F1 2012 - A Retrospective Part 10: Britain
Qualifying
Last time out in Valencia, Formula One was greeted with some classic Spanish warm weather. But when the sport arrived in Britain, it was met with classic wet British weather. Friday’s Practice session and Saturday’s Qualifying session were both set to the backdrop o f a significant downpour.
The track wet at the beginning of the session, before the rain began to flood the circuit by the start of Q2. This meant that the cars all queued up at the pit lane exit for the start of the session. The fight for track position was key.
It was a busy Q1, with cars setting multiple fast laps in a row, the evolving nature of the circuit meant that fastest times were being set at much more rapid rate than usual. The end of the session was vital, that was when the track was its driest.
Jenson Button missed out in all the chaos. He only qualified in 18th after a yellow flag for Timo Glock’s spin forced him to ease off on a lap that was set to clear him from the drop zone by over half a second.
The Q2 session was red flagged for 92 minutes after four cars spun off in quick succession. There were six minutes left on the clock when the session restarted, which meant everyone only had time for one attempt at a timed lap.
Sergio Perez was top of the time sheets before the red flag, but he plummeted down to 17th by the end of the session, his choice of Intermediate tyres proved costly. He started the race in 15th once penalties were applied.
Fernando Alonso took pole position in the wet. He went quickest by .05s, the finest of margins separating him from Mark Webber in second. The two championship leaders locked out the front row of the grid.
Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel were third and fourth. They were both roughly three tenths behind the front row. Schumacher had provisional pole until Webber, and then Alonso, set a barely quicker time on their final runs.
Kimi Raikkonen was the last to set a lap, but it was only good enough for sixth. He was right behind his old Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa, who had his best qualifying session of the season so far. Massa was second after the first run of laps, but couldn’t improve his time on the final run and fell behind.
Lewis Hamilton, traditionally quite quick in the wet, struggled to match the pace of the front runners, he finished .004s behind Pastor Maldonado as they qualified in eighth and seventh respectively.
Nico Hulkenberg and Romain Grosjean rounded out the top 10. Hulkenberg was handed a five place grid penalty for a change of gearbox. Meanwhile, Grosjean opted not to set a lap time in Q3, he started ninth.
Pre-Race
It was dry come race day, and because the top 10 drivers set their fastest laps on wet weather tyres they all had a free choice of which dry tyre to start the race with. The track temperature was expected to be 29 degrees Celsius, and rising, during the race — a dramatic change from Friday and Saturday.
Red Bull showed up to this race with a special livery. This was the team’s home Grand Prix. In fact, many of the teams’ factories are based in the UK so this was a home race also for McLaren, Lotus, Mercedes, Force India, Williams, Marussia and Caterham. That’s a lot of teams.
It was also the home race for Hamilton, Button and Paul di Resta. McLaren’s results were mixed this season, with Button particularly struggling, and their qualifying performance meant they had a lot of work to do if they were to please the adoring home crowd. Di Resta started the race in 10th.
Due to the wet weather, there was a lack of rubber laid down on the track. This meant there was going to be less grip available from the start of the race. The lack of dry running in Practice also meant the teams lacked the data to know what the tyre life was going to be like during the race.
There was a mixture of tyre choice on the grid. Of the top 10, Alonso and Hamilton both opted for the Hard compound tyres. Nico Rosberg (11th), Daniel Ricciardo (12th), Hulkenberg (14th), Button (16th) and Kamui Kobayashi (17th) also started on the Hard tyres. Everyone else went with the Softs.
“What that tells us is they don’t really know. A lot of teams have hedged their bets,” said Martin Brundle on commentary. The blend of opposite strategies was sure to be a critical feature of this race. Last time out we were entertained by the best race of the season so far, Silverstone had a lot to live up to.
Race
Alonso dove to the inside to cover off Webber, but he cut back across the outside going into Turn One, they came so close to making contact but narrowly avoided each other. Alonso held first place going into Turn Two and Three.
Massa got off to a good start, he moved ahead of Vettel at Turn One, and quickly went to work pressuring Schumacher for third spot.
Raikkonen went around the outside of Vettel at Turn Four, and dove down the inside of him at Turn Five, but he couldn’t make it stick. Maldonado took advantage of the Finn being out of shape, as a piece of bodywork came flying off someone’s car, and moved ahead. The Williams was now in sixth.
Paul di Resta suffered a puncture in the middle of the scramble, a horrible start to his home race. It was ultimately the end of his race, too. He retired two laps later.
Button’s fortunes were much brighter, he managed to gain three places on the opening lap and was pushing Grosjean for 12th place at the start of lap two.
Grosjean ran wide at Turn Two and Three, which Button tried to pounce on, but the Frenchman covered the inside line. Instead, it was Kobayashi who moved around the outside of Button at Turn Four, which gave him the inside into Turn Five.
He attempted to pass them both, but Grosjean held on. However, he did make the move stick on Button for 13th. Rosberg, who again suffered a difficult opening lap, was right behind this battle in 15th.
Ahead of that scrap, Raikkonen attempted an overtake on Maldonado, but the Venezuelan pushed him out wide at Brooklands (Turn Six) and held position going around Luffield (Turn Seven)
Kobayashi eventually passed Grosjean on the Hangar straight at the run into Stowe (Turn 15). Grosjean dove into the pits for a change of front wing, it was his car that had some of the body work fly up across the track on the first lap.
Massa tried to overtake Schumacher on the inside at Copse (Turn Nine). However, Schumacher held on. This allowed Vettel to take a look around Maggots (Turn 10), but he was similarly unable to pounce.
Neither were able to make a move on the Hangar straight either, the pace just wasn’t there on the straights and a DRS train was forming behind the Mercedes.
“I have no pace, struggling to keep up with these guys,” said Hamilton over the radio. The choice of Hard tyres was costing him time, but it might get paid back later in the race.
This was a crucial stage for the 2008 World Champion. His race engineer got back to him over the next few laps to encourage him that the pace was good.
On lap seven, Massa again had an attempt at passing Schumacher, but was still unable to get by. There were now five cars stuck behind the German. Massa was quicker than Schumacher, but he just couldn’t get close enough on the straights to make a move.
Perez was having a look at Hamilton for eighth. Schumacher was holding up everyone behind him, which was working out perfectly for the two out in front, as well as Hamilton who couldn’t match their pace.
From Massa to Perez, which covered fourth to ninth, they were all covered within the DRS range, which rendered it completely ineffective so far.
On lap 10, Vettel came in for a set of Hard tyres, he came out in 15th.
A lap later, Massa finally passed Schumacher on the Hangar straight. He needed to make the free air count now otherwise he was in danger of being undercut by Vettel. Maldonado and Perez came in at the end of that lap.
Alonso went quickest on lap 12, his gap to Webber was 4s and the gap to Schumacher was 9s.
Maldonado and Perez collided! Perez tried to go around the outside at Brooklands, but they ended up banging wheels. This sent Perez backwards, he was gesticulating out of his cockpit towards the Williams driver.
That was the end of the Mexican’s race, Maldonado was able to continue but he was limping around the track with a puncture.
The replays showed that Perez left enough room for both of them to get around the turn, but Maldonado got caught out of shape entering the corner and he ran wide right into the side of Perez.
Maldonado was clearly at fault for the incident. Perez kicked the grass in frustration. That was two races in a row that Maldonado caused an incident, which was enough to set off Perez on an almighty rant when speaking to Sky after the incident.
“Well first of all before the race the FIA were saying that you cannot defend your position twice. Once the car behind had a front wing on your tyre you cannot move again. He did that before the braking,” said Perez in his post-DNF interview.
“Then I broke later than him. He doesn’t give any room at all, he just has no respect for other drivers.
“It is not a racing incident. I mean, it is just the way he is driving. I did this move to Button, to Hulkenberg and they both fight very hard but they give the room. With this driver you cannot fight, you cannot do anything, he’s just a very stupid driver.”
Perez was clearly quite disappointed that his race ended so prematurely, but this was not the first time this happened between the pair, which was obviously starting to get to the Sauber driver.
“Just look at the last races, he ruined Hamilton’s race, he ruined my race in Monaco by doing such stupid things, but I don’t understand why the stewards don’t take a serious decision with him,” he added.
“Because last race, my teammate just touched Felipe [Massa] in a racing incident and they gave him five places [grid penalty], and with Pastor [Maldonado] they are not doing anything that he will learn the lesson [from].
“I don’t know, I think he deserves a big penalty, it’s not the first time he’s done something like this, it’s not the first time he drives like this and we are risking our lives and I think for all the drivers he is a very dangerous driver on the circuit.”
DRS was disabled while the marshals collected Perez’s car, the difference to the on-track action was barely negligible. Schumacher came in during this period.
On lap 13, Massa and Raikkonen both came in for a set of Hards. Ferrari misjudged it and Massa came out behind Vettel, the undercut worked for Red Bull. Raikkonen was still stuck behind Schumacher. DRS was enabled once again.
Ted Kravitz, down in the pit lane, was reporting that the Hard tyre was quickly becoming the quicker race tyre. The Softs weren’t lasting very long and were falling off a cliff sooner than expected.
He mentioned that it was now good for anyone who started on the Softs because they had gotten that stint out of the way. A two-stop was expected from everyone.
Webber came in on lap 14, he stayed ahead of Vettel. The Red Bull pair were now fourth and seventh. Hulkenberg and Button split the two, with neither of them yet to stop. Vettel passed Button on lap 15, Button locked up massively in defence which wasn’t good for the health of his tyres. Alonso pitted at the end of that lap.
Hamilton now led the race having not made his first stop. Kobayashi and Rosberg were the other front-runners yet to pit. Rosberg, however, came in on lap 15.
Massa easily passed Button on lap 16, which signalled his entry into the pit lane for his first stop. Kobayashi and Hulkenberg also came in on that lap. Button came out behind Rosberg.
By lap 18, Hamilton was caught up by Alonso, he was once again being encouraged by his radio that his pace was good and that he was adequately managing the gap to cover his pit stop.
On lap 19, Alonso passed Hamilton and re-took the lead of the race. On the following lap, McLaren’s pit crew came out as if to indicate Hamilton coming in, but he drove by the pit entrance to start another lap.
It was on lap 21 that the Briton did finally come in. He arrived back on track in seventh behind Raikkonen and ahead of Grosjean. He changed for a set of Soft tyres.
On lap 24, Raikkonen passed Schumacher for fifth. Hamilton followed closely behind for sixth. The German had the pace in the wet, but his race trim in the dry was leaving a lot to be desired.
On lap 25, Schumacher got onto the radio to complain about his tyres, he sounded very unhappy. Meanwhile, Alonso was now pushing hard and opened up the gap to Webber to 5.8s. He set the quickest lap of the race once again.
Hamilton came in for his second stop on lap 28, managing only seven laps on the Soft tyres. Raikkonen was lapping 1s quicker per lap before he came in. The Soft tyres was simply proving an ineffective race tyre here. Hamilton came out behind Grosjean, who came in the lap before.
On lap 30, both Hamilton and Grosjean got by Rosberg, with Button up next for the pair. It was at this point that Croft began to wonder if McLaren was going backwards.
Their pace at this event certainly indicated a drop-off in performance relative to Red Bull and Ferrari, who were fighting each other for the podium positions and the race win.
On lap 33, Webber came in for his second stop, he came out in fourth behind Raikkonen and Massa, but most crucially he came out ahead of Vettel, who was attempting an undercut on his teammate.
However, the two-time champion got bogged down stuck in traffic on his out-lap, which allowed Webber to extend the gap between them.
Raikkonen and Schumacher came in on lap 34. Vettel was told he was going to the end on the current set of tyres, as was everyone else indicating, what was already presumed, this was a two-stop race.
Grosjean got ahead of Hamilton on lap 35. He made the move with the help of DRS on the Wellington straight (before Brooklands). This moved the Lotus driver up to eighth.
Massa and Hulkenberg came in at the end of that lap. Massa came out in fourth, ahead of Kobayashi, while Hulkenberg was 11th.
On lap 37, Webber was .6s quicker than Alonso. The gap between them was 19s, but the Spaniard was set to pit again. In fact, he came in at the end of that lap. The gap was down to 4.5s, but Alonso was now on the slower Soft tyres.
Kobayashi and Rosberg also came in at the same time. There was an issue with Rosberg’s stop, which cost him some time. But it was nothing compared to the time lost by Kobayashi, where an absolute disaster occurred!
The Japanese driver misjudged the entry to his pit box and ran wide of the mark, he ran over four members of his pit crew! Fortunately, everyone was ultimately safe with only minor injuries but that could have been a lot worse.
Back on track, Brundle and Croft both felt that Alonso should be safe up front because the track was properly rubbered in by now. This meant that there was more grip for the tyres, which they reckoned should preserve its life. However, by lap 42, Webber was gaining by .4s.
Meanwhile, the battle for ninth was also heating up. Hulkenberg, Senna and Button were all vying for the final points positions. Further ahead, Schumacher was gaining on Hamilton by .7s a lap in the battle for seventh.
At the front, Webber was continuing to gain on Alonso. The gap was down to 1.2s by lap 45. On lap 46, Webber was within DRS range of the Ferrari.
But the Red Bull lacked straight line speed, as had been well documented in the opening eight races of the season, so DRS was proving even more ineffective.
On lap 47, Schumacher passed Hamilton on the Wellington straight. His pace was much better on this set of Hard tyres.
Webber finally fashioned a chance to overtake Alonso on lap 48. He attempted around the outside of Brooklands and he made it through! Alonso left the space and Webber took it and with it he took the lead of this race with only a few laps remaining!
Vettel was 4s behind, but was running out of time to apply pressure on Alonso for second. Massa was 3.5s further back in fourth.
Alonso lost this race in that first stint. The Hards were the quicker tyre, but he failed to take advantage of it by opening up a bigger gap, and then he pitted too early in response to Webber’s pace which was always going to leave him vulnerable on the slower Soft tyre when it came to the end of the race.
Horner had said during the week leading up to the race that the team were set to open contract negotiations with Webber for another season. He had been linked with a move to Ferrari, but looked set to sign another deal with Red Bull.
Senna passed Hulkenberg on the penultimate lap. The German tried to fight back as they approached Copse, but he ran wide on the exit of the corner which allowed both Button and Kobayashi to follow through. That meant Force India won no points for their home Grand Prix having been in ninth with two laps remaining.
Webber took home the race victory, with Alonso and Vettel rounding off the podium. Massa earned his best finish of the season so far in fourth, he held off a late charge by Raikkonen, who had to settle for fifth. Grosjean did well to recover to sixth despite his forced second lap pit stop for a new front wing.
The final standings were as follows
Championship Standings Top Five (Round 9)
Alonso’s lead in the championship took a 14 point swing in the final laps, he had the chance to go 27 points clear, but now only led by 13 points. Hamilton was the biggest loser, however, as he simply didn’t have the pace to compete with his rivals.
Red Bull and Ferrari securing the top four positions at Silverstone was a marker that they were in a championship battle against each other, they had left McLaren behind.
The British manufacturer started the season so strongly, but was now struggling to keep up with Lotus and Mercedes, Button was even mixing it up with Williams, Sauber and Force India. They needed upgrades to their car, and fast, if they were to get back to winning ways.
Raikkonen’s consistency finally saw him move into the top five positions. Since his 14th place in China, he had not finished lower than ninth and earned three podiums from six races. It seemed like it was only a matter of time before the Lotus team finally earned that race victory they so craved.
Post-Race
McLaren misfired so the British fans took Webber under their wing. The Australian moved to England in 1995 and considered himself an adopted Brit. However, he admitted that the victory was “taking a little bit to sink in.”
Alonso was relaxed about the outcome despite leading the majority of the race, only to finish second. The Spaniard decided to focus on the positives.
“The victory was quite close today, but Mark [Webber] was much quicker in the last laps and he deserves the victory. But I am very proud of the progress Ferrari have made in the last few weeks and we are now fighting for victories in the last few races,” said Alonso.
It was Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren team principal, who came under the most intense pressure. The team’s home race did not go according to plan, to which he responded with flat jokes about the weather.
“We didn’t have enough rain, I’m worried about the British countryside and I really think there should have been some rain this afternoon,” said Whitmarsh.
But the rain never came, and neither did his team’s race pace. The British press didn’t see the funny side, and questions began being asked about his future at the helm of the team.
Whitmarsh responded more seriously by ensuring the media that this was a low point, but things were about to get better. He promised a “more visible” upgrade for Germany.
“We weren’t quick enough, fundamentally. And there wasn’t enough incident to capitalise on. We’ve got to develop the car and make sure we use the tyres better,” he added.
His two drivers weren’t too pleased with McLaren’s lack of progress. Hamilton, in particular, was concerned with the development of the car.
“I’m getting old, man. I hope we have some upgrade packages, updates which can help us close the gap, because it’s been a tough race today,” said the 27-year old.
Driver in Focus
This was to be the final race victory for Mark Webber’s F1career. In his five seasons with a championship contending car, from 2009–2013, he only managed nine race wins from 94 Grands Prix, which wasn’t a great return.
His time with Red Bull had its ups and downs, its joys and its controversies, but Silverstone was always a highlight for him. It was there, during his victory in 2010, that his infamous “not bad for a number two driver” radio swipe at his teammate happened.
That moment summed up his time with Red Bull quite well. He had a siege mentality, but he lacked the consistency to compete with Vettel over the course of a season.
In 2011, he was outclassed by the German, but after nine races in the 2012 season, he was finally out performing his younger teammate for the first time.
He benefited from Vettel’s DNF in Valencia, but he had mechanical issues of his own during qualifying that sent him to the back of the grid, and he drove very well to earn his way back up to fourth.
This race also showed what Red Bull were missing in 2019–2020, and what will be expected of Perez going into the 2021 campaign.
Vettel wasn’t at his best that weekend, but Webber stepped up and took the points off Alonso that the team needed if it was to win both championships. Max Verstappen has sorely missed that since being paired with Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon.
“The race itself was boring, probably, for people to watch but it was a very good battle in terms of: every single lap, you know with Fernando [Alonso] you’re not going to get any free half a second chunks off him cause he’s always consistent with his times,” said Webber, reflecting on the race during the postseason.
“I had to make sure I got the move done, and I know that section of the track very well obviously so it was, yeah, I was confident I’d get the job done and we did.”
Race Verdict
As Webber alluded to, this race was not the most spectacular ever seen. Coming off the back of the entertaining events at Valencia last time out, it paled in comparison. There was, at least, a battle for the victory and some of the points positions.
However, the on-track action was mixed. The one DRS zone proved largely ineffective, and the lack of a DRS zone on the Hangar straight just compounded the issue.
The lack of information and data on the tyres also perhaps played a role in the race’s action. No one was entirely sure of the lifespan either tyre set would have on the track, which led to precautionary driving as everyone tried to preserve tyres.
Despite this, there were a few entertaining on-track battles from the likes of Grosjean and Kobayashi, but the drama was mostly centered on the off-track politics and implications. The hope was that this was just a minor blip, and the drama would race back once more next time out.
Result: 2/5
Next up: GERMANY
Previous entries in the series can be found here:
The Introduction
Part 1: Pre-season
Part 2: Australia
Part 3: Malaysia
Part 4: China
Part 5: Bahrain
Part 6: Spain
Part 7: Monaco
Part 8: Canada
Part 9: Europe