2012 Indian Grand Prix championship points

2012 Indian Grand Prix

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2012 Indian 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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49 comments on “2012 Indian Grand Prix championship points”

  1. The constructors is most definitely Red Bull’s now. There are only 129 points up for grabs and they are 91 ahead of Ferrari. Vettel is definitely in control of this championship; I can’t see Ferrrai out-pacing Red Bull.

    1. I think Red Bull has gotten some luck as far as the constructors go, though. With McLaren having several races where they just weren’t there, Massa having a terrible start of the season and Webber being a lot better than in 2011, they’ve been scoring points all the time, where Ferrari and McLaren have dropped the ball on several occasions. They have the best car now, but Ferrari and McLaren could have been in front of Red Bull prior to Singapore.

      1. @npf1

        I think Red Bull has gotten some luck as far as the constructors go, though. With […] Webber being a lot better than in 2011, they’ve been scoring points all the time

        That’s not a question of Red Bull being “lucky”, is it? That’s their just reward for hiring a top driver instead of some second-rate lapdog (a topic I wrote about earlier this week).

        Webber’s form against Vettel this year has been closer to that we saw in 2009 and 2010. Last year was the exception, not this one.

        1. Luck might be the wrong expression. I’m not trying to diminish Webber, but rather state that Red Bull has been profiting from having 2 drivers who manage to score a lot and have a reliable car, where McLaren lacks consistency and reliability and Ferrari suffered hugely from Massa. They haven’t been the fastest all season, despite leading the Constructors for a long time now.

          As far as Massa goes, I’ve been a Ferrari fan since I started watching, but seldom bother with trying to understand their decisions..

        2. astonished (@)
          28th October 2012, 20:38

          Headline suggestion for yet another article “Massa is second rate lapdog”

          In line with taking the “Vettel and” from the Alonso says that he is fighting Newey

          it might be me, but I think that you might perhaps be sliding a bit…

  2. This was all Alonso could do. but after seeing race pace, I guess a couple of tenth would change everything. I hope Ferrari’s big update(comes in Abu Dhabi?) really do something.

    1. @eggry well according to Ferrari, they’re big update has been coming to every race since Singapore

    2. @eggry well according to Ferrari, their big update has been coming to every race since Singapore

      1. @raymondu999 Absolutely. Still they’re saying ‘This is not a big deal. It would come in next races.’

    3. What is needed is a second or so for Q3.

      From then on, Alonso could manage a race from the front more or less, like he did in Hockenheim. Or in Silverstone up to a point.

      The way this second is gained is almost irrelevant: bad setup for Vettel (Hungary?), rain (Great Britain, Germany, Belgium), Ferrari update (?), whatever. Somebody with a ‘Grosjean’ or ‘Maldonado’ on the first lap is also sufficient, but that’s bad manner.

      Anyway, I think grid position is the most important issue right now.

      1. @atticus-2 Vettel was competitive in Hungary. Perhaps you meant another race?

        1. @raymondu999 Well, actually, he fell 0.5 sec short of pole, and was passed by both Lotuses by the end of a rather neutral race from him. I think he was not that competitive.

          And I think this was the only race, where his lack of pace could not have been explained by other factors than a bad setup. Monza was an extraordinary track, Spa was good bar a wet Q, the same goes for Hockenheim and Silverstone, in Valencia he owned the field bar the alternator failure, in Montreal he underestimated tyre wear but so did everyone else. And the latter will not happen again IMO, as teams got to grips with them (excuse the pun) by now, that’s why I haven’t listed it… giving it a second thought though, in Austin this factor has a chance still due to the unknown quantities of the track.

          1. @atticus-2 He was on the tail of the Lotuses when he was free of Button. The only reason he wasn’t in the mix that weekend was because he was held up by Button really.

            Spa quali was dry btw.

            I actually think Austin is going to be very good for Vettel. He has a very good record with new circuits

          2. @raymondu999 He wouldn’t have been, had he been further up on the grid.

            Sorry, some FPs were wet in Spa then, I guess.

            Shrugging this whole out-of-the-context argument off, the main point of my original post was to illustrate how Alonso needs an immprovement in Q principally, not to emphasise exactly where Vettel have not nailed his setup. The point is that a bad setup for the German might help.

          3. ‘Debate’ actually, not ‘argument’.

  3. If Vettel wins 2 of the last 3 races, he’s the world champion no matter what happens in the other race and no matter what Alonso does. That’s a bit scary!

    1. What’s even more scary is that I don’t see Abu Dhabi producing much of a surprise, compared to India and Korea. And that means half the job will be done. Alonso needs to win in Abu Dhabi. Otherwise, even if he dominates Austin and Interlagos (assuming Vettel won’t be that far behind, in 2nd or 3rd), it simply won’t be enough.

  4. Incredibly boring race. Thank goodness Alonso secured the 2nd which was the best he could do and quite incredible really when you considered he started 5th.

    Got a feeling Alonso would still clinch the title. Suspect Vettel’s mega-hot run would end with a car failure or a crash somewhere while Alonso brings his car home by stealth.

  5. Hamilton “can” still win the championship!!

    1. Yup, he can. It doesn’t mean he would however.

    2. Actually @mustalainen he can’t. He would have to win every race and Vettel, and probably Alonso, would have to no-score at every race. Even then it would come down to race wins (both of whom would have 5), and then 2nd places (of which Vettel has 2, Hamilton none).

      However it plays out Hamilton can’t win the championship; there’s 75 points up for grabs and Hamilton’s 75 points behind. Only the Red Bull pairing, Alonso or Räikkönen can mathematically win the championship (unless a penalty or something says otherwise).

      1. @Vettel1 no, @mustalainen is right. As long as Hamilton can beat Alonso and Raikkonen on points, and win all 3 remaining races, and Vettel getting 0 points in the last 3 races, Hamilton becomes champion on countback

        1. I thought in the event of a tie it would be decided on race wins. My apologies: still, it’s a highly unlikely proposition @raymondu999 !

          1. @vettel1 yes, it would be decided on Hamilton’s 6 wins vs Vettel’s 5!

          2. @raymondu999 , I thought he’d only won 2 races up until now! Yes, so Hamilton is still within a shot but probably won’t be by next weekend, as well Webber and possibly Räikkönen.

  6. Is Goddess of luck smiling at Alonso or she’s just luring him to crush more? Funny that Mark’s KERS got off just on time.

    1. I wonder what the chances are that Kers can be turned off at the pit wall or programmed to turn off? I’m not saying RBR did anything, but more just trying to find out if it is even possible in an effort to disprove conspiracy theories.

      1. @infy it usually gets offline automatically when battery is overheated. otherwise, it would explode.

      2. @infy it’s possible, but it would lead to a penalty for the team.

    2. @leotef well, Webber’s KERS has been always troublesome. It was usually in practice or qualifying though.

      1. Yeah, but this time, timing couldn’t be more perfect to Alonso I think. It’s quite amusing.

    3. The team usually just tell the driver not to use KERS, which is usually due to overheating problems. I don’t think Red Bull would intentionally turn it off so that Webber loses a place, or the FIA etc. turn it off to allow Alonso to stay closer to Vettel in the championship.

      If that turned out to be true then I would stop watching F1, as I’m sure many millions of others would to. That means no F1, no FIA.

      1. Man, you take it too seriously. Well I had to word it as ‘went wrong’ XD

  7. Button is now mathematically out of championship and on paper Raikkonen, Hamilton and Webber will be out of it if Vettel finishes in Abu dhabi.

    1. @f1rollout that’s not correct. If Webber outscores Vettel by 23 points he’s still in with a mathematical shot. If Raikkonen outscores Vettel by 12 points he’s still in.

      Hamilton needs Vettel to score 0 points and he needs to win all 3 remaining races – and even then he’ll only be champion by countback.

    2. Actually Hamilton cant based on positions.

      1. He can, because winning the last 3 races (with Vettel having 3 non-scores) means he’ll have won 6 races, and Vettel would have won 5. They’d be equal on points.

        1. You are right..I was assuming Vettel has 6 wins by now.

          1. It probably won’t happen, but theoretically speaking, it could.

  8. I don’t care much about what happens at the front anymore. However Hulkenberg’s strong performance for the 3rd weekend in a row combined with Sauber’s second consecutive no-points finish means Force India can put some real pressure on them now. Nico single-handedly took 12 points out of the advantage Sauber had in only 2 GPs. It’s only 23 points between them in the WCC now with 3 races to go. A couple of 6th and 8th finishes for the FI duo and the job is done and sealed. It’s a fight that should provide for some hot moments in the midfield.

    Also, another fun fact: Grosjean and Massa will most likely pass Rosberg in the WDC and slide in 7th and 8th. That would mean the top 8 drivers in the WDC come from the top 4 teams exclusively.

    1. I’m willing them on also, but sadly I just don’t think Di Resta has had the pace to score the points they need of late. 23 points in 3 races is quite a hurdle for a midfield team like Force India to clear.

    2. Yeah…I was pleased with HUL. Hope FI won’t lose him for the next season.

    3. hulk is clearly looking like a better driver in force india,for past couple of races di rasta is looking bit off colour.If force india stand any chance to beat sauber in points di rasta has to raise his game and both drivers needed to finish in points

    4. It’s a shame Sauber’s bad luck endures through Mercedes’ atrocious past races. It’d be something else if Sauber was clearly overtaking Mercedes and Force India were right behind them.

      At this rate, it would not actually surprise me if either the three stay where they are, or if Mercedes drops behind Force India at some point even.

  9. I think McLaren are out of the reach of Lotus now. The extra prize money would have come in handy Enstone way.

  10. If Massa keeps going like in the past few races, he ends up in the seventh place. Who would have thought so a few months ago?

  11. Merc-Sauber-FI battle will be interesting to follow. With 20 points between Mercedes and Sauber, the latter needs to score 6,66 points per race to overtake the former. That would mean something like 8th and 9th places in all the races and maybe one better score (~6th) – definitely doable if Mercedes keeps up its current lack of pace.

    There are 23 points between Sauber and Force India – that’s something that might be harder to close. With the Big Four teams getting their act together in the latter part of the season it’ll be harder and harder to break into the top 8, and with Sauber possibly scoring in most of the remaining races FI would need a podium to catch up with Sauber.

  12. Massa is on course to overhaul Rosberg and finish as the ‘best of the rest’, considering that the top 6 until very recently were all capable of winning the championship. That’s good news.

  13. Whichever way you look at it Mclaren can only be said to have had the 3rd best package this year, team mistakes/failures etc considered. The driver combo of Button/Hamiltion should yeild more than Alonso/Massa, especially given Massa’s early performances. Despite this, they’re 3rd in the championship.

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