Team by team analysis of Brazilian Grand Prix

Mon, Nov 08 10 09:22 AM

Team by team analysis of Sunday's Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix (listed in championship order):

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RED BULL (Sebastian Vettel 1, Mark Webber 2)

Red Bull won their first constructors' title with a race to spare. Vettel's fourth win of the season and Red Bull's fourth one-two. The German put himself back in the title contention and is now third overall, 15 points off Ferrari's Alonso. Webber is eight points off the lead.

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MCLAREN (Lewis Hamilton 4, Jenson Button 5)

Hamilton set the fastest lap but is effectively out of the title reckoning, 24 points behind Alonso. Button ceded his title at the circuit where he won it. He did well to finish fifth from 11th on the grid.

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FERRARI (Fernando Alonso 3, Felipe Massa 15) Alonso can take his third title in Abu Dhabi if he finishes second. The Spaniard was held up in the opening laps by Williams' Hulkenberg, allowing the Red Bulls to escape. Massa had a problem at a pitstop and had to come back in to have a tyre changed. He also collided with Buemi.

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MERCEDES GP (Nico Rosberg 6, Michael Schumacher 7) A radio problem caused confusion at Rosberg's second stop. Schumacher let his team mate past because the younger German was on fresher tyres and better equipped to challenge Button.

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RENAULT (Robert Kubica 9, Vitaly Petrov 16) Kubica spent much of the race in traffic. Petrov's race was ruined on the first lap when he ran off to avoid running into Alguersuari and went to the back of the field. He recovered from 23rd to 16th.

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WILLIAMS (Nico Hulkenberg 8, Rubens Barrichello 14) Hulkenberg started on pole for the first time, Williams' first pole since 2005. His points allowed Williams to leapfrog Force India. Barrichello had a long first stop and an unscheduled second after a collision with Alguersuari and puncture on lap 34.

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FORCE INDIA (Adrian Sutil 12, Vitantonio Liuzzi retired) Sutil started in 22nd place with a five place penalty on the grid. Liuzzi had an accident, due possibly to brake failure, that brought out the safety car on lap 49.

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SAUBER (Kamui Kobayashi 10, Nick Heidfeld 17) Kobayashi was on a different tyre strategy to most others, doing a long stint on the hard tyres. Heidfeld started 15th and lost two places after being given a drive-through penalty with six laps remaining.

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TORO ROSSO (Jaime Alguersuari 11, Sebastien Buemi 13) Alguersuari complained his car lacked top line speed. Buemi was on a one stop strategy and suffered badly worn tyres.

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LOTUS RACING (Heikki Kovalainen 18, Jarno Trulli 19)

Lotus stayed top of the new teams with one race left. Trulli had a small hydraulic problem.

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HRT (Bruno Senna 21, Christian Klien 22)

Hispania got two cars to the finish for the third race in a row and eighth time this season. Klien started from the garage due to a fuel pressure problem on the way to the grid.

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VIRGIN (Timo Glock 20, Lucas di Grassi retired) Glock was passed by Kovalainen while avoiding Petrov. Di Grassi reported a rear suspension problem early on and needed a long stint in the garage.

Source: Published>