The 2011 Italian GP Race Log - More sublime overtaking from F1's supremos

Second hand starts to grip the 2011 drivers trophy

Sebastian Vettel has won an exciting Italian GP ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. A close battle with Michael Schumacher, which lasted for at least half of the race, cost Lewis Hamilton a podium position. There was plenty of action, especially at the start of the race, and close fighting up and down the field.

Here is how the race unfolded:

Lap 1: When the lights went out there was action at the front of the grid and chaos at the back. Daniel Ricciardo’s HRT didn’t leave the grid while his team-mate got a wheel onto the grass sending him drifting towards the first chicane. Vitantonio Liuzzi could do nothing to control the situation as his car hit Vitaly Petrov’s Renault which also took out Nico Rosberg. Kamui Kobayashi and Rubens Barrichello also appeared to get caught up but managed to continue to the pits. Up at the front Alonso had a lightning start to get ahead of not only both McLarens, but also pole sitter Sebastian Vettel. Button ended up back in seventh. The Safety Car was deployed to clear up the mess at Turn 1.

Lap 2: Kobayashi pitted for a new front wing and soft tyres, having started the race on the harder compound.

Lap 3: Bruno Senna pitted for soft tyres. Jerome D’Ambrosio retired from the race.

Lap 4: The race re-started. Hamilton looked slow to react and as a result dropped way back from Vettel and Alonso and lost out to Schumacher, which was the beginning of a long battle between the two. Up at the front Vettel was close behind Alonso and looking to take back the lead.

Lap 5: Mark Webber pulled up behind Felipe Massa on the pit straight and there was contact between the two going into the first chicane. Massa was left facing the wrong way and the contact broke Webber’s front wing. On the way back to the pits, the wing lodged underneath his car, sending him straight on at Parabolica across the gravel and into the wall - Red Bull’s first retirement of 2011. Up at the front Vettel overtook Alonso, even getting onto the grass at one point but holding onto the car to take the lead of the race.

Lap 6: DRS was enabled

Lap 7: The top five in the race were all World Champions, with 12 championships between them. Massa started recovering lost positions by overtaking Paul di Resta. Vettel started pulling away in the lead of the race.

Lap 9: Hamilton was struggling getting close to overtake Schumacher as the Mercedes straight line speed was just too much for the McLaren, even with DRS and KERS available. It even caused Hamilton to ask his team over the radio if his straight line speeds were O.K.

Lap 10: Massa overtook Pastor Maldonado. There were yellow flags as Adrian Sutil retired from the race and left his Force India at the side of the track.

Lap 11: Hamilton and Schumacher were close together battling for third.

Lap 13: Hamilton got past Schumacher down the pit straight into the chicane, but soon lost the place again. By this stage Button had closed the gap to the pair and joined in the battle. Both McLaren drivers had DRS available to them.

Lap 14: Di Resta pitted.

Lap 15: Hamilton pulled alongside Schumacher but still couldn’t find a way past him. Up at the front Vettel had pulled out a 9s lead.

Lap 16: Schumacher pushed Hamilton right to the limits as the McLaren driver ended up on the grass and losing out to team-mate Button. Button wasted no time in getting past Schumacher into the Ascari chicane. Schumacher pitted for soft tyres.

Lap 18: Button pitted for soft tyres and came out in fifth.

Lap 19: Hamilton pitted for soft tyres and came out in sixth, still behind Schumacher.

Lap 20: Alonso pitted. Hamilton and Schumacher were battling for position again, with Schumacher appearing to make two defensive moves which isn’t allowed.

Lap 21: Vettel pitted, but with enough of a lead he was still first when he came out again. Hamilton complained to his team over the radio that Schumacher had moved more the once, and the team reassured him that the FIA were aware of the matter. Kobayashi had to cut across the chicane at turn one.

Lap 22: Massa pitted. The stewards announced that the incident which had been caused by Liuzzi would be investigated after the race.

Lap 23: Vettel had an 11.7s lead over Alonso, who in turn was only about a second ahead of Button. Ross Brawn was forced to tell Schumacher over the team radio to make sure that he left enough room at the Ascari chicane.

Lap 24: Kobayashi retired, possibly because of a gearbox problem, and this brought out yellow flags as he stopped at the side of the track.

Lap 25: Schumacher appeared to be struggling with grip and Hamilton was losing more time stuck behind him - about a second a lap to his team-mate, who was setting the fastest laps of the race.
Lap 26: Sebastian Buemi overtook Pastor Maldonado for tenth place. Ross Brawn again reminded Schumacher to remember to leave room for Hamilton.

Lap 27: Button had caught up Alonso. Hamilton finally found a way past Schumacher, although it looked like Schumacher yielded.

Lap 31: Jaime Alguersuari, who had started 18th, overtook di Resta - running well in the points.

Lap 32: Di Resta pitted.

Lap 34: Alonso lapped Rubens Barrichello. Button and Barrichello were fighting coming into the pit-lane. Perez retired from the race with a gearbox issue. He had looked to be one stopping in the race and could have been on for good points.

Lap 35: Alonso pitted and McLaren responded by bringing Hamilton in as well. As a result of the pit-stops Button found himself right up behind Alonso again, having dropped a bit of time before the pit stops.

Lap 36: Vettel pitted while Alonso and Button were still only at the Ascari chicane, such was the lead Vettel had developed. Button got past Alonso, who tried to take the place back but was unable to. Button appeared to have better traction than the Ferrari driver and started to pull away.

Lap 38: Schumacher pitted and emerged just behind Hamilton. Maldonado pitted.

Lap 39: Alonso was able to hold on to Button despite having been dropped previously.

Lap 40: Button started to pull away again.

Lap 42: Di Resta, Buemi and Senna pitted as did Massa. Vettel was cruising to a comfortable victory with 11 laps left and a 15.8s lead.

Lap 44: Hamilton started to chase down Alonso, however, BBC’s pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz revealed that he had needed extra encouragement from the team. It appeared that it might be a case of leaving it too late as the laps were running out.

Lap 45: Senna tried to overtake Buemi but was unable to do so. Senna was informed over his team radio that if he could get past Buemi then it would be possible to catch di Resta too.

Lap 48: Senna made a move on Buemi stick at the first chicane.

Lap 50: Di Resta was warned by his team to keep pushing.

Lap 51: While lapping cars Hamilton locked up into the first chicane having caught Buemi faster than he’d thought he would.

Lap 52: Hamilton could see Alonso just ahead of him, but with only two laps left it was too late for the McLaren driver to do anything.

Lap 53: Vettel crossed the line to win ahead of Button and Alonso. Hamilton finished ahead of Schumacher, while Massa finished in sixth ahead of Jaime Alguersuari (who had started 18th), di Resta, Senna and Buemi. Those not classified in the race were Ricciardo, Perez, Kobayashi, Sutil, Webber, d’Ambrosio, Petrov, Rosberg and Liuzzi.

The action continues in two weeks time in Singapore where Sebastian Vettel could wrap up this year’s championship with five races to spare.

Keep up to date when next years Italian Grand Prix tickets go on sale over on our dedicated page.

Posted by Hannah Hough - Follow her on twitter @hannahhou.

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