How are the constructors faring in the 2011 Formula 1 season after the Canadian Grand Prix?
The 2011 Canadian Grand Prix was quite eventful as the rain during Sunday’s race caused a red flag around the 24th lap of the race.
The first 24 laps of the race were more like a driving session for the drivers behind the back of a safety car due to the unavoidable conditions.
Nevertheless, the race was restarted almost 2 hours after the red flag and after a lot of drama and aggression throughout the race, Jenson Button out of nowhere popped up in front and won ahead of Sebastian Vettel who dominated the race for almost the entire
length.
Vettel was followed by Mark Webber which means that Red Bull benefited the most out of the top three teams, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull. Both of their drivers finished on the podium while Lewis Hamilton of McLaren and Fernando Alonso of Ferrari retired
out of the race which means that Red Bull depicted maximum damage this past weekend in terms of constructors’ standings.
As a result, the difference between McLaren and the championship leaders Red Bull Racing team has increased to 69 as they are leading the standings with 255 points. Ferrari on the other hand are going through a disappointing season in terms of constructors’
performance as they are 85 points further down the order.
Besides the three teams, it was expected that Mercedes GP are going to be a part of the top running teams of the year due to their remarkable performances during the pre-season testing period but unfortunately, they are in 5th place with just
52 points and not a single podium finish.
Barring his superb run in Montreal where he finished fourth, Michael Schumacher is once again struggling to perform and this year, he has no excuses since the whole car development period pretty much evolved around him at Mercedes. His teammate Nico Rosberg
on the other hand is scoring better performances but the fact is that Mercedes GP do not have the pace to compete alongside McLaren or even Ferrari in 2011 as the team has also admitted that they have already shifted their focus to their 2012 car.
Surprisingly enough, Lotus Renault GP are doing much better than Mercedes GP as they are currently in 4th place with 60 points which makes them just 40 points adrift of Ferrari in 3rd place. Both of the team’s drivers have scored a
podium each at the first two races of the season and even since the recent couple of races, the team as a whole has been scoring some decent points.
Despite the ‘regular point scoring teams’ of the sport, Sauber are in 6th place with 27 points despite the fact that they were disqualified from the first race of the season due to technical issues. Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez have been at
their best this season and one can expect even more from them at the upcoming races.
Red Bull’s Toro Rosso and Force India are in 7th and 8th places respectively followed by a disappointing Williams in 9th. The 2011 Formula 1 season’s start was the worst season start for Williams in their history.
Other than that, the back-running teams of the sport Lotus Racing Team, Hispania Racing Team and Virgin Racing Team are still pointless at the tail end of the constructors’ standings.
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