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Formula 1
Indian GP
2011 Indian Grand Prix The Indian Grand Prix
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India can be hugely proud of it's first grand prix. Certainly, there have been one or two teething problems but the Buddh International Circuit can claim a successful debut and a solid platform to build on in years to come.
On the track, it was all about one man yet again. Sebastian Vettel dominated the race and was able to hold Button at bay, as they left the rest trailing in their wake.
Down the field, there were also some great drives. Jaime Alguersuari and Heikki Kovalainen both deserve a lot of credit for their performances today, but Felipe Massa will leave Greater Noida in an angry mood after yet more contact with his rival for this season Lewis Hamilton.
This was the 2011 Indian Grand Prix on AUTOSPORT Live. Thanks for joining us over the last three days. We will be back with our usual coverage for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina in two week's time.
On the track, it was all about one man yet again. Sebastian Vettel dominated the race and was able to hold Button at bay, as they left the rest trailing in their wake.
Down the field, there were also some great drives. Jaime Alguersuari and Heikki Kovalainen both deserve a lot of credit for their performances today, but Felipe Massa will leave Greater Noida in an angry mood after yet more contact with his rival for this season Lewis Hamilton.
This was the 2011 Indian Grand Prix on AUTOSPORT Live. Thanks for joining us over the last three days. We will be back with our usual coverage for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina in two week's time.
The champagne sprays on the podium with less gusto than usual and the drivers make their way through to the post-race press conference.
Alonso is clearly happy with a great drive to the final podium place as the gets the trophy for third.
Jenson Button takes his award for second place. He raises the trophy above his head and looks pleased with his day's work.
Red Bull designer Adrian Newey is on hand to collect the constructors' award for the winning team.
Vettel picks up the sizable trophy for his 11th triumph of the season after a dominant performance at the first Indian Grand Prix.
That is followed by the Austrian national anthem for today's winning constructor - Red Bull Racing.
The top three drivers walk out onto the podium and the German national anthem rings out for today's winner - Sebastian Vettel.
Five drivers retired from the 2011 Indian Grand Prix:
Felipe Massa clashed with Hamilton, suffered damage, was handed a drive-through penalty and then finally had a suspension failure.
Sebastien Buemi pulled off in a cloud of smoke after a great first half of the race.
Maldonado pulled off with no drive after problems in the early laps.
Glock and Kobayashi were involved in the first lap fracas and both subsequently retired.
Felipe Massa clashed with Hamilton, suffered damage, was handed a drive-through penalty and then finally had a suspension failure.
Sebastien Buemi pulled off in a cloud of smoke after a great first half of the race.
Maldonado pulled off with no drive after problems in the early laps.
Glock and Kobayashi were involved in the first lap fracas and both subsequently retired.
Ricciardo finished in 18th position and Trulli rounds out the classification in 19th place, five laps down after a difficult opening stint.
Behind Petrov, Senna finished 12th with di Resta 13th, Kovalainen 14th, Barrichello 15th, d'Ambrosio 16th and Karthikeyan in 17th.
Sutil ends up ninth and Vijay Mallya's team scores points at his home event and Perez held off Petrov to take the final point for Sauber.
Vettel did grab the fastest lap on his final tour, with a 1m27.249s effort to beat his team-mate to the marker this afternoon.
Alguersuari grabs a fine eighth for Toro Rosso, continuing to take its battle to Force India in the constructors' race.
Hamilton ends up a lonely seventh in his McLaren after yet more contact with Massa this afternoon.
Schumacher grabs a fine fifth after starting 11th on the grid, ahead of team-mate Rosberg in sixth.
Another battling drive from Alonso, again finding great race speed in the Ferrari to beat Webber to the final podium place.
Button pushed his McLaren to the limit to take second but ultimately was unable to challenge Vettel's pace today.
The world champion takes the chequered flag, waved by Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar, after another dominant victory.
Sebastian Vettel wins the Indian Grand Prix!
Lap 60: Webber is taking a final look at Alonso on DRS but remains behind the Ferrari with half a lap to go.
Lap 60: If Petrov is going to do this it'll have to be a brave move on the last lap.
Lap 60: Petrov has another glance at Perez as they fight for 10th into Turn 4, but he can't quite get close enough to the Sauber by the braking zone
Lap 59: Vettel begins his final lap.
Lap 59: Webber grabs the fastest lap away from his team-mate with a new benchmark of 1m27.559s.
Lap 59: Vettel takes a 5.6 second margin over Button into the final two laps.
Lap 59: Senna rejoins behind that battle in 12th.
Lap 58: Senna comes into the pits from ninth to take on hard tyres, promoting Sutil and Perez.
Lap 57: Petrov now has a run on Perez down the straight to Turn 4, but the Mexican sensibly protects his inside and maintains track position.
Lap 57: The Sutil, Perez and Petrov battle for 10th is closing up once more with only a few laps to go, while Senna is now 9.6s ahead of them.
Lap 56: Vettel continues to underline his dominance, clocking a 1m27.782s laps to pull 5.4 seconds clear with five laps to go.
Lap 55: A poor lap there for Jaime Alguersuari - 1m32.016 and Senna in ninth lowers the gap to less than 10 seconds.
Lap 54: Vettel grabs the fastest lap on his hard tyres, with a 1m27.922s now the best of the day so far.
Lap 54: Karthikeyan pits from 16th place. This is his second stop of the afternoon.
Lap 54: Rosberg is now just over a second behind Schumacher, with the pair told to "keep it clean" if they get into a late team-mate battle.
Lap 53: Alguersuari continues in a safe eighth place with 13.4s in his pocket over Senna. Sutil is continuing to chip away at the gap and he is 5.3s down on the Renault.
Lap 52: Running long pays off for Schumacher, who easily takes fifth away from team-mate Rosberg as he heads out again.
Lap 52: Petrov quickly zooms back up to Perez and has a slight chance in Turn 4 ... but backs out of the move at the last moment.
Lap 52: Schumacher is finally in for his last change of tyres.
Lap 51: Vettel clocks the fastest lap, increasing his lead over Button to 3.2 seconds.
By: Emlyn Hughes, Geoff Creighton
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