Vettel races to another victory, Sutil finishes 9th at European GP
June 26th, 2011 - 10:41 pm ICT by IANSValencia, June 26 (IANS) Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel continued his dominance with a victory in the European Grand Prix here Sunday while Force India’s Adrian Sutil secured two points for his ninth place finish.
Vettel crossed the chequered flag 10.8 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and teamate Mark Webber at the Valencia Street Circuit.
The win was Vettel’s sixth in eight races so far and he is now way ahead in the Drivers’ Championships with 186 points. Webber and McLaren’s Jenson Button are a distant joint second at 109. It was also one of the rare occasions when all 24 drivers completed the race.
Force India, however, will be disappointed with the result despite Sutil’s effort as his team mate Paul di Resta, starting 12th on the grid, completed the race two places below.
The team, currently eighth in the Constructor’s Championship with 12 points, needed a good finish from the drivers to move ahead of rivals Toro Rosso which have extended their slender advantage to 16 points after Jamie Alguersuari held back Sutil for the eighth place. Sutil, on a three stop strategy, was expected to overtake the local lad Alguersuari towards the end of the 57-lap race but could not find a way past the gritty Spaniard despite having a fresher set of tyres. Alguersari was on a two-stop strategy.
Di Resta too was in the hunt for points until he pitted on lap 46 for his third stop while running ninth. But he came out out of the pits at 15th spot and could not make an impact with 10 laps remaining.
India’s Narain Karthikeyan could not improve on his qualifying position and finished last behind his Hispania team mate Vitantonio Liuzzi.
The ninth race of the season will be the British Grand Prix in Silverstone from July
8-10.
- Webber secures elusive win in Brazil, Force India end season on a high - Nov 28, 2011
- Vettel wins a near perfect race, Sutil finishes ninth (Roundup) - Oct 30, 2011
- No points for Force India, Karthikeyan 21st at Turkish GP - May 08, 2011
- Alonso wins British Grand Prix, Force India draw blank - Jul 10, 2011
- Vettel claims another pole, Sutil sneaks into 10th at European GP - Jun 25, 2011
- Red Bull retain team title in Korea, Force India collect a point - Oct 16, 2011
- Vettel wins Bahrain GP, Force India's Di Resta finishes sixth - Apr 23, 2012
- Vettel wins Singapore GP, Force India record season's best result - Sep 25, 2011
- Force India's Sutil 8th fastest in opening practice at Monaco GP - May 26, 2011
- Force India's Sutil and Di Resta 8th and 12th at the German GP qualifying (Lead) - Jul 24, 2011
- Force India disappoint, Vettel wins Spanish Grand Prix - May 22, 2011
- Hamilton wins Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, both Force Indias in top-10 - Nov 13, 2011
- Webber claims pole, Di Resta 6th fastest at British GP - Jul 09, 2011
- Belgian Grand Prix: Force India disappoint, Vettel secures pole - Aug 27, 2011
- Karthikeyan completes race for first time, no points for Force India - Apr 17, 2011
Tags: british grand prix, chequered flag, constructor, eighth place, european gp, fernando alonso, force india, jenson button, lap race, mark webber, narain karthikeyan, rare occasions, red bull, sebastian vettel, silverstone, spaniard, team mate, teamate, valencia street, vitantonio liuzzi