2012 Chinese Grand Prix

 2012 Chinese Grand Prix

Racing data
3rd of 20 races of the 2012 Formula 1 World Championship
Surname:	2012 Formula 1 UBS Chinese Grand Prix
Date:	April 15, 2012
Place:	Shanghai
Course:	Shanghai International Circuit
Length:	305.066 km in 56 laps of 5.451 km
Weather:	cloudy but dry
Pole position
Driver:	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Time:	1: 35.121 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Kamui Kobayashi	Clean Ferrari
Time:	1: 39.960 min (lap 40)
Podium
First:	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Second:	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes
Third:	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes

The 2012 Chinese Grand Prix took place on April 15 at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai and was the third race of the 2012 Formula 1 World Championship .

Reports

background

After the Malaysian Grand Prix , Fernando Alonso led the drivers' standings with 5 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton and 10 points ahead of Jenson Button . McLaren-Mercedes continued to lead in the constructors' championship . The team is 13 points ahead of Red Bull Renault and 20 points over Ferrari .

At the Chinese Grand Prix, Pirelli provided drivers with the tire compounds P Zero Medium (white) and P Zero Soft (yellow), as well as Cinturato Intermediates (green) and Cinturato Full Wets (blue) for wet conditions .

With Hamilton (twice), Alonso, Michael Schumacher , Kimi Räikkönen , Sebastian Vettel and Button (once each), six former winners and all winners since 2005 competed in this Grand Prix.

Race stewards were Garry Connelly (AUS), Emanuele Pirro (ITA) and Vincenzo Spano (VEN).

training

In the first free practice, Hamilton set the fastest time ahead of Nico Rosberg and Schumacher. Jules Bianchi took over the Force India from Paul di Resta , Valtteri Bottas took over the Williams from Bruno Senna and Giedo van der Garde took over the Caterham from Vitali Petrow . It was the first time Bianchi and van der Garde took part in a Grand Prix weekend. In the second free practice session, Schumacher was the fastest driver. Hamilton was second, Vettel third. In the third free practice, Hamilton set the fastest time ahead of Button and Rosberg.

Qualifying

Sergio Pérez set the fastest time in the first segment of qualifying . The HRT , Marussia and Caterham pilots and Jean-Éric Vergne were eliminated. In the second segment, Mark Webber drove the fastest lap. The Force India and Williams pilots as well as Daniel Ricciardo , Felipe Massa and Vettel were eliminated. In the final section, Rosberg set the fastest time ahead of Hamilton and Schumacher. It was the first pole position for Rosberg, who was the 96th driver to achieve a pole position in the Formula 1 World Championship.

run

At the start, Rosberg kept the lead in front of his team-mate Schumacher. Kamui Kobayashi , who started the race from third place, did not get off well and lost a few places. In the following laps, Rosberg pulled away from the rest of the field, while Schumacher did not manage to do so and was about a second ahead of Button.

Webber started the first pit stop phase on lap six. He switched the tire compound soft to medium. It took a few more laps, however, before more drivers pitted. In the eleventh round, Button pitted in third place. In contrast to Webber, however, he stayed on the softer tire compound. One lap later, Schumacher pitted. Shortly afterwards, Schumacher parked the car on the edge of the track. He retired after a tire was not properly attached during his first pit stop and damaged the car. Mercedes received a US $ 5,000 fine for unsafe clearance. Since Schumacher parked the car before the tire came off, further sanctions were waived.

Rosberg's stop, which took place one lap after Schumachers, worked and he came back on track in third place before Button. In the meantime, Pérez was ahead of Massa. After Pérez pitted and Rosberg drove past Massa, Rosberg led the race again. Rosberg pulled away from Button in the next few laps.

With the second pit stop, Rosberg waited about ten laps longer than Button. This gave him a strategic advantage as he was able to drive through without stopping while Button had to pit again. Button tried to get a head start with fast laps at the front so that after his third stop there was still a chance of a duel against Rosberg. Button's third stop was problematic and he fell behind Raikkonen and Vettel.

With a two-stop strategy, Raikkonen was in second place behind Rosberg. However, after 44 of 56 laps, Rosberg already had a lead of around 23 seconds, which is why he would have been able to make a safety stop. Raikkonen's tires deteriorated more and more over the next few laps. After losing second place to Vettel in the 48th lap, he fell back to 14th place within a few laps. Vettel also had problems with degrading tires. In the 52nd lap he lost second place to Button, in the third from last lap Hamilton passed him and in the last lap he had to admit defeat to his team-mate Webber.

Rosberg finally scored his first Formula 1 victory with about 20 seconds ahead of Button, who was second ahead of Hamilton. It was the first Formula 1 victory for Mercedes as a designer since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix , which Juan Manuel Fangio won ahead of his teammate Piero Taruffi . Between 1955 and 2010, however, Mercedes did not compete as a designer in Formula 1, but was only active as an engine manufacturer. The current Mercedes racing team last won the 2009 Italian Grand Prix as a Brawn GP with Rubens Barrichello .

Webber was fourth ahead of Vettel and Romain Grosjean , who made it into the top 10 for the first time and scored points. The other points went to Bruno Senna , Pastor Maldonado , Fernando Alonso and Kamui Kobayashi . Kobayashi also drove the fastest race lap. It was his first and so far only fastest race lap and also the first fastest race lap for Sauber .

In the World Championship, Hamilton took over the lead from Alonso, who dropped to third place. Button took second place. The first three positions among the designers remained unchanged, with McLaren-Mercedes increasing the lead over the other teams.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Red Bull Racing	01	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull RB8	Renault 2.4 V8	P
	02	Mark Webber
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	03	Jenson Button	McLaren MP4-27	Mercedes-Benz 2.4 V8	P
	04th	Lewis Hamilton
Scuderia Ferrari	05	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari F2012	Ferrari 2.4 V8	P
	06th	Felipe Massa
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	07th	Michael sSchumacher	Mercedes F1 W03	Mercedes-Benz 2.4 V8	P
	08th	Nico Rosberg
Lotus F1 Team	09	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus E20	Renault 2.4 V8	P
	10	Romain Grosjean
Sahara Force India F1 Team	11	Jules Bianchi	Force India VJM05	Mercedes-Benz 2.4 V8	P
		Paul di Resta
	12	Nico Hulkenberg
Sauber F1 Team	14th	Kamui Kobayashi	Clean C31	Ferrari 2.4 V8	P
	15th	Sergio Perez
Scuderia Toro Rosso	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso STR7	Ferrari 2.4 V8	P
	17th	Jean-Éric Vergne
Williams F1 team	18th	Pastor Maldonado	Williams FW34	Renault 2.4 V8	P
	19th	Valtteri Bottas
		Bruno Senna
Caterham F1 team	20th	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham CT01	Renault 2.4 V8	P
	21st	Giedo van der Garde
		Vitaly Petrov
HRT F1 team	22nd	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT F112	Cosworth 2.4 V8	P
	23	Narain Karthikeyan
Marussia F1 Team	24	Timo Glock	Marussia MR01	Cosworth 2.4 V8	P
	25th	Charles Pic

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} Bianchi drove the Force India with the number 11 in the first free practice. Di Resta then took over the vehicle for the remainder of the race weekend.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Bottas drove the Williams with the number 19 in the first free practice. Senna then took over the vehicle for the rest of the race weekend.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Van der Garde drove the Caterham with the number 21 in the first free practice. Petrow then took over the vehicle for the rest of the race weekend.

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	constructor	Q1	Q2	Q3	begin
01	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1: 36.875	1: 35.725	1: 35.121	01
02	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1: 36.763	1: 35.902	1: 35.626	07th
03	Michael sSchumacher	Mercedes	1: 36.797	1: 35.794	1: 35.691	02
04th	Kamui Kobayashi	Clean Ferrari	1: 36.863	1: 35.853	1: 35.784	03
05	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus Renault	1: 36.850	1: 35.921	1: 35.898	04th
06th	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1: 36.746	1: 35.942	1: 36.191	05
07th	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1: 36.682	1: 35.700	1: 36.290	06th
08th	Sergio Perez	Clean Ferrari	1: 36.198	1: 35.831	1: 36.524	08th
09	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1: 36.292	1: 35.982	1: 36.622	09
10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	1: 36.343	1: 35.903	no time	10
11	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1: 36.911	1: 36.031	-	11
12	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1: 36.556	1: 36.255	-	12
13	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	1: 36.528	1: 36.283	-	13
14th	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	1: 36.674	1: 36.289	-	14th
15th	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1: 36.639	1: 36.317	-	15th
16	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1: 36.921	1: 36.745	-	16
17th	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1: 36.933	1: 36,956	-	17th
18th	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1: 37.714	-	-	box
19th	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	1: 38.463	-	-	18th
20th	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	1: 38.677	-	-	19th
21st	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	1: 39.282	-	-	20th
22nd	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	1: 39.717	-	-	21st
23	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	1: 40.411	-	-	22nd
24	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	1: 41,000	-	-	23
107 percent time : 1: 42.931 min (based on Q1 best time of 1: 36.198 min)

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t} racing cars with KERS
2. ↑ Lewis Hamilton was moved five positions back because of a gear change.
3. ↑ Jean-Éric Vergne had extensive changes made to the vehicle, which is why he had to start from the pit lane.

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap
01	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	56	2	1: 36,26,929	01	1: 40.967 (40.)
02	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	56	3	+ 20.626	05	1: 40.422 (56.)
03	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	56	3	+ 26.012	07th	1: 40,530 (40.)
04th	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	56	3	+ 27.924	06th	1: 40.490 (52nd)
05	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	56	2	+ 30.483	11	1: 40.601 (33rd)
06th	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	56	2	+ 31.491	10	1: 41,120 (35.)
07th	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	56	2	+ 34.597	14th	1: 41.293 (37.)
08th	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	56	2	+ 35.643	13	1: 40.482 (36th)
09	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	56	3	+ 37.256	09	1: 41,152 (41.)
10	Kamui Kobayashi	Clean Ferrari	56	3	+ 38.720	03	1: 39,960 (40th)
11	Sergio Perez	Clean Ferrari	56	2	+ 41.066	08th	1: 41.071 (37th)
12	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	56	2	+ 42.273	15th	1: 41.498 (40th)
13	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	56	2	+ 42.779	12	1: 41,240 (48th)
14th	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus Renault	56	2	+ 50.573	04th	1: 41.794 (43rd)
15th	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	56	2	+ 51.213	16	1: 40.977 (48th)
16	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	56	3	+ 51.756	box	1: 40.019 (48th)
17th	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	56	2	+1: 03.156	17th	1: 41.251 (40.)
18th	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	55	2	+ 1 lap	19th	1: 42.385 (38.)
19th	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	55	2	+ 1 lap	20th	1: 42.748 (41st)
20th	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	55	3	+ 1 lap	21st	1: 42.621 (39.)
21st	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	55	2	+ 1 lap	22nd	1: 43.610 (54th)
22nd	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	54	2	+ 2 rounds	23	1: 43.935 (40th)
23	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	53	4th	+ 3 rounds	18th	1: 41.190 (53.)
-	Michael sSchumacher	Mercedes	12	1	DNF	02	1: 44.109 ( 09.)

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t} racing cars with KERS

World Cup stands after the race

The first ten of the race got 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 45 02  Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 43 03  Fernando Alonso Ferrari 37 04th  Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 36 05  Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 28 06th  Nico Rosberg Mercedes 25th 07th  Sergio Perez Clean Ferrari 22nd 08th  Kimi Raikkonen Lotus Renault 16 09  Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 14th 10  Kamui Kobayashi Clean Ferrari 9 11  Romain Grosjean Lotus Renault 8th 12  Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 7th

Item driver constructor Points 13  Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 4th 14th  Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 4th 15th  Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2 16  Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 2 17th  Michael sSchumacher Mercedes 1 18th  Felipe Massa Ferrari 0 19th  Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 0 20th  Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 0 21st  Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 0 22nd  Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 0 23  Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 0 24  Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 0

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  McLaren-Mercedes 88 02  Red Bull-Renault 64 03  Ferrari 37 04th  Clean Ferrari 31 05  Mercedes 26th 06th  Lotus Renault 24

Item constructor Points 07th  Williams-Renault 18th 08th  Force India-Mercedes 9 09  Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6th 10  Marussia-Cosworth 0 11  Caterham-Renault 0 12  HRT-Cosworth 0

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Pirelli: China not comparable to Australia" (Motorsport-Total.com on April 6, 2012)
2. ↑ ^{a b} Markus Lüttgens: Fine for Mercedes for Schumacher pit stop. Motorsport Total.com, April 15, 2012, accessed April 15, 2012 . 
3. ^ "GP China in Shanghai / 1st free practice" (Motorsport-Total.com on April 13, 2012)
4. ↑ "Only eleven laps: Van der Garde not satisfied" (Motorsport-Total.com on April 13, 2012)
5. ^ "GP China in Shanghai / 2nd free practice" (Motorsport-Total.com on April 13, 2012)
6. ^ "GP China in Shanghai / 3rd free practice" (Motorsport-Total.com on April 14, 2012)
7. ^ Race - Rosberg an F1 winner after Shanghai thriller. Formula One World Championship Limited, April 15, 2012, accessed on April 15, 2012 (English): “In Michael's first pit stop saw a rear wheel incorrectly fitted. He thus became the race's sole retirement and the team were subsequently fined € 5,000 for his unsafe release. " 

Web links

Commons : Chinese Grand Prix 2012  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• Weekend statistics at Motorsport-Total.com