BasCB (@bascb)
27th June 2011, 19:45
They would be winners within 3-4 years as well!
Tim
27th June 2011, 21:37
We’ve been here before – Heinz-Harald Frentzen suggested banning Newey (and Michael Schumacher) about 14 years ago.
W-K
27th June 2011, 18:01
I see Mark has gone to Wimbledon.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/13929196.stm Picture 8.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
27th June 2011, 21:29
he said on twitter he was going to watch Serena Williams’ match…
and Serena lost :P!
Luck is not on Mark’s side this year!
U2F1 (@u2f1)
27th June 2011, 18:13
An interesting fact .. None of the top teams have had any reliability issues in any of the races so far this season .. We aren’t seeing any engine blow-ups or mechanical failures etc
Reliability has gone to the next level :)
Fixy (@)
27th June 2011, 18:37
He can win without participating in Friday sessions – amazing!
TheScuderia (@)
27th June 2011, 19:34
Great. I log onto f1fanatic, and what do I see? Vettel’s forefinger. Someone wake me up from this nightmare.
dennis (@dennis)
27th June 2011, 19:39
New desktop wallpaper?
Younger Hamii
27th June 2011, 19:55
My Quote from the Ferrari Race Review may have something to say
If the Limitations on the OTBDs and Engine Mappings happens to affect both Ferrari and McLaren more than RB,then Ferrari are to blame for this whole situation,most likely handing RB a bigger Advantage and therefore arguably the title.
Im guessing the Title Race is all but over from here,Bets on for 2nd Anyone?
Dan Newton
27th June 2011, 21:17
That made me laugh. Although I have had a couple…..
Thanks to Keith for the birthday message, sorry I don’t post on here more but I have the worlds worst internet connection. And usually what I’d like to say has already been said by others in much better form.
And finally a quote from Goerge Orwell, which I happened apon today, for all of those worried about how far ahead in the championship Vettel is..
..”Whoever is winning at the moment will always SEEM to be invincible”
Klaas
28th June 2011, 6:28
I’m sorry I must have missed that piece of news, did Ferrari asked for limitations on the OTBDs and Engine Mappings?
Zodman
28th June 2011, 7:04
OMG that finger again!!!
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
28th June 2011, 13:47
Another killer-blow for…actually, I can’t think of anyone who’s even close enough to Red Bull to be disappointed for. It’s not like anyone is within a cat’s whisker, is it?