F1 2012 - A Retrospective Part 9: Europe
Qualifying
It was the same story as in Canada. Sebastian Vettel took a second pole position in a row, and once again Lewis Hamilton was right behind in second. Only three points separated the two in the championship and it was only three tenths in the difference between them on the very hot Valencia street circuit.
Fernando Alonso did not repeat his third place from Montreal. In fact, Ferrari had a disastrous qualifying in front of the head boss Luca Di Montezemelo. They opted to try to preserve a set of Soft tyres for the race, but their Q2 runs weren’t quick enough. This left Alonso in 11th at his second home race of the season. Felipe Massa was even worse off in 13th.
Pastor Maldonado was the big performer on Saturday. He was quick in the warm weather of Catalunya and he repeated that pace with a third place in Valencia. This Williams seemed to enjoy the extreme temperatures.
Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen were fourth and fifth. There was a lot of expectation around Lotus, they had shown great race pace in the Friday simulations and in the last few races. The conventional wisdom was that they were due to win at some point, and qualifying this high up the grid gave them a great opportunity to do that here.
Jenson Button complained of oversteer on his McLaren and struggled in qualifying again. He managed a top 10 finish but could only get as high as ninth, his best Saturday result since Bahrain.
Mark Webber and Michael Schumacher were two other high profile names that failed to perform. Webber had a technical issue, his DRS wasn’t working at all and that cost him enough time to leave him down in 19th.
Schumacher missed out in a very close Q2 session. There were just three tenths between first and 13th — highlighting how impressive Vettel’s pole time was. Schumacher started in 12th.
With Webber, Massa, Schumacher and Alonso all missing out, this meant that there were some surprising names inside the top 10. Nico Rosberg was in sixth, but behind him in seventh, eighth and 10th was Kamui Kobayashi and the Force India pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta.
The Scot was disappointed with his 10th place. He felt he could have been as high as fifth but for a mistake during his last attempt. However, this was a great opportunity for a double points score for the team, who were eighth in the Constructors’ Standings on 28 points.
Pre-Race
The archive of this race was of the full Sky Sports broadcast. As touched on during Part 4: China, the broadcasting rights were shared between Sky and the BBC. This was Sky’s first season covering Formula One and, excitingly, this was the first archive that showed their entire build-up coverage.
The show began with a montage with a Magnificent Seven motif that reflected on the seven different winners from the opening seven races. Not to sound too harsh on Maldonado, but the juxtaposition of him alongside some of the greats of that era was hilarious to look back on.
“Valencia isn’t known for its changeable conditions or masses of overtaking but then 2012 isn’t like any other season we’ve seen for a long time in this sport,” said Simon Lazenby. But the same was said of Monaco, so this season wasn’t totally immune to DRS trains, which we also saw in China.
The track temperature was expected to get as high as 50 degrees Celsius, how the tyres handled this heat was going to be a key factor once again. Tyre management was really becoming a big asset for anyone with championship ambitions.
Red Bull arrived in Valencia with a new exhaust and rear bodywork package upgrade that was credited as helping improve the car.
However, Vettel admitted he was concerned going into the weekend because other teams had brought upgrades to races before that sent them backwards. He was cautiously optimistic about their effectiveness by race day.
Rivals McLaren had no upgrades to the car for this race so this was a good opportunity to take advantage, particularly with Vettel ahead from the start.
“There’s probably one of six different makes or manufacturers you could pick at the moment to say that they could be very competitive at the end of the race. So, it’s tough, it’s tight and unpredictable so all of that makes it exciting at the moment,” said Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal.
There were big question marks over what strategies teams could make work in this race. Once again, the big debate was whether teams could pull off a one-stop or was the two-stop the safer bet.
Lotus were tipped to do well. Team boss Eric Boullier was interviewed, and his answer on why the car performs better in the races was quite interesting.
“We focus our car to be very saving the tyres during the race which, as we could see in Canada, we could save one pit stop which is still a massive difference to our rivals,” said Boullier.
“The downside of this is when we don’t have the right [track] temperature, or for qualifying, we may sometimes struggle to generate heat from the tyres and grip from the tyres for one lap.”
This explained why Lotus were never really in the fight for pole positions, but were racing for victories on Sundays. As Boullier put it: “I just want one of my drivers being at the top of the podium. The rest, I’m fine.”
Raikkonen also spoke about this issue, but was optimistic that the car would be at its best in the warm Spanish temperatures.
“Especially for me, I find it a bit difficult to get the first lap out of the car. We improved the car, we did some different settings, and it seems to be a bit easy, for me at least, to get the better lap,” said Raikkonen.
“Maybe a slightly better lap is second today, so in a way it is one of our best qualifying of the year. I think it’s always been a good car in the race and I think we should have a good race tomorrow.”
The mixture of these two things indicated that they had great potential going into this race.
Martin Brundle then featured in a segment where he explained the processes of the formation lap by driving a Ferrari F1 car. It was a fun segment, and Brundle clearly enjoyed himself. The Ferrari Chairman Di Montezemelo was at the Ferrari garage for qualifying, but was reportedly gone home by Sunday.
Considering their poor qualifying performance, there was an ominous feeling around the paddock for Ferrari. Given their poor start to the season, they were fortunate to be so close in the championship, but mistakes like during this qualifying was something they couldn’t afford now that they had adequately recovered their pace.
Hamilton was interviewed by Lazenby, they discussed his future at McLaren which was a big topic of debate over the last few races. Hamilton’s contract was up at the end of the season and he was yet to re-sign. He seemed very relaxed about the situation, and they joked about Ron Dennis’ negotiation tactics. He said he was in “no rush” to sign a new deal.
There was a noticeable difference between the production values of Sky and BBC. The BBC had a fun over-the-top element to their build-up, whereas Sky played it far too straight. It wasn’t necessarily boring from Sky, but it was more formal and uptight, whereas the BBC pundits were clearly enjoying themselves that bit more.
However, one clear difference in Sky’s favour was Brundle’s pre-race grid walk. This was Brundle in his element. He has this incredible ability to have a relaxed conversation with a driver while still gaining an insight into their preparation.
There was also a clumsiness that made it feel authentic and spontaneous, it was never clear what was going to happen next. His quick wit always kept the viewers, and the drivers, on their toes.
In Valencia, he had an exchange with Button that exemplified everything that made Brundle so good at this role.
He began by drawing out a great explanation of what to expect with the tyres by questioning his racing shoes that he held in his hands, describing them as “really thin, like slippers,” which led to a question about the brakes.
“Yesterday we had a lot of [brake locking] in Q3 but it’s something that is going to be an issue for everyone today,” said Button
“Having the brake bias and the engine braking and the KERS and everything to play with, and knowing what you’re doing with it, is going to be important today. Hopefully we can look after our tyres and we can run a good race today,”
The exchange continued with Button making fun of Brundle, who raced the week before, with jabs about his age, to which Brundle responded back in kind by saying “so, you’re out of position here, aren’t you, because you didn’t get the job done in qualifying basically, but you can still come through, yeah?” which, again, prompted a good response from Button
“Yesterday I was quite negative about not being able to overtake here, I was in a pretty bad mood yesterday. But today I think we can race well from here. I forgot I overtook here last year so it can be done,” said an optimistic Button.
Brundle ended the interview with a pop back at Button’s age. Once he was away from Button he chimed “I think that was a two-all score draw there with Jenson but I’ll claim that anyway,” showing just how much he was enjoying himself.
There was also a great exchange he had with himself in which he stalked Maldonado, waiting two minutes to ask him a question, during which time he thought aloud “I only want one question, I don’t know what it is yet but I’ll think of it before he’s finished talking to the Italian media.”
By the time he got his hands on the Williams driver he ended up having to direct him to a quicker route to the bathroom, before then asking the deeply profound question “how’s it going?” Never change, Brundle.
As Sky geared up in time for the start of the race, they examined the narrow entry into Turn One, which they felt could be a potential area for lap one incidents.
The tyre options for this race were Soft and Medium. Webber, Jean-Eric Vergne, Sergio Perez and Schumacher all started on the Mediums.
The teams took a keen look at who chose what tyre compound, and Force India relayed the message to their drivers that Perez was on the Mediums, they were concerned he could pull off a one-stop strategy.
At this stage last year, Vettel led the championship by 60 points, that gap now covered the top 10, but with the German starting on pole, this was a great chance for him to re-take the lead from Hamilton.
Race
Grosjean showed an immense amount of bravery to dive down the inside of Maldonado into Turn One, but the room was there and he squeezed past the Venezuelan to move into third.
Vettel and Hamilton held position around the first section of corners, but Raikkonen got bogged down behind Maldonado in the run up to Turn One and was forced out wide, he fell down to sixth. Kobayashi took advantage and moved up to fifth.
Alonso was up to eighth already, and Massa moved into 10th with an overtake on Rosberg at Turn Eight. Schumacher was waiting right behind his teammate, who was going backwards at an alarming rate.
Alonso got into a tight battle with Hulkenberg for seventh but the German was able to hold onto his position as they came round the final corner. While that fight was going on, Kobayashi managed to overtake Maldonado somewhere, a great opening lap for the Sauber driver.
Remarkably, Vettel led Hamilton by 1.9s at the start of lap two. Grosjean was raring to go behind the McLaren and was looking to make a pass. Raikkonen was also trying to get ahead, he fought Maldonado around Turns Eight, Nine and 10 but Maldonado held on. This was a promising start to a track that people were worried wouldn’t feature much overtaking.
By the start of lap three, Vettel’s lead was now 4s on Hamilton. He was flying it out in front, a tribute act to his greatest drives from the 2011 season.
DRS was now enabled on the straight at Turn Eight, which might help the two Lotus drivers in their pursuits. Neither could make the move on lap three, but they were going to have to get ahead soon because Vettel was pulling away at a rate of knots.
Rosberg was told over the radio “Tyre temperatures are reaching the critical point,” which was not a good sign after only three laps in.
On lap four, Grosjean was told he needed to pass Hamilton “to make this work.” Lotus had their sights set on a victory, but being stuck behind the Briton was not the way to do it. Grosjean complained of oversteer over the radio.
There were five cars stuck in a train behind Hamilton, but he was encouraged by his radio that he was doing a good job. The gap ahead to Vettel was now 7s, the next seven seconds covered the gap between second and 10th.
Button was another loser from the start, he was down in 13th, but managed to get ahead of Schumacher for 12th.
Force India warned both of their drivers of high brake temperatures, this race was the heaviest fuel consumption of the season so the drivers were having to manage that along with everything else.
On lap seven, Massa had another couple attempts at passing di Resta for ninth, but he wasn’t able to make it stick. All the action was happening around Turn Eight at this point.
On lap nine, Grosjean was still stuck behind Hamilton and it was becoming clear that the longer he spent in third the more his race was being ruined by the McLaren.
The gap between first and second was 10s by lap 10. However, finally, Grosjean successfully made the move on Hamilton at — you guessed it — Turn Eight.
The Frenchman went around the outside and had enough space and more grip to make the move stick as they turned into Turn Nine and 10. A great battle between the two. “He’s turning into a class Formula One driver,” remarked Brundle in the aftermath of the move.
Button and Perez were the first to come into the pits at the end of that lap, Button changed for Mediums but Perez came in for a set of Softs. So much for the threat of him pulling off a one-stop. Massa came in on the following lap, also for a set of Mediums.
Ted Kravitz was asked and he reckoned most cars were going to have to opt for a two-stop. The risk of a repeat of what happened to Alonso in Canada was simply not worth it. He fell from a comfortable second to a close fifth place in the dying laps of that race.
On lap 12, Alonso made the move on Hulkenberg for seventh at Turn Eight and Nine. This was a crucial move if the Spaniard was going to threaten his championship rivals. “Now we push, we push as much as we can,” came the message over the radio.
Kravitz informed commentary that the Perez pit stop was entirely strategic, as a way to get out of the train of cars that he was in the middle of, which might pay off if the undercut proved effective.
On lap 13, Raikkonen finally passed Maldonado, he cut back around him from the outside of Turn Eight and got by on the outside of Turn Nine and ahead onto the inside of Turn 10, another excellent overtaking manoeuvre. It was tough and tight, but entirely fair from both drivers, great stuff.
Perez went fastest, a sign that the free air and the new tyres were working. With that, Hamilton came in for his first stop, it was a clean one too with no issues. But he came out behind Bruno Senna in the other Williams, he was now in 12th place.
On lap 15, a bizarre moment occurred as Alonso passed Maldonado, but no one on the commentary team noticed at all. It was a clean move down the inside of Turn Eight, but Brundle and David Croft were too focused on a straw hat that Maldonado ran over to notice that the Ferrari was now ahead of him.
The gap was roughly 4s between them when Alonso got by Hulkenberg just three laps ago, so the pace was clearly there in the Ferrari and Alonso was certainly in the mood to go racing.
Raikkonen and Kobayashi came in for their first stop. Sauber had a slow stop, there was an issue with the front left tyre. This allowed the Finn to get ahead in the pit lane. A potentially crucial moment for Lotus.
“He’s in a race of his own out there,” said Brundle of Vettel. The gap to Grosjean behind was now up to 15s at the start of lap 16. It was at this point that Alonso came in for his first stop.
Croft and Brundle were now beginning to wonder if this was quickly becoming a three-stop race for some drivers. Alonso had a great stop, and he managed to jump ahead of both Raikkonen and Kobayashi!
The two front-men came in at the start of lap 17, they comfortably held position. Di Resta and Rosberg were yet to stop and were now in second and third. A number of cars were now also in the middle of the pack, having not stopped themselves.
The likes of Schumacher, Senna and Webber were all making life difficult for that group of cars that were second to seventh.
On lap 18, Alonso passed Webber around Turn One, a great move at a crucial time. Webber locked up around the hairpin at the final corner, which allowed Alonso to gain as they turned into the main straight. He picked up the slipstream and went around the outside of the Red Bull cleanly.
Webber was the first in this train, and Alonso got ahead of Senna next, moving around the outside of the Brazilian at Turn Eight. On lap 19, he cleared the traffic as he moved ahead of Schumacher at Turn Four with a fun, winding overtake that saw him cut back on the inside of Schumacher at Turn Two and Three.
Alonso left a train of 10 cars behind him, some of which were yet to stop, and he was now clear to push in sixth place. The gap to Hamilton was 7.3s. Rosberg and di Resta were also still to come in ahead of them both.
Grosjean passed di Resta to move into second place on the straight leading up to Turn Eight. The gap to Vettel was now 18s. Hamilton also passed Rosberg right behind.
Further back, there were almost four cars abreast at Turn Eight, it was very chaotic. Raikkonen managed to pass Webber, but Schumacher and Senna somehow held on ahead. Schumacher and Webber finally came into the pits at the end of that lap.
On lap 20, Senna and Kobayashi collided! The Japanese man lost his front wing and Senna was sent into a spin! This happened at the run up to Turn Eight.
Raikkonen made the pass on Senna, who then wasn’t expecting Kobayashi to follow up the inside immediately behind. He shut the door on Kobayashi and it caused them to come into contact with each other and the wall. There was simply no room left for all these cars.
“It was only a matter of time before someone touched,” said Croft, and he wasn’t wrong. It was amazing there hadn’t been a collision before this, a testament to the skill on display. It was an unfortunate incident and it ruined both of their promising races.
Both cars came into the pits as a result of the contact. Senna was given a drive-through penalty for his role in the incident.
Meanwhile, on lap 22, Alonso passed di Resta, who was hoping to pull off a one-stop strategy. However, the Scot was complaining over the radio that his rear tyres were struggling. This wasn’t going to be easy. He eventually came into the pit lane at the end of lap 23.
By lap 25, Alonso was coming back at Hamilton. He was closing the gap by .3s a lap. The gap between them was now 5s. Meanwhile, Vettel was nowhere to be seen, he was so comfortably out in front.
The second wave of pit stops began on lap 25, Perez was once again the first to come in. Button followed on lap 26.
On lap 28 there was another collision! Vergne and Heikki Kovalainen came together at Turn Eight. Vergne went around the outside of the Caterham but curiously came back at him when they were still alongside each other and they banged wheels. This caused a right rear puncture for the Toro Rosso driver.
“Slow down! Slow down!” warned Brundle. Vergne was going full pelt back into the pit lane, which the commentator thought could ruin the body work of the car. Parts of the destroyed tyre were flying all over the track.
By the time Vergne did finally pit he succumbed to the injury sustained, just as Brundle warned. A baffling moment of stupidity from the highly rated young driver.
The Safety Car (SC) was called on lap 29, the rubber that came off Vergne’s tyre was deemed dangerous enough that it had to be picked up by the trackside marshals, which meant a SC was necessary.
This saw a stream of cars come into the pit lane. Coming in under SC essentially is a ‘free’ pit stop, and the timing meant most cars were getting ready to come in around this time anyway.
Grosjean led the pack in, as Vettel had already driven around the pit entrance by the time the SC was called out. Hamilton and Alonso followed, but once again McLaren had an issue with a pit stop!
Hamilton lost a load of time and it allowed Alonso to get by! The stop took 14.1s, an outrageous amount of time. McLaren later blamed the technology in the front jack failing, they brought an experimental one to this race and it let them down. It was yet another disaster in the pit lane for the British team, and it cost their driver dearly.
It was a late call to come in, but the teams were all ready to go, it was a very high pressure moment, but to be let down like that by the front jack was a massive disappointment. It drew the shake of the head from Hamilton as he waited to be released and who could blame him for that reaction?
Vettel did come in by the time he made it around again, but his massive 20s lead of this race vanished in the blink of an eye. Daniel Ricciardo was the only one to stay out, and this moved him up as high as fourth place.
Lapped cars were allowed to un-lap themselves. Brundle had his rant in Australia that he hated this rule, but it wasn’t always used.
However, it was necessary here as there were so many cars bunched up as it was, that throwing in some back-markers into the mix was sure to lead to more incidents.
This meant Grosjean was right behind Vettel, a great chance for the Lotus to make a move on a potential race win.
Massa and Button, who both came in right behind their teammates, lost out the most in that phase. They were stuck down in 14th and 15th.
“I don’t think there’s anyone to blame,” said the man who was very much to blame for the incident that caused this SC. Vergne had to be defensive in public, but he must surely have known what he did wasn’t the brightest thing done on an F1 track.
The SC was due to come in at the end of lap 33.
Alonso had a great exit around the final hairpin as the race was about to restart, he caught the slipstream of Grosjean and went around the outside of him at the run into Turn One. He was ahead and into second place!
The immediate restart was otherwise pretty calm, but later in the lap there was contact with Massa and Kobayashi! Massa was left with a front right puncture.
They collided at Turn 10 as Kobayashi drove into the side of Massa. The Sauber lost its front wing, his race was over. Massa came into the pits, but his stop was slow, as the carcass of the tyre proved difficult to take off.
But, on the straight between Turn 11 and 12 there was a problem with Vettel's car! He was going slowly and now Alonso was in the lead! Vettel led this race by 20s before the SC, but now his race was over! Adrien Newey held his head in his hands, what an absolute disaster for Red Bull!
The Spanish crowd were going wild for their native hero. He started 11th, but he was now in first place with 22 laps to go.
“Fernando Alonso, you cannot keep this man down!” exclaimed Brundle.
A replay showed a visibly upset Vettel throwing his gloves in anger at the wall beside him. A massive missed opportunity for the German.
Meanwhile, back on track, both Hamilton and Raikkonen passed Ricciardo who was now struggling on his older tyres.
For clarity, the top 10 was now running in this order: Alonso, Grosjean, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Schumacher, Webber, Maldonado, Hulkenberg, di Resta.
Grosjean was pushing Alonso, with Vettel out of the race this was now Lotus’ chance to get that victory everybody was waiting for. The gap between them was within 1s, but DRS was still disabled from the SC.
The gap between first and third was only 1.7s, and Raikkonen was only .7s further behind. It was so close at the front now, it was anyone’s race to win.
There was confusion as Brundle claimed Raikkonen was under investigation for passing Ricciardo under yellow flags, but it was Hamilton’s name that came up on the screen. On the broadcast it did look like it was Raikkonen at fault, but the stewards were, in fact, investigating the McLaren driver.
On lap 37, Schumacher passed Ricciardo. Maldonado got by Webber, he forced the Australian wide at the final hairpin and moved ahead of him at the start/finish line. Webber was then out of shape from running wide, which allowed both Force India drivers to take advantage going into Turn One and move ahead.
That was three places lost in two corners. Webber reacted by coming into the pits at the end of that lap.
On lap 40, Button was coming under pressure from Perez for ninth. In the meantime, Alonso was setting the fastest lap of the race so far, he opened up the gap to Grosjean to 1.4s.
But there was a problem for Grosjean moments later! He was going slowly and had to pull over! His race was finished. He, like Vettel, was furious. He shook his fists in anger inside the cockpit. What a great chance for victory gone in an instant.
It was later discovered that the Red Bull and the Lotus both suffered the same mechanical issue, an alternator failure. They were both Renault engine customers, but neither laid the ultimate blame at their supplier.
Alonso now led by 4s over Hamilton in second. Raikkonen was 1.1s further back.
On lap 42, Perez finally got ahead of Button around the final corner. Over the next few laps, he quickly drove off in his pursuit of di Resta.
Schumacher came into the pits from fourth place, which meant that the Mexican was now up to seventh. The grid was starting to get a bit messy as everyone’s strategies were mixed up by the SC interjection. Schumacher came out in 11th, still ahead of Webber but only just.
With all the confusion, the Caterham of Vitaly Petrov was sat in a points scoring position, if they could hold onto that it would be the teams’ first points of the season.
However, on lap 45, both Schumacher and Webber passed Petrov, moving the Russian down to 12th.
Lotus were relaying the message to Raikkonen that they thought Hamilton’s tyres weren’t going to make it to the end, they still had a chance to win this race if he could just pass Hamilton.
Maldonado was starting to pull away from Hulkenberg in fourth, the German was struggling with a KERS issue so was not driving at 100%. Alonso was maintaining his lead at the top, the gap was now 4.5s to Hamilton.
It was announced that there would be no further action from the stewards for Hamilton, which meant he could now go full pelt without having to worry about any punishment.
On lap 49, Schumacher caught up to and passed Button at Turn 10. Webber followed through immediately behind, the two were hunting down the grid like a pack of wolves. They were now in eighth and ninth.
Rosberg, who was conspicuously absent throughout all the action up to this point, moved past Senna at Turn Eight, and he was up to 11th. He was 18s behind Button, but gaining.
On lap 50, Maldonado started to reel in Raikkonen, who was struggling to pass Hamilton. The Williams was going .8s quicker a lap.
In fact, Hamilton was now pulling away from Raikkonen and was gaining on Alonso. The gap was down to 3.5s with only seven laps remaining. A grandstand finish awaited.
By lap 53, Raikkonen was back within DRS range of Hamilton. Schumacher passed Perez at Turn Eight, and once again Webber followed through instantly. They were now in seventh and eighth, like an old married couple expertly rushing through a crowded market.
On lap 54, the pair got by di Resta at Turn Eight and the straight between Turn 11 and 12 respectively. There was an extreme big brother/small brother energy to the way they were working their way up the field.
At the end of lap 54, Hamilton locked up going around the final corner. This allowed Raikkonen to close up the gap massively.
Hamilton was caught out of shape coming out of Turn 11, which allowed Raikkonen to get side by side with him. Hamilton just about held on at Turn 12.
Raikkonen followed closely behind at the winding Turns 13, 14, 15 and 16. He was alongside him again on the straight up to Turn 17, Hamilton forced the Finn out wide, but he cut back on the inside at the exit of Turn 17 and passed Hamilton for second.
That was a fantastic battle between two former world champions!
Maldonado had caught up and was now right behind Hamilton and sniffing at the final podium place.
Maldonado had a look down the inside of Hamilton going into Turn One on lap 56, but Hamilton just held on. He was clearly struggling for grip at this point, but he only had to hold on for two more laps.
“Maldonado must be thinking ‘I’ve got an easy picking, I’ve just got to choose the right moment,’” said Brundle.
“Well, the thing is, he’s got to think about the easy picking, rather than taking the difficult overtake here cause the last thing you want to do is make a hash of it. And he’ll get a chance when it comes down to the next DRS zone,” replied Croft.
Hamilton was struggling so much with his rear tyres, he was dancing around every corner like his wheels were on ice. This looked an easy overtake for Maldonado. Hulkenberg was 6s behind as he prepared to make his move, Hamilton was surely secure in fourth at least.
Hamilton protected the inside line on the run-up to Turn Eight. Maldonado moved to go around the outside, Hamilton squeezed Maldonado hard and moved him off the track, but Maldonado came back on and they made contact!
Maldonado’s front wing came flying off and Hamilton was shunted into the wall! The championship leader was out of this race!
If only Maldonado could have heard the advice from the Sky commentators! He went for the difficult overtake, the move could have been completed around Turns Nine and 10, or even on the straight between Turns 11 and 12.
There were plenty of opportunities to come given Hamilton’s total lack of grip, but now it was about damage limitation. He was in third, but the loss of downforce meant he was easy pickings for Schumacher in fourth!
Somewhere in all the madness, Hulkenberg was eaten up by the schoolyard bullies of Schumacher and Webber and the German was up to third by the start of the final lap!
Hamilton smashed his steering wheel with his fists in total anger. That was potentially fourth place down the drain after so much hard work, all thrown away on the penultimate lap.
“Maldonado came from off the race track there, he had four wheels off. I think he should have yielded and let Lewis [Hamilton] go,” reflected Brundle.
“He came from off the race track. Lewis has got the inside line, he’s got the racing line, and look he’s basically launched into the side of him.”
Webber, like a prince sick of waiting for the king to perish, was closing in on Schumacher, but the double waved yellow flags at Turn Eight meant he wasn’t allowed overtake the Mercedes. Third place was Schumacher’s now.
Alonso came home to take the chequered flag! It wouldn’t be eight winners from eight races, finally someone took their second victory of the 2012 season.
Remarkably, Raikkonen was the only man to take home second place for a second time this season. Not only were there seven winners in seven races, but there were seven unique runners-up as well. Incredible.
Schumacher finished in third, his first podium since returning to the sport in 2010. China 2006 was his last podium finish, and this one was much deserved after the horrible luck that had ruined his season up to this point.
His teammate, Rosberg, made up two places on the final lap, passing Button and di Resta for sixth place. He was 3s a lap quicker during those last few laps. He started in sixth and took a long road back to that place by the time the race was over.
The final standings were as follows
Championship Standings Top Five (Round 8)
The impact this race had on the championship was massive. Alonso now led by 20 points, the biggest gap seen so far in the season. Webber moved up to second, ahead of his teammate.
Vettel suffered the first big mechanical issue of the season, falling out from a victorious position meant a massive swing of points went in Alonso and Webber’s favour.
Car reliability is as important as its speed, and so is consistency on the off-days. Alonso had a disappointing qualifying due to a team strategy decision, but he made the most of it when it mattered most. Webber similarly made massive gains following his Saturday reliability issues.
Hamilton missed out on a decent points haul due to the incident with Maldonado, but the tyres were so far gone off the cliff that it’s possible he would have finished outside the points anyway, he simply had no grip on his rear tyres. The McLaren was quick in qualifying, but it lacked the race pace to keep up with Vettel, Alonso and Grosjean.
There were still plenty of races to go, but the early signs were good for Alonso. However, the pace of the Red Bull certainly left many concerned that they found their footing again as the dominant car at the front of the grid.
Post-race
Alonso parked his car right in front of the grandstand during his in-lap. He ran out of fuel and had to pull over. He was waving a Spanish flag from his cockpit, but now he was able to get out of the car and celebrate with the adoring home crowd. He planted the flag on the ground in front of the stand and soaked in the cheers of his fans.
“We need to stay cool, it’s a long way to go,” said Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali to Sky, reflecting on the result of the race.
Alonso was basking in the moment, this race could hardly have gone better for him. It was a remarkable scene to see him in front of such a packed crowd, all of them singing for their local hero.
Schumacher was the oldest podium earner since Jack Brabham in 1970, he had to earn it the hard way. Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn described it as “more like what we should be doing.”
Raikkonen and Schumacher, once championship rivals, embraced in a friendly handshake while they waited for Alonso.
Andrea Stella, Alonso’s race engineer, was joining the podium celebration to represent Ferrari. He met up with his former colleagues in the cooldown area. Schumacher pointed out that he worked with all three of the men on the podium.
They eventually sent out one of the medical cars to pick up Alonso, who celebrated with the fans for a good five minutes. He was mobbed by the media as he had to walk through them to get back to Pace fermé. He finally caught up with Raikkonen and Schumacher, the three of them all shared a laugh together. Schumacher was clearly in a great mood.
“It’s not quite the protocol the FIA like to have, but it’s good TV,” said Brundle. And he was right, this was spectacular viewing. Stella called it a “special day.”
“What a tremendous race that was,” reflected Brundle. The pair could hardly believe what they had seen over those 57 enduring laps.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen [Alonso] so emotional,” said Brundle following the national anthems. The mixture of Spanish and Italian anthems was always a good one, in fairness. Alonso was crying to his heart’s content on the top step, there’s nothing quite like a victory in your home Grand Prix.
Sky’s post-race coverage waxed lyrical about the entire race, with Nick Heidfeld dubbing it an “epic.”
“Difficult to express in words the feeling at the moment. Winning the home Grand Prix is something unique, a very special feeling,” reflected Alonso in the post-race press conference. All three of them were brimming with sweat, it was a tough race out there in the extreme heat.
“It was in crossing the line that I asked my guys ‘Where did we finish?’” said Schumacher. It was that chaotic, he had no clue what position he was in at the chequered flag. He mentioned that he could vaguely guess by looking at Webber’s pit board, but lost track when he was in seventh.
Sky interviewed Ferrari in their garage once the dust settled. They reckoned the tyres saved from qualifying paid dividends in the end, which we can compare to how Hamilton’s tyres fell off to perhaps confirm their theory. They mentioned that they had upgrades planned for the next two races.
Sky also highlighted Vettel’s maturity in his interview post-DNF. He was pretty relaxed about the whole thing, all told. There was nothing more he could have done today, the car failure was unavoidable, these things happen.
Hamilton was similarly relaxed about his race finish.
“That’s racing. You just have to suck it up and look forward to Silverstone,” said the British driver. Considering the points lost on the penultimate lap, that was a very level-headed response to an entirely avoidable incident. Perhaps he saw the data that showed he might have fallen out of the points anyway.
“My tyres were gone,” he added, which possibly confirms that theory.
However, Kravitz was reporting that Hamilton was receiving internal blame in McLaren for the incident due to “reckless” defensive driving. Was it all just a ploy to weaken his hand in the negotiation battle for a new contract? Remember, McLaren’s failed pit stop was the reason he was behind Alonso in the first place.
Webber said that most drivers would rank Valencia in the bottom three for tracks on the calendar, which goes to show how big of a surprise this race was. No one could have predicted it would unfold in the manner that it did.
Driver in Focus
This was Fernando Alonso’s moment. The Spaniard led an illustrious F1 career, but this race was perhaps his finest. To do it at his home race was just the cherry on top. His start to the 2012 season was impressive, he was far quicker than his teammate and was consistently overperforming the expectation of the car at his disposal.
He took advantage of chaotic circumstances in Malaysia and he did the same here, always remaining calm when those around him lost their cool.
Vettel had his mechanical issues, we’ll never know would Alonso have been able to keep up, but the odds are the Red Bull was too quick, but he held off Grosjean superbly and managed the gap to Hamilton expertly.
Of the many overtaking moves, the ones on Hulkenberg, Schumacher and Grosjean were especially magnificent.
The pass on Grosjean, in particular, showed the difference in experience between the two drivers. He planted the car perfectly to set up a great slipstream and the move around the outside showed the bravery that made Alonso such an exciting racer.
He lapped Massa for a finish, the Brazilian’s car never recovered from the incident with Kobayashi. But the overall difference in performance between the two in the opening eight rounds was stark. No other driver on the grid was dominating their teammate like Alonso was to Massa.
This was a special moment, one that Alonso himself reflected on years later in a pre-race press conference.
“In a normal world, we would never be able to win [that race] again. If we repeated it 100 times, 99 of them we’ll not end up first,” said Alonso before his final race in 2018.
“It was a good activation of strategy, good overtaking, a lot of risk, but everything was well. The car was not particularly fast that weekend. We were not even in Q3. I think I lapped Felipe [Massa] 10 laps to the end, so it was not that we were in a dominant position that day — and we were still winning.”
Race Verdict
This was easily the best of the opening eight races. The highlights of the race were uploaded to YouTube by the official Formula One channel, linked here, and they are highly, highly recommended to watch just to get a grasp of how entertaining this race was to watch. The full six minutes is only a glimpse of all the action.
This race pretty much had everything a classic F1 race needs. There were dramatic twists at the front, with Vettel’s car unexpectedly breaking down. There were a lot of great overtaking moves and long battles between great drivers. The drama started on the opening lap and ended on the final one.
The podium itself was a great throwback to the era of 2003–2007 when those three men battled it out almost every race, each winning a championship, or two. Between them they had 10 World Titles at the time of race day, which was the most ever seen on an F1 podium until Vettel and Hamilton shared one at the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix.
The midfield battle was tight and intense, seeing Schumacher pick off six or seven cars in front of him over the last 20 laps was exhilarating and another showcase that he was still extremely quick and talented. Webber sneaking in behind him every overtake was a hilarious sight, a great piece of opportunism every time.
It was a chaotic race with excellent driving throughout. It really summed up what F1 can be when it’s at its best.
Result: 5/5
Next up: BRITAIN*
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
*I swear Britain won’t be as long as this one!