Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel consolidated his lead at the top in this year’s title race with a near-flawless drive to victory for Red Bull in the Turkish Grand Prix.
The 23-year-old German led from his 19th career pole position to the chequered flag unchallenged, conceding the lead only once during his pit-stops, as he claimed his third win in four races this year.
It was the 13th win of his career and another day of celebration for the Red Bull team as Vettel’s teammate Australian Mark Webber overtook in a brilliant manoeuvre in the closing stages two-times champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Ferrari to finish second in the race in Istanbul.
It was the England-based team’s first one-two of the season and came at the conclusion of an action-packed contest full of overtaking moves and incidents.
Alonso, revelling in a much-improved Ferrari, finished third ahead of Briton Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 champion, who came home fourth for McLaren after a typically roller-coaster afternoon including one pit stop wrecked by a sticky wheel nut.
For Alonso, and Ferrari, it was their first podium finish of the season and confirmed they are back among the contenders after a tricky start to the year.
German Nico Rosberg – who came third in the qualifying – was fifth for Mercedes ahead of Briton Jenson Button in the second McLaren, the 2009 champion losing ground after planning a three-stop race while most of his rivals went for four.
Vettel warns of complaceny
The 2010 champion, who leads the title race by 34 points ahead of Hamilton, was delighted after the one-sided win.
“It’s good to get as many points as you can at every single race,” said Vettel. “But we see how quickly it can change.
“We saw it last year with this guy [Fernando Alonso] coming and going, so we have to really go step by step, see every race as its own and try and maximise our points.
Vettel thanked his team for their hard work in repairing his car, dubbed ‘Kinky Kylie’ after he had almost destroyed it in a major accident during Friday’s rain hit first practice session.
“On Friday, I had an accident and crashed the car badly. All the guys, even Webber’s guys helped and fixed the car. It meant some extra hours which I am sorry for, but I’m glad the win made up for it.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2011.
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