2011 Formula 1 season: A look at the drivers’ championship in the campaign so far
We are now seven races down in the 2011 Formula 1 season and the mist of uncertainty over the drivers’ championship table is getting clearer.
A lot has happened in the space of one race as many drivers have found their way into the top ten drivers and some have lost their places due to some accidents in the recently held Canadian Grand Prix.
However, the defending world champion Sebastian Vettel is still at the top of the table with an increase to his lead which is now a mammoth 60 points.
Despite McLaren’s Jenson Button pulling a remarkable victory over Vettel in the Canadian Grand Prix’s final lap, the German’s glory at the top of the table is unharmed.
Button’s last stint may have been a great thriller for the spectators and his team, but still the British Formula 1 driver is as good as second in the championship table with 101 points.
Lewis Hamilton’s race ended in the wall when on the eighth lap of the race in rainy conditions, he tried to pull out an almost impossible move against his teammate and damaged his rear suspension. He is down to fourth place with 85 points.
Webber has sustained his third position from the Monaco Grand Prix. The Aussie driver had a spectacular battle with Michael Schumacher in the last few laps in Montreal but finally was able to show the real strength of Red Bull and grabbed a podium.
Ferrari’s duo, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, is still unable to show its true strength in the 2011 Formula 1 season.
With a much more fast and reliable car for the Canadian race which saw both the drivers qualifying second and third, the Ferrari drivers were still unable to compete with the top drivers.
Alonso showed some edge in the opening moments of the race but was not able to finish the race after a crash sent him off track. The Spaniard is still fifth on the table with 69 points.
Massa was able to complete the race but only in sixth place as he had a few accidents on his way to the finish. The Brazilian has climbed the table and is now sixth with 32 points.
The Renault duo has been the able to hold off the Mercedes duo in the opening seven races of the season. Vitaly Petrov climbs up the ladder and now sits ahead of his teammate Nick Heidfeld in seventh place with 31 points whereas the German is in eighth with
29 points.
Heidfeld escaped a severe injury as his front wing got stuck under the car and the whole package went off track and into the barriers.
For the first time in the 2011 season, Schumacher is ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg, although both Germans have equal points, 26.
Sauber’s Kobayashi has shown in the last few races that he can surely grab some points in the races with C30. The Japanese driver is 11th on the table with 25 points.
Other then these drivers, Williams’ Rubens Barrichello has yet again landed among points for his team. The Brazilian has now 4 points against his name in the drivers’ championship table.
12 races are still to be contested in the season and a lot more fight can be expected from the top runners as well as the lower ranked drivers. Let’s see how it unfolds as the season goes on.
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