News / Articles / 12319

News

Tue, 14 June, 2011Canada: Round 7 driver star ratings

  • Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) HRT-Cosworth F111. 2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Rd 7, Practice day. Montreal, Canada. Friday 10 June 2011. © HRT.
23/1
NewsNow.co.uk

Manipe F1 rates all 24 drivers' performances from the Canadian Grand Prix weekend in Montreal, highlighting the good and the bad from the seventh round of the 2011 championship.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault (Race: 2nd, Grid: 1st):

Beat Ferrari to pole despite the RB7 supposedly not suited to the track and drove an error-free race for over 69 of the 70 laps. However, his one and only error cost him victory under pressure from Button at turn 6 on the very last lap.

Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault (Race: 3rd, Grid: 4th):
4
A KERS failure hampered him in qualifying and then dropped down the field at the start when Hamilton tapped him into a spin. He recovered quickly and looked set for second only to fail in an overtaking attempt on Schumacher which let Button through. He DRSed Schumacher shortly afterwards to secure third.

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes (Race: Ret, Grid: 5th):

Extracted everything from his car in qualifying, but overdrove in the race. He first hit Webber into a spin at the first corner when racing resumed and then hit team-mate Button on the start/finish straight forcing him into retirement.

Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes (Race: 1st, Grid: 7th):
5
Although he had the numerous safety cars to thank for his victory, Button's pace on the super-soft tyre at the end was second to none. He was last just 30 laps from the finish but overtook countless times to climb through the field. He then completed a risky pass on Webber on the damp track, before DRSing Schumacher and benefitting from Vettel's mistake to win.

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari (Race: Ret, Grid: 2nd):

Undoubtedly Alonso's best chance of victory so far this year had it been dry after qualifying second, but was hampered by bad strategy calls early in the race. He was later tapped into a spin by Button at turn 3, forcing him into retirement.

Felipe Massa, Ferrari (Race: 6th, Grid: 3rd):
4
Unlike his team-mate, he was kept on the correct strategy early in the race and looked set for a podium finish before he spun into a wall while trying to lap Karthikeyan's HRT. The spin damaged his front wing and after dropping down the field he overtook five cars to climb to a solid 6th.

Michael Schumacher, Mercedes (Race: 4th, Grid: 8th):

Despite losing out for switching to intermediates too early, Schumacher was able to climb back through the field thanks to his early switch to inters the second time around, and was consistently lapping quickest of the entire field. His pace on super-softs wasn't quite so emphatic however and he was caught by the much quicker Webber and Button towards the end.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes (Race: 11th, Grid: 6th):
3
After being neck-and-neck with Schumacher during the first half of the race, he pitted two laps too late for inters before losing even more time when he had to pit a lap late for slicks as Schumacher got serviced. He then damaged his front wing in a touch with Kobayashi before it fell off altogether on the final lap which dropped him to 11th.

Nick Heidfeld, Renault (Race: Ret, Grid: 9th):

Looked set for a much-needed top-six finish before he came across a slow Sauber at turn 3, ultimately costing him his front wing and a potentially frightening accident. He climbed as high as third thanks to the perfect strategy.

Vitaly Petrov, Renault (Race: 5th, Grid: 10th):

Trailed Heidfeld throughout the weekend, but got to the finish unlike his team-mate. He got by Kobayashi when the Japanese driver ran wide while lapping a backmarker, placing him fifth at the flag.

Rubens Barrichello, Williams-Cosworth (Race: 9th, Grid: 16th):
3
An early pitstop to inters at half distance allowed Barrichello to recover lost ground from a premature change earlier on, but should have finished higher than 9th after losing three places while trying to avoid an accident with Kobayashi. He could have finished 6th or 7th otherwise.

Pastor Maldonado, Williams-Cosworth Race: Ret, Grid: 12th):
3
Outqualified his team-mate for the third race in a row but wasn't able to push the advantage home after losing too much time with a switch to inters early on. He had to pit for a new front wing while in the points, but crashed at turn 2 on the wet track.

Adrian Sutil, Force India-Mercedes (Race: Ret, Grid: 14th):
3
After being beaten by his rookie team-mate in qualifying for the sixth time this year, Sutil continued to trail di Resta during the race, but looked likely for points before he was hit with a drive-through for tapping Rosberg behind the safety car. He then damaged his car after switching to slicks a lap before anyone else.

Paul di Resta, Force India-Mercedes (Race: 18th, Grid: 11th):

Had an error at the second chicane to blame for failing to get into the top ten, but climbed as high as fifth during the race. He made a poor attempt at passing Heidfeld for fourth, with the resulting collision earning him a drive-through. He had dropped to last with the damage anyway and later retired after getting a puncture after tapping a wall.

Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber-Ferrari (Race: 7th, Grid: 13th):
4
After gaining five places on a blistering first two racing laps, he lay second at the restart having not pitted for new tyres, and after keeping that place up until lap 53 the pace of the C30 on slicks saw him plummet through the field. He was passed by five cars before the chequered flag, with the final pass coming just at the finish line when Massa beat him by half a tenth.

Pedro de la Rosa, Sauber-Ferrari (Race: 12th, Grid: 17th):

Pedro acquitted himself well on his surprise outing for Sauber, but ironically it was a touch with McLaren team-mate and eventual race winner Button that cost him points. He dropped to second-last after pitting for a new nose, but couldn't make up enough places with the C30's poor dry-weather pace.

Sébastien Buemi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari (Race: 10th, Grid: 15th):
3
Scored points for the fourth time this year, having fortunately benefitted from Rosberg losing his front wing on the final lap. He was one of the first to change to slicks, but thinks the early change cost him places.

Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso-Ferrari (Race: 8th, Grid: 24th):
3
Scored some much-needed points after starting from the pitlane with a full wet-weather set-up. He changed to slicks at just the right time and was able to secure his first points finish of the year at the end.

Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus-Renault (Race: Ret, Grid: 19th):

Was outqualified by his team-mate for the first time this year but failed to make it past half-distance after retiring with a driveshaft failure after the restart.

Jarno Trulli, Lotus-Renault (Race: 16th, Grid: 18th):
3
A woeful race for Trulli and the Lotus team in general. He firstly got hampered by a brake problem from very early on and was then distracted by an object moving around in his cockpit which the team were unable to fix. He trundled home dead last but was promoted a place with Karthikeyan's penalty.

Narain Karthikeyan, HRT-Cosworth (Race: 17th, Grid: 22nd):
3
Outqualified a Virgin on Saturday and finished ahead of both of them on Sunday in 14th place, but was promptly demoted to 17th after gaining an advantage by cutting the chicane on the penultimate lap.

Vitantonio Liuzzi, HRT-Cosworth (Race: 13th, Grid: 20th):

A raft of upgrades on the F111 allowed him to beat both Virgins in qualifying and finished ahead of them in the race, as well as the remaining Lotus, to win the former new teams' battle for the first time. He overtook Karthikeyan, d'Ambrosio and Glock during his dry stint at the end to take 13th, HRT's best ever finish.

Timo Glock, Virgin-Cosworth (Race: 15th, Grid: 21st):

Ran in 15th at the restart thanks to not pitting for inters too early, and was winning the new teams' battle during the third quarter, but flat-spotted his slicks which cost him places to d'Ambrosio and Karthikeyan in the closing laps.

Jérôme d'Ambrosio, Virgin-Cosworth (Race: 14th, Grid: 23rd):

Lapped within 107% only once in all the pre-race sessions and needed special permission from the stewards to race. An incorrect strategy call to pit for inters behind the safety car restart cost him a drive-through penalty, before battling with Karthikeyan and Glock in the final stint to the flag.

« Previous articlePrint articleNext article »