Brazilian GP: Webber wins the last race of the season

Mark Webber won the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix, the last race of the 2011 season. At Interlagos the Red Bull driver preceded his teammate, Sebastian Vettel, who was slowed down by gearbox problems. Third place for Jenson Button (McLaren) ahead of the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Lewis Hamilton withdraws due to a gearbox problem. Sixth place for Adrian Sutil (Force India) ahead of Rosberg's Mercedes and Paul di Resta's other Force India. Ninth place for Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), tenth for Vitaly Petrov (Renault).

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Departure with a dry track and soft tires for everyone. At the start Vettel maintained the lead ahead of Webber, Button, Alonso, Hamilton Massa, Rosberg, Sutil, Senna and Di Resta. On the second lap Schumacher overtook the Scotsman at the first corner to return to the top 10 while Barrichello fell from 12th to 20th position after the start.

Vettel immediately set a furious pace, giving Webber 2 seconds on the fourth lap while Alonso began to disturb Button. On lap ten Schumacher attacked and joined Bruno Senna on the outside on the main straight. The two came into contact at the first corner and the German got the worst of it by puncturing his left rear tyre. On lap 5 Alonso overtook Button with a nice maneuver on the outside of the Ferradura to move into third position. Forced to pit, Schumacher fitted a new set of soft tires and returned to the track in last position.

On lap 14, Red Bull informed Vettel of a gearbox problem, asking the German to shift into second gear earlier. Button was the first of the top drivers to pit on lap 15, returning to the track in seventh position.

Shortly afterwards it was Alonso and Hamilton's turn to pit and on lap 18 Vettel too. Shortly afterwards the stewards imposed a drive-through penalty on Senna for the collision with Schumacher. On lap 19 Webber stopped in the pits leaving the lead to Massa, followed by Vettel.

The German approached the Brazilian and on lap 21 he easily overtook him to take the lead again. Massa then pitted on lap 22.

After the first round of pit stops, Vettel led the race with a 2" lead over Webber and 8" over Alonso. The Ferrari driver preceded Button, Hamilton and Sutil.

On lap 23 Timo Glock was forced to retire after losing his left rear tire in the pitlane, which was badly secured after the stop.

Gearbox problems forced Vettel to slow down and Webber moved to 1 seconds. Maldonado retires after a spin. On lap 4 Vettel raised his foot to let the Australian pass. On lap 29 Button began the second round of pit stops using the harder compound. Hamilton returned on lap 31 to use soft tires again. Shortly afterwards Schumacher also completed his stop while Hamilton rejoined in sixth position behind Button.

Soft tires also for Alonso who returned to the track in third position behind the two Red Bulls while Hamilton also suffered a gearbox problem. Webber returned on lap 39 still on soft tyres. Button overtook Massa to move into fourth position while Vettel also fitted soft tires and returned to the track in second position behind Webber.

Hamilton, finding himself behind Massa for several laps, chose to bring forward the third stop by fitting medium tires on lap 44. On lap 46 Massa also stopped in the pits using the harder compound. The Brazilian returned to the track in fifth position ahead of Hamilton. The Englishman was then forced to retire due to gearbox problems.

On lap 53 Button made a surprise stop for his third stop, still using medium tyres. Identical strategy also for Schumacher. Alonso made his third stop on lap 55m and returned to the track in third place ahead of Button and Massa. On lap 59 Webber also put on medium tyres. Shortly afterwards it was Vettel's turn to complete the final stop, leaving the lead to Webber while Button quickly closed on Alonso.

The Englishman attacked and overtook the Ferrari driver using DRS on lap 62. Vettel was the author of an unconsequential off-piste at turn 5. Tonio Liuzzi retired on lap 65.
Webber then went on to win by setting the fastest lap also on the last lap with 1.15.324. Second place for Vettel ahead of Button, Alonso, Massa, Sutil, Rosberg, Di Resta, Kobayashi and Petrov. 11th and 12th position for the Toro Rossos of Alguersuari and Buemi, 13th for Perez with the Sauber ahead of Barrichello. Only 15th Michael Schumacher.

F1 GP Brazil, Interlagos, Results and order of arrival

Pos Driver Team Time 1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1h32:17.434 2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 16.983 3. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 27.638 4. Alonso Ferrari + 35.048 5. Massa Ferrari + 1:06.733 6. Sutil Force India -Mercedes + 1 lap 7. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap 8. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 9. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 10. Petrov Renault + 1 lap 11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 12 Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 13. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 14. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 15. Schumacher Mercedes + 1 lap 16. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 17. Senna Renault + 2 laps 18. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 19. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps 20. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps