Start: And the lights out on the first ever Indian Grand Prix and Fernando Alonso is flying! But the Spaniard’s mad dash for the first corner ends in frustration as he runs wide to allow Button up to third! Hamilton falls behind Massa – watch out for that one later – and Schumacher moves up the grid. And there is contact at the back! Maldonado, Barrichello, and Glock in the thick of things while Trulli spins a corner later. Chaos. And now Button is past Webber! Great stuff from the McLaren man.  

Lap 2 – The Yellow Flags are still out for the start line incident, Barrichello comes into the pits as does Glock and Trulli, Button is already 1.7 seconds behind Vettel after he managed to get past Webber.

Lap 4 – DRS enabled as they yellow flags stop,  Webber is looking to get back past Button.

Lap 5 – Jenson a bit brutal there! He holds off a DRS assisted charge as Webber tries to get past, with the Australian forced to go wide as contact loomed

Lap 6 - McLaren appear to have great traction and straight line speed out of the corners, making life difficult for Webber.

Lap 7 – Vettel goes purple as he sets a fastest lap of the race, so far a very familiar pattern. Further back Jamie Alguersuari complains to his engineer about losing time behind Bruno Senna, while Felipe Massa continues to hold an advantage over Hamilton in 5^th.

Lap 8 – The charge from Webber has abated slightly, the McLaren mechanics are confident Button can shake him off as the Red Bull man’s tyres start to go near the edge of the cliff.

Lap 9 – Torro Rosso demonstrate their raw straight line speed as Alguersuari goes past Senna. What a revival Red Bull’s little sister is currently going through.

Lap 10 – Stewards announce no action for incidents at the start, Kobayshi will be breathing a sigh of relief from the pit lane. Di Resta has pitted already to swap his hard tyres (he was the only man in top 12 to start on the prime) and is forced to fight his way back up the field. Button sets a new fastest lap of the race.

Lap 12 – Another new fastest lap for Button, he is flying up towards Vettel while leaving Webber for dead, can he close the gap before the first round of stops? And is this a hint of tyre troubles again for Red Bull?

Lap 12 - Button goes quickest AGAIN, he is flying, can he upset the patter of most races this season by catching Vettel early rather than late?

Lap 14 – Maldonado is off the track from 13^th, Williams have had an utterly horrendous weekend. And that’s a big move in the midfield battle , Alguersuari does Sutil for 9^th. Buemi closing on on the Force India man.

Lap 15 – Button is demonstrating amazing consistently, and the gap to Vettel is under four seconds as Buemi goes past Sutil now while Sauber’s Sergio Perez is all over di Resta in the battle for 14^th.

Lap 17 – Alonso and Webber in the pits with the Australian ahead still while Hamilton also comes in for a stop, quiet race for him so far. Schumacher the big winner there as he gets ahead of Alonso who emerges from the pit lane behind the German, although he’s not pitted he will certainly hold the Spaniard up.

Lap 18 - Alonso still struggling to get past Schumacher but he eventually gets passed, Massa who almost collided with his team-mate when he came out from the pits has fitted in behind those two.

Lap 19 – Button in the pits and he comes safely out ahead of Webber as both Mercedes boys come in for a stop.

Lap 20 – Vettel gets in and out comfortably from the pit lane ahead of Button who is around five seconds back, while Webber sets a fastest lap which is quickly beaten by Massa. Schumacher snatches 8^th off Senna.

Lap 21 – di Resta in for his second stop, can he salvage anything from this race?

Lap 22- Vettel goes purple with a monster quickest lap as Hamilton begins to line up the two Ferrari’s ahead of him, can we expect fireworks?

Lap 23 – Hamilton has come to life on his new tyres and is all over the back of Massa, replays show that Massa ran well wide to help Hamilton close in right behind him.

La 24 – it was almost inevitable wasn’t it? Hamilton comes up the inside of Massa at turn 5 who closes the gap a little too aggressively, the Brazilian spins and Hamilton’s front wing is damaged, and Rowan Atkinson in the McLaren garage makes a very Mr Bean like face. Massa may have some internal damage as he runs wide, while Hamilton is back out in 9^th. Buemi out of the race with engine failure.

Lap 29 – Alonso goes quickest as Hamilton tries to get past Algesuari, 10 seconds covers the top three. Intresting stat pops u, Buemi is the fastest in terms of sheer speed. Massa gets a drive through as Hamilton lets out a sigh of relief. Tough one to call.

Lap 31 – Hamilton told about the Massa penalty as Massa serves his punishment, thankfully Massa feed out nowhere near Hamilton, who passes Alguersuari.

Lap 32 – where has Alonso’s pace come from? He goes purple again. Salt in Massa’s wounds as he comes in the pits for a stop and a new nose cone.

Lap 33 – Vettel goes under 1.30 to set a new quickest lap, replays show the Ferrari front wing wobbling again badly. Explains the wing change for Massa earlier.

Lap 34 – Massa rolls to a stop with broken suspension again, curse of the kerb again for the Brazilian again.

Lap 36 – Vettel quickest once again, the gap to Button is approaching 6 seconds, Petrov goes off-piste for the one hundredth time this afternoon.

Lap 37 – Guess what happened? Yep Vettel down to 1.28, he really is stamping his authority on this race.

Lap 38 – Alonso is heeding the warning of his team-mate by avoiding the kerb, but he is catching Webber who has come in for the pits, he’s on the hard tyre now that is generally about 1.5 seconds slower, going to be difficult for him now.

Lap 40 – good game of cat and mouse this, Alonso in the pits and comes out ahead of Webber but the hard tyres aren’t as slow as anticipated so we should be in for some good wheel to wheel stuff between these two.

Lap 42 - Webber has lost more places off the start line than any other driver this year and it looks like another frustrating afternoon for him as he is unable to catch Alonso cold and re-pass him, instead showing his frustrations and locking up. Button reels off a couple of quickest lap to bring the gap to Vettel down below six seconds.

Lap 43 – Vettel is seemingly struggling a little bit as Button closes in little by little, doesn’t look like enough at the moment though. Schumacher and Rosberg closing up down in 5^th and 6th, could be a bit tasty later on.

Lap 45 – Lovely expressive hand gesture from Perez as he passes a backmarker, the Mexican didn’t seem pleased there at all.

Lap 46 – Rosberg in for tyres along with Hamilton, both on the harder rubber, Can the McLaren man salvage anything and can Rosberg hold off his team-mate?

Lap 47 - Button in as well, surely Vettel will respond to negate the undercut? Senna moves up to 9^th. Yep the German is in, this is crucial for the race… he’s out ahead of him but the gap is down under four seconds.

Lap 48 – Schumacher is now ahead of Rosberg and running much quicker, still has to stop though.

Lap 49 – Vettel Button gap now 2.7 seconds, is there a twist in this race?

Lap 50 – replays show Webber running wide and over the kerb, it’s been another frustrating afternoon for the Red Bull man again. Another fierce midfield battle again for the final point spots.

Lap 51 – Webber is frustrated by a backmarker in his pursuit of Alonso while Schumacher has a rough entry into the pit lane. Vettel has eased the gap above three seconds again. Schumacher easily out in front of his team-mate for 5^th, this is turning into a good race for the seven time champion.

Lap 54 – a bit of a lull in action before Vettel livens things up with a quickest lap, Button has no chance of catching him now.

Lap 55 – Utterly relentless from Vettel, another fastest lap, doesn’t look like there will be much change in the grid order now with Webber back from Alonso.

Lap 59 – Webber goes purple as he has one last charge on the hard tyres, Senna is forced to stop meaning he is out of the points and Sutil and Perez move up into 9^th and 10^th.

Lap 60 – Webber’s efforts prove to be in vain as Alonso stays tantalisingly out of reach, and Vettel wins the first ever Indian Grand Prix! Utterly emphatic win for him, and not a bad drive for Button either who gets a brilliant second. Alonso 3^rd, Webber 4^th, Schumacher 5^th, great drive from him. Hamilton a lowly 7^th, looking forward to the post-race interviews already. click here to read the race report and for all the drivers reactions.

What are your thoughts on the outcome of the Indian Grand Prix? Get in touch on Twitter!

Also, if you fancy a free £25 bet on Formula 1 (why wouldn’t you?)  sign up to 188bet here NOW!

Vettel led from start to finish in the inaugural Indian race and rarely looked threatened from Jenson Button behind him, and when the McLaren man did muster a charge the German responded emphatically with a series of lap records to canter to victory in New Delhi.

•  The Indian Grand Prix – As it happened

Having set a new record for most amount of laps led in a season the youngest ever double world champion appeared to be toying with the remainder of the pack, responding to anything closing up behind him with lap record after lap record.

Hopes of a Red Bull one-two were dashed however as Mark Webber, who has earned himself a reputation as a poor starter this season having been passed off the start line more than any other driver on the grid in 2011 got away safely enough before being passed by Button, while his race took another turn for the worse as Alonso

Rubens Barrichello, Kamui Kobayashi  and Timo Glock were all involved in an incident as the trio dived for the for the first corner, with Kobayashi’s race finished before it had even begun. A corner later and Trulli was in the wars, shooting wide and being forced into the pits.

Button was able to get past Fernando Alonso off the start as the Spaniard got off quickly but out-braked himself to sacrifice third spot to the McLaren man, and before long Button had the jump on Webber , gaining excellent traction out of the corner into the long back straight and blasting past the Australian for second, a spot who wouldn’t sacrifice for the rest of the race after holding off the Red Bull man’s initial charge.

• Indian Grand Prix – Drivers Reaction

Alonso then got the better Webber on lap 40 as both man came in for a set of the harder tyre that proved to be much quicker than most expected – in fact Vettel set the race’s quickest lap on them – and from then on the Australian cut a frustrated figure locking up repeatedly as he tried to work his way onto the podium.

Once more there was controversy as Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton came into contact, but this time it was the Brazilian who was deemed to have been at fault. Hamilton fell behind Massa from the start and into 6^th, and a mistake from the Brazilian allowed his rival to close in behind him, before Hamilton had a dart down the inside on lap 24 at turn five. Massa closed the door on an on-rushing Hamilton with the Ferrari man spinning wide while the 2008 champion limped back to the pit-lane to drop both down the grid.

The day went from bad to worse for Massa as he came in for a change of front wing as the wobbling issue that had blighted his weekend struck again, forcing him into the pits before he made the same mistake as in qualifying by charging into a raised kerb and ripping off his suspension to end his race.

Hamilton radioed back to his team amidst fears his car may have been seriously damaged by the collision, and while he got the all-clear from the pit wall his pace suggested something different as he struggled home in 7^th place, suffering from bad vibrations in right handers.

Michael Schumacher rounded off an excellent weekend as he got a lighting start to jump up from 11^th to 8^th, and the German demonstrated excellent pace to work his way up the field and past his team-mate Nico Rosberg who ended up crossing the line in 6^th place.

With the championship already decided much of the intrigue going into the race was in the fierce midfield battle, and for a long time it looked as though both Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi reclaimed 9^th and 10^th place after a poor start, but the battle to get the upper hand in the constructors championship played out across the entire race with Renault, Force India and Sauber all scrapping for points.

Eventually it was Alguersuari who came out on top in claiming 8^th place ahead of Adrian Sutil, while Sergio Perez claimed the final point ahead of Renault’s Vitaly Petrov, who enjoyed a typically eventful race as he ran wide time and time again. There was no joy for Buemi however, who was forced to retire from the race along with Massa, Pastor Maldonado, Timo Glock, and Kamui Kobayashi, but there was reason to cheer for the home crowd as Narain Karthikeyan, only the second ever Indian Formula 1 driver, finished the race, ending up in 17th.

Race Results:

Pos Driver Team Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h30:35.002
 2.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +     8.433
 3.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    24.301
 4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    25.529
 5.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +  1:05.421
 6.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +  1:06.851
 7.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +  1:24.183
 8.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
 9.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
10.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
11.  Petrov        Renault                    +     1 lap
12.  Senna         Renault                    +     1 lap
13.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
14.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
15.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +    2 laps
16.  D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps
17.  Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps
18.  Ricciardo     HRT-Cosworth               +    3 laps
19.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault              +    4 laps

DNF: F Massa, P Maldonado, S Buemi, K Kobayashi, T Glock

What are your thoughts on the outcome of the Indian Grand Prix? Get in touch on Twitter!

Also, if you fancy a free £25 bet on Formula 1 (why wouldn’t you?)  sign up to 188bet here NOW!

Sebastian Vettel offered no respite at the Indian Grand Prix despite already claiming the tile, securing his 13^th pole of this season for the inaugural Indian race.

Vettel looked spectacularly quick throughout practice and qualifying and swept to yet another pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber, although Hamilton will drop back three positions after his penalty for speeding through a yellow flag in Friday practice.

Dust and the discrepancy between the two types of Pirelli tyre available to drivers for the Indian Grand Prix meant a wide range of different strategies were used for qualifying, but even that couldn’t alter Vettel’s dominance as he goes in search of nearing Nigel Mansell’s record of 14 pole positions in a season, while his latest effort means Red Bull’s 16 poles this season sets a new record.

McLaren’s Jenson Button had an indifferent session and was compromised by the fact he had to burn a precious set of soft tyres just to make it out of Q1, with the 2009 champion eventually winding up in 5^th place.

Both Ferrari drivers looked to have had a fairly solid day at the office as Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa secured 3^th and 6^th respectively, although there was bad news for the Brazilian as he crashed out in the dying seconds of the shootout to bring out the yellow flags, an incident that stopped Webber setting a second quick time to challenge Vettel and perhaps more importantly may have far reaching consequences for Button, who could be hauled in front of the race stewards for completing his lap at full pace despite the presence of the flags.

Torro Rosso landed an important blow in the midfield battle as both Sebastien Buemi and Jamie Alguersuari made rare appearances in the top ten, and will start the race in 9^th and 10^th.

In Q1 Button and Michael Schumacher both ran wide as grip continued to be elusive to find, The McLaren man coming undone at turn nine while Schumacher going off the track on the final corner. Button later said over the team-radio: “there really is no grip out here, I’m really struggling “as if to emphasise the point.

That slip up left Button in danger of falling out at the first attempt, and things took a turn for the worst as he was forced to emerge in the dying minutes of Q1 on a precious set of the softer tyre just to ensure he made it through to the second session, although the 2009 Champion would have been sweating as he emerged from the pits in heavy traffic.

Schumacher was almost left counting the cost of being held up at turn 10 before he crossed the line with a time that put him 12^th overall in Q1.

Timo Glock’s session ended early with a gear box failure that halted his charge to make it inside 107% of the top time, while Bruno Senna who was blocked by Jamie Alguersuari emerging from the pits, recovered to make it through safely into the second session.

Vitaly Petrov looked keen as he attempted to make amends for his five place penalty carried over from the Korean Grand Prix as he topped the timesheets in the first qualifying session, with Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton behind the Russian.

Kamui Kobayashi, Heikki Kovalainen, Jarno Trulli, Daniel Ricciardo, Narain Karthikeyan, Jerome D’Ambrosio and Timo Glock all went out in Q1, although there was reason to cheer for both HRT drivers as they got ahead of the Virgin pairing of Glock and D’Ambrosio for the first time.

Vettel got Q2 off with a bang as he clocked a lighting quick lap to move him to the top of the pile 1.24.657, and although Hamilton went off in hot pursuit of the German he could only get within 4/10ths of his time.

Schumacher’s indifferent day continued as he failed to convert his pace in practice into a decent spot on the grid as he failed to reach Q3, mustering only 12^th place and leaving at Q2 with Petrov, di Resta, Maldonado, Senna, Barrichello, and Perez, although Petrov will drop down five places for his accident with Schumacher in Korea.

There was some good news for Torro Rosso as Sebastien Buemi made it into the top ten shootout for the first time in his career. Adrian Sutil also made a point to his Force India bosses amidst speculation he may be let go at the end of the season as he made it into the final shootout along with Nico Rosberg, with the two Germans starting tomorrow’s race in 8^th and 7^th.

Button was left to count the cost of burning an extra set of soft tyres in Q1 as he limited himself to one run in the final shootout which ultimately left him down in 5^th, and that was compounded by a real lack of rear grip that hampered his progress and a potential penalty for speeding under a yellow flag.

Webber and Hamilton were unable to match the pace of Vettel in the first run but the top four drivers were separated by only 1/10^th of a second to set up a tantalisingly close second quick run.

In truth the second run for pole failed to materialise thanks Massa’s accident which saw the Brazilian’s front right suspension ripped off as he bounced over a kerb as Hamilton bailed out of his final lap after an ordinary first two sectors leaving Vettel to reign supreme once more. Webber will at least be happy to have grabbed second place and complete an all-Red Bull front row.

Qualifying Results:

1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m24.178s
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m24.474s  + 0.296
 3.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m24.508s  + 0.330
 4.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m24.519s  + 0.341
 5.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m24.950s  + 0.772
 6.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m25.122s  + 0.944
 7.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m25.451s  + 1.273
 8.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes
 9.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari
10.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari
Q2 cut-off time: 1m26.319s Gap **
11.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault              1m26.319s   + 1.662
12.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m26.337s   + 1.680
13.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m26.503s   + 1.846
14.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth    1m26.537s   + 1.880
15.  Bruno Senna           Renault              1m26.651s   + 1.994
16.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth    1m27.247s   + 2.590
17.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m27.562s   + 2.905
Q1 cut-off time: 1m27.479s Gap *
18.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m27.876s   + 1.687
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault        1m28.565s   + 2.376
20.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault        1m28.752s   + 2.563
21.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth         1m30.216s   + 4.027
22.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth         1m30.238s   + 4.049
23.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth      1m30.866s   + 4.677
24.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth      1m34.046s   + 7.857

What are your thoughts on the Indian Grand Prix? Get in touch on Twitter!

Also, if you fancy a free £25 bet on Formula 1 (why wouldn’t you?)  sign up to 188bet here NOW!

There is also the small matter of the Pirelli tyres that appear to be crumbling away at the mere sight of tarmac and DRS which should also have its say, all in all we have a classic waiting to happen here.

Start: The lights go out and they’re off! Button is up alongside Vettel but he squeezes him on to the grass! The stewards may be taking a look there…. Hamilton is up to second after Button eased off, and both Ferrari drivers have moved ahead of Webber, who simply can’t get his starts right.

Kobayashi has had a disaster and is down to 12^th while Rosberg makes a few places up from the back and is in 21^st.

Lap 1 – Things settling down a bit now after a madcap start, Vettel ominously ahead…

Lap 3 – Vettel has established his trademark lead early on to move him out of the danger of DRS from Hamilton.

Lap 6 – Massa yields to Alonso to give up fourth place to the Spaniard. That was all very easy for Alonso.

Lap 9- Hamilton’s bad luck continues as he suffered a right rear puncture that let Button get ahead of him. It’s the pits for him, his race strategy will have to change drastically now.

Lap 11 – Button and Alonso into the pits together from the lead after Vettel boxed, both men emerge ahead of Hamilton. Massa leads. Vettel’s slow stop has wiped out his advantage leaving top five all within 5 seconds.

Lap 12 – Sebastien Buemi out at the S’s with a loose front right, the only retirement so far.

Lap 13 – Button sets a new fastest lap as 8.9 cover the top six.

Lap 18 – Massa closing in on Hamilton with Webber behind him in the battle for fourt.h

Lap 20 – Vettel appeared to be struggling on his tyres as Button reduced the gap to under half a second, only for the German to pit before re-emerging in 5^th

Lap 21 – Button responds to Vettel pit, can he keep ahead of Vettel? He does! Button takes the race lead as Hamilton pits

Lap 21 – Hamilton and Massa touch again, and Massa loses some front wing – stewards may be knocking on the McLaren garage there.

Lap 24 – safety car comes out as Button and Vettel play their game of cat and mouse, Strategy may take a hit because of this

Lap 26 – Hamilton and Massa incident being investigated…

Lap 28 – safety car in, Hamilton having a look at Massa  but Button does a Vettel and leaves the pack standing from the restart

Lap 30 – Petrov Sutil and Rosberg all battling it out for 10^th while Button sets another fastest lap of the race to extend his lead over Vettel.

Lap 31 – Sutil takes tenth as he goes round the outside of Petrov, Rosberg now eying the Renault up… and now the German is through to 11^th having started 23^rd.

Lap 32 – Just 7.4 seconds cover top six, Hamilton slowly coming to life as he sets a personal best, Button still flying to keep Vettel at arms-length.

Lap 34 – four drivers battling out for 13^th, Kobayashi is in there trying to salvage something from his race…Vettel in the pits again

Lap 35 – Vettel has gone for the medium tyre as he attempts to consolidate – appears to be eating his way through tyres, that’s his third stop already with 18 laps to go, he’s down in 9^th as Webber comes in as well for the harder tyre.

Lap 36 – Hamilton pits as Vettel swarms over the back of Sutil, but the German uses DRS to sweep past

Lap 37 – Button in the pits from the lead, this is key with Vettel on the charge and the Briton re-emerges on the lead ahead of the champion elect! Alonso leads for now.

Lap 38 – Astonishing stuff! Alonso jumps ahead of Vettel to compound a fairly average day for the German while Hamilton will feel vindicated as he uses DRS to glide past Massa in the pit straight. Schumacher leads but has only stopped twice.

Lap 40- Sergio Perez sets the fastest lap of the race! Hamilton is losing time behind Rosberg in 6^th who has only stopped twice but having started from the back is on a different strategy to almost everyone. Vettel having a look at Alonso, and now Hamilton is through! Crucial for when Schumacher pits and filters back down the field.

Lap 41 – Schumacher pits to release Button, meanwhile Vettel is still sniffing around Alonso but the Ferrari man keeps the door shut for now. Interestingly while Hamilton goes in search of Mark Webber, Schumacher feeds back out in between the McLaren man and Rosberg on fresher tyres, what can he do?

Lap 43 – Button now around five seconds ahead, the race is in his hands while Alonso and Vettel continue to duel.

Lap 45 – the battle for tenth continues with both Force India’s and Rosberg battling with Vitaly Petrov for the last point on offer. Sutil currently the man in 10^th.

Lap 46 – Handbags from Vettel at d’Ambrosio, he looks a tad flustered – the German furiously shaking his fist at the HRT man for holding him up – and Sutil takes Kobayashi for 9^th while Petrov passes di Resta for 11^th! And now Rosberg is past di Resta at Dunlop, the Scot is struggling badly and falling backwards.

Lap 47 – Petrov past Kobayshi for 10^th, as Button’s lead is cut to just above three seconds, can the Briton respond?

Lap 48 – Webber told essentially not to pass Vettel – engineer tells him not to take “any risks”

Lap 49 – Button’s comfortable cruise to victory is disturbed as Alonso closes further, gap is now two and a half with five to go.

Lap 50 – top four all on the pit straight together with three laps to go, what drama is there in store for us? Amidst all the action it is easy to forget that Vettel is about to become the youngest ever double world champion.

Lap 51 – Button leads by just over a second, DRS is about to come into play… but Button responds to bump the gap up to 1.5 seconds, Vettel with the best seat in the house as Button responds again. Gap is now 1.2

Lap 52 – Button really is on fire at the moment, quickest sector follows quickest sector to move the gap back up to almost two seconds going into the final lap.

Lap 53 – Button looks to have held off the charge and will now surely take a brilliant 5^th win of his McLaren career.

And that’s victory for Button! Wonderful stuff but the man of the moment comes in behind him. Sebastian Vettel is the youngest ever double World Champion!

He’s audibly choked as he thanks his team over the radio, while Button appears to have run out of fuel but has styled it out into an impromptu celebration in front of the grateful Japanese fans.

And that’s that, Korea is next with plenty still left to decide, including the constructors championship, but for now admire the mastery of Sebastian Vettel and his almost faultless season so far.

Follow us on Twitter for all the reaction to Sebastian Vettel’s remarkable championship win!

To read the race report click here and for the tributes for Vettel from the world of Formula 1 click here.

Finally, if you fancy a free £25 bet on Formula 1 (why wouldn’t you?)  sign up to 188bet here NOW!

You can check out our race report and race reaction here, but why not check out the highlights of the race?

Click on the below image, where you can find the BBC highlights of events in Monza.

Speaking of BBC, why not check out our best moments from their Formula 1 coverage. Oh and our game featuring the one and only Eddie Jordan!

For all the latest reaction to the Italian Grand Prix, keep checking back to Formula1Fancast! You can also join in the fun on Twitter and Facebook.

Make sure you check out our latest ‘Talking a Good Game’ feature too which takes a rather sarcastic look at the best quotes from the last week or so.

Finally, there is so much to bet on during the rest of the Formula 1 season, sign up to 188bet here to get the latest information and to start putting your money where your mouth is!

Mark Webber secured pole position for the 2011 British Grand Prix as Red Bull dominated proceedings once again in qualifying.

There may well have been a change with the Australian on pole position instead of World Champion Sebastian Vettel, but on a day where many though Red Bull could be threatened, Christian Horner’s team will start in first and second tomorrow.

It was a poor afternoon for McLaren though with Jenson Button down in 5th and Lewis Hamilton in 10th. Neither looked at their best and they now have a lot of work to do in tomorrow’s race.

Fellow Brit Paul Di Resta enjoyed a superb first ever British Grand Prix though, securing 6th position with a stunning lap in Q3. The youngster showed his excellent potential and already people are talking about which car he will be driving next year.

Overall, it was a very entertaining hour of qualifying even though the end result of Red Bull leading the way was an all too familiar site. Tomorrow’s race is unpredictable though with the ever changing weather conditions causing havoc once again!

Full results:

Reaction:

Murray Walker on Di Resta: “He’s an incredible young man. He beat Vettel in the European F3 championship. Then he went to DTM, the German Touring Car Championship, and he won the title. He’s not in the best team, but Force India are doing jolly well and for Di Resta to come to Silverstone for the first time and qualify sixth is a mighty achievement and it indicates that he might be in an even better team next year.”

Vettel: “I would love to have challenged Mark again, but he did a good lap. It was a good result for us today. We are still on top of our game. Tomorrow anything can happen.”

Alonso: “I’m very happy. The job is tomorrow though so hopefully we can be close to these guys and get towards the podium.”

Webber on diffuser talk: “It gets very, very boring. Incredibly boring for the fans too. However, we are ready to challenge for the win for sure. Me and Seb (Vettel) will just concentrate on driving.”

Check back to formula1fancast for updates from the British Grand Prix tomorrow.

Make sure you check out our  Tweeting Around The Circuit articles as well as the Back In The Day feature too.

You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

There is also a change behind the wheel, as Lucas di Grassi is replaced by Belgium youngster Jerome d’Ambrosio after he successfully trailed with the team late in the 2010 season.

Timo Glock returns as the number one driver after a good second-half of the season with Virgin Racing last year.

The team are coming off a successful testing period, while compared to last season anyway. In testing for 2010, they completed 1985kms, this year they have completed over double that finishing with a total distance of 4642kms.

Jerome was on duty for the final four days of testing, ensuring he is fully conversant with the latest developments to the MVR-02 and very much ‘race prepared’ for his debut year in F1.

Moving into single-seaters in 2003, he was victorious in his rookie year in Formula Renault, he progressed to International Formula Masters and into the GP2 series were he created an impressive résumé for himself.

He now finally gets his chance in the elite league of motorsport, but with the busy schedule teams have, he hasn’t had too much time to think about it. He said:

“It has been a long time coming since I signed for the team, but to be honest I haven’t had time to worry or think about it because we have been so busy with testing.

“I guess now I can start to look forward to it properly. I know that taking to the track for the first time in Melbourne is going to be something really quite special.

“I would like to thank everyone in the team for an incredible push to get us ready for the season. Everyone has done a great job throughout testing and I really do feel very much at home with a great team of people. I hope the hard work pays off for us all in Australia.”

Due to the political unrest in Bahrain, Melbourne will once again host the first race of a Formula One season, and personally, I couldn’t think of a better place to start.

Glorious weather, carnival atmosphere, fast track, beautiful women, the list could go on.

Being a semi-street circuit, close concrete walls are supplemented with gravel run-off areas on the asphalt racetrack sections. Tight corners are followed by long straights and this should encourage overtaking in what sets to be an exciting opening Grand Prix this weekend.

Marussia Virgin Racing have had minor issues with their new car, MVR-02, including faulty engine sensors and problems with the rear wing. But they have now been fixed and the team is ready for Australia. Team Principal John booth said:

“On the whole we have to feel very pleased with what we have achieved in testing and we head to Australia in good spirits and eager to see where we stand with the usual barometer of outright performance that Friday Free Practice at the opening race typically provides.

“On a final note, congratulations to everyone in the team for a fantastic job so far this year. We look forward to continuing this trend.”

The team enter the 2011 season on the back of a disappointing 2010 season where they failed to score a single point. But with new sponsors ensuring their future until 2014, new driver in d’Ambrosio and with an impressive testing period; will this year be the year that Marussia Virgin Racing establishes themselves as a contender in F1?

The 26 year-old Brazilian passed the chequered flag in 18^th place, ahead of Timo Glock who had to retire, but both fail to finish in the top 12 so the team miss out on 10^th place in the Constructors Championship.

Despite rumours that he may be replaced by reserve driver Jerome D’Ambrosio, Di Grassi finishes the season as Virgin’s number one driver due to his 14^th place finish in Malaysia and believes it’s a job well done. He said:

“I am ending the year with a feeling of ‘mission accomplished’. I did the best I could with what I had and I only made one or two mistakes during the whole season.

“I feel that the effort and quality of my work have been much better than is reflected in the raw results.

“Everybody has behaved like a very close family, so well done to all of us for our first year in Formula One.”

As the sun set over the Yas Marina Circuit, the second Abu Dhabi Grand Prix got underway in dramatic style with a safety car required almost immediately as Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Force India car mounted the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher, thankfully neither were hurt.

Di Grassi took advantage of this and elected to pit while the safety car was out, the team were therefore delighted when he managed to get back out ahead of both the Hispania cars.

Glock decided to stay out and was battling to pass Jarno Trulli, but when the Lotus suffered a broken front wing, Timo was set free to chase down his team mate.

Showing good pace, the 28 year-old German was catching Heikki Kovalainen, but it came at a price as a few laps later his gearbox started to overheat and on lap 43 he was forced to retire.

Di Grassi, who spent most of the race on the prime tyre, drove a good race but was unable to close the gap to Kovalainen and remained in 18th place until the end of the Grand Prix.

It has been a year of ups and downs, unfortunately too many of the latter, but nevertheless, Virgin Racing can be very proud for completing their inaugural season in Formula One.

This week it has been announced that Russian sports car manufacturer Marussia have acquired a “significant stake” in the team which has secured their future in F1 until 2014.

The newly named Marussia Virgin Racing are set for a very competitive 2011 season, with Timo Glock already confirmed and Wirth Research already deep into the development of the VR-02, the whole team expects next season to be a special year for the Virgin brand.

Virgin Racing’s boss John Booth has insisted his team will be ‘pulling out all the stops’ to finish ahead of their rivals. He told the Press Association:

“It is difficult to believe we have only one race of our debut season remaining, but we will be pulling out all the stops to try to end the year on a high.”

Lotus currently hold 10^th place and whoever grabs it this weekend will be inline for the financial windfall. But due to the complex rule they will only receive the prize money if they repeat this feat in one of the next two seasons

Last weekend in Interlagos, Timo Glock qualified ahead of the other new teams, but hopes of a successful race were dashed early on as while the German driver tried to avoid Vitaly Petrov, he was passed by Heikki Kovalainen.

He was unable to take the fight to Kovalainen as he continued to struggle to get any pace out of the VR-01 car and he finished in 20^th place.

Lucas di Grassi, however, suffered mechanical problems with his rear suspension and for the third race in a row he failed to finish a Grand Prix.

The pressure is rising on the young Brazilian as rumours grow, mainly fuelled by Eric Boullier, that test driver Jerome D’Ambrosio will be taking Di Grassi’s 2011 race seat.

Boullier has recently said when speaking to Het Nieuwsblad newspaper that ‘95 per cent of the package needed to bring Jerome D’Ambrosio into Formula One is there’.

Nevertheless, Di Grassi has to try and put in a good performance to convince the bosses he is there man. I’m sure if he manages to finish 11^th or higher and get Virgin 10^th place in the Constructors, they wouldn’t hesitate in getting his signature for next season.

On December 15^th 2009, Virgin Racing was officially launched to the world. Now less than a year later, they find themselves at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi as a fully recognised F1 team.

Their goal is to finish ahead of their rivals, but they have already achieved the season aim. They are on the verve of completing a full season in Formula One and are set to remain here for many years.

Timo Glock qualified as the fastest of the new teams, but lacking race pace, he finished behind their rivals Lotus as he could only manage 20^th place.

Lucas di Grassi experienced mechanical problems early in the race and he was an unclassified finisher on what Booth said was a ‘disappointing day’ for the team. He told the Virgin Racing website:

“We simply didn’t have the pace to match our immediate competitors today.

“Timo gave it his best shot and extracted the maximum from the car but unfortunately it was just not our day today.”

At a wet Interlagos, Glock qualified in 19^th place, the best of the new teams and almost a second quicker than his team mate Di Grassi who was making his debut at his home Grand Prix.

But hopes of a successful race were dashed early on as while the German driver tried to avoid Vitaly Petrov, he was passed by Heikki Kovalainen.

Meanwhile his Brazilian team mate reported a problem with the rear of his car and he had to return to the pit to allow the team to investigate the issue.

It was identified as a rear suspension problem which they were able to rectify, but it cost him a lot of time by which he was nine laps behind and he was officially rated as an unclassified finisher.

A frustrated Glock was unable to take the fight to Kovalainen as he continued to struggle to get any pace out of the VR-01 car and he finished in 20^th place.

It was a disappointing day all round as the team lose ground on their rivals both in the Constructors Championship and in race pace.

Di Grassi knows him and the team now has to work hard if they are going to perform better at the next race. Talking about his debut in Brazil he told the Virgin Racing website:

“I really enjoyed the fantastic atmosphere at Interlagos today. The Brazilian fans were incredible, the grandstands were full and it was an amazing experience.

“I hope for a better race in Abu Dhabi where I will be pushing really hard to ensure we end the season well.”

The final race of the 2010 season takes place this weekend at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi with the Virgin team still pushing for that illusive 10^th place in the Constructors Championship.