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2011 season


Both Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were retained by the team for the 2011 Formula One season, as were engine supplier Renault. McLaren and Ferrari remained the largest the biggest competitors for the team's RB7 chassis, which had a more dominant season that it's predecessor, despite not having such a large performance advantage over the field.

After the car's launch on February 1, in Valencia, subsequent pre-season tests, and the cancellation of the (which would have been the opening round of the season, had it not been for civil unrest in the country ), the car arrived at it's first race in Australia. Vettel took the RB7 to pole position, eighth tenths of a second ahead of second fastest Hamilton, whilst Webber qualified third. The race made the season ahead look promising for the team too; Vettel easily won by over 22 seconds, only yielding his lead during the pit stop phases. Webber eventually finished in fifth position at his home race. Neither of the two cars raced with KERS.

Qualifying at the was a much closer affair than it had been in  Australia two weeks earlier, but ultimately ended with the same result. Vettel once again lead from the start and won the second race of the season for his fourth consecutive win. The cars had KERS systems fitted, but both had problems with Vettel's causing him trouble during the second part of the race and Webber's failing on the warm-up lap, meaning he got a slow start, dropping him from third to ninth. He eventually finished fourth behind Button and Nick Heidfeld.

At the Vettel once again qualified in pole position, this time by seven tenths of a second. He lost places to both the McLarens, Button and then Hamilton, at the start though, before making both places back up when Button pitted in the wrong box and Hamilton chose to make an extra, third, stop. Hamilton's extra stop seemed to be a good call though, and Hamilton managed to overtake Vettel with 4 laps remaining because he was far quicker. Vettel finished in second place, still leading the championship. Webber qualified down in eighteenth place, getting knocked in the first qualifying session after not being able to heat up his harder 'prime' tyres properly. He was aided by the DRS during the race to make multiple overtakes, and pitted four times so he could have short quick stints on the quicker 'option' tyres. He overtook Button at the very end of the race to take third place and achieve his first podium finish of the year.

Vettel took his fifth consecutive pole position at the, and for the first time in 2011, Webber was alongside him on the front row. Vettel lead from the start, and eventually won the race. Webber dropped back at the start, but fought with Alonso near the end of the race for second place. He eventually won the position to take the team's first 1-2 finish of the year, with the Ferrari driver third.

Webber ended Vettel's run of pole positions at the, when his team-mate qualified second with a malfunctioning KERS system, exactly two tenths of a second slower. Alonso had a fantastic start from fourth place to take the lead at the start of the race, whilst the two Red Bulls switched positions. The inferior pace of the Ferrari soon caught up with him, however, and Vettel lead from the second pit stop phase until the end of the race, despite having to defend from Hamilton for the final few laps. The improved pace of McLaren was evident, as Hamilton's team-mate Button managed to get past Webber for the final podium spot, behind Vettel and Hamilton respectively.

Vettel qualified in pole position for the alongside Button, with Webber starting the race in third position, despite Sergio Pérez having a large crash late on in the final session causing a red flag. Webber dropped a place at the start of the race but Vettel maintained the lead. There was panic at the pit stops when Webber was delayed for a huge amount of time when his tyres were left in the garage, and Vettel was fitted with the wrong compound. Webber fought his way back through the field and finished the race in fourth position, overtaking Kobayashi with one lap to go. Vettel, meanwhile, had been forced to run 62 laps of the race on the same set of softer 'option' tyres or concede the race win. During the second half of the race he was being closely followed by Button and Alonso (both on far fresher tyres, having done two and one extra stops respectively). It looked likely that Vettel could have lost the lead, had it not been for the nature of the track and the red flag which allowed him to change tyres with 6 laps remaining. Thus, Vettel took his first win, and the team's second, in the principality. He now led the championship with the second highest possible points total after six races, and the team led the constructors' standings by 61 points; Webber was third in the drivers' standings.

Vettel took pole with Webber in fourth place in qualifying for the. The race the following day was the longest in the history of the sport - over four hours - and started under safety car conditions due to rain (which continued for the majority of the race and caused a two hour red flag period). Vettel lead every lap of the race, except the last one, with good strategy keeping him in front - he lost and had to rebuild his lead multiple times due to the races' six safety cars. Webber was spun from fourth place by Hamilton on the first racing lap fell to nearly the back of the grid. Webber was third, however, entering the closing stages of the race and was catching Michael Schumacher. Webber did overtake Schumacher, but only after Button had overtaken both of them. A mistake on the final lap from Vettel allowed Button to take the lead and the race victory while Vettel finished second. Both drivers finished on the podium, allowing both Vettel and the team to further extend their lead in both championships. Vettel took his seventh pole from eight races at the, with Webber alongside on the front row. Vettel cruised to victory, his sixth of the season gave him the largest championship lead of all time (although this would be extended further throughout the season). Webber finished in third place after a battle with Alonso, who eventually took second.

New regualations were introduced at the bannning the use of off-throttle blown diffusers, which the RB7 was largely based around. Webber still took pole position, however, with Vettel alongside. The race seemed like a close affair at first between both cars and also Alonso and Hamilton. Alonso powered ahead in his Ferrari (which didn't seem to have affected by the regulations that much) after he overtook Vettel for the lead in the pits. Webber, in third place, was right behind Vettel in the final two laps of the race when he was given an order by the team not to pass; he ignored it, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Christian Horner supported the decision to use team orders stating: "It got very close between the two of them and we’d have looked pretty stupid if they’d have both ended in the fence."

It was decided prior to the that use of blown diffusers would once again be within the rules. Webber qualified in pole position and Vettel was off the front row, in third place, for the first time in fourteen races. Webber battled with Hamilton and Alonso for most of the race, leading for the first time in 2011, but eventually finishing third. Vettel lost a place at the start, spun halfway through the race and overtook Massa in the pits at the start of the final lap to claim fourth place, his only only finish off the podium all season.

Vettel was able to put in a good performance in a wet, to finish second behing Jenson Button, after starting from pole position. Webber qualified in sixth place and finished the race in fifth position, after being overtaken by Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages of the race, who had been in the lead, but had spun and, like Webber, made a poor tyre choice. Entering the Summer break, Vettel led the drivers' standings by 85 points from Webber, and Red Bull led the constructor's standing by 103 points from McLaren.

The team still had worries at the, depite qualifying first and third. Extremely high temperatures on the tyres caused by too much camber on the cars had resulted in blistering and potentially unsafe tyres. Red Bull's lobbying of Pirelli, the tyre manufacturer, was unsuccessful and they had to pit very early in the race after having to start on the same tyres they qualified on. Vettel won the race and Webber finished second after fighting back from a poor start. - "Vettel defended his world title – becoming the ninth driver to do so – after winning eleven of the season's races, and also achieved 15 pole positions during the season, breaking Nigel Mansell's record from the season. Webber finished the season in third place in the championship, taking one victory, in the final race of the season in Brazil. The team also defended their respective title, as they finished the season with 650 points in the Constructors' Championship, 153 points ahead of the next closest team, McLaren."
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Bigdon (talk)  xx:xx, xx April 2013 (UTC)