2012 Chinese Grand Prix Results
From Kuala Lumpur, F1 teams headed to China, to race at the Shanghai International Circuit. China joined the F1 Grand Prix circuit in 2004 and is hosting its ninth race this season. Lewis Hamilton is the only driver to have won more than once at Shanghai, with his two wins in 2008 and 2011. This year, the Chinese Grand Prix was won by Nico Rosberg, followed by Jenson Button in second place and Lewis Hamilton in third place.
The race weekend in Shanghai started with a bit of a controversy, when Michael Schumacher posted the fastest practice time. His Mercedes car is using a new rear wing design, which has been a source of controversy. The new design uses the Drag Reduction System, which was introduced in 2011, but Mercedes’ design allows drives to use a duct under the wing, which directs airflow back underneath the car, increasing down force. Both Lotus and Red Bull have lodged complaints that this design is illegal, but have been rejected. Schumacher has praised Mercedes engineers for their innovative thinking. He hopes that he will be able to use this technology, to finally help him win – Schumacher has not had a podium finish since coming out of retirement in 2010.
Qualifying was generally uneventful, with Nico Rosberg taking pole position, followed by Lewis Hamilton. This is Mercedes’ first pole position since 1995! Rosberg’s team mate, Schumacher, had looked strong in the practice session, but ended up qualifying in second place for the race. The upset of the qualifying session was the world champion, Sebastian Vettel, not managing to qualify in the top-ten – Vettel ended up starting from 11th position. Japanese driver, Kamui Kobayashi qualified in a surprising third place, followed by Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button and Mark Webber. Hamilton qualified in second place, but received a five-place grid penalty due to gearbox problems.
The weekend in Shanghai was huge for Rosberg, who got his first Grand Prix career win, after six years! In fact, many had predicted perhaps a 1-2 finish for Mercedes in China, after Rosberg took pole position and team mate Schumacher started right behind him – the Mercedes cars looking incredibly strong! However, these dreams were quickly dashed, when Schumacher had to retire with wheel problems in lap 13 – his right front wheel was not attached properly during a pit-stop. Overall, Rosberg drove an excellent race and deserved the win.
Rosberg had a strong start from pole position and right off the grid, Button passes Kobayashi and Kimi Raikonen to move into third place. Vettel quickly drops to 15th place from 11th. First and only retirement of the race is Schumacher, with an error from pit-stop crew, in lap 13. A sad outcome for the ex-world champion, who seemed to be having an excellent racing weekend. After 20 laps, the order is: Rosberg, Button, Hamilton and Webber – which basically is the final finish order of the race.
Vettel amazingly manages to fight his way up to fifth place, overtaking Rikkonen, Alonso, Kobayashi and Grosjean. Lap 37 saw Webber hit the curb, launching his car inches into the air, but stewards do not penalise or eliminate him from the race and Webber finishes fourth. Button continues throughout the race to try to catch Rosberg and was looking good for a while, but a disastrously slow pit-stop for him in lap 39 eliminated this possibility (faulty wheel change) – he opted for a 3-pit-stop strategy versus Rosberg’s 2-pit-stop strategy and that unfortunately did not work out for him. There were no accidents in Shanghai, just some great overtaking manoeuvres and the Chinese Grand Prix was over without incident.
For Vettel, it was a frustrating weekend in China. Having chosen his old Red Bull car for the Shanghai Grand Prix, as he was unhappy with the set-up of his new car. However, during the race Vettel already commented that his car was slow and no doubt, this lead to his low grid position and fifth place finish for the race. It will be interesting to see what he decides to do for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
On the Drivers’ Championship standings, Rosberg’s surprise win changes up positions. Alonso, who was in first place after the Malaysian Grand Prix, moves down to third place with 37 points. Hamilton moved up to first place, from second placed, with 45 points, followed by Button in third place with 43 points. Vettel is in fifth place with 28 points, followed by Rosberg with 25 points. Two drivers get their first points this season: Romain Grosjean with his sixth place finish and Pastor Maldonado with his eighth place finish.
In the Constructors’ Championship standings McLaren continue for forge ahead, with its 2-3 finish in Shanghai, with 88 points. They are followed by Red Bull with their 4-5 finish and 64 points. Third place is Ferrari with 37 points and fourth place is Sauber with 31 points. With Rosberg’s win, Mercedes pushes out Lotus for fifth place. Three teams remain with zero points: Marussia, Caterham and HRT.
Full Race Results
- Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1:36.26.929s
- Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) +20.626s
- Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) +26.012s
- Mark Webber (Red Bull) +27.924s
- Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) +30.483s
- Romain Grosjean (Lotus) +31.491s
- Bruno Senna (Williams) +34.597s
- Pastor Maldonado (Williams) +35.643s
- Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) +37.256s
- Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) +38.720s
- Sergio Perez (Sauber) +41.066s
- Paul di Resta (Force India) +42.273s
- Felipe Massa (Ferrari) +42.779s
- Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) +50.573s
- Nico Hülkenberg (Force India) +51.213s
- Jean-Eric Vergne (Torro Rosso) +51.756s
- Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) +1:03.156s
- Vitaly Petrov (Caterham) +1 lap
- Timo Glock (Marussia) +1 lap
- Charles Pic (Marussia) +1 lap
- Pedro de la Rosa (HRT-Cosworth) +1 lap
- Narain Karthikeyan (HRT-Cosworth) +2 laps
- Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham) +3 laps
- Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) retired, lap 12