2012 Malaysian Grand Prix Results
From Melbourne, the F1 teams headed to Malaysia, to race at the Sepang International Circuit – the second race of the season. Jenson Button clinched the Australian Grand Prix, with last year’s Drivers’ Champion, Sebastian Vettel, coming in 2nd place. The Malaysian Grand Prix mixed it up, with Fernando Alonso taking the win, followed by Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton. Vettel ended a disappointing 11th, behind Michael Schumacher!
This was an amazing weekend for 22-year old Mexican driver, Sergio Perez – his first F1 podium position and Team Sauber’s best result to date! Perez was almost there, to perhaps even overtake Alonso in the last lap, closing the gap to 0.5 seconds, but ended up finishing 2.2 seconds behind him. Nevertheless, this is a great feat for a driver who only debuted in 2011. Perhaps a preview of more to come from Perez this season.
Qualifying took place under the blazing Malaysian sun, with track temperatures reach 46C!! All eyes where on Team HRT, which were unable to qualify in the 107% bracket in Australia and were unable to start the race. But in Malaysia, both drivers qualified. Lewis Hamilton took pole position, followed by teammate Jenson Button and veteran Michael Schumacher in third position. He was followed by Mark Webber, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, in an disappointing sixth position. Newcomer, Romain Grosjean qualified in seventh position and Sergio Perez in tenth.
Newcomer Grosjean got away well from the grid, quickly moving into third place by the first turn. However, in turn 4, he made contact with Schumacher, both drivers spinning and losing positions. The altercation and subsequent spin into a gravel trap eventually forces Grosjean out of the race in lap 3, although Schumacher went on to finish in 10th place.
In contrast to the searing heat during qualifying, the Malaysian Grand Prix itself was plagued with heavy rain, forcing the deployment of the safety car in lap 7. The race of actually suspended in lap 9, due to heavy rain. After a 50-minute suspension, the race resumed behind the safety car. It was a battle of pit stops and tyre choices, as racers went from wet tyres, to intermediate, to dry tryes. The driver to take the gamble and change quickly to dry tyres, won out, such as Perez and Daniel Ricciardo, who took the gamble. Both drivers set faster and faster lap times, allowing Perez to close in on leader Alonso. Ricciardo ended up finishing the race in 12th place.
It was a frustrating weekend for World Champion Vettel, who wasn’t in podium-finishing position, but could potentially have finished in fourth place, if he didn’t clip Narain Karthikeyan’s car as he lapped him. Vettel was furious after the race, accusing Karthikeyan for obstructing him and being a bad driver. HRT was, needless to say, not happy with Vettel’s snide comments.
After a disappointing 2011 Season, Team Ferrari was no doubt exhilarated by Alonso’s win at Sepang. His first win since the 2011 British Grand Prix. Ferrari finished last season in disappointing third place, with a 285 point differential with number one Red Bull. In fact, Team Ferrari had flown back to Italy for crisis talks after a dismal start to the 2012 Season. But Alonso’s win puts things in different perspective now.
On the Drivers’ Championship standings, Alonso leads with 35 points, followed by Hamilton with 30 points and Button in third place with 25 points. The top five a still close only after two races, with only a one point differential for Mark Webber in 4th place and Segio Perez bumping up to 5th place with his second place in Malaysia. Schumacher earns one point for his 10th place finish and new-comer Jean-Eric Vergne garners four points, with his 8th place finish.
In the Constructors’ Championship standings McLaren continue for forge ahead, with 55 points and their 3rd place finish in Malaysia. This is followed by Red Bull with 42 points and Ferari with 35 points. Sauber is still close behind in 4th place with 30 points, but Lotus is falling behind with only 16 points. Only three teams have zero points: Marussia, Caterham and HRT.
Full Race Results
- Fenando Alonso (Ferrari) 2:44.51.812s
- Sergio Perez (Sauber) +2.263s
- Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) +14.591s
- Mark Webber (Red Bull) +17.688s
- Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) +29.456s
- Bruno Senna (Williams) +37.667s
- Paul di Resta (Force India) +44.412s
- Jean-Eric Vergne (Torro Rosso) +46.985s
- Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) +47.892s
- Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) +49.996s
- Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) +1:15.527s
- Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) +1:16.828s
- Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) +1:18.593s
- Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) +1:19.719s
- Felipe Massa (Ferrari) +1:37.319s
- Vitaly Petrov (Caterham) +1 lap
- Timo Glock (Marussia) +1 lap
- Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham) +1 lap
- Pastor Maldonado (Williams) retired lap 54*
- Charles Pic (Marussia) +2 laps
- Pedro de la Rosa (HRT-Cosworth) +2 laps
- Narain Karthikeyan (HRT-Cosworth) +2 laps**
- Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) retired, lap 46
- Romain Grosjean (Lotus) retired, lap 3
*Note: although Maldonado did not finish the Grand Prix, he was qualified as finishing, because he completed more than 90% of the race.
**Note: Karthikeyan actually finished in 21st place, but was given a 20-second penalty for causing Vettel’s collision.