Race: Grand Prix of Belgium at Spa - Round 12
Weather Report:
Practice - Light Rain
Qualifying - Light Cloud
Race - Heavy Rain
Results:
Practice - P1 1:46.003 on Option tire (P2 +0.601)
No R&D
Qualifying - P1 1:46.169 on Option tire (P2 +1.222)
Objective - Qualify P4 or better completed
Race - P1
22 laps
2 stops - Option-Intermediate-Intermediate
Fast Lap 1:47.733
Objective - Finish P1 completed
Podium:
1st - Me Q-P1 42:13.680
2nd - Maldonado Q-P13 +11.906
3rd - Webber Q-P8 +22.015
When would the rain come. That was the question. My first bit of luck in this race came when I was able to make the options I started on last 2 more laps than my scheduled stop. It started to rain during those last 2 laps. When I pitted on lap 7, I asked for inters. Vettel came in right behind me, and though he got into his box first, my crew was speedy and realeased me just in front of him! It was perhaps one lap too early for inters, but it was wet enough not to hurt them, and as it turned out, the cars in front began pitting as I finished up lap 8, giving me back a number of places. The next question was, how long would these inters last? I had 17 laps to go... could I make them go to the end of the race? I got another bit of luck in that some of the field chose slicks at their first stops instead of inters, and so had to stop again within just a lap or 2, helping me get a bit of a gap. Vettel, whom I had been defending against since leaving pit lane, was one of those unlucky drivers. It wasn't long before I jumped everyone while they pitted and regained 1st place.
My perfectly timed pit stop and their tire mistakes gave me around a 20 sec gap to Massa and Vettel, but...I was losing time every lap to them, as I knew I would, a second or more per lap. The AI here is particularly fast, and much faster than me in sector 2, allowing it to always catch me up eventually and keep me defending. As my run on inters is winding down, Massa has caught up to me and is pushing me hard. Its taking my best defending to keep him behind. My engineer has told me that Massa will be pitting soon. I'm hoping that he and perhaps Vettel also will pit before I have to, letting me significantly gap them in preparation for my stop, but it is not to be.
I pit on lap 15 and ask for another set of inters. I drop to P4, with Vettel having just passed me as I was leaving pit lane. I'm close enough to the driver in front (don't remember who it was) to get on him and I blow by on the Kemmel straight. His inters must be pretty worn because he drops back and is never a threat. I'm in a podium position now, and if that's where I'll finish I'm ok with it, but... Vettel has run pretty long on his inters, too, and I'm catching up to him. Eventually I can see him out in front of me, and I'm even getting right up behind him in the slow corners, but he's quick accelerating and I can't quite seem to get close enough. He's just that little bit faster and able to get away. Then we start getting into back marker traffic. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be slowing him up much. He's getting lucky and encountering them in places where he can get an easy pass. Fortunately its much the same for me and I keep driving steady but pushing after him. That's when perhaps the best luck I would get all race comes along, a gift in the form of Trulli, who is the next back marker in line to be overtaken by Vettel. He catches Trulli just as they come up on Eau Rouge...and he lifts, falling in behind! I came flying up on them - I actually thought the car I saw behind was Trulli, that Vettel had gotten the pass...but it was Vettel behind! I almost crash into Trulli as I'm coming out onto the straight. Had to lift a bit to slow down and maneuver around him, but I did it without crashing and left them both WAY behind!!! Full speed Eau Rouge pass executed HAHAHA!Massa is still in 1st, but he is going to have to stop. A few laps to go, and I jump him while he's in the pits to take 1st, but he comes out right behind me. In no time at all he is all over me. I'm frantically defending, almost losing the position going a bit wide in a few turns. On lap 21 he almost gets me coming through Blanchimont. Final lap. Streaking down Kemmel straight. Massa is making a move to go down the outside. I move to shut the door... I don't know if Massa took his wing off or what, but he collided with me, and after that he disappeared. On the penultimate lap!!! I finish the rest of the lap without incident and bring it home for the win!!!Truly one of the best races I have ever had! Thank you Spa...it was EPIC!!! :D
Rival Selection: Button
Contract Offers:
•Torro Rosso renewal
•Virgin
Drivers Championship
1st - Me 261pts
2nd - Petrov 124pts
3rd - Button 108pts
Constructors Championship
1st - Torro Rosso 272pts
2nd - McLaren 215pts
3rd - Ferrari 178pts
Season 2 Results
Australia: Q-P16 R-P5
Malaysia: Q-P16 R-P1
China: Q-P8 R-P2
Turkey: Q-P15 R-P3
Spain: Q-P1 R-P1 FL-1:21.627
Monte Carlo: Q-P1 R-P1
Canada: Q-P4 R-P1
Europe: Q-P1 R-P1
Britain: Q-P1 R-P1
Germany: Q-P1 R-P2
Hungary: Q-P1 R-P1
Belgium: Q-P1 R-P1
F1 2011 Career Progress - playthrough 1 (season 1 excluded)
Season: 2
Team: Torro Rosso
Nationality: American
Professional AI
Career Starts: 12
Career Best Grid Result: 1 (x7)
Career Best Race Finish: 1 (x8)
Career Podiums: 11
Career Points: 261
Wins: 8
WDC: 0
ABS/Full TCS/Auto gearbox/Dynamic racing line/penalties reduced/damage full/tire sim/short race weekend/50% distance/custom setups
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