Formula 1 Championship Results

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2011
Championship Review

Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull Racing

Jenson Button

McLaren

Mark Webber

Red Bull Racing

Championship
Position

Accumulated
Points

Pole
Position

Race
Position

Race
Points

Teams

Drivers

Championship
Position

Accumulated
Points

Best
Position

Race
Points

Teams

Drivers

Race Results ▶

Driver	AUS	MYS	CHN	TUR	ESP	MCO	CAN	EUR	GBR	DEU	HUN	BEL	ITA	SGP	JPN	KOR	IND	ARE	BRA	Total
Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	25	25	18	25	25	25	18	25	18	12	18	25	25	25	15	25	25		18	392
Jenson Button McLaren	8	18	12	8	15	15	25	8			25	15	18	18	25	12	18	15	15	270
Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	10	12	15	18	12	12	15	15	15	15	10	18		15	12	15	12	12	25	258
Fernando Alonso Ferrari	12	8	6	15	10	18		18	25	18	15	12	15	12	18	10	15	18	12	257
Lewis Hamilton McLaren	18	4	25	12	18	8		12	12	25	12		12	10	10	18	6	25		227
Felipe Massa Ferrari	6	10	8				8	10	10	10	8	4	8	2	6	8		10	10	118
Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP			10	10	6			6	8	6	2	8		6	1	4	8	8	6	89
Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP		2	4		8		12		2	4		10	10		8		10	6		76
Adrian Sutil Force India	2					6		2		8		6		4			2	4	8	42
Vitaly Petrov Renault	15		2	4			10			1		2			2				1	37
Nick Heidfeld Renault		15		6	4	4		1	4											34
Kamui Kobayashi Sauber		6	1	1	1	10	6			2								1	2	30
Paul di Resta Force India	1	1									6		4	8		1		2	4	27
Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso							4	4	1		1		6			6	4			26
Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	4			2		1	1				4		1			2				15
Sergio Perez Sauber					2				6					1	4		1			14
Rubens Barrichello Williams						2	2													4
Bruno Senna Renault													2							2
Pastor Maldonado Williams												1								1
Pedro de la Rosa Sauber																				0
Jarno Trulli Team Lotus																				0
Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus																				0
Vitantonio Liuzzi Hispania Racing Team																				0
Jérôme d'Ambrosio Virgin Racing																				0
Timo Glock Virgin Racing																				0
Narain Karthikeyan Hispania Racing Team																				0
Daniel Ricciardo Hispania Racing Team																				0
Karun Chandhok Team Lotus																				0

Team	AUS	MYS	CHN	TUR	ESP	MCO	CAN	EUR	GBR	DEU	HUN	BEL	ITA	SGP	JPN	KOR	IND	ARE	BRA	Total
Red Bull Racing Webber/Vettel	35	37	33	43	37	37	33	40	33	27	28	43	25	40	27	40	37	12	43	650
McLaren Button/Hamilton	26	22	37	20	33	23	25	20	12	25	37	15	30	28	35	30	24	40	15	497
Ferrari Massa/Alonso	18	18	14	15	10	18	8	28	35	28	23	16	23	14	24	18	15	28	22	375
Mercedes GP Schumacher/Rosberg		2	14	10	14		12	6	10	10	2	18	10	6	9	4	18	14	6	165
Renault Senna/Heidfeld/Petrov	15	15	2	10	4	4	10	1	4	1		2	2		2				1	73
Force India Sutil/di Resta	3	1				6		2		8	6	6	4	12		1	2	6	12	69
Sauber Kobayashi/Perez/de la Rosa		6	1	1	3	10	6		6	2				1	4		1	1	2	44
Scuderia Toro Rosso Alguersuari/Buemi	4			2		1	5	4	1		5		7			8	4			41
Williams Maldonado/Barrichello						2	2					1								5
Hispania Racing Team Ricciardo/Karthikeyan/Liuzzi																				0
Virgin Racing d'Ambrosio/Glock																				0
Team Lotus Kovalainen/Trulli/Chandhok																				0

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Championship Review

Vettel and Red Bull DOMINATE

The prognosis for the 2011 Formula 1 season looked very good, partly due to the implementation of new rules, which of course generated a big amount of speculation in regards many aspects, but mainly, car performance.

The original scheduled had 20 rounds, including a new race in India (Budd International Circuit), but Bahrain's political unrest forced the cancellation of its GP, and so the tournament was set to have 19 dates.

The most important change was the sole tyre concession to the Italian company Pirelli, which replaced Bridgestone. This decision brought certain level of uncertainty, given that no one had tested the new tyre compounds. Also, the manufacturer took seriously the objective of “improving the show”, and for that it created less durable tires that promoted more frequent pit stops, increasing the relevance of the strategy.

Now there were two elements that would assist drivers with overtaking maneuvers. Firstly, the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System), which was initially introduced in 2009, uses the energy from braking to generate a boost in power (80hp) for about five seconds that can only be used up to two times per lap.

Secondly, the less technical device of the two, the rear wing DRS (Downforce Reduction System), which works by changing the angle of one of its panels to a more horizontal way in order to allow higher airflow, thereby reducing downforce and generating a jump in speed of around 15kph. Using such a device would be conditioned by three basic rules: It cannot be activated but in certain predefined areas of the track, it can be used by the attacking car only, and when the gap between cars is less than 1 second.

The rule of 107% is back. No driver whose best qualifying time (Q1 only) that excess that value with respect to time of “pole” time may participate in the race, unless under special circumstances is permitted to participate.

Finally, internal orders between racers and the teams are allowed, paving the way for controversial decisions.

In terms of the team’s line-up, with the title contenders, things remained as they were in 2010. Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes continued their duets: Vettel-Webber, Alonso, Massa, Hamilton, Button, Rosberg-Schumacher.

The middle of the pack outfits did have changes. The young Scot Paul di Resta replaced Vittantonio Liuzzi at Force India, who in turn went to Hispania Racing. Williams signed Pastor Maldonado (GP2 champion in 2010) and with him his sponsor, the Venezuelan oil giant PDVSA.

The talented Mexican Sergio Perez would join Sauber (he also brought his sponsor TELMEX), sharing responsibilities with Kamui Kobayashi now in its second year.

Just starting the pre-season action, bad news came to take a bit away of the excitement. It happened that in a rally competition, the Renault’s lead driver, Robert Kubica, suffered a terrible accident for which his life was feared, and once out of mortal danger, for his physical recovery and Formula 1 career. He would lose the season (and probably 2012) so the team brought Nick Heidfeld to fill his seat and team up with Vitaly Petrov.

DOUBLE FOR THE YOUNG GERMAN, AND NO COMPETITION

There is not such thing as a boring Formula 1 season, since there are always many ways and things that make it enjoyable: from the sound of the engines, high-speed cornering, on track incidents (not tragedies), the lovely ladies that accompany the sport, the podium celebrations, etc… However, when a driver and his team dominance is so obvious, showing an almost unattainable advantage, the excitement for every weekend decreases a little, and some of the attention might even relegated to other happenings on the track not related to the race lead.

Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull simply pulverized the opposition. In the initial period of nine races, Vettel accumulated six wins and three second places with seven "pole positions" (the other two were for Webber).

It is also true that there were brilliant performances and exciting races. Hamilton triumphed in great form in China. The Brit sometimes seems to be the only one capable of defeating the German in a speed only game. Then it came Button's dramatic and fantastic victory in the Canadian Grand Prix. In a race full of incidents, the 2009 champion had to endure many mishaps, including a minor collision with his teammate. At the end, he had to charge from the bottom of the field; making 34 overtakes in route to his amazing victory.

Fernando Alonso efforts (and his team) were rewarded with a first place at Silverstone, where he drove perfectly. Vettel’s delayed pit stop allowed the Spaniard to take the lead and hold it long enough to claim the victory.

The season leader did not crossed the chequered flag first until the Belgian, but note that the German worst finish was 4th in Germany (where Hamilton won), obtaining a pair of second places in that span. After his victory at Spa-Francorchamps, Vettel showed the best of his skills and his growing maturity as a driver. He decided not to share the spotlight with anyone by earning five wins in six rounds. A strange tyre failure just in the second corner of the GP of Abu Dhabi cut his streak, and in Brazil a transmission problem forced him to slow down and protect the first and only victory of the season of his teammate Mark Webber.

Sebastian Vettel became champion in the Japanese GP. It was a dream season for the German, who also broke Nigel Mansell record of POLES, setting a new one with 15. It became clear that even with a fairly competitive car, Vettel is a formidable driver who is likely to win more titles.

Few others managed to attain achievements, while others had to suffer the frustrations of not having cars on par with their talents. Fernando Alonso very well exemplifies this, as he demonstrated his obvious superiority over teammate Felipe Massa, who did not climb the podium and never finished better than Spaniard. At McLaren, Jenson Button gave a lesson in leadership and professionalism to Lewis Hamilton, who is widely considered faster. Again, the mental game has an immense weight on results.

Mercedes seemed stuck just behind the three leading teams. Schumacher had a better year, but was still outclassed by Rosberg, who has yet to attain his elusive first victory in F1.

There intermediate teams like Force India, Sauber and Toro Rosso spiced things up at times. The first undoubtedly led this group with strong and constant ascent, Sauber was somewhat variable but showed flashes of great potential and Toro Rosso finished the season with good results.

As for the bottom teams: the best came on the hand of Lotus (it will change name to Caterham F1 for 2012), which still has not earned point, but they surely close. Williams just touched rock bottom, by only earning six points and with that registering one of its worst season ever.

Virgin and HRT face a tough uphill road ahead of them for 2012 and onwards, as they were repeatedly lapped, and looked at times to be more of a Gp2 team than a Formula 1. They seemed to be far from a single point achievement.

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