All the drivers’ lap times, the list of fastest laps and how Paul di Resta was the only driver to make a two-stop strategy work.
Bahrain Grand Prix lap times
All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded):
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | |
Sebastian Vettel | 101.605 | 100.201 | 100.344 | 100.336 | 100.457 | 100.757 | 100.794 | 100.723 | 100.936 | 101.013 | 103.267 | 118.967 | 99.275 | 99.7 | 99.531 | 99.701 | 99.656 | 99.591 | 99.802 | 99.872 | 100.28 | 100.198 | 100.66 | 100.553 | 102.97 | 118.046 | 98.157 | 98.461 | 98.706 | 98.659 | 99.014 | 98.977 | 98.856 | 98.907 | 99.477 | 99.986 | 99.615 | 99.075 | 101.331 | 115.309 | 96.379 | 97.036 | 97.066 | 97.581 | 97.338 | 97.683 | 97.868 | 97.532 | 97.071 | 97.057 | 97.407 | 97.411 | 97.633 | 97.739 | 97.862 | 98.22 | 98.342 |
Lewis Hamilton | 103.872 | 100.854 | 100.73 | 100.94 | 101.06 | 101.134 | 102.264 | 102.123 | 104.275 | 125.022 | 99.836 | 100.866 | 100.766 | 100.117 | 100.203 | 100.36 | 100.423 | 100.506 | 100.561 | 100.822 | 101.358 | 101.865 | 104.14 | 126.481 | 98.931 | 99.314 | 99.873 | 100.38 | 99.787 | 99.613 | 99.942 | 100.358 | 100.066 | 100.606 | 100.65 | 102.793 | 117.944 | 97.733 | 98.096 | 98.639 | 98.097 | 98.061 | 98.372 | 98.346 | 98.294 | 98.34 | 98.266 | 98.366 | 98.654 | 98.583 | 98.649 | 98.627 | 98.658 | 98.892 | 98.513 | 99.074 | 98.879 |
Mark Webber | 104.46 | 101.178 | 100.949 | 101.935 | 100.974 | 101.198 | 101.346 | 101.717 | 104.609 | 119.073 | 100.183 | 100.257 | 100.979 | 101.068 | 100.405 | 100.159 | 100.308 | 100.355 | 100.921 | 100.699 | 101 | 101.022 | 103.554 | 118.824 | 99.162 | 99.095 | 99.144 | 100.25 | 98.819 | 98.915 | 98.937 | 98.859 | 99.083 | 99.292 | 99.381 | 99.632 | 99.857 | 99.639 | 102.243 | 115.647 | 97.778 | 98.307 | 98.295 | 98.275 | 97.437 | 97.473 | 97.509 | 98.116 | 98.53 | 98.593 | 98.525 | 98.541 | 98.385 | 98.266 | 99.312 | 100.697 | 100.611 |
Jenson Button | 106.205 | 101.715 | 101.381 | 101.426 | 101.418 | 101.643 | 102.658 | 103.858 | 118.674 | 102.424 | 99.807 | 100.546 | 100.109 | 100.237 | 100.361 | 100.382 | 100.438 | 100.368 | 100.783 | 101.118 | 101.336 | 104.274 | 117.996 | 99.906 | 100.469 | 99.355 | 99.646 | 99.954 | 100.37 | 100.472 | 100.198 | 100.728 | 100.78 | 100.483 | 100.534 | 100.449 | 102.433 | 117.18 | 98.554 | 98.982 | 98.764 | 98.635 | 98.534 | 98.512 | 98.367 | 98.385 | 98.046 | 98.371 | 98.416 | 98.236 | 98.191 | 98.332 | 102.858 | 116.067 | 111.946 | ||
Nico Rosberg | 107.695 | 102.28 | 102.664 | 101.354 | 101.52 | 101.754 | 101.9 | 104.236 | 118.481 | 101.435 | 100.336 | 100.605 | 100.594 | 100.924 | 101.263 | 101.037 | 101.08 | 100.977 | 100.696 | 101.138 | 101.469 | 103.614 | 118.957 | 101.549 | 99.134 | 99.283 | 99.869 | 99.444 | 99.585 | 100.587 | 99.493 | 100.268 | 99.694 | 99.57 | 99.555 | 101.578 | 114.916 | 98.52 | 98.554 | 98.202 | 98.08 | 98.088 | 98.291 | 98.342 | 98.341 | 98.35 | 98.359 | 98.675 | 98.744 | 99.507 | 99.142 | 98.852 | 98.636 | 99.943 | 99.264 | 99.666 | 100.36 |
Daniel Ricciardo | 111.303 | 104.444 | 102.746 | 102.288 | 102.408 | 102.448 | 105.077 | 122.499 | 101.532 | 101.447 | 102.28 | 101.089 | 101.489 | 101.387 | 104.399 | 101.957 | 101.462 | 103.174 | 102.083 | 102.048 | 102.593 | 103.547 | 106.082 | 119.676 | 100.902 | 100.61 | 100.114 | 99.986 | 99.713 | 99.668 | 100.112 | 100.076 | 100.451 | 101.006 | 100.998 | 101.478 | 101.254 | 103.176 | 117.579 | 98.505 | 98.097 | 97.903 | 98.026 | 98.456 | 98.1 | 98.325 | 98.108 | 97.999 | 98.068 | 99.425 | 98.469 | 98.43 | 100.113 | 101.006 | 99.253 | 102.002 | |
Romain Grosjean | 104.85 | 101.269 | 100.917 | 100.442 | 100.662 | 100.876 | 100.412 | 100.757 | 100.763 | 103.235 | 119.338 | 100.131 | 99.768 | 100.392 | 99.39 | 99.44 | 99.854 | 99.469 | 99.812 | 100.192 | 100.267 | 100.488 | 101.265 | 101.877 | 103.62 | 118.471 | 98.806 | 98.701 | 98.753 | 98.79 | 98.933 | 98.741 | 98.697 | 98.982 | 98.845 | 99.257 | 99.082 | 98.817 | 98.787 | 100.999 | 116.391 | 96.928 | 96.971 | 97.673 | 97.513 | 98.122 | 97.259 | 97.299 | 97.501 | 97.627 | 97.705 | 97.539 | 97.491 | 97.743 | 97.766 | 97.713 | 97.796 |
Sergio Perez | 108.091 | 102.201 | 103.238 | 102.467 | 101.546 | 101.844 | 101.97 | 102.115 | 105.558 | 120.633 | 99.771 | 100.031 | 100.281 | 100.57 | 100.505 | 100.455 | 100.672 | 101.246 | 101.455 | 101.571 | 106.292 | 119.698 | 99.942 | 100.079 | 100.443 | 99.344 | 99.269 | 99.856 | 99.627 | 99.77 | 99.963 | 100.082 | 100.039 | 100.365 | 100.962 | 100.506 | 103.187 | 117.95 | 98.146 | 98.736 | 98.37 | 98.182 | 98.287 | 98.894 | 99.056 | 98.409 | 98.603 | 98.621 | 98.95 | 98.893 | 98.946 | 99.178 | 99.072 | 99.554 | 100.026 | 99.909 | 100.266 |
Fernando Alonso | 105.615 | 101.533 | 101.246 | 101.158 | 101.422 | 101.441 | 101.738 | 102.079 | 104.975 | 118.767 | 100.605 | 101.974 | 100.789 | 101.794 | 100.933 | 100.784 | 100.865 | 100.819 | 100.864 | 101.078 | 101.24 | 101.007 | 103.696 | 120.693 | 100.585 | 99.58 | 100.241 | 99.591 | 99.785 | 99.892 | 100.665 | 99.739 | 99.658 | 99.564 | 99.577 | 99.57 | 101.932 | 118.076 | 98.502 | 98.45 | 98.639 | 98.44 | 98.491 | 98.203 | 98.207 | 98.382 | 98.618 | 98.802 | 98.651 | 98.723 | 98.78 | 98.583 | 98.763 | 98.411 | 98.468 | 98.59 | 99.52 |
Paul di Resta | 109.276 | 101.817 | 102.503 | 101.46 | 101.209 | 101.568 | 102.048 | 102.18 | 101.286 | 102.047 | 101.742 | 101.987 | 102.638 | 104.729 | 118.669 | 99.94 | 100.209 | 100.429 | 100.631 | 100.86 | 100.183 | 102.478 | 100.328 | 101.046 | 100.708 | 100.933 | 100.735 | 100.982 | 101.156 | 101.41 | 101.104 | 101.334 | 104.687 | 117.623 | 98.442 | 98.724 | 98.649 | 98.486 | 98.613 | 98.399 | 98.372 | 98.424 | 98.496 | 98.471 | 98.385 | 98.405 | 98.809 | 98.857 | 99.117 | 99.442 | 99.257 | 100.343 | 99.294 | 99.866 | 99.648 | 99.955 | 100.144 |
Kimi Raikkonen | 106.703 | 102.299 | 102.687 | 101.042 | 100.523 | 100.988 | 100.67 | 101.491 | 101.022 | 100.803 | 103.024 | 117.311 | 99.461 | 99.088 | 98.995 | 99.251 | 99.404 | 99.346 | 99.435 | 99.447 | 99.998 | 100.328 | 101.098 | 102.04 | 116.818 | 98.165 | 98.182 | 98.32 | 98.365 | 98.736 | 98.626 | 98.692 | 98.624 | 98.703 | 99.39 | 100.15 | 99.648 | 99.33 | 102.081 | 115.713 | 97.116 | 97.277 | 97.354 | 97.478 | 97.399 | 97.484 | 97.264 | 97.487 | 97.28 | 97.72 | 97.493 | 97.475 | 97.433 | 97.483 | 97.942 | 98.353 | 98.288 |
Kamui Kobayashi | 110.115 | 102.718 | 102.525 | 102.126 | 101.928 | 102.313 | 102.365 | 102.155 | 102.418 | 101.663 | 101.759 | 102.684 | 102.333 | 106.435 | 119.216 | 100.685 | 100.219 | 100.383 | 100.865 | 100.585 | 100.329 | 100.366 | 101.033 | 101.193 | 100.684 | 101.232 | 100.691 | 101.404 | 101.343 | 101.309 | 104.217 | 120.849 | 98.785 | 99.202 | 99.369 | 99.228 | 99.52 | 100.497 | 99.051 | 99.081 | 100.597 | 99.055 | 99.332 | 99.336 | 101.518 | 100.207 | 99.885 | 100.117 | 101.654 | 102.767 | 118.585 | 97.063 | 97.02 | 96.7 | 97.145 | 97.254 | 98.216 |
Nico Hulkenberg | 112.657 | 103.816 | 102.978 | 102.517 | 102.446 | 102.653 | 102.941 | 102.198 | 104.556 | 120.013 | 100.99 | 100.752 | 100.682 | 100.584 | 100.775 | 100.828 | 100.862 | 100.947 | 103.291 | 117.789 | 99.64 | 100.128 | 100.503 | 100.047 | 101.38 | 101.548 | 99.776 | 100.105 | 100.176 | 101.047 | 100.275 | 99.735 | 99.892 | 100.287 | 100.827 | 103.544 | 117.648 | 98.526 | 98.538 | 98.665 | 98.407 | 98.808 | 98.428 | 98.444 | 98.61 | 98.312 | 98.756 | 99.28 | 99.232 | 98.677 | 98.658 | 98.748 | 98.604 | 99.001 | 99.912 | 99.083 | 100.007 |
Felipe Massa | 107.191 | 102.003 | 101.936 | 101.121 | 102.527 | 101.621 | 101.992 | 104.501 | 119.948 | 101.116 | 100.498 | 100.757 | 100.685 | 100.801 | 101.083 | 101.189 | 101.461 | 101.306 | 101.261 | 101.628 | 102.163 | 104.844 | 116.854 | 99.905 | 99.898 | 99.749 | 100.134 | 100.085 | 99.68 | 99.542 | 100.561 | 99.872 | 99.941 | 99.738 | 99.978 | 100.266 | 100.593 | 102.731 | 116.257 | 98.27 | 99.208 | 98.123 | 98.33 | 98.293 | 98.68 | 98.346 | 98.36 | 98.604 | 98.97 | 98.699 | 98.687 | 98.817 | 98.741 | 99.496 | 99.358 | 99.579 | 100.012 |
Bruno Senna | 108.965 | 103.283 | 102.201 | 102.185 | 101.902 | 102.168 | 102.559 | 102.491 | 106.039 | 121.584 | 102.203 | 102.329 | 102.17 | 101.223 | 100.789 | 100.962 | 102.336 | 101.292 | 101.518 | 101.458 | 101.139 | 101.5 | 101.753 | 104.124 | 118.171 | 99.362 | 99.442 | 99.488 | 99.676 | 100.286 | 100.054 | 100.461 | 99.748 | 100.123 | 100.091 | 100.034 | 100.156 | 102.296 | 117.008 | 98.499 | 98.358 | 98.251 | 98.443 | 98.946 | 98.625 | 98.333 | 98.322 | 98.449 | 98.46 | 98.754 | 98.087 | 98.602 | 98.606 | 102.002 | |||
Heikki Kovalainen | 128.866 | 122.741 | 101.113 | 101.373 | 101.361 | 101.771 | 101.775 | 101.888 | 102.049 | 102.659 | 102.566 | 102.413 | 105.162 | 119.867 | 100.664 | 101.103 | 101.216 | 101.709 | 101.128 | 101.088 | 101.336 | 101.353 | 101.733 | 102.126 | 104.76 | 118.679 | 99.245 | 99.749 | 99.98 | 100.285 | 100.028 | 100.129 | 99.976 | 100.025 | 100.191 | 100.577 | 100.255 | 103.243 | 120.513 | 98.5 | 98.554 | 98.578 | 98.441 | 100.309 | 99.52 | 98.694 | 98.847 | 98.856 | 99.122 | 99.737 | 98.881 | 99.319 | 99.588 | 99.323 | 99.359 | 99.769 | |
Jean-Eric Vergne | 110.641 | 102.838 | 102.468 | 102.123 | 102.137 | 102.613 | 103.97 | 103.714 | 102.736 | 105.503 | 120.835 | 100.853 | 101.418 | 101.06 | 101.574 | 101.336 | 101.516 | 101.573 | 101.57 | 101.379 | 101.721 | 101.32 | 102.305 | 102.993 | 108.993 | 118.599 | 99.281 | 100.167 | 99.048 | 99.687 | 99.528 | 99.651 | 99.612 | 99.557 | 100.035 | 100.13 | 100.75 | 101.174 | 101.119 | 104.225 | 116.547 | 97.14 | 97.058 | 97.489 | 97.628 | 97.755 | 97.475 | 97.783 | 97.925 | 97.997 | 98.269 | 98.346 | 98.937 | 99.084 | 99.983 | 101.271 | 102.274 |
Vitaly Petrov | 111.681 | 104.462 | 102.905 | 102.475 | 102.385 | 102.661 | 102.769 | 104.264 | 103.581 | 106.281 | 120.344 | 100.801 | 100.844 | 100.964 | 101.416 | 101.724 | 101.282 | 101.728 | 101.772 | 101.731 | 102.031 | 102.567 | 106.17 | 119.883 | 99.816 | 99.756 | 100.179 | 100.395 | 101.296 | 100.6 | 100.337 | 100.601 | 101.009 | 100.859 | 101.054 | 101.381 | 102.285 | 102.412 | 104.526 | 118.665 | 98.472 | 98.305 | 98.623 | 99.176 | 99.043 | 100.187 | 100.129 | 99.067 | 98.546 | 98.869 | 99.18 | 100.473 | 99.32 | 99.228 | 100.027 | 100.368 | |
Charles Pic | 113.513 | 104.501 | 103.884 | 103.595 | 103.66 | 103.81 | 103.839 | 103.944 | 104.696 | 103.411 | 104.092 | 107.679 | 121.881 | 101.519 | 102.103 | 101.835 | 101.72 | 101.858 | 101.881 | 101.988 | 101.806 | 102.123 | 102.184 | 101.625 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pedro de la Rosa | 114.477 | 105.169 | 104.588 | 104.167 | 104.492 | 104.857 | 105.384 | 104.82 | 107.751 | 122.952 | 103.228 | 103.075 | 103.109 | 103.684 | 103.908 | 104.321 | 103.764 | 104.05 | 104.432 | 104.928 | 105.632 | 109.585 | 121.483 | 103.334 | 103.548 | 106.104 | 106.517 | 108.409 | 102.622 | 104.2 | 103.203 | 104.084 | 104.42 | 103.528 | 104.843 | 105.05 | 106.872 | 106.394 | 121.05 | 103.236 | 100.237 | 103.948 | 100.98 | 100.7 | 101.266 | 102.516 | 101.422 | 101.476 | 101.852 | 102.022 | 106.028 | 105.202 | 102.314 | 104.59 | 104.352 | ||
Pastor Maldonado | 111.14 | 103.363 | 102.095 | 101.97 | 102.137 | 102.166 | 102.518 | 102.12 | 102.308 | 101.745 | 103.824 | 118.962 | 99.977 | 99.876 | 100.029 | 100.108 | 100.243 | 100.436 | 100.614 | 101.054 | 101.742 | 101.919 | 103.148 | 117.45 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michael Schumacher | 112.232 | 102.76 | 102.188 | 102.008 | 102.167 | 102.227 | 103.623 | 102.367 | 104.296 | 120.085 | 100.867 | 100.805 | 100.172 | 100.364 | 100.617 | 100.25 | 100.611 | 100.973 | 100.823 | 101.162 | 101.419 | 101.596 | 104.459 | 117.541 | 100.611 | 100.466 | 99.488 | 99.683 | 99.87 | 99.484 | 99.77 | 99.608 | 99.785 | 99.5 | 99.953 | 100.013 | 102.43 | 116.713 | 98.128 | 98.34 | 98.491 | 98.145 | 98.227 | 99.337 | 98.94 | 98.373 | 98.532 | 98.649 | 98.831 | 98.954 | 98.891 | 99.017 | 99.124 | 99.659 | 99.87 | 100.001 | 99.985 |
Timo Glock | 113.874 | 104.912 | 104.002 | 103.868 | 104.035 | 104.02 | 104.628 | 104.597 | 105.329 | 108.779 | 122.874 | 102.135 | 102.547 | 102.609 | 102.845 | 103.184 | 103.063 | 104.022 | 103.007 | 103.724 | 103.759 | 103.837 | 107.609 | 129.891 | 102.909 | 104.049 | 102.311 | 104.935 | 103.611 | 102.135 | 103.423 | 107.735 | 102.391 | 102.241 | 104.71 | 104.826 | 103.432 | 107.122 | 123.011 | 100.691 | 101.724 | 100.552 | 100.648 | 103.835 | 101.513 | 100.323 | 101.768 | 101.067 | 103.503 | 100.947 | 101.553 | 102.769 | 101.437 | 102.219 | 103.022 | ||
Narain Karthikeyan | 114.885 | 105.413 | 104.343 | 104.86 | 104.909 | 106.446 | 105.285 | 106.312 | 107.123 | 109.884 | 126.22 | 102.9 | 102.976 | 102.975 | 103.136 | 103.801 | 104.59 | 103.812 | 104.383 | 106.067 | 108.834 | 124.884 | 101.964 | 105.568 | 102.454 | 103.197 | 105.751 | 102.684 | 103.63 | 103.161 | 104.352 | 106.364 | 124.616 | 100.718 | 101.476 | 101.776 | 101.459 | 101.793 | 103.21 | 101.732 | 102.39 | 102.554 | 102.998 | 103.698 | 105.092 | 126.389 | 101.098 | 99.747 | 99.943 | 102.94 | 100.304 | 100.129 | 100.817 | 101.181 | 101.548 |
Paul di Resta was the only driver to make a two-stop strategy work. He ran new tyres in all three stints, softs followed by two sets of mediums.
His lap times above shows how much of a gamble this course was and how well he did to hang on to the tyres in his final stint. His lap times began rising ten laps from home.
The team split strategies with Nico Hulkenberg running a three-stopper. After di Resta appeared behind him on lap 34 he was advised to make way for his team mate because they were on different strategies.
He described how he held off Fernando Alonso on the last lap: “We knew it would be a big ask to make only two stops and it was a close run thing at the end because my tyres completely went away on the final lap.
“I had Fernando very close behind me, but I saved a bit of KERS coming out of the final corner and managed to stay ahead.”
Kamui Kobayashi tried to run the same strategy as di Resta, without success: “I started on a set of new medium compound tyres and we tried a two stop strategy but in the end it didn’t work out.
“The tyres degraded quicker than we hoped and I had to do three stops as well with the last one seven laps before the end.”
Bahrain Grand Prix fastest laps
Each driver’s fastest lap:
Rank | Driver | Car | Fastest lap | Gap | On lap |
1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’36.379 | 41 | |
2 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’36.700 | 0.321 | 54 |
3 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1’36.928 | 0.549 | 42 |
4 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’37.058 | 0.679 | 43 |
5 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 1’37.116 | 0.737 | 41 |
6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’37.437 | 1.058 | 45 |
7 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’37.733 | 1.354 | 38 |
8 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’37.903 | 1.524 | 42 |
9 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’38.046 | 1.667 | 47 |
10 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’38.080 | 1.701 | 41 |
11 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 1’38.087 | 1.708 | 51 |
12 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’38.123 | 1.744 | 42 |
13 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1’38.128 | 1.749 | 39 |
14 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’38.146 | 1.767 | 39 |
15 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’38.203 | 1.824 | 44 |
16 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 1’38.305 | 1.926 | 42 |
17 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’38.312 | 1.933 | 46 |
18 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1’38.372 | 1.993 | 41 |
19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1’38.441 | 2.062 | 43 |
20 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 1’39.747 | 3.368 | 48 |
21 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1’39.876 | 3.497 | 14 |
22 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 1’40.237 | 3.858 | 41 |
23 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’40.323 | 3.944 | 46 |
24 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’41.519 | 5.140 | 14 |
2012 Bahrain Grand Prix
Browse all 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix articles
Image © Force India/Sutton
v.malli
22nd April 2012, 21:59
wonderful analasys.thank u very much
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
22nd April 2012, 22:03
and there it goes the “Webbo turned the tables over Vettel” discussion, short lived as it is. Even touring alone in the circuit, he was half a second per lap slower than Vettel, who was being pushed by Kimi…
Maybe Mark will come back stronger at some other tracks, but he was as far behind Vettel as he ever was in 2011.
James Brickles (@brickles)
22nd April 2012, 22:38
Bahrain doesn’t seem to suit Webber that well. His best result has been a 6th place in 2005 and 2006.
I don’t think he likes circuits with heavy braking into slow, tight corners. Singapore and Valencia are two circuits he said he didn’t like and they’re both abundant in slow tight corners.
@HoHum (@hohum)
23rd April 2012, 0:23
Sadly I have to concede your point, all I can say on Marks behalf is that once the Loti V Vettel fight got away from him was that it made sense just to cruise around ahead of the McLarens and bag some more good points for his team.
AdrianMorse (@adrianmorse)
23rd April 2012, 5:59
@fer-no65 given your avatar, I can understand you are happy that Vettel came out on top again this weekend, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that Webber showed very good pace in the first three races, both in qualifying and the race, whereas Vettel may have struggled with the balance.
David-A (@david-a)
23rd April 2012, 8:46
@AdrianMorse – He clearly has a Mark Webber avatar though?
AdrianMorse (@adrianmorse)
23rd April 2012, 9:13
@david-a, @fer-no65 Oops, sorry! In that case, fer-no65, I would not give up hope so quickly. Barcelona is a track that suits Webber more than Bahrain does, and with his starts improved over 2011, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Webber challenging Vettel.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
23rd April 2012, 13:55
@adrianmorse
But Vettel struggled with a version of the RB8 that didn’t really suit him. Now Red Bull revised it, he clearly looks more confortable. If so, then that’s bad news for Mark.
Hope I’m wrong tho… because, yeah, my avatar is Webber and he’s my fav driver :)
LawFish (@lawfish)
22nd April 2012, 23:21
webber to win the championship without winning a race ;)
@HoHum (@hohum)
23rd April 2012, 0:06
Funny you should say that, the first time I remember the points system being changed Bernie explained that a consistent frontrunner should be recognised as better than the guy that wins a few but crashes out or blows his engine regularly, the next change to the points Bernie explained that the guy who fights to win deserves more recognition than the guy who takes less risks, anyone care to recalculate the 3 different point scores under current and previous systems ?
@HoHum (@hohum)
23rd April 2012, 0:09
And how many points do you get if you finish 4th. in every race.?
David-A (@david-a)
23rd April 2012, 3:05
240, which you wouldn’t expect to be enough for the title.
Karthikeyan (@ridiculous)
23rd April 2012, 9:51
Just 16 short of the 2010 aggregate
MarcusAurelius (@marcusaurelius)
23rd April 2012, 7:50
Hmmm, Raikkonen lost 10.3 seconds in the first 4 laps. That’s why he was still unhappy after the race. He was actually faster than Vettel.
Alain (@paganbasque)
23rd April 2012, 8:36
Yes he was, Kimi lost the race due to these slow initial laps and also, because of his poor qualy. Anyway, Lotus had an impressive pace and if they maintain it in the next races Kimi could be a serious contender for the championship.
What a crazy(and interesting) season, it is almost imposible to know which is the front runner team.
himmatsj (@himmatsj)
23rd April 2012, 9:28
Caterham were actually mixing it with the Torro Rossos in the race. Their fastest laps are pretty good too, considering they pitted around the same time as the rest.
Leen
23rd April 2012, 10:24
Caterham indeed made another step forward, hopefully they continue to do so and challenge the teams right until the end as we could see that after their last pitstop they lost ground on Torro Rosso
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
23rd April 2012, 20:07
Disappointed that Kobayashi’s strategy didn’t work out for him. They don’t seem capable of using his banzai approach to saving a set of softs very well anymore. Maybe it would work on a slightly cooler track as he did say that degradation was higher than expected?
Rosberg managed to keep a much straighter lap time line following the practice analysis on his longest stint against the race. I guess you can attribute that to being in a race situation, it’s difficult to tell. Signs look promising regarding their degradation at least.
Tasimana
24th April 2012, 12:03
Ricciardo’s race ended in qualifying – am concerned re poor race pace over the past 3 races. Not sure if it’s worth using up the tyres in qualifying to make it Q3 when it clearly cost him in the race. Jean Eric is poor in qualifying and better in race pace so far but lacks consistently fast laps. Hope Daniel can improve and show what he can do and develops over the season.