2012 Japanese Grand Prix result

2012 Japanese Grand Prix

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Pos#DriverCarLapsGapDifferenceReason
11Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault53
26Felipe MassaFerrari5320.63920.639
314Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari5324.5383.899
43Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes5325.0980.560
54Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes5346.49021.392
69Kimi RaikkonenLotus-Renault5350.4243.934
712Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes5351.1590.735
818Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Renault5352.3641.205
92Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault5354.6752.311
1016Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso-Ferrari5366.91912.244
117Michael SchumacherMercedes5367.7690.850
1211Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes5383.46015.691
1317Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Ferrari5388.6455.185
1419Bruno SennaWilliams-Renault5388.7090.064
1520Heikki KovalainenCaterham-Renault521 lap1 lap
1624Timo GlockMarussia-Cosworth521 lap8.537
1721Vitaly PetrovCaterham-Renault521 lap40.721
1822Pedro de la RosaHRT-Cosworth521 lap5.989
1910Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault512 laps1 lap
Not classified
25Charles PicMarussia-Cosworth3716 laps14 lapsEngine
23Narain KarthikeyanHRT-Cosworth3221 laps5 lapsFloor
15Sergio PerezSauber-Ferrari1835 laps14 lapsAccident
5Fernando AlonsoFerrari053 laps18 lapsAccident
8Nico RosbergMercedes053 laps18 lapsAccident

2012 Japanese Grand Prix

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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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    55 comments on “2012 Japanese Grand Prix result”

    1. Grand chelem for Vettel right?

        1. @vettel1 – Super stuff!

    2. Why didn’t Jenson slow down drastically and let Lewis past??

      1. Traverse Mark Senior (@)
        7th October 2012, 9:09

        Because he had a shot at the podium, which would have scored McLaren more vital Constructor points.

        1. After the chicane when it was clear Kamui had got third place, Button should have slowed and let Hamilton past. These 2 points would have come in handy later.

          1. Traverse Mark Senior (@)
            7th October 2012, 9:22

            I don’t think McLaren wanted to do an impression of Schumi and Rubinho from Austria 2002.

            1. Traverse Mark Senior (@)
              7th October 2012, 9:23

              *impersonation

          2. Don’t talk crap, Lewis isn’t going to win the championship anyway and he was 12 secs behind. In the interview afterwards Lewis himself says realistically his chance has gone

      2. Why should he do that? McLaren is no Ferrari.
        Especially when racing to get on the podium was in it for himself.

      3. He doesn’t consider himself out of a championship fight as much as Hamilton doesn’t, simple!

      4. You mean because Jenson was a .5 behind Kamui with a possibility of a podium and Hamilton was 21 sec further back? Yes, Jenson should have just stopped on the track and waited… Makes perfect sense.

        1. I don’t agree with team orders and Button shouldn’t have stopped, but if Hamilton (and McLaren) lose the drivers title by two points (ok this is unlikely, but possible) would it have been the right thing to do in hindsight?

          1. No, not even close on this one. 5 races to play for is not at time to play games having one driver basically give up on a podium attempt to slow for his teammate to catch up. That’s just trying to be too clever. Lewis was 21 seconds back! That’s an eternity in F1. If it was for the clear championship win, sure, but not for 2 pts. with 5 races to go.

    3. What a fantastic result for Sebastian Vettel!!!

    4. Thank God Massa still remembers how to drive…

      1. however it seems he forgot podium procedure :D

      2. Ferrari focussing on his race working out makes loads of difference, and he did driver very well.

        1. @BasCB It does make you think, doesn’t it…

    5. Way to throw a car (and championship) away. Only arrived in time for the last replay but it looked like Alonso threw that away all by himself or am I mistaken there?

      1. U very much mistaken I think.

      2. No, I do not think you are mistaken… When fighting for a championship you just can’t go so hard into first corner as he did… Compleatly his foult I think, because he definately should have seen Kimi behind and he was just too close to him.

        1. Are you blind . Alonso was ahead of him , what did you expect him to do? Break so that kimi would have crash into him, go and watch the replay again the jit and alonso’s punture occurred when alonso was starting to turn to his right and kimi was behind him!!! Also it is kimi who makes contact with alonso’s tyre not the other way around. I supposed you are a kimi fan. But this is inexcusable. Whoever hits another car from behind is at fault not matter the circumstances!!

          1. Jani Karusalmi
            7th October 2012, 9:35

            And what do you expect Kimi to do? He was already on the grass, there is nowhere else to go then. Alonso complained about Vettel in Monza for pushing him in the grass and now he did the same to Kimi but this time its Kimi’s fault? You have to admit your own mistakes and not always blame others or bad luck.

          2. i suppose kimi should have put all four wheels on the grass instead of the two so that the one and the only great alonso could easily pass through into the gap which was only visible to him…

          3. Yeah kimi had space in the braking zone..he was just slow to react on breaks I think. He cud have veered slightly wide to avoid contact, because let’s not forget his wing could have come of in the incident instead of being slightly damage. I also support kimi but I do feel as if kimi wasn’t at his best this weekend. It was a kimi:alonso 55:45 racing incident I believe..very marginal.

            1. The thing is, that the first contact was quite some time before the first corner as I remember. After that contact Kimi was pushed onto the grass where he slightly wavered and came back on track, but Alonso was still there. I still believe Alonso was more at fault here, because by that time he had enough space right to him and I see no reason why he went so far left into Kimi. Even if this was more Kimis fault, Alonso shouldn’t have gone so far left just because of the potential of danger and the fact, that he couldn’t afford another DNF.

      3. There has been a lot of bashing of Raikkonen in Italian media – but the Finn said it well himself: he had no room. He was partly alongside Alonso who carelessly went left. Alonson also let me down when he criticised Kimi for this manouevre and then when he left the paddock. He no longer considers F1 a sport and then his sportsmanship is such that he doesn’t even care when his team mate, who has suffered a lot because of him, is having his best race in two years? Half an hour in his team’s garage wouldn’t have killed him, and he could have given important information for the race and for the next one.

    6. Fantastic jop Kobayashi! It’s such a shame Alonso retired. the championship is closing…

      1. again, Grosjean launched but this time hit just one car.

        1. @eggry I’m really disappointed by Grosjean. His mistake was pretty silly and easy to avoid: he apparently forgot to brake. I thought he had been unlucky with the incidents in the previous races and I was glad to see him after his ban, because he has talent, but now every mistake he makes is even sillier than the previous one and it’s hard to defend him now.

    7. So happy for kobayashi, and all the japanese fans. Massa finally got a podium, and who knows what´s gonna happen for the next season now?

    8. Good for kobayashi. It shows that the sauber is a really good car! And that a good driver can do great things with it. So based on that perez results may have been overrated. Also what a stupid mistake did. Threw away points for not being patient. I think he is going to do so many times in the future as i think he is quite overrated. Perez is a good driver but when he has had to fight for the top spots since lap one, he hasn’t had many great results, he has had alot of mistakes and kobayashi has beat him alot of times under those circumstances.

      1. Also what a stupid mistake did. Threw away points for not being patient.

        I think you’re being a bit harsh on Checo. It was a fair rookie mistake. And in Sergio’s defence, Hamilton didn’t make it easy for him either. Lewis took to the center of the track there. Perez just didn’t forsee that and got caught off guard. He was either gonna take the outside line and spin or crash into the McLaren. Lack of experience. He’ll learn.

      2. In 2011, Kob beat him 30-14 in the championship. He certainly wasn’t quick out of the box so to speak. This season alternative tyre strategies have also made a big impact. One thing is for sure, next season will be very interesting to see what he can achieve.

        1. In 2011 he was quick out of the box. First race he finished 7th ahead of Kamui, but both saubers were disqualified after the race because of a regulation thing…
          He missed two races after his crash in Monaco qualifying (he had already made it into Q3) and he says he it took him four races to fully recover from that accident.
          He has clearly been quick of the box, although I think he lacks concentration in his qualifying performance. He seems to be struggling to find that “perfect lap” during qualifying….

    9. It was always gonna be Vettel’s weekend here but I can’t help but wonder, what would have Alonso and Perez been capable of? Perez was constantly taking tenths off Kamui after the start and Massa drove a brilliant race in a car that looked steady and consistent compared to the McLarens and Lotus at least.
      Shame for Webber and Rosberg too. Grosjean and Senna both did it again. No surprises…

      On the other hand, the podium looks brilliant and it might just provide huge leverage for both Massa and Koba in their contract renewal negotiations. Glad it happened. Long overdue. And speaking about overdue things, finally Maldonado getting some points. Needs an appreciation nod or two.

      Actually the whole top ten looks quite decent.

    10. Is that the shortest podium in terms of driver height ever?

      An interesting race, rather than entertaining, but I still loved it and it’s set up the championship nicely.

      While all the praise will go to Vettel, Massa and Kobayashi, I’d like to point out that Maldonado had a good clean race and managed to pick up points for the first time since Spain. Well done him!

      1. LOL

        Is that the shortest podium in terms of driver height ever?

      2. If replaced Vettel with Timo Glock or Heikki it would have been a truly towering podium.

      3. davidnotcoulthard
        7th October 2012, 11:12

        Is that the shortest podium in terms of driver height ever?

        Nope, Junior Karting podiums are even shorter in terms of driver height.In F1 and the world Championship, though, you might be right…

    11. Grand Chelem number 2 for Vettel then – unless someone took the fastest lap away again…

      1. @alexf1man – I don’t believe anyone did take it away, so yes Grand Chelem number 2!!! He was too fast for anyone to take it away from him me thinks, and it was the second last lap he set his fastest lap.

        1. davidnotcoulthard
          7th October 2012, 11:15

          He didn’t acutally lost that lead in the first pitstop?

          1. davidnotcoulthard
            7th October 2012, 11:16

            note:The first two words above are in the correct order, so read it in that order.

          2. Nope, he didn’t lose the lead, he went longer than everyone else because he was able to conserve his tyres.

    12. I see that ‘Raikkonen targets Alonso’ title in this morning’s round-up in an entirely different perspective now…

      :D

    13. Fernando Cruz
      7th October 2012, 9:42

      Anyone knows what happened in the Rosberg/Senna incident? I think it is the first time Senna made a real mistake in the first lap this year (very different from Grosjean), but how it was? Does anyone has a link with images of that?

      1. Sky showed it into a bit more detail in their post race analyses with Davidson (Sky pad). Might be available on youtube

    14. Why Fernando? Why???

      Not saying it was 100% his fault.. but he was inviting trouble by squeezing Kimi.

      A 2nd place finish was definitely on the cards for Fernando.. and a 22 points lead would have been the perfect damage limitation weekend

    15. Think we might have the best podium of the year here. It was just full of happy! Good drive from Jenson and I didn’t realise that The Hulk finished so well.

    16. Kobayashi got a podium.

      Hang on, let me say that again.

      Kamui Kobayashi got a podium.

      Oh yes. VERY YES.

    17. This just might be my favorite podium ever.

    18. one major fault with F1 ruling is how to compensate innocent drivers for some shunts; Mark Webber for the 20 or more seconds lost at the beginning of this GP due to Grosjean’s miscalculation, to name but one.

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