Another practice washout hampers teams’ progress

2012 German Grand Prix Friday practice analysis

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The extent of the rain that fell during practice at the Hockenheimring seemed to catch the teams by surprise.

Notably, none of those who usually run test drivers in the first session chose to postpone their runs until the second, which would have given their regular drivers the benefit of a drier track, as we have seen them do before.

Mark Webber admitted the teams had been caught out by the conditions: “That was a bit unreal.

“We didn’t expect the rain to be this bad today, but it was quite heavy at times – we even used the extreme full wet tyre. That’s two races in a row now with tricky conditions.”

They all had to make do with what little dry running they had in the first session, particularly those such as McLaren who had major updates to evaluate. Lewis Hamilton said the team were pleased with what they’ve seen from their revised sidepods and other upgrades so far:

“The men and women back at the factory did an incredible job to get all the upgrades to the track this weekend – they all deserve a big pat on the back for that. It’s quite a positive step. It’s still difficult to accurately predict was sort of a step we’ve taken as we couldn’t back-to-back between the old and new components, but it’s definitely a step forward.

“Hopefully, we’ll get more of an indication as the weekend progresses – although, with more wet weather predicted for tomorrow, it might not be until Sunday that we can tell what we’ve got. Still, the car doesn’t feel bad at all.”

However the complicated rear wing arrangement seen on Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus will not be raced here. Trackside operations director Alan Permane said: “Both cars ran with aero updates, which were rather more visible on one car than the other.

“We’ve seen encouraging signs from our latest prototype concept and although we won’t race it here, it’s likely to make another appearance during practice in Budapest.”

Today the cars were close to the pace seen at the track in 2010. Jenson Button’s fastest lap of 1’16.595 was three-tenths off the best time set on Friday during F1’s last visit to Hockenheim.

On that occasion Sebastian Vettel’s pole position lap came within half a second of beating the track record set by Michael Schumacher in 2004. If we get dry running tomorrow the top teams may get close to that again, but the forecast at the moment is for more rain.

Here’s the data from today’s practice, mostly from the first session which was the drier of the two.

Longest stint comparison – first practice

This chart shows all the drivers’ lap times (in seconds) during their longest unbroken stint:

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

12345678910
Sebastian Vettel82.51380.51779.26478.76479.441
Mark Webber83.06681.71881.50981.64281.51881.33684.23385.83581.46
Jenson Button80.49780.32279.92579.83379.9279.96380.086
Lewis Hamilton77.09377.26386.03686.222
Fernando Alonso81.76677.3783.38580.40878.79982.424
Felipe Massa78.5378.3180.44178.05177.99588.296
Michael Schumacher77.64977.38282.59884.30987.58882.45683.615109.314
Nico Rosberg79.55984.86280.05380.48880.4990.68286.692
Kimi Raikkonen83.56484.98785.90878.831
Romain Grosjean78.50883.19781.33680.97578.1384.15782.114
Jules Bianchi79.17378.97291.30690.15183.10687.958
Nico Hulkenberg79.80479.11181.31478.10381.90577.599
Kamui Kobayashi81.14778.8898391.24678.226
Sergio Perez82.18581.10979.24281.68579.687
Daniel Ricciardo79.67679.1678.70982.38380.43882.77282.84587.73784.268
Jean-Eric Vergne79.74279.5279.03982.2279.44379.09780.24380.0187.12180.846
Pastor Maldonado78.6786.97978.0286.76484.182
Valtteri Bottas84.14880.78879.96981.03680.51579.76880.04387.86379.044
Heikki Kovalainen81.67580.07281.84186.99785.22387.46383.341
Vitaly Petrov82.66579.79887.67679.80179.67495.8496.011
Pedro de la Rosa85.31383.64395.23783.03282.41684.538
Dani Clos84.8485.04786.45986.53586.42288.14685.64485.343
Timo Glock81.30781.18985.53480.97390.0180.539
Charles Pic90.18789.93781.26281.77282.84387.09391.51583.179

Sector times and ultimate lap times – first practice

CarDriverCarSector 1Sector 2Sector 3Ultimate lapGapDeficit to best
13Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes16.78535.94423.8661’16.5950.000
24Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes16.89235.94224.0621’16.8960.3010.197
35Fernando AlonsoFerrari16.80636.04224.2441’17.0920.4970.278
47Michael SchumacherMercedes16.87436.25324.0491’17.1760.5810.206
515Sergio PerezSauber-Ferrari16.79436.43823.9801’17.2120.6170.201
610Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault16.89836.45324.1101’17.4610.8660.669
712Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes17.18036.23724.1821’17.5991.0040.000
818Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Renault17.04936.46824.2141’17.7311.1360.289
98Nico RosbergMercedes16.94936.30824.5251’17.7821.1870.133
106Felipe MassaFerrari17.04836.41024.4181’17.8761.2810.119
1119Valtteri BottasWilliams-Renault17.17636.46224.3591’17.9971.4020.425
1214Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari17.04236.30524.6831’18.0301.4350.196
131Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault17.14636.30724.5901’18.0431.4480.296
149Kimi RaikkonenLotus-Renault16.97036.19725.3431’18.5101.9150.321
1516Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso-Ferrari17.31336.72024.6131’18.6462.0510.063
1611Jules BianchiForce India-Mercedes17.39736.58424.6731’18.6542.0590.318
1717Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Ferrari17.41036.69324.6721’18.7752.1800.264
1821Vitaly PetrovCaterham-Renault17.55336.97025.0411’19.5642.9690.110
1920Heikki KovalainenCaterham-Renault17.59937.21524.8941’19.7083.1130.255
202Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault17.52037.57024.7491’19.8393.2440.283
2125Charles PicMarussia-Cosworth17.52137.48425.1641’20.1693.5740.000
2224Timo GlockMarussia-Cosworth17.72137.52125.2751’20.5173.9220.022
2322Pedro de la RosaHRT-Cosworth17.87837.51925.6741’21.0714.4760.067
2423Dani ClosHRT-Cosworth17.99638.00925.7351’21.7405.1450.000

Complete practice times

PosDriverCarFP1FP2Total laps
1Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’16.5951’28.51643
2Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes1’17.0931’30.61738
3Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’17.3701’31.20741
4Michael SchumacherMercedes1’17.3821’32.77738
5Sergio PerezSauber-Ferrari1’17.4131’28.40254
6Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes1’17.5991’28.49539
7Nico RosbergMercedes1’17.9151’27.56451
8Felipe MassaFerrari1’17.9951’29.71937
9Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Renault1’18.0201’27.47634
10Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault1’18.1301’28.42041
11Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari1’18.2261’29.78546
12Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’18.3391’27.90245
13Valtteri BottasWilliams-Renault1’18.42228
14Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso-Ferrari1’18.7091’28.51353
15Kimi RaikkonenLotus-Renault1’18.8311’29.32736
16Jules BianchiForce India-Mercedes1’18.97221
17Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Ferrari1’19.0391’29.36460
18Vitaly PetrovCaterham-Renault1’19.6741’32.24146
19Heikki KovalainenCaterham-Renault1’19.9631’30.33150
20Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’20.1221’28.87748
21Charles PicMarussia-Cosworth1’20.1691’30.09039
22Timo GlockMarussia-Cosworth1’20.5391’30.22034
23Pedro de la RosaHRT-Cosworth1’21.1381’42.56632
24Dani ClosHRT-Cosworth1’21.74027
25Bruno SennaWilliams-Renault1’30.29122
26Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1’30.43714
27Narain KarthikeyanHRT-Cosworth1’32.34917

Speed trap – first practice

#DriverCarEngineMax speedGap
17Michael SchumacherMercedesMercedes316.9
28Nico RosbergMercedesMercedes315.61.3
39Kimi RaikkonenLotusRenault314.72.2
43Jenson ButtonMcLarenMercedes314.52.4
510Romain GrosjeanLotusRenault313.93
620Heikki KovalainenCaterhamRenault313.83.1
712Nico HulkenbergForce IndiaMercedes313.83.1
811Jules BianchiForce IndiaMercedes313.73.2
915Sergio PerezSauberFerrari313.73.2
104Lewis HamiltonMcLarenMercedes313.43.5
1119Valtteri BottasWilliamsRenault313.33.6
1225Charles PicMarussiaCosworth312.94
1324Timo GlockMarussiaCosworth312.54.4
1414Kamui KobayashiSauberFerrari312.54.4
1518Pastor MaldonadoWilliamsRenault312.24.7
1617Jean-Eric VergneToro RossoFerrari3124.9
1716Daniel RicciardoToro RossoFerrari311.95
181Sebastian VettelRed BullRenault311.85.1
1921Vitaly PetrovCaterhamRenault311.45.5
206Felipe MassaFerrariFerrari309.87.1
215Fernando AlonsoFerrariFerrari309.27.7
2223Dani ClosHRTCosworth307.69.3
2322Pedro de la RosaHRTCosworth307.59.4
242Mark WebberRed BullRenault305.611.3

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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16 comments on “Another practice washout hampers teams’ progress”

  1. Still looks as though Caterham are stuck in the wilderness.

  2. Button’s long run looks consistent and from memory more competitive than the equivalent run at Valencia?

  3. Happy for the spectators that at least the drivers did plenty of laps in the wet conditions.

  4. The best thing about today’s rain was that it once again shattered Pirelli’s plans to test the more conservative tyres. Moreover, tomorrow it might rain again so the teams will have [almost] no clue how the tyres will behave in the dry race conditions on Sunday. And I will most likely score around 3 points in the predictions championship again. Yippee!

  5. It wouldn’t be so bad if the rain was on race day. It’s just frustrating when it’s during practice, less to watch and less conclusions to draw. I really want to know if Caterham’s upgrade package has yeilded any big performance boost.

  6. its seems CATERHAM is one team everyone wants to see do better. or is it just because of KOV???

    1. Well it certainly isn’t because of Petrov’s sterling talent.

    2. @sagaratgamkar I think it might be to do with just how serious they are about it. They seem to have the best infrastructure, drivers, personnel and car. They’re (slowly) making the best progress to the midfield and have been consistently doing so.

  7. About lotus new updates, i have an different guess than SKY.

    Like Sky I believe that this new solution is targeted for qually and for aero purposes rather than boosting the DRS. My guess is that when the DRS is activated the air passes through the now clear slot on the main plane travels through the pillar beneath the main plane forward, and disables via perhaps a butterfly valve the passing of air from the “ears” located on each side of the overhead air intake, decreasing drag and cutting the air flow that was being channeled to the small rear wing above the suspension, if so this new upgrade is meant to deliver more downforce into the rear of the car, its linked to the DRS to cut the drag but that maybe a problem when racing because off course the DRS rules, but i also believe that the system is easily tweaked for the race i dont think they’ll want the added drag and the benefits of more rear downforce.

  8. Jenson Button’s lap times are impressive. almost flat line. I don’t know it’s good sign though.

    1. Ferrari still lacks maximum speed.

      1. @eggry Nothing worrying though. RBR usually occupy that spot, especially last year.

        1. @AndrewTanner I know but Ferrari themselves always saying they lack top speed, so I don’t think it’s side effect of too much downforce…Good news is F2012 is quite good in terms of downforce.

          1. @eggry Yep, which is always welcome from Ferrari, considering that aero is usually considered their weakness.

  9. Edd Straw just tweeted, that Webber will get a post qualifying penalty as well (making it 3 of the top runners), apparently details to be shortly publicized (another one with the gearbox?)

    1. yep, not its confirmed that Webber had a new gearbox and gets a 5 place grid drop too, after Grosjean and Rosberg that makes 3.

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