2012 German Grand Prix fastest laps

2012 German Grand Prix

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McLaren expected Fernando Alonso’s lap times to suffer at the end of the race – but it was Jenson Button’s that did.

German Grand Prix lap times

All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded):

https://www.racefans.net/charts/2012drivercolours.csv

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546474849505152535455565758596061626364656667
Fernando Alonso86.84283.2583.18782.682.69782.64582.81282.63182.54682.39682.41982.21481.99482.10882.10182.06582.12584.52394.95181.68181.65981.76881.72781.60981.2681.25181.25181.08981.42981.40280.90480.78480.92680.91480.85180.37380.82681.14680.6580.77682.86393.71180.16980.19580.32579.88480.17379.9179.88879.90280.1980.08679.97780.03580.06180.11180.04279.83779.77579.83579.88979.59379.64179.6279.89279.04480.832
Sebastian Vettel88.16282.91882.82882.69782.77182.72682.86382.76982.61382.5782.48282.30682.28982.2982.28782.16882.08482.1882.57584.87794.3881.06581.17181.32681.07180.93980.93180.99281.25881.32681.36680.65180.86480.98281.60380.89180.85680.88380.76480.79682.79393.99680.34179.86680.62379.90880.69879.8279.9879.84180.10180.03380.76979.99979.91979.72179.7479.77379.66179.95379.71779.77279.7180.08180.55280.18879.469
Michael Schumacher89.27183.66983.41483.22983.32482.99683.0583.24682.91683.14584.383.11182.8984.90496.94581.94482.07382.05881.73482.19782.94482.31582.07881.98682.12982.24781.4781.5481.50281.7881.78281.31281.3781.58881.74484.14693.84180.29180.41581.20680.23480.24980.20480.10380.3579.91480.53980.84680.19180.22680.09282.53893.48879.58579.00778.79478.72578.83378.87579.14478.94279.00579.16579.2779.20879.54579.658
Nico Hulkenberg89.79384.17783.59583.39383.18483.04183.21784.30783.12883.30283.37485.15795.65681.83384.4282.79682.34381.99282.26182.08182.32282.3682.34382.06682.38282.19182.0982.02682.82483.71186.2794.90281.86881.2180.97180.59580.56680.21280.64480.43780.49980.48380.3380.82781.35482.36694.38480.44680.27180.00180.62680.07379.67879.64979.60779.37279.60779.91479.93779.95779.88679.74979.94179.71580.15980.04680.107
Pastor Maldonado90.58584.42383.72183.39983.22583.32182.96383.46883.3383.37283.25883.57385.1197.67182.25282.40182.49882.30882.94984.14983.31482.785.19183.97582.76282.81482.91982.68882.78182.61282.70782.6782.46782.32582.29183.13384.10484.89597.33281.181.54881.24581.32880.99581.61981.54981.43780.97681.11381.36580.98780.79580.79281.77881.283.05883.41895.01379.60779.97180.14279.91479.83879.95379.84880.418
Jenson Button90.184.19783.55483.60883.17183.19383.06682.60682.60482.63782.53882.3282.08482.36682.07382.07682.25281.99284.4794.17281.10481.41380.99281.40681.49481.0780.72780.89780.99681.07481.15180.3480.77180.77380.69281.48880.60880.84180.83183.07791.6980.05779.75479.80880.26979.89480.13279.90880.08379.97380.2980.02980.0579.90579.90479.9780.0580.09280.04280.00779.90679.71980.05580.16680.80581.69281.737
Lewis Hamilton91.66584.784124.133100.11183.32482.78582.59582.30682.51182.73582.50382.5882.14182.15882.46282.76682.80283.68283.02682.39382.56282.44882.17282.11282.48682.15381.90281.80183.10882.73684.90994.57180.77480.09180.42680.60781.19480.68580.76180.29880.99181.56880.7180.82581.09481.24783.59296.48780.50980.31580.28280.17580.28480.54981.0692.608
Mark Webber91.28484.25383.97783.44983.14683.26583.24783.3183.29783.31983.22185.78997.18584.05182.18682.15982.29182.67182.31982.25781.78181.96782.0282.29781.95681.98182.13682.49882.29182.50782.30383.25181.8881.48981.60381.6481.40881.52482.5984.1793.90480.5180.60580.55780.75780.67180.88580.65980.94980.80180.63880.6180.83380.23680.35880.14180.04379.97279.79479.90679.85979.92680.10180.00179.92779.86380.329
Paul di Resta92.92284.49784.20983.67784.61483.62783.43983.43984.33285.61695.87182.16982.4482.87182.7382.43282.49482.3982.51182.69883.11682.84882.53482.54383.19582.34482.45681.90783.27682.73182.56782.48681.82881.75281.73281.75381.93381.80284.56994.3980.67280.75880.61380.66880.24680.35480.61480.41280.39581.63180.8780.77980.29680.66181.20782.10280.79180.47880.08780.35879.95980.02380.05780.18280.36280.05779.717
Kimi Raikkonen92.44684.22785.40283.59683.07283.40882.59682.7282.71282.98785.63795.43681.94281.98882.68582.24781.93182.03782.08781.8381.37781.24281.21181.68781.67481.71781.75381.62781.52381.5381.63381.22981.04581.31581.18581.70381.63784.02993.88879.72679.72280.04780.19979.72480.00480.08779.63980.69479.88179.99380.6380.179.56279.6679.72679.48579.51279.77579.90379.90479.78980.21279.76480.04679.82180.10980.566
Daniel Ricciardo93.38684.72184.83583.9385.85985.69483.61283.7683.43183.35983.26282.88382.79382.66582.4382.74883.25582.99487.1496.93282.37183.4781.81182.49682.12482.15482.25682.39382.23281.97382.12582.10982.95683.01381.98882.62982.46585.01995.63980.35780.15380.2880.19380.06680.35980.29380.61480.77280.58780.53180.3880.32680.31681.16180.59480.17480.30380.68781.21881.53481.47981.25681.11381.16781.37681.96882.522
Kamui Kobayashi93.64184.81384.77583.91883.90183.44384.17483.19283.29183.62382.87382.85882.18982.17482.11582.1882.2481.92481.89981.9683.40185.20798.07882.5781.67281.05481.13681.11381.70781.82281.8281.24280.65380.49180.48380.52881.2180.42180.780.59980.2280.60683.86595.7379.5579.56279.81879.79479.25279.69879.65879.32479.30679.27979.16479.34479.57279.5679.32579.35279.16179.41679.48980.17979.98179.64580.847
Felipe Massa106.843101.70383.31482.76782.59682.43982.59682.94383.55883.42384.15682.94283.44182.7882.51182.45982.45782.42282.60882.95282.92583.54484.13586.17296.03681.13480.93780.9481.0181.80182.281.07980.8181.10881.14781.00881.27981.18680.97781.20281.28181.66481.19781.11981.44481.16184.0295.37779.68380.02279.98180.11780.36880.16680.37379.90679.41879.53180.04379.71880.13781.30579.41979.25880.18579.63279.225
Bruno Senna121.666126.70882.97783.02982.88982.86482.82482.60282.37782.32882.43782.09382.0782.23782.29282.35182.31182.44282.33185.05483.00283.47682.86383.26385.73896.47280.99983.75481.61681.77281.80281.24481.40381.68681.33582.52881.30481.11881.31581.28182.52181.3881.4281.51581.40882.8384.84995.04180.7480.59780.21181.53181.21180.32980.11680.04780.15880.24480.4680.41780.11279.89480.04679.95880.12880.008
Jean-Eric Vergne94.66484.79285.43784.16385.35987.27498.03482.99483.18582.36482.43782.44183.66682.70282.54782.59182.53182.65282.65482.60482.75182.68282.54182.94682.83682.87785.65396.92881.66984.95581.77582.60181.31480.92181.25881.01981.07981.40581.32881.14881.01481.17781.6381.15983.82896.07580.31180.20379.68280.49580.28280.31180.30980.26780.69680.91980.07279.81679.64579.97680.19879.91480.05280.02579.77579.72980.49
Heikki Kovalainen96.79685.24886.03285.39284.3583.93284.0384.09783.58883.76383.8184.43786.58397.56383.04483.11783.5182.69182.54382.80582.67782.6582.4882.53382.68482.67982.70482.63482.57683.30285.70196.27781.55681.85482.48382.08481.96181.7485.72982.74182.57682.29782.87185.11496.85881.73481.67183.0781.98882.78482.16482.62289.436106.35687.85285.92180.95480.89180.96581.05480.59681.8980.59885.15481.616
Sergio Perez95.04784.73884.16783.70284.15683.30982.61883.15182.44782.37882.68582.32682.11481.99882.0482.20486.41895.78580.77781.57482.23982.36882.29882.10282.32382.38881.94282.04582.78381.73981.66181.08881.36281.11881.15481.09181.46882.57281.42583.8394.36679.96980.29181.31280.69480.54280.18579.90679.74980.38780.28880.20579.57279.4679.76379.479.75679.68879.27679.82479.81879.2779.30879.29979.33479.65779.809
Vitaly Petrov95.91485.66486.14884.31384.17284.3983.97983.82183.99383.78783.8383.96984.34586.70198.84684.33183.2582.85582.9182.6582.65482.93782.6182.71182.73982.47882.54382.75884.03282.87683.16285.80496.46481.64485.2683.10981.80281.7381.68581.7581.95981.581.84185.22982.62281.81481.63482.37982.04584.44895.71881.00182.74981.880.45780.33580.16580.39480.61380.60780.05279.99780.10880.11780.11380.165
Romain Grosjean124.294112.55184.04484.3383.72583.08583.32583.46682.86182.71782.49383.33482.51382.57482.59282.63982.9682.73283.1283.52383.07483.36983.16685.41498.83881.2181.23681.12181.40181.81881.06381.1781.61281.9381.54381.93881.19481.65581.36683.83182.16584.196102.42384.3580.10580.62781.76284.41281.79281.3480.46980.63282.63780.94580.85780.3782.57182.90580.83880.01381.83180.44980.15480.48680.19280.92
Charles Pic97.64786.23785.92885.81585.4785.32185.17285.26285.00285.03585.8584.8984.89285.21984.76385.44985.19284.54384.49284.58987.55397.35382.8682.93682.7182.68982.682.7283.15384.92283.8883.25683.06384.47784.57583.08283.55182.92284.13683.23383.62184.53186.28598.76881.75382.92383.39683.40882.4782.2982.30682.24882.54584.92282.87585.72482.48382.12782.02882.18183.6683.82182.3882.20584.668
Nico Rosberg96.52184.25784.74684.2283.70784.28683.55683.34483.31583.16282.92984.96396.69781.4482.38182.40582.22182.17581.93382.24482.55182.41984.09382.3482.20782.19982.32581.82281.53182.12981.68983.5894.06981.21280.97980.83580.95280.7180.70980.56180.47980.40480.18880.8480.48680.56680.44580.5580.81282.81394.09179.65179.85479.75181.04580.48679.94679.42179.10579.45779.19179.16579.26779.12679.19279.56879.438
Timo Glock98.01886.35287.78185.76485.25785.40485.31585.30885.6385.82985.41885.49285.31285.37185.83385.49185.51586.18388.158101.37784.01585.45985.09184.74484.50484.97685.51987.70684.86886.41184.8485.67485.97284.3183.53183.62485.67584.42984.03486.48299.19385.88583.12482.98783.25384.6182.81785.1684.88885.01383.35584.59683.28682.77885.36183.4483.27283.89483.21884.84583.65586.20583.80584.065
Pedro de la Rosa98.86786.63487.46986.60685.80485.75685.58385.6886.03686.04585.49285.56485.48285.34985.4185.08285.52385.33785.88287.925101.58984.87285.17984.56985.02985.13186.48885.20185.55985.00284.28685.12486.18384.41384.17185.02284.92784.17686.57984.29984.2884.76783.89184.0188.44299.984.07983.7282.61383.6582.40783.40383.61383.22484.07182.4883.62982.72883.12683.19583.40583.29382.76584.209
Narain Karthikeyan101.12586.59486.45286.55285.94985.79286.44286.2386.51985.62785.45985.69485.76985.35285.49485.67686.58485.75285.82886.61786.64889.593105.32884.33486.62385.55884.72484.97284.09684.53483.94483.74583.83684.57484.1284.83484.00784.43283.42285.07584.78384.27187.17385.74884.22687.639100.54983.95584.09484.03584.28782.04783.15282.11481.78881.87782.0282.65983.64283.9284.62482.5482.08482.575

McLaren thought Jenson Button would be able to attack Fernando Alonso at the end of the race as the Ferrari drivers’ tyres had begun to go off before the end of the stint on previous runs.

The lap times chart above shows how Alonso’s times began to rise towards the end of his middle stint. At this point he was increasingly preoccupied with Lewis Hamilton, who was trying to unlap himself, but Alonso didn’t do much in terms of defending at this point.

But when it came to the final stint it wasn’t Alonso’s lap times that went off – it was Button’s.

Nico Hulkenberg started fourth and slipped to ninth at the finish. His tyres went off quite sharply at the end of each stint which, he said, made a two-stopped impossible:

“We always knew it was going to be tough to hang on to fourth place because we did not look especially strong in the dry conditions on Saturday morning. But when you’re in that position you hope for the best and actually the first part of the race was strong for me and I had some good battles.

“In terms of strategy, doing three stops was the way forward because a two-stop race was not possible with the way the tyres were degrading.”

German Grand Prix fastest laps

Each driver’s fastest lap:

RankDriverCarFastest lapGapOn lap
1Michael SchumacherMercedes1’18.72557
2Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’19.0440.31966
3Nico RosbergMercedes1’19.1050.38059
4Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1’19.1610.43661
5Felipe MassaFerrari1’19.2250.50067
6Sergio PerezSauber-Ferrari1’19.2700.54562
7Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes1’19.3720.64756
8Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’19.4690.74467
9Kimi RaikkonenLotus-Renault1’19.4850.76056
10Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Renault1’19.6070.88259
11Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Ferrari1’19.6450.92059
12Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1’19.7170.99267
13Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’19.7190.99462
14Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’19.7941.06959
15Bruno SennaWilliams-Renault1’19.8941.16962
16Vitaly PetrovCaterham-Renault1’19.9971.27262
17Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault1’20.0131.28860
18Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso-Ferrari1’20.0661.34144
19Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1’20.0911.36634
20Heikki KovalainenCaterham-Renault1’20.5961.87161
21Charles PicMarussia-Cosworth1’21.7533.02845
22Narain KarthikeyanHRT-Cosworth1’21.7883.06355
23Pedro de la RosaHRT-Cosworth1’22.4073.68251
24Timo GlockMarussia-Cosworth1’22.7784.05354

Michael Schumacher set the fastest lap of the race shortly after his third and final pit stop. Tellingly he did so with ten laps to go and didn’t continue to improve his lap time, which goes some way towards explaining why he was unable to catch and pass the Saubers.

2012 German Grand Prix

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Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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21 comments on “2012 German Grand Prix fastest laps”

  1. I’m surprised Vettel had the audacity to set the 8th fastest lap after that overtake on Jenson Button!

    Nah just joshing, shame about Button’s tyres falling away towards the end though :-P

  2. You can really see how Button made ground during the second pit stop phase. He made up 2.02 secs on Alonso and 2.31 secs on Vettel!

    1. Buttons stop was 2.4, Alonsos 3.7 and Vettel’s about the same (they seemed to be stationary v.similar time)
      Had Vettel’s been a 3 sec stop he’d have cleared Button and had they replicated Button’s it would’ve been closer to Alonso.
      Anyway, unbelieveable stop by the much maligned Mclaren team. It looked ridiculously good live.

  3. This data is good news for Mclaren, I think it shows that they are right back on the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull again, if a fraction behind the latter still. I think Button’s drop in pace in the final 5-7 laps may have been due to the excess wear of closely following Alonso for so long.

    1. @bleeps_and_tweaks Yeah, it certainly looks much better for McLaren now. It will be interesting to see them battle Red Bull at the Hungaroring, a circuit which will favour the RB8 more I would think.

  4. Well, looking at Alonso’s and Massa’s lap times (factoring in the difference in strategy), it is very clear the Ferrari is now a very good car. Kudos to Ferrari for turning their season around, but I just can’t stand anymore people putting this form down to some kind of miracle by Alonso (not that I’m saying this happening here…) :P

    1. @guilherme
      It is still not the fastest car but FA really does make it look much better… You gotta give him that much… both his poles where in wet, that alone is worth a whole lot!!

    2. You would not think so if he did not start from the pole.

    3. You have to keep in mind that Button and Vettel were able to both catch Alonso.

      1. @infy Indeed, Ferrari is not the fastest car, but is far from the rubbish it was at the beginning of the season and it is not as slow as some people like to believe it is. And yes, Vettel did catch Alonso, but he never looked like he would overtake him (not that is has anything to do with Alonso and Ferrari… it just seems to me that the RB8 is slower on the straights than the RB6 was).

        1. Yeah, the top three have similar pace, but I would not say Ferrari are quicker in the dry. Ferrari were lucky to have the qualifying conditions that they had because I doubt they had the pace to catch-up with either a RBR or Mclaren that are in clear air.

          I’d like to see Ferrari gain the edge though. It would definitely help them regain that confidence they are so famous for.

    4. Was about to post the same.
      Without the first lap incident, I think Massa would have been fighting Kimi for 4th position I am sure.
      His pace was pretty good throughout the race. His tyres wore off quicker in his first stint which might have been due to the dirty air encountered while passing Marussias, HRTs and Caterhams.

      He needs to have more clean races to keep his Ferrari seat. Too many ifs and buts help propel his case. If he had no first lap crash here, if he had qualified better yesterday, if he didn’t tangle with Kobayashi at Valencia, if he didn’t spin in Canada.

  5. tough times for massa when your teammate is winning races and your in the exact same car but the pace is there

    1. Very true, tough times for Massa

      1. His car is clearly not as fast as Alonzo trust me Massa is a number two driver. Ferrari have clearly put all their eggs in one basket i.e Alonzo. You also seem to forget that Massa had his wing knocked of on the first lap I don’t care who you are but that will undoubtedly destroy your race

  6. It seems that Fernando had full control troughout the race, keeping the gap at 1 sec or less and sparing the tires, as he made the fastest lap at 66th 4/10 faster than Vettel (67th) and 7/10 faster than Button (62th), there wasn’t even a chance for them to overlap him…..

  7. I believe that the Fezzas are the fastest cars now; the recent performances prove it, and because no-one can outperform a car, then one has to conclude the Ferrari is the best car

  8. Interesting charts. Alonso set his best time when his tyres were 25 laps old, which shows that he managed the tyres even if he was always very close to Jenson. When he saw that his traction out of turn 3 and 4 was good he never pushed. He actually saw that Vettel and Button were close, so he created a gap.
    The same thing happened when Vettel was passed by Hamilton. Alonso did a 1’20.3 which was his best lap so far.

    Interesting way of leading the race. Vettel, for example, in the first laps of the stint creates a gap and then he controls it. While Alonso doesn’t push until he sees an occasion to pull away.

  9. sid_prasher (@)
    23rd July 2012, 17:37

    Felipe wasn’t off the pace but his lap times are far less consistent than Alonso and the other leading drivers.
    Looking at the lap times, FI had the pace but they were just not able to do long runs on their tyres…perhaps due to less dry running during practice.
    Also surprised to see Narain beating Pedro in lap times a few times but always finishing behind in the race…

    1. This could be explained by traffic. Alonso had none in front of him while Massa was fighting for positions.

  10. Vettel is still the quickest for me. Ferrari puts loads of understeer on Alonso’s car. In Hockeinhem you can open up the trajectory in the first sector, before the hairpin alonso was always using the kerb to open the line, having loads of understeer was hurting him on the slower parts, at the end of the 2nd sector and the 3rd, at the last corner he had a better line, his line was crazy wide, in contrast Button was able to turn the car very quickly he was especially fast on the tightest parts, Vettel’s liness were typical of him opening both the entry and exit showing confidence in the car, he didnt cross the white lines on corner entry but he often did on the exit, in the end I think Vettel was quickest, but his lack of luck on the pits and with backmarkers made his 7 gear ratio set-up become a problem, with the DRS open Vettel only did 308 KPH whereas Button did 317 and Alonso 318 (200 MPH for the Ferrari) If Vettel and Red Bull had made a typical red bull race they would have won easily but they didnt, they didnt pit first, they didnt come out of the pits in clear air and they didnt managed the backmarkers well.

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