Red Bull: Vettel takes another win under pressure

2011 Monaco GP team review

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For the second weekend in a row Sebastian Vettel soaked up pressure to win.

Sebastian VettelMark Webber
Qualifying position13
Qualifying time comparison (Q3)1’13.556 (-0.463)1’14.019
Race position14
Laps78/7878/78
Pit stops23

Red Bull drivers’ lap times throughout the race (in seconds):

https://www.racefans.net/charts/2011drivercolours.csv

123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778
Sebastian Vettel84.83980.26979.81179.48579.53779.75679.79579.38879.68879.55879.69679.73280.44680.04981.288102.03883.33680.2479.65579.50779.08379.70179.08379.26779.81580.22879.16678.87178.59879.1179.20778.73379.51386.283128.925121.496117.606115.21681.03680.20379.6679.24579.74779.27579.22479.31679.03979.19179.45679.31479.47179.39979.58779.82779.50879.96379.34579.21879.07179.04679.18979.62779.74779.32379.81179.48280.41179.77985.712129.529123.655125.40278.21578.53276.93976.55776.267
Mark Webber88.79481.89780.82780.04180.15279.71680.00680.23880.13780.37480.31980.40581.09981.50582.753113.93585.581.79880.66680.56781.06481.24881.76281.62781.97782.02881.67581.60681.69782.18181.982.55286.786138.07392.48985.8684.788110.82983.87383.18182.9881.82681.34281.35681.30581.37881.60781.33880.88480.63680.3680.58280.8380.18599.48482.07978.63178.43779.08478.22778.72578.94878.6179.77381.8782.82477.90878.137105.583103.62895.605120.7284.68281.11878.37879.33776.234

Sebastian Vettel

Start, Monaco, 2011

In qualifying, Red Bull abandoned their recent tradition of doing a single run in Q3 and got both Vettel and Webber out to do laps early in the session. This was vindicated when Sergio Perez’s crash caused a lengthy stoppage.

Having led at the start, Vettel dropped behind Jenson Button when the McLaren driver opted for super-soft tyres at his first pit stop. The usually highly-efficient Red Bull mechanics delayed him by several seconds on this occasion.

At the end of the race Vettel found himself under pressure from behind for the second weekend in a row. This time he had Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button breathing down his neck.

The battle for first place was resolved when the race was red-flagged, allowing him to cast off the soft tyres he’d been using for 56 laps.

But Vettel was convinced he’d have won even without the interruption: “I was struggling with my tyres, but I think we could have made it to the end as it is difficult to pass around here.”

His lap times seem to support his view – he was lapping consistently in the 1’19s, and although his times were getting slower they were not doing so especially quickly.

Vettel did supremely well in keeping his tyres alive for such a long stint. Whether he could have gone the whole way without succumbing to an error or a passing attempt from Alonso, will remain tantalisingly unanswerable.

Sebastian Vettel 2011 form guide

Mark Webber

Last year’s winner only managed three laps in the first practice session due to a gearbox problem. He qualified third but couldn’t keep Fernando Alonso behind as they sprinted to Sainte Devote at the start.

Events took a turn for the worse when he pitted directly after Vettel and lost more time in the pits: “We didn’t really go long enough on the first stint, which is normal for me on these tyres, so that compromised me.

“When I arrived in the pits we didn’t have any tyres out, I arrived and sat there, but the boys were still getting them ready. There was a radio communication problem within the team and so they weren’t properly prepared.”

Having dropped as low as 14th, Webber made patient progress, taking advantage of incidents in front of him to move up to seventh.

He came alive towards the end of the race, passing Vitaly Petrov and Adrian Sutil in a single lap. He followed that up for a move on Kamui Kobayashi for fourth.

Mark Webber 2011 form guide

2011 Monaco Grand Prix

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    31 comments on “Red Bull: Vettel takes another win under pressure”

    1. Strange start from Webber – the third placed man usually took on the second placed man, but not only did he not do that, he also lost a position.

      1. Vettel’s start wasn’t great either and Button put him under a bit of pressure at Ste Devote.

      2. Methinks it’s all about KERS – or some lack of it.

        1. Might be part of it. And the super start of Rosberg and good start by Alonso and Button might have got him a bit out of position as well.

        2. KERST doesn’t kick in until they are up to speed. The sprint to the first corner is then almost over already.

          1. KERS kicks in ASAP not at full speed(its possible in 2nd gear already)

            1. KERS is available when they have hit 100kph

      3. the Red Bulls are quite bad starters!

        The Ferrari are getting faster at the starts too!

        1. Red Bull have had some good starts too. It’s just a matter of getting the clutch settings right. I guess it’s not easy to get them right every time

    2. These dirty side and clean side is just a hype and in the pshyche of the driver. In Spain, Alonso was on the dirty side, he was 1st on turn 1. In Monaco too, he was on the dirty side and almost took second from Button too. I think as Fernando said in Spain that they worked very hard on the starts and it was evident from these 2 races.
      I think Red Bull have this chink in their armour about their starts. Webber has been the victim mostly because Vettel often beats him and he is 2nd on the grid (but that should not be a problem)

    3. Webber wws due his first stop when Vettel dashed in responding to Button. His stop was slightly delayed and Webber’s very slow. Did th3y have the wrong tyres out? Would it be legal to use your other driver’s tyres and do we know Red Bull didn’t?

      1. The BBC commentators said that Vettel got the right tyres. Shown by somne blue markings on the tyre warmers apparently.

      2. No it is not legal to swap tyres between drivers. Last year in whatever race it was Sauber (i think) had accidentally given the Kob’s tyres to Heidfeld (or was it pedro who drove that race? I don’t remember) and vice versa. They had to pit again to change back so they got their own tyres.

    4. Webber was due his first stop when Vettel dashed in responding to Button. His stop was slightly delayed and Webber’s very slow. Did they have the wrong tyres out? Would it be legal to use your other driver’s tyres and do we know Red Bull didn’t?

      1. It’s not allowed to use the other drivers’ tyres. It happened with FI last year, they had to call Sutil back in or get DSQ’d.

        Red Bull just were not having the right tyres, they forgot to tell the pit team which to prepare in time.

    5. Vettel has done a pretty solid job in these last two races. However, Barcelona and Monaco are hard tracks to overtake on, and I’m sure that its harder to soak up that kind of pressure on the Montreal track, where there are several places a driver can overtake. In two weeks time I hope we have Alonso or Hamilton putting a serious amount of pressure again on Seb.

      1. Would be very nice to see. I do not for a second believe he could have kept it going till the end.
        Alonso was clearly trying all he could to get past.

        1. yeah but he didnt and probably couldnt.

        2. Vettel did only have a handful of laps to go before the red came out, though on the flipside Alonso probably would have tried even harder with time elapsing.

    6. Seb did very well to go that long on one set of tyres, credit to him this weekend, though of course another 6 laps might have been interesting. Sighs of relief on the RBR pit wall this weekend one might feel.

      1. No doubt! Especially after that balls-up in the pits.

    7. http://youtu.be/LpwgV2ZDNpM
      Hilarious video of the Red Bull party (BBC F1 forum). Vettel throws EJ and DC in the pool. :-)

    8. Seems to me Vettel could have won the race another way. If the supersoft on low fuel is 3 seconds a lap quicker in clear air, he could have pitted 20 laps before the end. I was keeping a careful eye on the driver tracker and IIRC from about laps 44-48 there was a totally clear track, with no-one between where he’d slot in and Button. At that rate he’d have caught Jensen with 13 laps left and with tyres he could have surely sailed past on – seems an unnecessary gamble to have stayed out.

      It also makes me wonder why Webber went on the softs at his second stop, surely with a lighter car with a rubbered-in track he could have made a set of super-softs last till the end?

      1. Clearly it wasn’t. As was proven, at monaco the gamble was putting yourself anywhere where you didn’t have track position. He stayed out because he believed it was unlikely that anybody would be able to overtake him. Even if there was no red flag he may have been right. Would have been damned good finding out though!

    9. Breaking news (or fun fact, depends :D): Horner said the pit stop mayhem was caused by a radio problem which also resulted in Vettel getting the soft tyres instead of the planned super softs.

      This is insane if it’s true. Even more random factor in Vettel’s latest win. Hilarious.

      1. When you’re in the fastest car a bit of a setback can be coped with much easier.

        1. except, they weren’t definitively the fastest car this weekend.

    10. Look like Vettel is about to brake every record in f1 …

      1. At times like these pictures flash into my mind of Indianapolis 2007 and Monza 2008 and I just remember how everybody – including me – praised him so much. Everybody knew he would make it far. But in all honesty I haven’t expected a dominance this big. It’s not his speed, or not only his speed: it is mentally that he is miles ahead compared to time time last year or two years before.

    11. Seb is in a class of his own and at this early stage of the season the title is his to lose. But strange things can happen in F1 and there are lots iof races to go. For the benefit of the fans we need someone else to start winning. Mark needs to improve his starts to have any chance.

    12. 5/6. Wow.

      Vettel really is destroying everyone. The past couple of races he’s managed to hang on and that takes some doing on these tyres. OK, it was always going to be easier at Monaco.

      I honestly think Vettel could have held on. He did a brilliant job to hold on as long as he did.

      Good job from Webber also, although I would have liked 4th for Kobayashi, that would have been fantastic!

    Comments are closed.