2011 Canadian Grand Prix result

2011 Canadian Grand Prix

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Pos#DriverCarLapsGapDifferenceReason
14Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes70
21Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault702.7092.709
32Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault7013.82811.119
47Michael SchumacherMercedes7014.2190.391
510Vitaly PetrovRenault7020.3956.176
66Felipe MassaFerrari7033.22512.830
716Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari7033.2700.045
819Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso-Ferrari7035.9642.694
911Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth7045.1179.153
1018Sebastien BuemiToro Rosso-Ferrari7047.0561.939
118Nico RosbergMercedes7050.4543.398
1217Pedro de la RosaSauber-Ferrari7063.60713.153
1323Vitantonio LiuzziHRT-Cosworth691 lap1 lap
1425Jerome d’AmbrosioVirgin-Cosworth691 lap8.514
1524Timo GlockVirgin-Cosworth691 lap0.330
1621Jarno TrulliLotus-Renault691 lap0.330
1722Narain Karthikeyan*HRT-Cosworth691 lap18.386
1815Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes673 laps2 laps
Not classified
12Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Cosworth619 laps6 lapsAccident
9Nick HeidfeldRenault5515 laps6 lapsAccident
14Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes4921 laps6 lapsAccident
5Fernando AlonsoFerrari3634 laps13 lapsAccident
20Heikki KovalainenLotus-Renault2842 laps8 lapsDriveshaft
3Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes763 laps21 lapsAccident

*20-second post-race time penalty for gaining an advantage by cutting the track.

2011 Canadian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    85 comments on “2011 Canadian Grand Prix result”

    1. He took his team-mate and Alonso out the race.
      Webber lost control so he gained a postion.
      Schumacher was on old tires and Button had DRS.

      Then Vettel went wide.

      Button only won on luck not a real victory.
      A lot of things factored into that.
      So nothing special.

      1. Dude whatever, you’re probably into Red Bull or Ferrari

      2. If it had been Hamilton that won once his team-mate had retired following contact and took Alonso out of the race following contact, everyone would have been up in arms and Hamilton would have been pilloried for it!

        1. And deservedly. Why should JB get off the hook. Well, we all know why.

      3. Look at it the other way.

        Jenson had a puncture, a penalty, 6 stops after all. And still won.

        1. Nice one! He was the fastest man out there.

        2. Exactly. I’m a huge Ferrari fan but I won’t complain at all!

        3. I thought he wasn’t going to win even if he was going to be close, but the ending was spectacular with Massa and Button earning places. It’s sad though that we’re not supporting our drivers but supporting against Vettel, but to see him nearly spin and someone else take the first position made his near-perfect race seem mediocre.

      4. Dude whatever, you’re probably just salty that a Red Bull or Ferrari didn’t win

        1. Im actually a Hamilton fan. Read the facts.

      5. Wait, did you just say [i]Button[/i] took Hamilton out?!

      6. He gave us a lot to look out for after that 2.5 hr wait!

      7. Younger Hamii
        12th June 2011, 22:21

        Nothing really Intelligent about your Comment,Which tells me you’re just a McLaren Hater.

        BEST GRAND PRIX EVER,Regardless of Vettel winning or not.

      8. 6 stops, 1 drive through penalty, 2 collisions, restarting in last place and he still won. That’s skill, determination and strategy, not luck.

        1. 5 stops, 1 DT.

      9. and the 6 fastest laps that he posted, I guess they were all luck too.

        And the 20 cars infront of him just luckily moved out of the way.

        You are funny.

      10. hamilton took himself out of the race….and the alonso part was not his fault……bad driving on webber’s part……schumi had the same drs and and ample sets of tires……and vettel broke under pressure……this was all mistakes made by the drivers in front of him…..u cant blame him 4 their mistakes….it was not button’s luck……it was just the other guy’s mistakes

      11. All part of being a skillful driver, Vettel should have known to stay away from the wet area. The pressure from Button didn’t help him either.

    2. I await the stewards decisions on his clashes with Lewis and Fernando before getting too happy.

      1. I Forgot about it. Let’s hope Schumi gets the podium he deserves today.

    3. I hope button gets this victory.

      1. I hope so aswell, but for quite a while i was getting excited for Schumacher. He looked so good on a drying track. Reminded me of his drives that made me a fan. Sad i couldn’t really watch the race as I’m hanging round the hospital. (just a tiny bit of livestream now and then .. oh and thanks for the good wishes in the live chat btw).

    4. One of the best wins ever… after this race, Jenson is my favorite in the current field, next to MSC… Amazing race, totally worth the 2 hour delay and Safety cars.

    5. What Faraz forgot to mention in his spiteful comment was that Button was repeatedly setting the fastest laps and was in last place with 6 pit stops before charging the field into forth place. Then he overtook Webber (who made a mistake, yes) and then Schumacher – legitimately. So Button deserves this win for sure.

      1. And the fact that the collision with Hamilton did nothing to help him get that victory, AND the collision with Fernando actually hindered his victory chances, actually does show it was down to his sheer determination to scramble up from the back, right to the end, setting fastest lap after fastest lap to claim what is so rightfully his.

        1. No because both of them nearly got ahead of Button. So it would have been most likely one of them could have won. Also the Safety car played a massive part in the race.

      2. Vettel made a mistake??? About 4 cars retired ahead of him. Safety car played a massive role in the race. Which gave Button a load of luck.

        1. Yeah, right Faraz, the safety car should have won.

    6. DRS is a joke.

      Those DRS passes just looked completely ridiculous, that ain’t racing!

      1. Which ones? Mark was behind Michael for ages, Button was flying.

        1. Once the DRS became available it didn’t take very long at all for Mark and Button to pass Schumacher. He was a sitting duck.

          1. I agree, I enjoyed the race but it showed up all the reasons why I’m against DRS. It robbed us a of potentialy great fight between Schumacher, Webber and Button. Button’s victory was impressive, but would have been impossible without all the easy passes from DRS, and even at the end Massa got 6th purely because he could use DRS and Kobayashi couldn’t.

            1. wrong there, I was watching Massas’ wing on the replay just better drive out of the cnr. but I am not a fan of DRS for above stated reasons.

          2. DRS completely reshuffled the field and accelerated general trends in people’s racepace I think. I blame the second DRS activation, but I might be wrong. Let’s wait for Keith to roll out the numbers for us!

    7. A very close race, skill came into it a lot, the tyres less so than in other races, in my opinion. Very lucky for Jenson but I think he could’ve passed Vettel with DRS anyway. It’s a shame there wasn’t another lap, I’m pretty sure Schumi was 1.2s away coming into the detection point, and that extra lap probably would’ve ensured full use of that 20KPH DRS.

      I was hoping for Kobayashi to pull off a special one for Peter Sauber but he just couldn’t get past Vettel, which was a shame, but he is just so quick. Really enjoyed this 4 hour spectacular, apart from the part where they weren’t racing..

      Particularly loving Quick Nick’s parking skills.

    8. That was an incredible come back for JB… 21st at the restart to 1st! amazing!

    9. Rule 40.7 of the FIA sporting regulations implies that all cars must “form up in line behind the safety car no more than ten car lengths apart” if i saw correctly, Vettel fell well over 10 car lengths behind the safety car 2 or 3 times when running away down the final straight, is he not due some time penalties???

      1. yeah and find something for Webber as well, to have Schu in 2nd!

      2. The safety car had turned its lights off, so Vettel was effectively the safety car up until the safety car line, so we was well within his right to back up the pack

    10. What a mental race! Awesome from Button at the end, how on earth did he have that pace compared to the Bulls and Schumacher?! Incredible. I think RBR will need to ask some serious questions where their pace was when on the dry tyres.

      Is this the race where Vettel’s luck runs out? There will only be further questions about his place at the top of the sport if he cracks under the first sign of pressure like today.

      Hamilton must be absolutely kicking himself.

      1. cracks under the first sign of pressure like today.

        He’s been under pressure for a lot of the weekend and as much as Vettel annoys me, this is the first big mistake he has made all year.

      2. Of course Vettel had a lot more pace along the race. He got way ahead several times, only to lose the advantage because of the SC. JB would never have caught him without it. SV was being lucky this year, but not this time.

      3. There will only be further questions about his place at the top of the sport if he cracks under the first sign of pressure like today.

        Well, he was under pressure in Spain and Monaco, so I question your counting skills.

    11. I have many things to say as a Ferrari fan, but it’s just fantastic.

    12. Had Hamilton taken Alonso outlike that everybody would be crying for a penalty. I honestly feel for Hamilton, he is by far the best challenger against Vettel. Button did not stick to his racing line, just look where the dry line was at the end of the race, Button was way off that.

    13. ferranmclaren
      12th June 2011, 22:34

      i always hated that evil german called schumacher but man EVEN I WAS SCREAMING for him come on schumi come on ,thats the mos special about the race for me ,even more special then buttons great win and the crashes and action

    14. Correct me if I am wrong Keith… Although button did not start from the back of the grid, Am I right in thinking that this is the first time that anyone has won from that far back since John Watson from 22nd at Long Beach in 1983 in a Mclaren too.

      1. Watson started from grid position 22, JB started from 7th?

    15. The greatest sportsmen win on a bad day.
      That’s the single most important lesson I’ve learnt from sport. Vettel drives immaculate races, he really does, and that takes skill – however that’s what a computer can do, pick the most optimal path and take it.
      The human element to F1 is something we don’t see so much nowadays, but Button went through a great trial today. In football, this was akin to Manchester United winning 1-0 after being a man down to Bolton. It took grit, determination and experience for Button to win today. His tyres were older than Vettel’s, yet he was a huge amount faster per lap – the driver clearly making the difference.

      I know Vettel may win the season rather easily, but this win today impresses me so much more than an easy championship. Congratulations Button, you may treat us fans rough with your qualifying results, but you make up for it with these breathtaking races!

      1. Best thing anyone has said about Button and the current race status quo in a while.

        Well said!!!

      2. Great comment. I’m sure I heard that his tyres were two laps fresher than Vettel’s though?

        1. No Vettel had tyres 2 laps fresher than Button.

        2. said by the same person who said he was the first to change to the slicks, speedtv has its own version of Legard.

      3. This gets my vote too!

      4. Really nice one Mole. Great description of what matters.

        Perfect is just no fun, racing like this is!

      5. Agreed, although it felt more like the 2-1 victory Manchester United had over Bayern Munich in the Champions League Final of 1999, when they were 1-0 down with 2 minutes to go and went on to win!

      6. I would call JB a sportsman at all after crushing LH and ramming into FA.

      7. Vettel drives immaculate races, he really does, and that takes skill – however that’s what a computer can do, pick the most optimal path and take it.
        The human element to F1 is something we don’t see so much nowadays, but Button went through a great trial today.

        Vettel made a mistake, and suddenly he’s a computer?

        1. Computers crash :)

          1. Hehe, true :)

            But of course, I dislike the point about Vettel’s five wins being robotic, while Button’s solitary win is down to him making a difference. Not to say Button didn’t make the difference yesterday, but Vettel has also made the difference to be 60 points over everyone else, including his teammate.

    16. Button was lucky with the numerous safety car outings, but one can’t deny that he used his opportunities well. Yes Vettel’s slip at the first corner aided his overtake, but I really was impressed with Button this race, he seems to have learned from Hamilton how to be forceful when getting past.. Great drive.
      Sad for Vettel though, but I don’t mind though. :)

      1. Lucky? Well at one point his luck put him p21 and yet you are too kind with Vettel’s mistake.

        Button spent most of the race offline in the wet, overtaking, the second Vettel does it, he loses it under pressure.

        1. Vettel has been under pressure, and has overtaken people this year. One mistake doesn’t mean he can’t handle pressure.

    17. Plenty of brilliant results above. Button, Schumacher, Petrov, Kobayashi, Alguersuari and the HRT boys. I hope Jaime can continue with that form on his home turf in two weeks. Lotus desperately need some high finishes now.

    18. For the complainers:

      DRS Did not “take” Schumacher’s podium, or “gift” Button the win. Button closed on Schumacher at 2 seconds a lap. Once he was past, he screamed away at almost 2 seconds a lap. All the DRS did, was to equalise the aerodynamic washout. For anyone about to complain that the DRS created “artificial” overtaking, I want to see you go back through every comment, forum post, guest article, and yes, even Keith’s articles, and delete or amend every single complaint you’ve ever made about someone catching their rival at 2 seconds a lap and the “being prevented” from getting passed. I’m honestly sick of it. The DRS only works for overtaking when we should already expect to see it. There were plenty of times in this race, and in previous races, when drivers were bottled up behind each other, and couldn’t make a pass even with DRS enabled. If the two cars, or drivers, are of genuinely equal performance, then the passing car does not streak away at 2 seconds a lap once he gets past. They stick together, and the passed driver is probably within the window on the next lap to try and get the position back.

      The investigations:
      Lewis went the wrong side, expected Button to see him through the spray at high speed when he was only at his rear wheel, Button kept to his single line and didn’t deviate. Racing incident.

      Button was practically in front of Alonso, grip was tricky, Alonso tried to make the corner and came across probably further than he expected to. Racing incident.

      Button was in the pit lane 6 times, and came from 21st to 1st in what was effectively 1/3 of the race distance. Any other driver would be lauded from the skies as a hard racing genius, but I predict there’ll be several on here who will complain he was gifted the win due to DRS, or other’s mistakes, or that Hamilton would have come from 41st to 1st in half the time…. balls.

      Vettel had the car and no real competition all weekend. In the last 10 laps of the race he should have been 30-40 seconds ahead of Schumacher. He dropped the ball, and Button forced the mistake out of him. Phenomenal. Had either Vettel, Button, Schumacher, Webber, or even Kobayashi ended up on the 1st or second step of the podium, I’d have been equally pleased. But I’m thrilled for Jenson.

      1. Proof of what I’m saying:

        Canadian GP Fastest laps:
        01 Jenson Button 69 1:16.956

        04 Michael Schumacher 70 1:19.138

        08 Mark Webber 65 1:19.572

        Yeah. Totally the result of DRS there. No reason why Button should have been able to get past.

      2. McL rams into everything: racing incident.

        Anything touches a McL: instant DSQ

        1. McL rams into everything: racing incident.

          You mustn’t have watched Monaco.

          Anything touches a McL: instant DSQ

          Not even remotely true.

      3. That’s the best explanation of the DRS I’ve read. I think you’re absolutely right. We haven’t seen (and likely will never) a slower car overtaking a faster car due to DRS.

        As for the investigations, I agree entirely.

        And as for Button’s pace, I agree entirely! :P But seriously, I can’t understand how people could think he was lucky. He was probably the unluckiest guy out there! And the fact that he managed to triumph despite all his problems doesn’t taint his performance, rather, it puts it into perspective just how fast he was.

        Button tyre master? Questionable. Button wet-track-but-drying master. No question.

    19. It was the first time in three consecutive races that Vettel succumbs to the pressure of the McLarens (and the Ferrari of Alonso in Monaco). The McLarens and the Ferraris have again shown that Red Bull’s racepace isn’t all that phenomenal. When Vettel puts in purple laps one after another, we make it out to be just his car. Perhaps it’s time to factor in the racetrim strength of the McLarens aswell (not to take anything away from Button).

      1. True, but we weren’t given the chance to see Vettel succumb to the pressure in Monaco as the race was redflagged and tyres gifted him back his lost performance.

        1. Very true, I’m just pointing out the RB7 doesn’t have the dominance it had back in Melbourne. People are always very quick to put down Vettel’s wins to carperformance.

          What Button did was extraordinary and I was cheering when he crossed the finish, but surely he could not have pulled that off with a car that didn’t have some sort of raw speed in it at the end of the race?

    20. Let’s not forget that Vettel pitted twice under the safety and came out P1 each time. Button was 21st on lap 40.

      1. On the other hand, the SC did get his lead down to zero every time.

    21. David Livingstone
      12th June 2011, 23:18

      My opinion on DRS, which I would like to think is relatively objective, is that it’s simply a poor solution to a problem.

      The problem of aerodynamic washout is one where you can’t follow another car closely through the corners. The thing with DRS is that it tries to negate this one or so second deficit that cars face whilst following each other in one go. Being twenty kilometers an hour faster down the back straight doesn’t promote good overtaking, it essentially hands people track position. There’s skill in keeping someone behind you – we saw it in Monaco where DRS was negligible, we’ve seen it in races in the past (Imola 05/06 are good examples). This makes for interesting racing in my eyes.

      Also, however, as the BBC commentators mentioned the other day – DRS was intended to get cars alongside each other to attempt an overtake. I’d still have reservations about that, because track position needs to count for something. It’s an advantage, one hard fought for in qualifying, through strategy or by earlier overtakes. But the fact is, DRS doesn’t do that. DRS enabled overtaking clear around cars before they even got to the breaking zone, and then gave them less drag down the main straight to break out of the 1 second zone and preclude any chance of a re-DRS pass. It detracts from the spectacle, and the whole principle of motor racing, in my view.

      1. Then please start complaining equally vociferously that aerodynamic wake effects “detracts from the spectacle, and the whole principle of motor racing”, because it does not take skill to keep someone behind when the design of your car makes it physically impossible for them to pass you, unless you happen to put it in the wall.

        1. I didn’t see one car coasting by when the track was somewhat damp/wet (might be the director’s fault though^^). The moment DRS was enabled Webber just flew by Schumacher, but was caught out under braking.

          I think you make a false argument here. One can be just as opposed to DRS as to the way areo works on following cars. Being against DRS doesn’t mean you are for unbalanced wake effects due to areo.

          1. I agree. Especially on Webber’s pass. He was nowhere near Schumacher, yet flew by, rather get closer thanks to the DRS.

            1. Harry Palmer
              13th June 2011, 10:27

              That was a playstation pass if ever I saw one… no skill required, which is disappointing. I always tried to argue DRS was a bonus as it could stop cars being stuck on tracks where overtaking is difficult and gave them the ‘opportunity’ to make a pass without necessarily gifting it to them. In this instance it gifted Webber a podium that really should have been Schumacher’s and spoiled rather than enhanced the spectacle.

              As for having a two DRS zones at a track where overtaking was already likely…

    22. just so u people know………..u(in general and not a particular induvidual) keep mentioning of 6 pit stops an a drive throgh penalty……the dt is n othing to be proud….although he showed determination till d end…..a drive through is not something to be proud of

      1. I don’t believe anyone has said that a drive through penalty is “something to be proud of”. Who are you responding to?

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