Always the bridesmaid, never the bride: this perfectly describes Mark Webber’s participation at the 2011 Formula 1 season so far. Despite driving the best car on the grid and being in the top-performing team, the Australian not only watched his younger teammate clinch the title with considerable ease, but until the last race of the season didn’t have a single win to show for himself.
Well, in Brazil, Webber proved yet another quote: that all good things come to those who wait, as after 71 laps on the track of Interlagos, he was one to take the chequered flag.
“I felt good all weekend to be honest”, said Webber. “Seb did a great lap for pole yesterday but today I got a little bit of the rub of the green – it would have been nice to have a race with Seb all the way through but I think he had a little bit of a problem”, said the winner referring to Sebastian Vettel’s gearbox problem, in spite of which he managed to fend off Jenson Button’s McLaren for second place.
“This a win that obviously I’ll take because I’ve had enough bad luck or whatever you want to call it and that’s how motorsport goes sometimes. It was a very important win for me and the team that get to finish on a high,” Webbed added.
For Ferrari, the end to a disappointing season was bittersweet. On one hand, Fernando Alonso drove brilliantly, passing Lewis Hamilton at the start and then overtaking Button. However, he lost his chance to climb on the podium because his car was clearly not as fast on medium tires and he finished in fourth place just in front of his teammate, Felipe Massa, who also celebrated his 100th Formula 1 Grand Prix and his 10th year with Ferrari.
For the umpteenth time this season, Massa, who was racing in front of his home crowd, had to battle with Hamilton. This time though, the pair fought without coming into contact – and McLaren’s gearbox failure, which led to Hamilton’s retirement, made life easier for the Brazilian.
So, a small recap now that the 2011 F1 season is over.
Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel won the constructors’ and drivers’ titles respectively, being much better than the rest of their rivals.
McLaren was clearly the best of the rest, with Jenson Button finishing the season in second place, albeit 122 points behind the champion, while Lewis Hamilton didn’t perform as expected, clashing with Massa too many times.
Ferrari’s bad start made it very difficult to race for the championship. Fernando Alonso’s fourth place in the final standings, just one point behind Webber, is a testament to the Spaniard’s efforts, as well as the Scuderia finally getting its act together in the middle of the season.
The duel between Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg at Mercedes GP was another highlight of the 2011 F1 season. The seven-times world champion was outpaced by his much younger teammate, fuelling rumors about retiring, this time for good, but he put on a good game and, although he finished one place behind Rosberg, fought until the end.
Timing and standings information provided by FIA
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