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Brazilian GP - One more chance
Kimi Raikkonen picked up three points for finishing theBrazilian Grand Prix in sixth place and Giancarlo Fisichella brought his F60 home in eleventh spot. With Lewis Hamilton finishing third, the situation is that Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro has slipped to fourth place in the Constructors’ championship, just one point behind McLaren-Mercedes. That means there is just one more chance – at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi in a fortnight’s time, at the final race of the season, for the Scuderia to reach its long-stated aim of finishing third in the Constructors’ Championship.
The winner of that title, and also the Drivers’ crown was decided today, in favour of Brawn GP and Jenson Button, who finished fifth, while his team-mate Rubens Barrichello managed a single point for eighth, having started from pole before encountering his usual Interlagos misfortune, picking up a late race puncture.
The opening lap effectively ruined Kimi’s race, after he had secured a great fifth place on the grid in yesterday’s amazing qualifying session. Barrichello led from Webber and Kimi was already up to a point where he could attack the Red Bull driver, but he damaged his front wing in the attempt and had to pit for a new one. Kovalainen’s McLaren was also damaged after spinning at Turn 2, which affected Giancarlo’s race, as the Ferrari man was forced onto the grass, thus losing momentum. Trulli and Sutil collided, with the Force India car also collecting Alonso’s Renault, forcing all three of them to retire. Kovalainen left the pits just ahead of Kimi, but the fuel line was still attached to the McLaren. Fuel from the nozzle sprayed all over the Ferrari, with Kimi temporarily blinded when he got some in his eyes. Then, there was a horrifying moment as the fuel exploded in a bright orange ball of flame. Fortunately, the fire went out as quickly as it started and the Finn was able to continue, albeit at the back of the pack. He then produced yet another stunning drive – how many there have been this season! – and eventually took the chequered flag in sixth place.
Kimi Raikkonen: “What happened on the first lap ruined my race. First I was hit at the first corner, then when trying to pass Webber, I was hit and lost the front wing. At the pit stop, I ended up with some drops of petrol in my eye, from the fuel line stuck on Kovalainen’s car and then I was engulfed in flames and blinded: I was going to stop, but luckily the flames soon went out. Even now, my eyes are still burning, but I’m alright. After the restart, I could only try and use the strategy to move up the order and at least I brought home a few points. I am disappointed because today I’m sure we could have made it to the podium. There is one race to go: let’s see what we can do in Abu Dhabi to get back that third place.”
The race win went to Mark Webber: the Australian had started from second on the grid and his lead was guaranteed when he was able to run a longer first stint than Barrichello. From then on, he put on a faultless performance and was never really worried. One Ferrari driver was linked to the winner, as Felipe Massa had the honour of handling the chequered flag at the end of a weekend where he delighted so many of his friends in the paddock and the grandstands by making his first visit to a Grand Prix, since his Budapest accident back in the summer. Webber was joined on the podium by BMW’s Robert Kubica and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.
However, there were other winner’s today, as a fifth place for Jenson Button was enough for the Englishman to clinch the Drivers’ World Championship crown, while his Brawn team are now also unbeatable in the Constructors’ classification. Red Bull Racing are guaranteed second place so the real fight is now between ourselves and McLaren-Mercedes, for the final step of the Constructors' podium, with Toyota currently 15.5 points behind us.
Stefano Domenicali: “First and foremost, on behalf of the entire team, I want to congratulate Jenson Button and Brawn GP for winning both world championships today. I am particularly pleased for an old friend like Ross. As for us, obviously we are very disappointed, because today we had the chance to extend our advantage in the Constructors’ classification, but we have ended up one point down. What happened on the opening lap penalized Kimi heavily, as he had to restart from the back of the pack. It’s a shame, because today, our driver could match the pace of the best and could certainly have been fighting for a place on the podium: once again he delivered a great drive. After yesterday’s qualifying, Giancarlo started from the back row and faced a difficult race: he tried his best, but he could not get into the points. Now, we look forward to the final Grand Prix of the season at the new Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. There, we will have to do all we can to bring home a third place finish in the championship, which we are very keen to do and I am sure that all of us, drivers and team, will do all in our power to try and reach this target.”
Giancarlo Fisichella: “Obviously, starting from the back row, my race was already compromised. Then there was also the incident with Kovalainen, who spun in front of me, forcing me onto the grass, which prevented me from trying to make up a few places in the fight on the opening lap. We had opted for a one-stop strategy and it was a good one, but in the final part of the race, the soft tyres began to develop a bit of graining and I was not able to match the pace of those ahead of me and I even lost a place. On top of that, the KERS worked in fits and starts. Looking at my experience with Ferrari so far, I don’t want to hide that I feel a bit upset, as there has not been a single weekend in which everything went to plan. Now we go to Abu Dhabi which will be a new venue for everyone: I will do my very best to help the team retake this third place which slipped away from us today.”
Brazilian F1 Grand Prix – Race result1. Mark WebberAustraliaRed Bull-Renault 71 laps 1hr 32m 23.081s
2. Robert KubicaPolandBMW Sauber +7.6s
3. Lewis HamiltonBritainMcLaren-Mercedes +18.9s
4. Sebastian VettelGermanyRed Bull-Renault +19.6s
5. Jenson ButtonBritainBrawn-Mercedes +29.0s
6. Kimi RaikkonenFinlandFerrari-Ferrari +33.3s
7. Sebastien BuemiSwitzerlandToro Rosso-Ferrari +35.9s
8. Rubens BarrichelloBrazilBrawn-Mercedes +45.4s
9. Kamui KobayashiJapanToyota-Toyota +63.3s
10. Giancarlo FisichellaItalyFerrari-Ferrari +70.6s
11. Vitantonio LiuzziItalyForce India-Mercedes +71.3s
12. Heikki KovalainenFinlandMcLaren-Mercedes +73.4s#
13. Romain GrosjeanFranceRenault-Renault +1 lap
14. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
Rtd. Kazuki Nakajima Japan Williams-Toyota 30 laps completed (accident)
Rtd. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota 27 laps completed (gearbox)
Rtd. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber 21 laps completed (out of fuel)
Rtd. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault-Renault 0 laps completed (accident)
Rtd. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 0 laps completed (accident)
Rtd. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota-Toyota 0 laps completed (accident)
Fastest lap:
Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1m 13.733s
F1 DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP (after round 16 of 17)
POSITION / DRIVER / TEAM / POINTS1 / Jenson Button / Brawn GP Formula One Team / 89
2 / Sebastian Vettel / Red Bull Racing / 74
3 / Rubens Barrichello / Brawn GP Formula One Team / 72
4 / Mark Webber / Red Bull Racing / 61.5
5 / Lewis Hamilton / Vodafone McLaren Mercedes / 49
6 / Kimi Raikkonen / Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro / 48
7 / Nico Rosberg / AT&T Williams / 34.5
8 / Jarno Trulli / Panasonic Toyota Racing / 30.5
9 / Fernando Alonso / ING Renault F1 Team / 26
10 / Timo Glock / Panasonic Toyota Racing / 24
11 / Heikki Kovalainen / Vodafone McLaren Mercedes / 22
= / Felipe Massa / Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro / 22
13 / Robert Kubica / BMW Sauber F1 Team / 17
14 / Nick Heidfeld / BMW Sauber F1 Team / 15
15 / Giancarlo Fisichella / Force India F1 Team / 8
16 / Adrian Sutil / Force India F1 Team / 5
= / Sébastien Buemi / Scuderia Toro Rosso / 5
18 / Sébastien Bourdais / Scuderia Toro Rosso / 2
19 / Nelson Piquet Jr / ING Renault F1 Team / 0
= / Luca Badoer / Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro / 0
= / Jaime Alguersuari / Scuderia Toro Rosso / 0
= / Romain Grosjean / ING Renault F1 Team / 0
= / Kazuki Nakajima / AT&T Williams / 0
F1 CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP (after round 16 of 17)
POSITION / TEAM / POINTS1 / Brawn GP Formula One Team / 161
2 / Red Bull Racing / 135.5
3 / Vodafone McLaren Mercedes / 71
4 / Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro / 70
5 / Panasonic Toyota Racing / 54.5
6 / AT&T Williams / 34.5
7 / BMW Sauber F1 Team / 32
8 / ING Renault F1 Team / 26
9 / Force India F1 Team / 13
10 / Scuderia Toro Rosso / 7
(ends)
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Release Number: Ferrari_410
Date of Issue: 27 September 2018. Time of Issue: 15:25:45