F1 2012 - A Retrospective Part 8: Canada
Qualifying
It was Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton on the front row in Canada. Vettel earned pole by going three tenths quicker than the McLaren, and he was quickest in all three sessions. It was the first time since Bahrain that the German set a time in Q3 and it was in the desert that he secured his last pole position.
Hamilton was second on the grid on that occasion too, but this time Fernando Alonso was right behind in third. The Spaniard was only one tenth off Hamilton, the pace of the Ferrari now looked firmly at the front of the grid.
Felipe Massa was still lagging behind in sixth, but he was now consistently making Q3, which he was unable to do in any of the first four races.
Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg were fourth and fifth, they were on the front row last time out in Monaco, but had to settle for the second and third row this time.
Romain Grosjean and Paul di Resta were seventh and eighth. Grosjean’s qualifying pace was much better than Kimi Raikkonen’s in the opening seven races, the Finn only managed 12th in the same car, albeit he suffered from differential problems.
Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button rounded out the top 10. It was a credit to di Resta to qualify above both of these world champions in the Force India. Eighth was the Scot’s second best result in qualifying in his rookie season, and was his best performance of the 2012 campaign so far.
Button’s qualifying was going the other direction. Hamilton’s worst Q3 result so far was fourth in Monaco, but Button’s last result that high came in Malaysia five races ago.
At least on this occasion it was because of a strategic decision to set a time on the Soft tyres, not the Super Soft tyres the other nine ran with. It was a curious decision to actually set a time on that tyre considering he finished tenth anyway, but it could potentially be a strategic advantage to start the race on those tyres.
Schumacher was visibly frustrated with a car in front of him during his final flying lap, he ended up finishing half a second slower than his teammate but no action was taken by the stewards on the offending driver.
Pre-race
Following the Monaco Grand Prix, rival teams sought clarification on the design of the Red Bull car. While the victory for Webber went uncontested, the offending parts were later deemed illegal and thus were changed for Canada.
The DRS zone for the track was also altered from the 2011 edition because it was deemed “too easy” to overtake. The previous season saw one detection point at the hairpin at Turn 10. The activation point on the following straight was 650m, this was reduced to 600m, and the second activation point after Turn 14 was removed.
At this stage in the 2011 season, Vettel led by 58 points. That gap now covered the top 12 drivers. David Croft was already claiming the season as one of the greatest ever.
“No wonder this season is being heralded as one of the greatest we’ve ever witnessed in Formula One,” said Croft.
“And this should be a very good race, too. Everybody on the paddock [is] looking at that track temperature nervously,” mentioned Martin Brundle. The forecasted temperature was 17 degrees Celsius higher than the track from Friday Practice, when the teams did their race simulations.
“Tyre temperature is going to be the key to this race,” said Croft. Unpredictable tyre degradation was going to be a difficult factor for teams to manage throughout the race as no one knew how the tyres would cope with the heat.
Whoever could maintain their tyres the longest was sure to have an advantage. Pulling off a one-stop strategy was going to be difficult but doable.
Raikkonen joined Button on the Soft tyres, as did Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez and Pastor Maldonado. It was seen as a risk to start on the harder of the two race compounds, but if Button was to pull it off it would be a second win in a row in exceptional circumstances in Canada.
Race
It was a temperate start, with the top six all staying in position. The two Ferraris were expected to be threats in the opening corner as they had gained places at Turn One every race up to now, but Alonso and Massa had much slower starts than usual and failed to push those ahead of them.
Webber fended off Rosberg through the first few corners and held onto fourth on an otherwise lowkey first lap.
Come lap two, Rosberg turned defender as he was fighting off Massa, but the Brazilian moved up to fifth at the end of the lap.
For some reason, Brundle believed this was done using DRS but it was only enabled at the end of that lap. Croft had his chance to turn the tables of their usual dynamic and correct the former F1 driver, but he was too unsure of himself to follow through.
Rosberg slipped even further behind on lap three as di Resta passed on the run into Turn 13 just as Massa did.
On lap six, Massa’s good start was undone in an instant as he spun out of Turn One. This dropped him down to 12th place. The back-end of the car seemed to step out on him.
“OK, you need to do a better job on looking after the tyres on traction,” Rosberg was told over the radio. This showed how important tyre management was, they were sacrificing pace for strategy and still needed better massaging of the tyres.
Webber was on his radio to complain about an issue with his car. According to Brundle, he was concerned there was a flat spot with the engine coming out of the corners. He was 5.4s off the lead at this point, but still in fourth.
Replays then showed Massa nearly hitting the wall of champions at the final corner. He narrowly avoided contact but it was obvious he was struggling with his tyres. He got onto his radio to say as much, complaining of a flat spot.
On lap nine, Rosberg was informed he also had to conserve fuel. At what point would he be allowed to race his Mercedes?
It wasn’t until lap 12 that Massa finally came in for his first stop, he changed to the Soft tyre, but there was a long way to go yet if he was to pull off a one-stop.
At this stage, only 2.9s covered the top three.
Di Resta and Schumacher both pitted on the following lap, they were running fifth and eighth before they changed to a new set of Soft tyres.
Button was informed over the radio that the cars in front were suffering from tyre wear and he was encouraged to keep up his pace, he was ninth before the Force India and Mercedes came in.
But Raikkonen passed Button on lap 14, he was losing pace to those behind him. He had led a train of five cars up until this point and was losing ground to Grosjean, who was yet to stop. Button came in for his first stop on lap 15, he changed to the Super Softs.
Meanwhile, Hamilton had moved to within the DRS range of Vettel up front. He was gaining ever so slightly over the course of the last few laps. Alonso bunched up as well, 2.1s covered the top three by lap 16.
At the end of that lap, Vettel came in for his first stop, but Hamilton and Alonso both stayed out. Only 1.2s separated the top three when Vettel dived into the pit lane.
The track temperature reportedly dropped suddenly by six degrees Celsius, which signalled the fastest lap of the race so far from Kamui Kobayashi. “When it gets a bit colder, the Saubers come alive, don’t they?” asked Croft to Brundle, who was confused by the sudden fall in temperature.
“Hamilton versus Alonso, I love saying that cause it always means fireworks,” squealed a now excited Brundle. However, Hamilton came into the pits before Alonso could make any move for the race lead.
Hamilton didn’t get away from his pit box cleanly and lost time at the exit of the pit lane, but it didn’t matter in the pursuit of Vettel, he was easily ahead of the Red Bull at Turn Two where he re-joined the track.
Webber came in for his first stop at the same time, but the focus remained clearly on Hamilton and Vettel as the former race leader was having a go around the outside of the final chicane but Hamilton held onto his position.
“He’s got to pit, surely, at the end of this lap. He’s done a great lap. No! He’s going round!” Brundle was amazed that Alonso didn’t go into the pits, he set purple sector times but decided to extend the stint. This was a chance for Hamilton to get up to speed, heat up his tyres and retain position ahead of the Ferrari. Alonso needed to keep up his pace if he was to pull off an overcut.
The following lap they traded purple sector times, and it was now that Alonso finally came in for his first pit stop. He arrived out of the pit lane ahead of Hamilton! The Spaniard was now the unofficial leader of this race. He was in second place, but Grosjean ahead was yet to come in for a change of tyres.
“It’s an undercut, in reverse!” exclaimed Brundle, clearly forgetting the word overcut exists and was used to describe this type of move quite often in F1.
Hamilton was within DRS range when Alonso came back onto the track, which he held onto as they entered the detection zone. Hamilton used DRS to get alongside Alonso and passed him into the final chicane, he was ahead of the Ferrari once again!
Grosjean came into the pits, which freed Hamilton to take the lead of the race. Right behind the front three were Raikkonen and the two Saubers who had yet to make their first stop.
Once Hamilton was in the clean air he was free to set the fastest lap of the race so far. Meanwhile, Ted Kravitz broke down what was going wrong with Button, who was down in 14th place. The strategy call to start on the Soft tyre did not pay off, and it left him struggling in the back.
Kravtiz also informed commentary that Alonso was unable to heat up his tyres in time, meaning he lacked the grip to properly defend from Hamilton.
On lap 24, Kobayashi came in for his first stop. Vettel was gaining on Alonso and was now within DRS range, but Hamilton was riding off into the distance, he opened up a gap of 2.6s.
Hamilton was told over the radio to preserve his tyres for “this stint” which meant he was likely to come in for a second stop. There was a fine line between whether or not drivers could pull off the one-stop or if they would have to two-stop, McLaren were seemingly going for the safer option of coming in again at some point.
Hamilton needed to be assured the others were also coming in for a second stop, but no one was certain what Ferrari or Red Bull had planned.
By lap 31, Webber was fastest of anyone and had gained on Raikkonen and Perez ahead of him. Those two were the last of the front-runners to pit. They opted to start on the Soft tyres so were going long on this stint, unlike Button. Hamilton’s lead was up to 3.5s.
On lap 33, Perez was told he had 10 more laps to go on those tyres. He was holding up Webber in the fight for fifth place, this was costing the Australian crucial time. Button came in for his second stop on this lap, with Raikkonen and Perez yet to come in at all from the same starting strategy as the McLaren.
Rosberg was now gaining on Webber, and by lap 36 the gap between them was down to 4s.
“It just feels to me that we’re playing the waiting game with this race at the moment. We’ve had the initial salvo around the first round of pit stops, now how’s it all going to unfold and unwind in the next round of pit stops,” wondered Croft.
The pit phase was becoming the easiest method of overtaking. Webber was struggling for straight line speed in the Red Bull, despite having much fresher tyres than the two in front of him. The Red Bull was consistently one of the slowest in the speed traps in the opening seven races, except for in Monaco.
On lap 38, Button was complaining about a lack of grip, this really just was not his day. Rosberg came in for his second stop. He changed onto another set of Soft tyres. His pace was much quicker than Webber, but perhaps there was space for an undercut now.
Webber stayed out and, within just a couple of laps, Grosjean was suddenly right behind him. He was losing so much time stuck behind Perez, and a mistake at Turn Nine allowed the Frenchman to close right up.
It was on lap 40 that Raikkonen finally came in for a set of Super Soft tyres. He came out ahead of Rosberg. Perez came in on the following lap. When he arrived to re-join the track he was overtaken by Rosberg at Turn Two, who managed to get by Raikkonen into Turn One. It was tight, but the Mercedes just got ahead.
On lap 44, the gap between first and third was now 6.2s. Alonso was also pulling out a gap on Vettel and was now solidly in second place.
On lap 45, Schumacher’s race came to an end prematurely yet again after his DRS was stuck open. He came into the pits as his crew tried to close it shut but they were unable to, and thus retired the car. That was a fifth DNF in seven races.
Hamilton began complaining about his rear tyres losing grip, but he was shown to be closing in on his teammate. There aren’t many things more ignominious in F1 than being lapped by someone driving the same car, but Button was on the verge of that reality.
Hamilton saved Button, for now, by coming in for his second stop on lap 50. Alonso and Vettel both stayed out, while Hamilton was slow to get away again, this time with the right rear tyre taking too long to get put on.
Webber came in on lap 52, right as Grosjean was having a look at making a pass at him. He re-joined the track just ahead of Raikkonen in eighth. Perez and Rosberg were up ahead in seventh and sixth.
Hamilton eventually lapped Button on lap 54, another bad day at the office for the 2009 World Champion. Hamilton was being encouraged to push during this stage.
If Alonso and Vettel came in they would both comfortably come out behind the Briton so they opted to stay out and try to make the one-stop work. Hamilton was gaining on them by 1s a lap. The gap between Vettel and Hamilton was down to 6.7s within the next couple laps.
On lap 57, Rosberg tried to make a move around the outside of Massa, in fifth, but ended up missing the turn in at the final chicane and ran over the curbs. This slowed him down enough to allow Perez to take advantage going into Turn One and he moved up to sixth.
They both got by Massa on lap 58, Webber was now also right behind waiting in the wings but the Ferrari driver came into the pits before being overtaken a third time in one lap.
Alonso and Vettel both were now under threat from Grosjean in fourth. If they came in now they would end up behind the Lotus.
On lap 62, Hamilton was reminded over the radio that he had “plenty of time to get passed,” but he wasted no time in getting ahead of Vettel with DRS. He was comfortably clear of the Red Bull as they headed into the final corner. Vettel simply had no defence.
Hamilton was close enough to be in DRS range at the end of the next lap, but not close enough to make the pass on Alonso. Vettel went into the pits right behind. He was losing way too much time with the lack of grip.
Vettel came out in fifth, behind Grosjean and Perez. The gap was 4s between the Sauber and Vettel.
Hamilton took back the race lead on lap 64, Alonso tried to defend but there was nothing he could do, Hamilton was far quicker. Alonso opted to stay out, there were only six laps left to go and he was wagering he could hold on with his rapidly degrading tyres.
But one lap later and Grosjean was now right behind Alonso and, on lap 66, he moved ahead and into second. Remarkably, Grosjean was making the one-stop strategy work like no one else was. He started on the Super Softs and pitted only two laps later than Alonso but he had way more grip on his Soft tyres.
Perez was now gaining on Alonso at a rate of 3s a lap. We saw what effect totally worn down tyres can have when Raikkonen fell down from third to 11th in one lap in China and now Alonso was suffering a similar fate. Vettel was gaining by 4s a lap.
On lap 68, Perez passed Alonso for third. He started on the Soft tyres and made the one-stop strategy work that Button couldn’t. An incredible race from him and Grosjean.
Hamilton had a gap of 4.6s to Grosjean and was looking comfortable as the race came to a close. Vettel passed Alonso for fourth, making it clear that Ferrari should have switched strategy much earlier in the race. Rosberg was next, but he was 4s behind with only one lap to go. Alonso just about held on for a final position of fifth.
However, it was Hamilton who took home the chequered flag! A seventh winner in seven races in this 2012 season. A record never seen before or since in F1’s history.
Grosjean and Perez rounded off an unlikely podium. This was the second in both of their careers.
The final standings were as follows
Championship Standings Top Five (Round 7)
Hamilton finally got the victory. His qualifying pace indicated the McLaren should have been competing for race wins every week, but between poor starts, unlucky timing and bad pit stops or strategy calls it had just never come together for him. Alonso and Vettel’s fall out of the podium places in the race meant he now led the championship.
It was extremely tight at the top, with Raikkonen and Grosjean only a further 33 & 35 points off the lead in sixth and seventh. It was a long way to go, but no one seemingly had a grip on the top of the standings. So far Button, Alonso, Vettel and now Hamilton all led after only seven races.
Despite earning 43 points from Australia and China, Button only won two points from the other five races and was down in eighth on 45 points, just over half what his teammate had. Meanwhile, Pastor Maldonado had 29 points, 25 of which came in Spain. Schumacher was stuck on two points. His only race finishes were both in 10th place, both impacted by incidents which ruined his weekend potential.
Post-Race
“I knew this was going to be a tough, tough race but I loved every minute of it. I never had a doubt in my mind that there wasn’t a possibility to win,” said Hamilton after the race.
“I was thinking ‘These guys are falling quite far behind, I assume they’re doing a one-stop.’ So I decided to keep pushing and build a gap. It’s five years since I first won here and it feels just as good. This for me feels like one of the best races I’ve had for a very long time.”
The strategy decisions were the big focus in the aftermath of this race. What worked for Lotus and Sauber, failed completely for Red Bull and Ferrari.
Red Bull saved face by bringing in Vettel late on, but Alonso suffered the consequences of staying out. This left Grosjean and Perez to profit with big gains having started seventh and 15th respectively.
“We thought about a one-stop and see what was going on later on. The car felt pretty good when I put the Prime [Soft] tyre on,” said Grosjean.
“I was fighting with and pushing quite hard but I knew I was going for a one-stop. Then I saw Mark [Webber] come in, then I saw Fernando [Alonso] in front of me. It was a crazy end to the race and I was thinking, ‘What is going on?’”
It was a fantastic podium for Perez, with Sauber once again showing off very good race pace, and it required great tyre preservation skills from the Mexican to go the distance on the one-stop.
“Very good job, guys, very good job. We never give up, we never give up! Thank you, everyone,” celebrated Perez on the radio.
Driver in Focus
Jenson Button had yet another disastrous race. His 2012 season started so brightly, but his title challenge was looking well and truly over already. The victory in Australia seemed a distant memory, Button was now in a far more sour mood.
“Good old Jenson in the sister McLaren though. Down in 16th place, a day to forget for him. Last year [in Canada] might have been one of his greatest ever [drives],” said Brundle, sounding very sympathetic towards the Briton.
However, Button was in no mood to start feeling sorry for himself, he knew better than anyone that he needed to improve.
“Congratulations to Lewis and the team. They were able to find some speed in the car today. Lewis did a good job and the strategy worked out well for them in the end,” said Button, reflecting on his performance.
“I just couldn’t look after the tyres, I didn’t have any pace. There was nothing there. I was the only person on the Primes at the beginning who couldn’t look after them.
“It has been the same at the last couple of races. I don’t know why that is. That is normally something that I am pretty good at.”
More worryingly, when he was asked what he could do to turn around his fortunes, he responded quite bemusingly.
“I haven’t got a clue at the moment. Driving around 1.5 seconds slower than the leaders, one of whom is my teammate, I don’t know why because I can’t push the car any quicker.
“It is not the tyres. I cannot be the only person who can’t drive the tyres. It’s impossible. I have never had a race like it. I am pushing the car to its limits. That felt like the limit of the car. I am leaving here confused and very lost.”
He was going to need a drastic change in fortunes if he was going to challenge his teammate. He finished second in the 2011 championship, and won the rivalry against Hamilton, but his 2012 season was getting worse and worse after only seven races. It was a remarkable drop-off in performance.
Race Verdict
This was an entertaining race throughout. There were a couple of short lull periods as drivers settled into their strategies, but overall it was intriguing right up to the final lap. There was plenty of overtaking and it never looked “too easy” as was supposedly the case in 2011.
The differing strategies played an exciting role in the finish of this race. With about 30 laps to go, it looked certain that the podium would be some order of Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel, but Grosjean and Perez’s climb up to second and third was a very welcome surprise.
It went to show that, despite being in the top three in the Driver’s Standings, they were not free from having to deal with the chasing midfield pack. The barrier between the Big Three teams and the rest of the field was truly taken down a peg or two in these opening seven races, and this was a great example of it.
The fight for the rest of the points positions was just as up in the air as at the front. Massa, Kobayashi, Raikkonen, Webber and Rosberg all held various places inside the top 10 at different stages of the race and had tight battles on the track and in the pit lane.
The only thing this race lacked was the big dramatic moments that elevate the best races. It was steady and consistent throughout, but sometimes the chaos of unpredictable conditions, such as in Canada in 2011, or an unexpected Safety Car can bring out the best in drivers.
Hamilton’s victory also rarely looked in doubt for the second half of the race, even when he made his second pit stop he was immediately gaining on Vettel and Alonso. It was only a matter of time before he caught and re-passed them.
If the three had fought it out for the win over the second half of the race then maybe this one would be better remembered as one of the all-time greats. Instead, it was solidly entertaining and was still a very good race. Yet another marker from this season to show why it is considered one of the best.
Result: 4/5
Next up: EUROPE
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