Aimee Howarth talks about her sporting hero, Cristiano Ronaldo
Steve Puddicombe on why he thinks Mark Cavendish should win Sports Personality of the Year 2011
The Yorker's sports team says what they would like for Christmas this year
The second blog for The Yorker from the University of York Riding Club
The 23-year old German led from start to finish in what, for him, seemed an uneventful race, with in an impressive display of speed and control.
Lewis Hamilton finished second, continuing McLaren’s dramatic improvement in a car that neither he nor his teammate Jenson Button had driven for more than 18 consecutive laps. But not all was rosy for the Brit, who had to conserve his car for the last few laps as it became clear that the underside was damaged.
Button suffered a drive-though penalty for cutting a corner after he had spent several laps trying to pass the obviously slower Felipe Massa, with the track living up to its reputation as one not facilitating overtaking. Button maintained that he had the inside line and that Massa pushed him off the track, but race director Charlie Whiting did not agree. Despite the penalty Button recovered and was able to finish sixth, giving him a decent share of the points.
Vitaly Petrov came third, claiming his first podium finish with a sleek performance in a repeat of last year’s Abu Dhabi race in which he held off Alonso to deny him the world title. Again Petrov worked hard in order prevent the two-time world champion form passing him.
Renault’s car has looked impressive so far in testing and qualifying, but Nick Heidfeld struggled to match his teammate's pace, finishing 14th.
Sauber drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez were both disqualified after a fault in their rear wing actuators were discovered, which overshadowed an impressive debut for the young Mexican, who actually crossed the line seventh.
Britain’s Paul Di Resta also did well on his debut, earning a point following the Sauber’s disqualification.
It was a bad weekend for the Mercedes and Williams drivers, all of whom failed to finish the race. Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher fell foul of a technical fault and his teammate Nico Rosberg’s weekend was ruined after a driving error from Rubens Barrichello, who ploughed into his side. Barrichello served a drive-through and later had to retire.
Certainly an eventful weekend to say the least, and there’s lots to be excited about in the coming months. We head next to Sepang, Malaysia, and I fully expect to see Vettel on top again. Last year he struggled to convert his many pole positions into victories, but after yesterday’s display I’m going to back him to defend his title.
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