• Brazilian Grand Prix

Post-race driver rundown

November 7, 2010

Sebastian Vettel - 1st
Vettel's win was more proof, if it was needed, that he is the faster Red Bull driver at the moment. He got the perfect start and Hulkenberg had no choice but to cede position into turn one. From that point onwards the result was never in doubt, but Vettel's 25 points sets up a dilemma for Red Bull as an identical one-two finish in Abu Dhabi could hand Alonso the championship.

Mark Webber - 2nd
An overheating engine was cause for minor concern midway through the race, but he had a big enough advantage over Alonso for it not to matter. There was no way past Vettel ahead of him and, on current form, the same is likely to be true in Abu Dhabi. His inflammatory comments on Thursday may not seem so smart now, as he may well end up relying on Vettel's help to secure the championship.

Fernando Alonso - 3rd
Realistically he was not in a position to challenge Red Bull on Sunday, although his lap times were not far off the lead two during the race. The championship is still very possible, but if Red Bull is as dominant in Abu Dhabi as it was this weekend, it is no longer in his hands. Qualifying and the first corner will be crucial for the Ferrari driver.

Lewis Hamilton - 4th
He made a good start, but the McLaren is no longer a match for the Red Bulls and Ferraris and he wasn't really in the same race as the top three. Getting stuck behind Hulkenberg cost him dear and could have lost him a position to Button had it not been for some solid laps on worn tyres once the Williams had pitted. His championship challenge is now all but over, but for anybody who has observed the pace of the McLaren since Singapore, that is not really news.

Jenson Button - 5th
McLaren's strategy was inspired and let Button leapfrog five cars stuck behind Hulkenberg in the opening stages. Button pushed when he needed to and executed a clean pass on Kobayashi to stay in touch with Hamilton.

Nico Rosberg - 6th
He drove a patient race at the start behind Hulkenberg and then put in a string of quick laps when the Williams pitted. That allowed him to move up through the field and come out ahead of team-mate Schumacher. A miscommunication between the pit wall and the mechanics put him out on hard tyres after the safety car, but because he was on the lead lap he could pit again for softs and come out in seventh. Schumacher let him through towards the end to pursue Button on fresh rubber but the McLaren was too far down the road.

Michael Schumacher - 7th
He used the same strategy as Rosberg to make up positions during the first pit stops and then had a fairly straightforward race. But considering he started eighth and overtook Button at the start, he may well be slightly disappointed with the end result.

Nico Hulkenberg - 8th
His race performance was never going to live up to the expectations set by his qualifying lap and in the end a finish ahead of Kubica was a very good result. He got trapped a lap down under the safety car and from that point onwards eighth was the best possible finish.

Robert Kubica - 9th
He spent most of his race in traffic and a low-geared final ratio meant he kept hitting the rev-limiter as he tried to pass Hulkenberg. That meant his straight-line speed was not up to scratch, and being stuck in traffic meant he showed his true pace.

Kamui Kobayashi - 10th
He benefitted from the timing of the safety car to limit the damage of his late second stop. He conceded a lot of positions during the race but only to drivers that he wasn't realistically racing. Considering that only one car retired, a point is a good result for Sauber.

Jaime Alguersuari - 11th
11th was a good result, albeit aided by other drivers' problems. The Toro Rosso is lacking straight-line speed without an F-duct, so defending position into turn one and turn four was a constant struggle.

Adrian Sutil - 12th
A late move on Buemi secured a good result from 22nd on the grid. He opted to go long into the race on hard tyres and then made his stop under the safety car period. On soft tyres he could attack towards the end of the race but points were never realistic.

Sebastien Buemi - 13th
He had an eventful race but spent more time defending than attacking. The car wasn't really a contender for the top ten, but on the downside he was the lowest finishing driver on a one stop strategy (not including the new team drivers).

Rubens Barrichello - 14th
He's come to expect bad luck at his home grand prix and this weekend's race was no different. A slow first pit stop dropped him out of the points and then a puncture finished off any chance of a decent race. It will be little conciliation that he was the highest placed Brazilian.

Felipe Massa - 15th
A cross-threaded wheel nut dropped him out of contention, but also saved his blushes in front of his home crowd. He was a long way off the pace of Alonso this weekend but the problem gave him an excuse to blame his poor performance on. He tried to fight back but made a hash of a move on Buemi and was lapping off the pace of Alonso and the Red Bulls.

Vitaly Petrov - 16th
He was a little tentative in the opening corners and dropped several positions from his tenth-place grid slot when he ran wide trying to avoid other cars. From that point onwards he was moving backwards and a second pit stop for new tyres under the safety car didn't help him.

Nick Heidfeld - 17th
He wasn't far off his team-mate during the race but then got a drive-through penalty for failing to make way for Rosberg when being lapped. He admitted to the mistake but now has just one more race to prove to the rest of the paddock why he should be given another season in F1.

Heikki Kovalainen - 18th
He was the highest placed driver among the new teams, finishing 0.8 seconds ahead of his team-mate. It was a straightforward race and a solid double finish for the team.

Jarno Trulli - 19th
His engineers had to deal with a hydraulics issue on his car during the race, but it all held together to cross the line. Once again Lotus was the class of the new teams.

Timo Glock - 20th
He lost a position to Trulli at the start and didn't have the car underneath him to make it back. He only finished 6.2 seconds off the Lotuses but was helped by the safety car.

Bruno Senna - 21st
The car prevented him from finishing any higher at his first home grand prix but it wasn't a bad performance overall. He was a little reluctant to make way for the frontrunners when he was lapped but didn't cause any major problems.

Christian Klien - 22nd
He started from the pit lane after a fuel pressure problem on the way to the grid and then returned to the garage early in the race. In the end he finished four laps down but kept a similar pace to Senna in the race.

Lucas di Grassi - Not classified
He finished the race but was nine laps down on the leaders. A mechanical problem early in the race meant he had to return to the pits and actually got out of the car while it was fixed. He then completed some useful running for the team until the chequered flag.

Tonio Liuzzi - Accident
Brake problems hindered his progress during the race and then an apparent steering failure resulted in an almighty shunt at turn two. The accident triggered the safety car.

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