Motorsports Mondial

Sebastian Vettel continues his mighty drive towards the Championship with victory at Monza!

Vettel: “Very emotional! This circuit means a lot to me and has been very special – my first win was here so when I crossed the line I remembered every single bit.

It’s unbelievable. A circuit that has been tough for us to be competitive and we came back this year and the car was amazing.

The start was not that good! It took me a while to see we were three alongside going into Turn 1. Then after the restart I was able to pass Alonso. He didn’t give me much room so I don’t know if he knew I was on that side.”

I don’t think we took any gamble today, we took the gamble yesterday in qualifying,” he said. “People saw our top speed was not very high so gears were slightly shorter, so I couldn’t use the speed on the straight, but for the race we were comfortable.

I  was able to pass Fernando without DRS but even with DRS it may have been a bit comfortable. All in all we did the right thing, had a great race car and great speed all the way through.

It has been an incredible year so far to be honest, we have progressed so much as a team, got so much stronger.

We’ll just do Singapore as we used to do all the other races – go there and go step by step.

I am looking forward and we’ll see what happens there.”

Photo: gp3media

Felix Da Costa wins thrilling season finale

Status Grand Prix driver seals first GP3 Series™ victory at Autodromo Nazionale Monza

Antonio Felix Da Costa took his first victory this season in what was a dramatic final race of the 2011 GP3 Series™. The Portuguese driver finished ahead of championship runner-up James Calado, but the Lotus ART driver was handed a 20-second penalty for failing to take a drive-through penalty after causing a collision with Mitch Evans. Marussia Manor Racing’s Rio Haryanto was promoted to second and Nico Müller took the final podium spot.

Felix Da Costa took an early lead when the lights went out until poleman Evans fought back a lap later. Carlin’s Conor Daly held onto his third place at the start but the American was hit up the back into Ascari on the opening lap by champion Valtteri Bottas. Daly was out the race and the Finn was given a drive-through penalty. At the front Calado had put moves on both Felix Da Costa and Evans to take the lead.

With the top six drivers running nose-to-tail and covered by less than two seconds it was a fierce battle at the front. Behind the leading duo there was a three way battle for third between Evans, Muller and Simon Trummer. Evans took advantage diving up into P2 and then taking the lead from Calado. The Brit was straight back on the attack but three laps later when he tried to move ahead Calado went wide tapping Evans, putting the Kiwi out of the race.

Felix Da Costa took the lead and Calado was given a drive-through penalty on the penultimate lap, however he failed to come in and crossed the line in second place before being handed a 20-second post race penalty dropping him to fourteenth. Haryanto and Müller were promoted to the podium, and Trummer, Callum Macleod and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs took the last points paying positions.

Calado could have tied with champion Bottas on points if he had won the race and set fastest lap, as the Finn scored no points. Bottas went on to snatch fastest lap as he crossed the line to seventeenth spot.

Despite not finishing the race Nigel Melker solidified third place in the drivers’ standings with 38-points, two more than Müller in fourth.

Champion win for Bottas in Monza

Finnish ace takes victory at Autodromo Nazionale Monza to seal 2011 GP3 Series™ crown

Valtteri Bottas took his fourth victory of the season in a thrilling Race 1 in Monza today to secure the 2011 GP3 Series™ crown after a head to head battle with his Lotus ART teammate and championship rival James Calado. Bottas kept his cool and put his head down to take the win despite immense pressure from the Brit who finished second to secure his runner-up spot in the drivers’ standings.

Poleman Adrian Quaife-Hobbs had a good start to hold onto the lead of the race from Nico Müller, but it was Bottas who flew off the line when the lights went out. The Finn made up two places to take third before the first corner ahead of Rio Haryanto and Mitch Evans with Calado holding his ground in sixth.

There was then a furious race-long battle for the podium spots from the leading drivers. With Müller pushing Quaife-Hobbs hard for the lead, Haryanto was first to make a move passing Bottas for third and leaving the Finn in the clutches of his teammate Calado. But a few laps in the Marussia Manor Racing squad received a double blow with Müller snatching the lead from Quaife-Hobbs and Bottas taking back the final podium spot from Haryanto. The top three were then side-by-side with the British driver loosing another spot to the Finn.

Calado made up two more spots by passing Evans and Haryanto, and the battles continued to rage as the laps counted down, until a mistake from Quaife-Hobbs at Ascari led the Manor driver to hit the wall on lap 10 and the safety car was deployed. With just three laps left after the re-start Calado prepared for an attack on his teammate and by the final lap he was pushing Bottas hard to keep his title hopes alive. But the Finn defended perfectly keeping his teammate at bay until the chequered flag came out to crown Bottas champion. Haryanto and Müller swapped places numerous times in the closing laps with the Indonesian eventually grabbing the final podium place.

Simon Trummer finished an impressive fifth for MW Arden ahead of Conor Daly, Antonio Felix Da Costa, Evans, Melker and Richie Stanaway.

As so the champion was crowned and greeted in parc fermé by his team Champions Lotus ART to celebrate.