European GP: Vettel win, Alonso second with Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel won the Formula 1 European GP in Valencia. The German from Red Bull Racing preceded the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso and the other Red Bull of Mark Webber. Fourth and sixth place for the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, among them the Ferrari of Felipe Massa. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) was seventh ahead of Jaime Alguersuari's Toro Rosso and Adrian Sutil's Force India. Nick Heidfeld closes the top 10 with the Lotus Renault GP.

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Vettel maintained the lead at the start ahead of Webber while the two Ferraris of Alonso and Massa moved into third and fourth position with an excellent start. Hamilton therefore found himself ahead of Rosberg, Button, Schumacher, Sutil and Heidfeld.

On lap six Button attacked and overtook Rosberg without using the mobile rear wing, moving up to sixth position.

On lap 12 Heidfeld, Barrichello and Kobayashi, at the back, started the first round of pit stops. Vettel increased his lead over Webber to 3 seconds while Alonso closed in on the Australian. On lap 2 Hamilton was the first of the big names to pit, followed by Rosberg and Sutil. On the next lap it was Webber's turn to complete the first stop, returning to the track in fifth position. Shortly afterwards Hamilton easily overtook Schumacher while Vettel, Alonso, Button di Resta and Schumacher himself returned to the pits on lap 13.

Massa therefore found himself in the lead while Schumacher, after a contact with Petrov, damaged the front wing but despite the compromised aerodynamics he managed to repel Di Resta's attacks. However, the German was forced to return to the pits to change the nose the following lap, falling to the rear. Stop also for Massa with Vettel who returned to the lead ahead of Webber, Alonso, Hamilton, Button, Rosberg, Alguersuari, Perez and Sutil.

The Mexican from Sauber, having difficulty with the hard tyres, was overtaken in succession by Heidfeld and Barrichello.

On lap 21 Alonso overtook Mark Webber at the end of the first DRS zone to climb into second position amid the enthusiasm of the Spanish fans.

On lap 25 Hamilton opened the second lap of pit stops still on soft tires and returned to the track in sixth position behind Massa and Button. On lap 29 it was Webber's turn to complete the second stop, followed by Alonso on the following lap. Both were again on soft tires while Hamilton began to put in fast laps. After the second stop Webber found himself ahead of Alonso again in third place.

On lap 30 it was Vettel and Button's turn. On lap 31 Webber managed to easily pass Massa, who was in difficulty with worn tyres. Shortly afterwards the Brazilian returned to the pits, penalized by a slow stop due to a problem with his right rear.

Vettel meanwhile began to disintegrate the fastest lap, taking half a second from Webber and Alonso. Hamilton, fourth, found himself 14" ahead of Massa. Sixth Button ahead of Alguersuari, Rosberg, Sutil, Heidfeld and Di Resta.

Massa quickly closed in on Hamilton, who was in trouble with his tires while Webber was the first of the top drivers to pit for the third time, followed shortly afterwards by Hamilton. Alonso returned on lap 46 with a 19-second lead over Webber who, penalized by lapped traffic, lost second position to the Spaniard. On lap 48 Vettel also completed the third stop, maintaining a good margin over Alonso, Webber, Massa, Button, Hamilton, Rosberg, Alguersuari, Sutil and Heidfeld.

On lap 49 Webber ran wide at turn 17, thus giving a few more seconds of advantage to Alonso. Shortly afterwards Massa and Button completed the third stop. The Brazilian dropped to fifth behind Hamilton and ahead of Button.

At the end Webber suffered gearbox problems and the team asked him to use the gears little. Positions unchanged in the final laps with Vettel going on to win ahead of Alonso and Webber.

Finishing Order Formula 1 European GP 2011 – Valencia – Results

Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h39:36.169 2. Alonso Ferrari + 10.891 3. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 27.255 4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 46.190 5. Massa Ferrari + 51.705 6. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 1:00.000 7. Rosberg Mercedes + 1:38.000 8. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 10. Heidfeld Renault + 1 lap 11. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 13. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 14. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 15. Petrov Renault + 1 lap 16. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 17. Schumacher Mercedes + 1 lap 18. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 19. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 20. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 21. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 22. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 23. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps 24. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps