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
Having pipped Lewis Hamilton by just a tenth of a second for pole position on Saturday, Vettel built a commanding lead of 12 seconds in the first phase of the race. Of the top ten who all started on the soft tyres they used in Q3, Vettel clearly got the most out of his, and with KERS up and running, his Red Bull flew into the distance.
Even during the last period of the race, when Vettel’s race manager told him not to use his KERS because of a suspected fault, he still posted the fastest lap time.
Despite the fact that Mark Webber’s KERS failed him yesterday, they drove identical cars in qualifying on Saturday and last week in Australia. Yet Vettel is, in relative terms, miles ahead of his teammate. He said to team principal Christian Horner upon finishing, “[It’s] a pleasure to be with you every weekend. I’m loving it.”
Jenson Button finished second after a typically cool and calm ride. He started fourth, but revealed himself to be disappointing after Q3, as at the end of Q2 he had been in a commanding position.
Teammate Lewis Hamilton was in for another eventful afternoon, crossing the line seventh but later penalized for making more than his permitted one change of direction when being tailed by Alonso. Consequentially he was reclassified to 8th place, and this takes away four championship points.
When added to his slow pit stop due to a stuck front left wheel, allowing Button to pass him, Hamilton was downbeat about the weekend, but is determined to bounce back in China.
Renault’s Nick Heidfeld flew off the line down the outside to propel himself from sixth to third and a potential podium by the third corner. He grafted all day long and was rewarded with a Renault’s first podium since 2009, finishing third and holding off Mark Webber.
In the other Renault Vitaly Petrov was also quick off the line, but after running wide and trying to immediately rejoin the track, he vaulted a water drainage kerb and the force with which he slammed back to earth broke the steering wheel from the steering column; fortunately he was not harmed.
There was also a penalty for Fernando Alonso, after he clipped Hamilton’s rear right tyre attempting an overtaking manoeuvre. Hamilton’s car was not damaged but Alonso’s front wing took a hefty blow and his dangerous actions earned him a 20 second penalty, although he remained sixth.
Force India’s Paul Di Resta finished tenth, this time in his own right, to gain back-to-back finishes in the points. The young Scot had a good go at Schumacher, who finished ninth, and for the second time out-performed his more experienced teammate Adiran Sutil, who crossed the line just behind Di Resta.
Next week the World Championship heads to Shanghai, China, a race notorious for its tricky, high speed corners. This season has been fantastically exciting thus far - Mercedes can barely buy a point, let alone a podium, Ferrari are still off the pace, Renault have been a surprise package and McClaren are a different team from the one we saw in pre-season. At the moment, the Weltmeister Sebastian Vettel is untouchable. But don’t be fooled, there’s plenty more to come.
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