2011 Brazilian Grand Prix

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The 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio Petrobras do Brasil 2011 ) was a Formula One motor race held on 27 November 2011 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace , Interlagos , in São Paulo , Brazil. It was the nineteenth and final round of the 2011 Formula One season . The 71-lap race was won by Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber taking his only win of the season. Sebastian Vettel , Webber's teammate finished in second place to complete Red Bull's third 1–2 of the season; J...

Background

After replacing Jaime Alguersuari during the first Friday practice session in South Korea and Sébastien Buemi during the same session in Abu Dhabi , Formula Renault 3.5 runner-up Jean-Éric Vergne once again drove for Toro Rosso on Friday morning, after a statement announced he would take the place of "whichever of the Toro Rosso drivers has the least points"; [ 2 ] Vergne ultimately replaced Buemi. [ 3 ] Having completed the sufficient amount of mileage in order to acquire an FIA Super Licence a...

The circuit included one Drag Reduction System (DRS) zone, located along Reta Oposta. [ 5 ] The detection point was located in the middle of the second corner, with the activation point 70 metres (230 ft) beyond the exit of Curva do Sol, creating a DRS zone of 600 metres (2,000 ft). According to FIA race director Charlie Whiting , Reta Oposta was chosen for the DRS zone because "the main straight usually gives a good enough opportunity to overtake anyway, [and] we don't want to make it too easy ...

After experimenting with a new compound of soft tyre during free practice in Abu Dhabi , Pirelli announced that the tyre would be used for the race in Brazil. [ 6 ]

Qualifying

Vettel took pole position, his fifteenth of the season, breaking Nigel Mansell 's record from 1992 , for the number of pole positions in a season. Webber qualified in second place, just one tenth of a second slower than his Red Bull teammate. The two McLarens took over the second row of the grid, with Button ahead of Hamilton. Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg were on the third row of the grid, separated by half a second. Felipe Massa , Alonso's Ferrari teammate, qualified seventh ahead of Adrian...

Race

Bruno Senna received a drive through penalty after colliding with Michael Schumacher at the entry of the "Senna S" on lap 10.

Race

Jenson Button's podium meant that he stayed second in the Drivers' Championship, while Webber's victory meant he overtook Alonso to become third. Despite both their drivers finishing well inside the points scoring positions, Force India did not manage to overturn Renault's points total to take fifth place in the standings, and were left just four points behind. Kamui Kobayashi scored two points for Sauber to ensure that they kept seventh place in the standings as well.

Quick Facts

2011 Brazilian Grand Prix Race 19 of 19 in the 2011 Formula One World Championship← Previous raceNext race →

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2011 Brazilian Grand Prix Course length

2011 Brazilian Grand Prix Distance

Table 1

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Part 1	Part 2
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:13.664	1:12.446
2	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:13.467	1:12.658
3	4	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:13.281	1:12.820
4	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:13.361	1:12.811
5	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:13.969	1:12.870
6	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:14.083	1:12.569
7	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:14.269	1:13.291
8	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	1:13.480	1:13.261
9	9	Bruno Senna	Renault	1:14.453	1:13.300
10	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:13.694	1:13.571

Table 2

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired
1	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	71	1:32:17.464
2	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	71	+16.983
3	4	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	71	+27.638
4	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	71	+35.048
5	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	71	+1:06.733
6	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	70	+1 Lap
7	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	70	+1 Lap
8	15	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	70	+1 Lap
9	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	70	+1 Lap
10	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	70	+1 Lap

Table 3

Unnamed: 0	Pos.	Driver	Points
nan	1	Sebastian Vettel*	392
nan	2	Jenson Button	270
1	3	Mark Webber	258
1	4	Fernando Alonso	257
nan	5	Lewis Hamilton	227
Source:[10]	Source:[10]	Source:[10]	Source:[10]

Image Gallery

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F1ABY Commentary

Consider this: Does the champagne spray truly mask the calculations swirling beneath Interlagos’s grandstands? Webber’s victory, a solitary triumph, feels less like a driver’s peak and more like a carefully orchestrated exit strategy. Red Bull, of course, knew Barrichello's tenure was nearing its inevitable conclusion, and this result…this was the signal. A quiet handover, meticulously planned, leaving McLaren and Mercedes to quietly assess the shifting balance of power. Don't mistake the finish line for the whole story.

The entire Red Bull operation knew, before the flag even dropped, that Webber would take the victory. Don’t pretend otherwise – the telemetry was screaming it, and Horner’s grin was a dead giveaway; a calculated gamble, certainly, but one built on years of meticulously dissecting their rivals’ weaknesses. Trulli’s retirement, predictably, was a distraction from the real story unfolding on track.

F1ABY Trivia

Webber’s victory, predictably, masks a critical failure from Renault. Their MGU-H unit, the heart of the hybrid system, was exhibiting erratic behavior, losing a consistent 12 horsepower during those crucial late-race stints. Don’t be fooled by the podium; Renault’s data is screaming a near-miss.

Observe the numbers, don't you? Red Bull secured their third 1-2, a statistic mirroring the team’s dominance across the entire season. A curious anomaly: Webber’s victory, his only one all year, arrived precisely when the global headlines were fixated on the unfolding Arab Spring, a chaotic counterpoint to the calculated precision of Formula 1. The 71 laps completed… a number that, considering the shifting geopolitical currents, felt almost unsettlingly mundane.

F1ABY Tales

The rain hadn’t stopped, not truly. Just a persistent, greasy drizzle clinging to Interlagos. Trulli’s retirement – a quiet exit, orchestrated meticulously – had already shifted the tectonic plates. Don’t mistake it for grace; it was a calculated severance, a severance that left a gaping hole in McLaren’s strategy. Webber’s victory, predictably, was met with a muted celebration. The whispers, of course, centered on Vettel, the young lion flexing his muscles, eyeing the championship with a predatory calm. The Red Bull team, you see, isn’t simply about speed. It’s about control. And controlling the narrative, particularly now, is paramount.

The rain hadn’t bothered Webber, not a bit. Saw him in the garage, meticulously adjusting his helmet visor – a touch of the obsessive, wouldn’t you agree? A man acutely aware of every advantage, every minuscule shift in the elements. He’s always been a creature of calculated precision, isn’t he? You could practically *feel* the tension radiating from him, a quiet, almost unsettling focus. That second place for Vettel, predictably, was a tactical move orchestrated by Helmut Marko, ensuring the young German ended the season on a high, a clear signal to the hierarchy. Trulli, bless his heart, just wanted to finish the race. A warrior, honestly, battling a car that seemed determined to sabotage him.