F1 FOLLOWER: Round 6_Monaco GP_Race

29/5/11,

Sebastian Vettel was again in the first position of the final classifications in Monaco!!

Almost everything that can happen in a race of Formula 1 happened in Monaco but the winner has not changed. After battles, extreme tactic choices, conflicts, Safety Car, injury and even stop of the race just before the end, Sebastian Vettel took his fifth win in 6 races. The Red Bull driver came under fierce pressure and he really shows now to be unstoppable. To do that the champion had to try to cover 62 laps with the same set of soft tires, although in the end there was no need. In the second position finished Fernando Alonso, in the best performance himself and Ferrari. Following a completely different strategy than the rest, Jenson Button with McLaren came in the third position of the podium. Mark Webber, Kamui Kobayashi, Lewis Hamilton, Adrian Sutil, Nick Heidfeld, Rubens Barrichello and Sebastien Buemi followed.

Start .

The 23 cars took their positions on the grid of the famous track with the weather to be in very good conditions and the temperature at 24 degrees. The first 8 cars were on the very soft compound while Lewis Hamilton, who fell to zero in qualifying, started with the soft, in an effort to help the strategy to win positions. Once the red lights went out, Sebastian Vettel went well and took the first position. Mark Webber instead made another bad start and lost a position from Fernando Alonso, who tried to attack Jenson Button, but the British driver of McLaren successfully managed to defended the second place and kept it.

Behind Michael Schumacher also made a bad start and lost many positions, falling to 10th. The German had a fight with Lewis Hamilton, which had a contact, but managed to pass and get the 9th place. In front of them were Webber, Rosberg, Massa, Maldonado and Petrov.

In the subsequent rounds, we had some nice battles. Alonso from the 3rd position tried to push Button but the British not only bowed but after the fifth round his pace went up and started to get away. Behind Hamilton was stuck behind Schumacher, but it was really impossible to pass. All that was indifferent to Sebastian Vettel, who from the first position has a comfortable race, and increased the difference.

In the ninth lap, Lewis Hamilton gave another example of his talent when, in Ste Devote managed to ''snuggle'' in the inner of Michael Schumacher and passed with a decisive move, however, having the consent of the German driver. Schumacher had problems with his rear tires and lost another position from Barrichello, before entering the pit to change both tires and the front wing.

And after that battle, the sight turned into another, as Felipe Massa had come very close to Nico Rosberg, claiming the fifth position, while behind Massa was Pastor Maldonado. Rosberg also seemed to have problems with tires and saw in the same turn a pass from both Massa and Maldonado.

Chaos in the pits.

The cycle of pit stop opened on the 16th lap with Jenson Button, who put back the very soft tire. In the next round, the perfect Red Bull in the pits made the mistake. First came in the pit came Vettel but a crashed heating blanket cost him time until being able to continue, having the harder compound. Immediately Webber entered the pits, but of course they were not ready for him and again they lost time. In the same lap Fernando Alonso entered the pits, who set the harder tires (soft compound), but failed to benefit from the tangle of Red Bull and stayed in third position.

The most benefitted from this whole situation was Jenson Button, who had the lead, having the very soft compound, while Vettel and Alonso who were behind him had soft. A few laps later Hamilton entered the pits to change from soft to very soft but an impatience in the pits of McLaren was the result that engineers not to be ready losing little time there.

Different strategies have brought an unusual ranking just before the middle of the race. Button on the top had made a difference of about 14 seconds from Alonso and Vettel while Kobayashi and Sutil followed who had not made any pit stop, while behind Buemi back from the top ten positions a small train was set by Webber, Massa and Hamilton .

Safety car.

The safety car made its first appearance at this year's championship when in the 34th lap, Lewis Hamilton crashed with Felipe Massa in his attempt to pass him in the hairpin. There the front wing of Massa was damages with the Brazilian losing normaly the control in the tunnel and destroying his car, just before the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher had shut down shortly before the straight of the start.

Before all this Jenson Button had come to the pits for the second time while in the same time of the accidents Alonso made a stop. So Vettel was preceded behind the SC, without doing the second pit stop while behind him was Button, who was again in the very soft tires and had to put the soft tires.

In the 40th lap the SC returned to the pits and the classification after the mess ... was Vettel, Button, Alonso, Sutil, Kobayashi, Webber, Hamilton, Maldonado, Petrov and Heidfeld. Especially favored were Sutil and Kobayashi who found them selfs in very high positions although they started far behind. Later the decision of the Stewards came out about the incident between Hamilton and Massa, which as it was expected it was against the British driver, who had a drive through penalty, placing him self him into the ninth place.

McLaren tried a strategy to give Jenson Button a chance to win the race and called him to pit to change tires in the 48th lap to put the soft and get with them until the end of the race. Button on his side of what he had to do with who came out on the track began to write one fastest lap after another, consistently reducing the difference even at a staggering pace.

The most durable gains.

In the last stint the focus was on how the leaders should manage their tires to get to the end. To make it Vettel should have done 62 laps with the same set of soft tires, which is very difficult, but Alonso had to make only 42, a perfectly feasible. Behind them, however, Button with fresh tires was moving much more rapidly than both of them.

Alonso arrived behind Vettel and remained just under 20 laps to end with a few laps later in the small train Jenson Button was added. It was clearly a triple duel among the top three on a track that overtaking is more difficult than elsewhere.

Panic and interruption.

The situation became more complicated when the three men came back from the 6 train cars that were giving battle for fifth position. The scene was unprecedented. Five drivers (Sutil, Webber, Maldonando, Hamilton, Petrov, Alguersuari) fought between them and behind them came the three who were fighting for first place. The solution was as usual in Monaco: a series of clashes between the 6 drivers was filled with debris and the track left Vitaly Petrov trapped in his Renault car after hitting the barrier. The stewards stopped the race 7 laps before the end to allow the ambulance to go to the scene of the accident. The Russian driver was taken out of his car successfully and transferred by ambulance to hospital, but has not serious injuries.

After the stopping, the cars were placed back into the grid, and would restart behind the Safety Car. In the restart all went normally with Vettel in front and Alonso with Button to follow. Lewis Hamilton immediately tried to attack Maldonado at Ste Devote but again the excessive enthusiasm caused ca contact with the Colombian driver, who made up to that point a very good race.

The laps until the checkered flag passed with Sebastian Vettel, having more fresh tires, being not very concerned and taking the checkered flag for the fifth time this year. Alonso did what he could in the end but the speed difference between Red Bull and Ferrari was evident, so the Spanish driver was reconciled with the second position. Jenson Button also reconciled with the third position in a race that otherwise could have won. Mark Webber, who passed Kamui Kobayashi in the lap before the lap of the end, Lewis Hamilton, Adrian Sutil, Nick Heidfeld, Rubens Barrichello and Sebastien Buemi followed.

After the Monaco GP Sebastian Vettel has reached 143 points and even though we are not approaching the middle of the season he touches the second consecutive title.

Next race is the Grand Prix of Canada with the 3 days in June 10-12.

Lap times, differences, positions, laps and drivers!!