F1 2012 —A Retrospective Part 4: China
By: Declan Harte
Tags: Sport, Retrospectives, Formula 1, F1, Nostalgia

Qualifying

For the first time this season, Lewis Hamilton was beaten on Saturday. Remarkably, it was the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg who took the maiden pole of his Formula One career. He was a whole half a second quicker than the McLaren, an incredibly impressive way to take the slot at front of the grid.

Hamilton suffered a five-place penalty following a change of gearbox on the Friday, which put him back to seventh for the race. This meant Michael Schumacher inherited his open position on the front row of the grid. A Mercedes front row lock-out made for an interesting change of pace after McLaren held those positions firm in the opening two races of the season.

Kamui Kobayashi and Kimi Raikkonen took the second row. This meant none of last year’s top four drivers started the Chinese Grand Prix in the first two rows of the grid. Kobayashi was only one tenth off of Hamilton’s Q3 time. This was the best qualifying result of his F1 career at this point and a great chance for another podium for the Sauber team.

Raikkonen’s qualifying pace now seemed to be back on track following the disappointing 18th place in Australia. His fifth place in Malaysia was set back five places for a gearbox change, but now fourth was his to keep.

Normal order was restored in the third row, with Jenson Button and Mark Webber moved up to fifth and sixth due to Hamilton’s penalty. However, Button was a full second behind Rosberg’s pole lap, which really highlighted how impressive the time was from the German.

In fact, he got out of the car following his first Q3 run and watched the rest of the pack try and fail to catch up on his initial time.

Hamilton, Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso and Romain Grosjean rounded out the rest of the top 10. But, inconspicuously absent was defending champion Sebastian Vettel. He earned 15 pole positions in 2011, but for Sunday he could only manage a meagre 11th place.

This ended his streak of 41 consecutive races inside the top 10 at the end of qualifying. The last time he failed to make it into the top 10 was the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix, in which he qualified 16th.

He also was yet to qualify ahead of his teammate from the opening three races of the season, and was down in sixth in the driver standings heading into the race on Sunday. This was a massive fall off in performance from his supremely dominant 2011 campaign.

David Coulthard was not best pleased with Eddie Jordan’s present.

Pre-Race

Up to now, the archives that I have been watching these races on have all been from the Sky Sports broadcast. But, unusually, in 2012, the UK & Ireland broadcasting rights were shared between Sky and the BBC.

Viewers have gotten used to the rights being exclusively held by Sky now for a number of years so to get an archive of the BBC’s coverage, which included their one hour long pre-race build-up. This was quite the treat and it would be remiss of this series not to highlight it.

The broadcast opened with host Jake Humphrey bringing his two pundits, David “DC” Coulthard and Eddie Jordan, of Jordan F1 fame, to a Chinese suit store. They were tasked with finding a suitable jacket for each other to wear on the programme and they were shown perusing around the store looking for their ideal candidates.

It was light-hearted fun that ended in Coulthard being the butt of the joke, which really was the way every segment went on the BBC back then. Those were the days. To be fair, Coulthard did say he wanted something “funky” and boy did Jordan deliver.

The jacket they picked out for the former McLaren and Red Bull driver was totally white with various cars printed in sequence all over the fabric. He seemed genuinely annoyed that they picked out a joke when he had gone to the trouble to pick out two nice jackets for his co-presenters. It was a good bit, Humphrey looked like he was having a whale of a time.

Onto the pre-race coverage itself, it was quite well presented. There was a segment with Bruno Senna on the rhythm of driving an F1 car that was mixed in with some nice drums beats that matched the interview in a really smart way. This highlighted just how impressive the production quality of the show was.

“Formula One 2012 is throwing up a lot of surprises and we’re only at race three,” said Coulthard, reflecting on what we’ve seen up to now. Hard to disagree.

There was some interesting analysis shown of the previous race starts in China. It showed that pole position at this circuit was more vulnerable than the average track. Jordan was adamant that the grid slot was on the wrong, or dirty, side and that it should be changed. The pole-sitter has dropped to third place at the start of the last two races in China.

A segment was shown where Hamilton was also interviewed by Humphrey back at the McLaren factory. They raced each other with remote control toy cars, Hamilton predictably finished ahead of the presenter.

During the interview, Hamilton told Humphrey that one world championship wouldn’t be enough for him to be satisfied with his career. He won in 2008, but hadn’t really come that close ever since. His best chance came in 2010 when he went to the final race in Abu Dhabi with a very outside chance of taking a second championship, but McLaren had never really delivered a title winning car since 2008.

Though, Hamilton will probably look back on that interview now and say that the seven he now holds also wouldn’t be satisfying enough. These athletes, never satisfied.

However, the most notable segment of the pre-show was a short interview with Bernie Ecclestone. He was the chief executive of F1 at the time, and the sport was under fire for its next Grand Prix venue in Bahrain.

The 2011 season saw the Bahrain GP cancelled due to civil unrest in the country and by the time F1 was set to return for the 2012 season there were serious questions being asked of those in charge whether that was the moral thing to do.

“Imagine we said ‘no way we’re going to be in Bahrain,’ would, whatever their problems are in Bahrain, would they stop? Monday morning, it’s perfect and everybody’s happy? The answer’s no. Because they’re not protesting about Formula One. And that’s why we’re going to be in Bahrain,” said Ecclestone.

“I think in some ways, you’d have to agree with him there. There are some rather big egos in Formula One but no one involved in this sport would claim that we can solve Bahrain’s problems,” pondered Humphrey, once the segment cut back to the presenters on the pit lane. But most importantly, the host struck on the key point in his next question to Jordan.

“The issue for a lot of people is are we going there making their problems worse?”

Both of the pundits dodged this question, referencing the FIA as the governing body of the sport and that they were the only ones with all the facts and should be trusted. It was then shown that FIA president Jean Todt was refusing press interviews that weekend in China and, one week later, F1 went to Bahrain — stay tuned to find out how that went.

Back to China, and the race was about to get going, take it away Ben Edwards and David Coulthard…

Lights out and away they go!

Race

Rosberg learned from the mistakes of pole-sitters past and held onto the lead out of the first corner. In fact, Schumacher was also able to fend off those behind too so Mercedes were one and two on the opening lap. The team hadn’t won since their return as a constructor in 2010, meaning their last win was 57 years ago.

Unfortunately for Sauber, Kobayashi couldn’t do that same and lost out to both Button and Raikkonen on the first corner but that wasn’t all. Hamilton and Perez both got by the Japanese driver by the end of Turn Six. Button got ahead of Raikkonen and was into third after the first corner, an excellent start from the McLaren.

It was also a horror first lap for Vettel. He fell from 11th down to 15th, while the other Red Bull of Webber fell behind Alonso in the battle for eighth place.

By the end of lap two, Rosberg was already clear ahead of the pack. He built up a 2s lap by the time DRS was enabled, and the Mercedes were uncharacteristically out in front from the offset. How times have changed.

On lap six, a frustrated Vettel got onto the radio to claim that he was “nowhere on the straights” which was not a good sign because the easiest place to overtake on this track was the big long straight at the start of the third sector. He was only back up to 14th following that horrendous opening lap.

Webber was the first to come in for a fresh set of tyres on lap seven, the action was pretty quiet up to this point and the order was as follows heading into the first phase of pit stops:

1. Rosberg, 2. Schumacher, 3. Button, 4. Raikkonen, 5. Hamilton, 6. Perez, 7. Kobayashi, 8. Alonso, 9. Webber, 10. Felipe Massa.

Four laps later and both Hamilton and Raikkonen came in. The McLaren pit crew got the better of the stops, and Hamilton moved ahead of the Finn. Meanwhile, Webber set the fastest lap of the race so far and when the two cars rejoined the track, the Australian split the two of them!

One lap later and Button was in for his first stop, he retained his position. The following lap, Schumacher and Alonso came in for their change of tyres as well. Button made the undercut work and moved into second.

But Schumacher pulled over! His race ended prematurely once again! That’s two DNFs from three races this season. A really unlucky start to the year. The cause this time was a loose wheel from a misjudged pit stop. A potential double podium gone before Mercedes’ eyes in an instant.

Hamilton inherited the third place position, he finished the first two races in this position and he’s on track at this stage to make it three threes from three. Magnificent.

Not a whole lot happened in the next six to seven laps. Everyone came in for their first stop around the same time. Grosjean and Vettel moved into the points, they were placed eighth and ninth by the end of lap 20.

Webber was once again the first two to come in for the next phase of pit stops, this time on lap 22. He changed to the hard tyres, which BBC’s pitlane correspondent Gary Anderson reckoned was the best set of tyres to be on. But he also thought that everyone will need to come in for a third stop with around 10 laps to go.

When Hamilton came out from his stop, he ended up getting held by Massa who was staying out still. This allowed Button to stretch the gap between the two, with Button’s pass on Maldonado moving him into some clean air.

Hamilton and Webber both eventually passed the Brazilian at Turn Six. Meanwhile, Alonso pitted for the soft tyre on lap 28 and Raikkonen chose the hards on lap 29.

Massa was told on lap 30 to let teammate Alonso by, they were on different strategies and, of course, team orders were allowed that season. A sensible decision.

At this stage, Button was 18s behind Rosberg and gaining on him fast. Rosberg was yet to come in for a second stop, which suggested a difference in strategy between the front two. Button had to get by Vettel to maintain his pace, which he duly delivered on. The Red Bull was also staying out longer, as was Grosjean who was next up for Button.

But he wouldn’t have to pass the Frenchman as Grosjean headed into the pits on lap 33. The gap behind Rosberg was down to 12.9s, but he was going to have to make that up on track with the way the German’s tyre management strategy was working.

Meanwhile, behind Button, the Sauber of Perez was also managing his tyres having only stopped once. He was defending from Hamilton and Webber in third place. He massively locked up on lap four defending from the McLaren, but managed to keep his place.

Webber came in for his third and final stop on lap 34. Rosberg followed suit a lap later, and Button inherited the lead but Rosberg’s strategy looked to have worked. Most crucially for Mercedes, he came out ahead of Perez and thus was in clean air and could keep pushing.

Alonso caught up to this train of cars behind Perez, who locked up again at the end of the main DRS straight in the third sector. He just about managed to keep Hamilton behind him on the exit into the penultimate corner, and then finally dived into the pits on lap 36.

Coulthard broke down what Button needed to catch Rosberg. Coulthard said he’ll need to find 10–12s to be on pace with Rosberg, a difficult task to manage if Button wanted to win this one. He was known for his ability to preserve tyres, but this was no easy feat.

Webber riding the curb like a wave.

Webber went airborne on lap 37! The front of his car jumped up over a curb at Turn 13 and he effectively managed to do a wheelie with an F1 car. Incredible how he pulled that off. Coulthard wondered if the chassis of the car was broken, or perhaps if Webber might even have injured himself.

Rosberg lapped .6s quicker than Button at this point, there were 18 laps left for Button to do with these old tyres. His chances of winning were not looking good with this pace from Rosberg.

A lap later and Button was asking his team for updates on Rosberg’s lap times. His team essentially lied to him, telling the Briton he was .7s quicker than the Mercedes. Although, to be fair, the radio messages were a little later getting through the TV feed than in comparison to the current day where we hear them almost instantly.

McLaren are then shown getting ready in the pits for Button. He came in on lap 40 and it was a slow stop! The gap to Rosberg was now 20s, surely there was no way back for Button now.

Meanwhile, Alonso was pushing Hamilton for tenth place. The mishmash of tyre strategies had mixed up the order at this point.

Button came out only 3s behind Webber, who was in eighth. He managed to squeeze ahead of Senna out of the pits and Button was now in sixth.

Massa was leading a massive train of cars that stretched as far back as 12th place. The Ferrari had yet to make its next stop and was in second. But, Massa arrived in the pits for his final stop that next lap.

Button now needed to pass Vettel, again, and Raikkonen, who were now third and second, if he was to have any chance of catching up to Rosberg.

It all kicked off in the final 15 laps. Alonso ran wide at Turn Seven trying to overtake Maldonado, which allowed Perez through ahead of the Spaniard. Hamilton had managed to get by the two Williams drivers the previous two laps, Alonso needed to do the same if he was to challenge for the final podium place.

On lap 45, Grosjean ran wide at the same corner as Alonso while trying to defend from Webber. Maldonado tried to pass the Lotus when he rejoined the track but Grosjean held firm. And they touched! They touched again!

Grosjean lost a part of his front-wing and now Perez was getting in on the action. They went three abreast into Turn 14, with Alonso waiting right behind. This was the battle for eighth place, and Grosjean managed to hold for now, this was the end of lap 46.

Disappointingly, DRS was proving rather ineffective at this race.

There were five cars battling for second place. Raikkonen was looking to do 28 laps on the tyres to finish the race, which Anderson of the BBC reckoned might not be possible. Massa ended up 14th when he took his pit stop. This was a warning of what was at stake for Raikkonen who was just behind the Brazilian before the Ferrari did make his pit stop.

But Raikkonen ran wide at Turn Seven, just as his teammate did earlier! Vettel pounced and made his way into second. Button also got ahead and they were now second and third.

Raikkonen was going so slowly now at this point. Webber attempted a move around the outside of Turn Eight but ran wide, allowing Hamilton to overtake the Red Bull. Hamilton immediately tried to pounce on the lack of grip that the Lotus was now experiencing. Both Hamilton and Webber eventually got by Raikkonen at the exit of Turn 14.

Raikkonen was struggling a lot on those tyres, but he opted to stay out still. He was left in sixth place after that loss of grip.

At the start of lap 49, Senna passed Raikkonen. The Finn was down to seventh now. Next up was his teammate Grosjean and then the other Williams of Maldonado. Alonso quickly followed suit behind. Raikkonen was down to 10th from second in the space of one lap! He fell down as far as 12th within the next lap.

At the front, Hamilton was now gaining on Button (in third) and Vettel (second). This was shades of the 2011 edition of this race, which Hamilton took victory in.

With five laps remaining, Button made his move on Vettel, securing second place in this race. Hamilton followed suit a few laps later, which gave McLaren a double podium behind Rosberg who was now clear out in front and coasting.

On the final lap, Webber moved past his teammate for fourth. Vettel had to settle for fifth, but considering he started in 11th that was not a bad result at all. The alternative tyre strategy paid off for a finish.

But the man of the moment was Rosberg, who took the chequered flag in first, a race winner for the first time in F1 and a Mercedes constructor win for the first time since 1955.

The final standings were as follows

Championship Standings Top Five (Round 3)

Hamilton now led the championship. His consecutive third place finishes at each of the first three races in the season showed that consistency can pay off.

On the other hand, Button’s results were first, out of the points and second place, showing that it is worthwhile being on the top step of the podium every now and then in the current points system, even if it means having one poor race every now and then.

Alonso suffered a poor result, finishing ninth. However, considering the pre-season pessimism, being third in the championship, and ahead of the two Red Bulls, was not to be sniffed at. But more races like in China and that pessimism could become reality.

Vettel has been out qualified and out performed in all three races so far. The defending champion has suddenly lost ground on his teammate at this stage, after dominating him from start to finish in 2011.

A Mercedes engine 1–2–3 on the podium.

Post-race

Coulthard summed this race up best when he called it a “slow-burn.” For the first 40 or so laps it wasn’t up to much, but the final dozen or so laps were action packed. The unpredictability of the tyre wear led to some chaos that spiced this race up when it was much needed.

Hamilton described it as a “serious train of cars” to Rosberg, who saw absolutely none of it. He was out in front from the start and never looked like wavering. Button looked very worn out and sweaty in the cool down room, but Rosberg looked more like he was still getting ready to jump in the car before the race started. A great juxtaposition that summed up their two races nicely.

Ross Brawn, the Mercedes team principal, joined in on the fun, hugging his peers in celebration. This was a big moment for the team on their comeback to the sport.

Rosberg celebrates his first win with his team.

Team in Focus

How could it not be Mercedes? When they made their return as a constructor in 2010 there was a lot of excitement. The fact they had seven time world champion Schumacher coming back from his 2006 retirement was just a cherry on top.

Schumacher’s lack of pace was well documented by the start of the 2012 season, but he performed like his old self in the opening two races but didn’t have the points to prove it. A mechanical failure in Australia and a trip to the back of the grid courtesy of Grosjean in Malaysia ruined his chances at a first podium since 2006.

A lot of teams might have buckled under the pressure when Schumacher’s bad luck continued with his failed pit stop at the start of the race. With just Rosberg left to fight for the win, the team pulled off the best strategy and earned a well deserved victory. Rosberg’s pace in qualifying was astounding and he kept that form going into the Sunday race.

The car was clearly quick and the gap was bridged to the front three at last. Now they had won their first race, it was time to quickly focus on how to get that second.

The first of 23 career F1 victories, all with Mercedes.

Race verdict

By the standards of the Chinese Grand Prix, this was one of the better ones. That is still to say this wasn’t the most thrilling race, but it had some standout moments. Seeing Raikkonen fall from second to 14th was entertaining and a good example of how difficult these Pirelli tyres were to manage.

Pirelli designed the tyres with an in-built cliff that saw a massive drop off in performance once they fell off that cliff. It meant that tyre preservation was a big risk/big reward that season, and here we saw a prime example of that going wrong for Raikkonen, but those who could pull it off, like Vettel, gained massively.

Because overtaking is quite difficult on this track, and the DRS zone was proving quite ineffective that year on top of that, it did also lead to Raikkonen backing up the pack and leading a massive train of cars which was quite frustrating to watch.

Result: 2/5

Next up: BAHRAIN

Author’s Note: This series will be taking a short break over the holidays. I hope everyone reading has a good end to the year. 2020 has been tough for people, so I hope everyone stays safe and can do their part. I wish you all a happy holidays and a happy new year!

This newsletter will return… January 5th.

Previous parts can be found here:

The Introduction

Part 1: Pre-season

Part 2: Australia

Part 3: Malaysia