F1 News
Date: 19/November/2012
Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull
couldn’t contain a charging Lewis Hamilton in Sunday’s inaugural F1 Grand Prix
at Austin, Texas.
The defeat also means Vettel will
take a 13 rather than 20-point advantage over Fernando Alonso into next
weekend’s Brazilian finale, after the Ferrari driver pulled off yet another
miraculous Sunday recovery.
Vettel and Hamilton were in a
class of their own throughout F1’s first US GP since 2007, the McLaren driver overtaking
the reigning double champion at the end of the back straight on lap 42 of 56
after Vettel was held up by a backmarker.
An exasperated Vettel complained
over the radio, then clung to Hamilton and was just 0.6s behind at the finish line
to at least secure the Constructors’ Championship for Red Bull.
“It was a close fight with Lewis,
he had one chance and he took it,” said Vettel. “I wasn't too happy to send
that nice big invitation to Lewis when I was held up by Karthikeyan.
“I
tried to defend, but Lewis had so much more speed with DRS that it didn't
really matter what I was doing.
“After that I tried to stay with
him and maybe pass him again, but he was as quick as I was and there wasn’t
much between us.
“But all in all it was a great
race and a great result to seal the Constructors’ Championship against Ferrari.
The guys can be very proud of themselves.”
Alonso, a woeful ninth in
qualifying, gained two places even before the race had begun.
Lotus driver Romain Grosjean was already
carrying a five-place gearbox penalty. Ferrari then deliberately inflicted the
same penalty on Alonso’s team-mate Felipe Massa, thus moving Alonso to seventh
and the cleaner side of the slippery race track.
It seemed to work. Alonso was up
to fourth by the end of lap one, then third after Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber
retired with yet another alternator problem.
Alonso kept the position to the
end, finishing over 39-seconds from victory, but surrendering just three points
to Vettel after yet another extraordinary damage limitation exercise.
The Spaniard has thus forced a
final round title showdown at a Brazilian event famous for its unpredictable
weather.
“Our championship stays alive
maybe thanks to the first laps,” said Alonso, who hasn’t won in the last nine
races.
“Today it was not possible to keep
pace with the two guys in front, but it was enough to keep the other guys
behind. This podium, after all the difficulties we went through this weekend,
is like a victory for us.
“Losing three points maybe was in
no-one’s thoughts after seeing the practice, so we are really happy again to
have a very good Sunday.”
If Alonso wins in Sao Paolo, he
will need Vettel to finish fifth or lower to lift his first Ferrari crown.
“We go to Brazil with the
possibility of the World Championship,” said Alonso. “Only Sebastian is in a
better position than us, but we should be proud of ourselves.
“We will try to enjoy the race and
do our best, fighting the entire race and see what the outcome at the end is.”
But it will take a miracle for
Alonso to stop Vettel, at least in terms of pure performance.
“I’m excited because the car seems
to work very well, good enough to fight for a win,” said Vettel. “We've been
very quick in Brazil the last couple of years so plenty to look forward to.
“On top of that, we increased our
lead in the championship today so I think we are in the best possible
position.”
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