2012 Malaysian Grand Prix fastest laps

2012 Malaysian Grand Prix

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The lap times from the Malaysian Grand Prix reveal some great driving by Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton.

Fastest laps by driver

Rank Driver Car Fastest lap Gap On lap
1 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1’40.722 53
2 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1’41.017 0.295 52
3 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1’41.021 0.299 54
4 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1’41.342 0.620 50
5 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1’41.404 0.682 55
6 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1’41.539 0.817 50
7 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1’41.680 0.958 53
8 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’41.756 1.034 54
9 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1’41.760 1.038 53
10 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1’41.819 1.097 55
11 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’41.863 1.141 51
12 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’41.922 1.200 55
13 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1’42.051 1.329 56
14 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1’42.100 1.378 50
15 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1’42.173 1.451 51
16 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1’42.237 1.515 51
17 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1’43.513 2.791 52
18 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1’43.803 3.081 54
19 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1’44.202 3.480 44
20 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1’44.757 4.035 50
21 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1’44.813 4.091 50
22 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1’45.909 5.187 52
23 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1’46.244 5.522 54
24 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 2’08.464 27.742 2

Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest lap for Lotus. He was also the quickest driver in Q2, indicating the Lotus has real pace in ‘normal’ conditions.

Driver race lap times

https://www.racefans.net/charts/2012drivercolours.csv

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56
Lewis Hamilton 123.65 125.093 127.896 131.167 138.582 152.162 177.241 183.907 174.404 167.695 165.848 171.736 128.096 151.013 123.736 123.346 122.688 122.632 122.366 121.75 121.607 121.493 121.512 120.739 120.113 119.774 119.362 118.969 118.465 117.726 117.032 116.884 116.341 115.806 114.866 114.728 114.47 113.598 113.435 116.261 128.256 103.897 103.696 102.708 102.293 103.358 102.059 102.087 101.539 101.69 101.728 101.79 101.714 101.763 102.603
Jenson Button 124.743 125.677 128.213 136.303 151.56 134.92 176.697 182.971 173.619 167.58 165.914 176.162 145.698 134.083 155.071 120.936 122.008 122.586 123.324 123.047 122.372 123.261 124.808 137.223 118.329 118.284 118.091 118.178 118.095 119.018 117.402 119.064 119.958 116.41 116.084 116.167 114.476 118.014 130.173 107.07 105.968 104.842 104.889 104.126 102.512 104.563 102.596 102.731 102.1 102.314 102.359 102.585 102.757 102.37 104.216
Michael Schumacher 135.867 129.342 132.049 133.977 142.835 167.463 153.235 182.99 174.39 168.155 162.653 167.525 134.153 146.894 126.063 125.248 124.333 123.748 123.239 122.894 122.685 123.266 123.124 123.474 122.242 121.856 120.97 120.154 120.766 119.954 119.438 118.353 117.657 116.598 116.324 115.843 115.203 118.968 127.022 106.546 104.735 104.776 103.663 103.763 103.139 102.847 102.458 102.283 101.975 102.245 102.061 101.76 101.802 101.897 101.903
Mark Webber 125.725 126.427 129.052 133.473 139.793 155.456 169.332 183.839 174.611 167.197 165.512 171.618 131.916 148.513 126.252 124.539 123.297 123.375 123.42 122.844 122.519 122.413 123.415 121.224 120.563 120.575 119.488 118.705 119.428 118.505 117.509 117.031 116.279 115.801 115.927 114.57 114.585 117.996 133.25 105.975 103.724 103.077 102.958 102.23 102.029 103.26 101.82 101.896 101.602 101.655 101.017 101.142 101.881 101.37 101.64
Sebastian Vettel 126.725 126.856 130.65 133.699 143.382 159.096 161.803 182.702 174.214 166.73 165.285 171.127 128.815 129.483 145.914 123.578 123.509 123.402 122.989 122.323 122.765 120.951 121.203 120.681 120.416 120.221 119.573 118.99 118.571 118.269 116.964 116.613 116.233 115.997 115.611 115.291 114.447 114.505 118.037 127.716 105.323 103.825 103.105 102.529 101.927 125.672 126.567 102.052 101.342 102.551 102.069 103.916 106.767 104.359 103.108
Romain Grosjean 139.773 128.464 132.909
Nico Rosberg 129.366 126.754 130.115 134.564 144.736 165.373 155.764 182.913 173.98 167.434 164.777 173.243 145.969 126.047 124.296 124.162 123.941 123.679 123.036 122.756 123.071 124.549 123.937 123.915 126.026 139.675 120.728 119.595 118.37 119.095 118.388 118.235 118.509 118.259 118.39 116.965 115.809 118.994 131.554 107.544 105.848 104.726 104.948 104.346 104.825 103.775 103.118 102.653 102.014 101.863 102.078 102.398 102.969 102.171 102.465
Fernando Alonso 127.439 127.294 130.363 138.201 152.702 138.545 166.043 183.361 173.924 166.236 165.695 171.294 129.415 142.992 121.92 122.119 121.296 121.425 121.322 121.407 120.921 120.723 120.416 120.31 119.883 120.014 119.118 118.679 118.052 118.027 117.215 116.617 116.447 115.785 115.765 114.72 114.38 114.135 117.722 128.355 106.796 105.583 104.618 103.701 102.669 102.334 102.436 102.545 102.159 101.898 101.727 101.68 101.689 102.13 102.118
Sergio Perez 133.327 146.23 129.943 130.036 132.859 135.411 170.73 182.944 172.553 167.143 165.847 171.94 124.969 128.031 144.569 122.591 121.719 122.417 121.673 121.133 121.557 121.315 120.925 120.139 120.606 119.371 120.793 118.534 118.209 117.647 116.538 116.27 115.772 115.054 114.738 114.018 113.434 113.164 113.831 116.602 128.281 104.172 102.758 103.066 101.749 101.854 101.493 102.189 106.921 101.355 101.487 101.037 101.021 101.484 101.784
Kimi Raikkonen 130.72 128.117 131.713 134.58 144.665 170.353 153.428 182.847 174.185 168.079 162.566 172.351 145.205 125.927 126.522 123.894 123.398 122.96 122.974 122.656 122.913 123.372 121.183 120.902 121.438 120.534 120.158 119.392 119.799 118.544 117.434 116.467 116.14 115.739 115.167 115.194 115.315 114.867 117.561 132.507 106.68 104.884 104.082 103.618 102.648 103.286 101.847 102.425 101.04 101.113 101.55 100.722 100.725 100.752 101.054
Pastor Maldonado 129.76 127.289 130.571 134.693 144.173 173.952 153.63 182.87 174.931 168.381 162.475 168.011 133.531 148.795 144.118 124.677 123.755 122.957 122.668 122.207 122.365 122.319 121.739 121.333 121.759 120.855 120.695 119.505 119.014 118.918 118.276 117.512 117.588 116.836 115.985 115.62 114.177 117.773 126.08 103.967 104.583 103.102 103.04 103.136 103.004 102.832 102.912 102.949 102.642 102.237 102.468 102.282 113.177
Felipe Massa 132.494 128.738 135.86 151.014 136.527 145.623 155.757 182.305 173.837 167.895 164.131 170.181 133.075 146.35 126.116 124.649 124.19 123.663 123.395 122.972 123.544 122.997 122.889 121.806 125.615 125.785 138.58 118.906 118.729 119.292 119.468 119.461 120.028 119.562 119.607 120.473 120.795 138.477 109.882 107.867 106.714 105.202 104.433 103.93 103.525 103.297 103.024 102.775 102.32 102.349 102.756 103.264 102.593 102.448 102.051
Bruno Senna 154.869 154.817 129.482 133.115 136.925 143.621 158.123 175.08 174.892 171.645 161.605 166.038 146.064 127.455 125.931 125.225 125.719 125.541 123.793 121.38 123.026 121.456 121.794 121.542 121.443 120.813 119.933 119.617 119.476 118.808 118.209 117.972 116.189 115.721 115.367 115.022 114.821 117.945 127.692 106.188 106.545 104.949 103.495 103.491 102.975 103.139 102.666 103.493 101.977 101.689 102.026 101.694 101.768 101.404 101.607
Paul di Resta 133.34 133.366 149.457 133.148 136.598 151.421 154.497 181.696 175.436 168.748 162.924 168.471 133.775 146.32 124.782 124.921 124.066 123.531 123.191 122.952 123.162 123.46 122.55 121.866 121.705 120.291 120.13 119.493 119.12 118.526 118.289 118.023 117.027 116.229 115.515 114.964 114.835 118.677 127.785 108.703 106.615 105.22 105.46 103.795 103.329 103.189 102.878 102.755 102.552 102.21 102.5 102.262 101.969 101.819 103.715
Daniel Ricciardo 135.995 130.299 133.782 139.635 154.823 151.118 152.413 181.952 174.258 169.616 161.485 165.998 133.854 148.594 125.037 125.36 125.155 124.06 123.164 122.479 123.338 123.674 122.422 126.347 137.472 120.716 120.039 119.759 119.446 120.651 118.81 117.849 118.764 119.242 117.2 121.203 132.338 109.8 110.899 106.23 105.784 105.181 104.656 103.972 103.81 104.235 102.811 102.362 101.992 101.817 102.327 102.986 101.756 102.29 103.522
Nico Hulkenberg 133.71 129.349 130.901 137.633 155.023 149.049 154.233 182.985 173.257 168.466 163.452 169.307 131.001 130.798 145.366 124.469 124.539 123.748 123.483 123.302 123.197 123.407 122.784 121.842 122.614 122.413 120.513 119.945 119.309 117.993 118.322 117.693 117.036 115.685 115.234 114.586 114.593 114.208 117.231 126.13 105.915 104.651 103.855 103.394 103.08 102.445 103.182 102.94 102.683 102.173 102.589 102.231 102.382 102.327 102.219
Kamui Kobayashi 131.587 128.004 131.984 134.66 146.926 169.212 153.392 182.494 175.036 168.323 162.536 170.931 148.977 127.135 125.978 125.369 126.786 124.486 125.503 123.931 122.825 122.371 122.307 122.145 121.376 120.945 120.579 120.206 119.073 117.45 117.541 117.6 116.706 116.343 115.68 115.582 114.675 114.883 124.011 133.812 105.295 105.234 104.202 105.368 126.986
Jean-Eric Vergne 134.402 129.361 131.797 134.9 144.186 155.131 155.328 182.347 175.024 167.378 164.358 170.856 130.881 131.071 145.81 124.372 124.292 124.219 122.942 123.094 123.14 123.18 122.983 121.979 123.295 120.236 120.541 119.289 119.325 118.787 118.204 117.838 116.912 115.992 115.313 114.667 114.565 114.171 118.585 127.08 105.645 104.567 103.587 103.271 102.818 102.544 103.923 102.493 103.193 102.161 102.347 102.388 102.67 101.922 102.19
Vitaly Petrov 136.726 130.744 133.669 141.281 155.296 149.445 154.502 179.831 174.4 170.751 160.685 170.769 152.116 127.925 125.936 124.639 124.272 124.335 123.781 123.73 123.44 123.03 122.6 122.976 122.751 122.178 122.346 122.716 121.596 120.429 119.758 119.313 118.718 118.384 118.872 118.196 118.149 120.777 136.197 107.88 107.006 107.608 105.486 104.819 104.399 104.469 104.029 104.044 105.508 104.789 103.513 103.924 103.964 103.688
Timo Glock 136.754 132.536 138.432 152.496 139.041 151.143 154.558 178.241 174.314 171.125 160.91 169.558 149.837 128.768 127.108 126.556 125.877 125.119 124.71 124.31 124.507 125.475 123.876 123.51 123.205 123.118 122.396 122.747 121.585 121.126 119.974 120.587 119.874 118.494 119.118 121.638 118.215 121.143 132.878 110.51 108.569 106.999 106.181 105.916 108.525 107.071 105.106 105.069 104.757 105.87 106.271 108.161 106.4 105.312
Charles Pic 138.491 133.882 141.749 163.56 142.322 146.371 156.336 162.696 174.589 171.066 162.221 162.847 133.04 135.811 160.534 127.134 127.323 127.098 125.45 125.292 124.923 125.285 124.239 124.502 124.193 122.96 122.283 121.684 121.508 120.648 119.937 119.649 119.501 120.559 120.479 118.848 119.077 122.128 147.704 113.635 110.927 108.997 108.936 107.461 106.899 108.947 105.784 105.515 104.813 104.929 105.919 105.672 108.523
Pedro de la Rosa 145.229 133.395 136.224 139.227 140.22 149.412 153.718 181.628 174.078 169.782 161.511 172.134 144.446 136.056 138.126 164.394 128.269 128.428 127.403 126.805 126.224 125.797 127.279 126.644 124.776 126.341 125.424 125.99 123.537 124.34 124.225 123.579 122.111 121.431 121.619 121.541 120.069 125.019 144.769 109.127 109.62 110.066 108.714 110.591 112.207 107.853 106.564 107.004 107.216 106.739 109.216 106.491 106.244
Narain Karthikeyan 140.953 133.354 136.057 135.986 137.219 150.974 154.231 182.648 173.305 168.322 163.49 169.921 140.849 138.175 164.686 128.851 129.002 128.612 128.752 127.323 127.309 127.536 127.432 126.678 126.69 126.916 125.844 124.841 126.369 125.15 127.27 122.825 124.178 123.167 121.793 124.111 145.451 113.515 110.591 109.419 108.385 110.974 109.109 114.93 108.31 111.65 110.37 107.571 106.458 106.329 105.909 106.024 108.336
Heikki Kovalainen 134.525 131.628 133.602 144.598 162.149 144.645 154.8 178.001 175 171.6 159.934 164.474 133.277 148.727 126.449 125.352 126.518 125.159 124.964 124.274 125.055 134.268 151.86 121.809 121.253 121.34 121.881 121.319 121.512 120.84 120.211 119.939 122.061 120.613 118.86 119.251 122.639 130.353 108.045 106.992 108.233 109.108 105.145 105.025 104.324 104.229 104.104 105.385 105.299 105.742 109.701 104.32 103.803 105.622

It’s clear to see how much time Perez gained with his early switch to wet weather tyres in the early stages.

He was 3.7 seconds faster than anyone on lap five while his rivals were shuffling in and out of the pits, and getting their wet weather tyres up to temperature.

Hamilton was equally impressive on the previous lap. As the rain intensified he was two seconds faster than anyone on the intermediate tyres – Perez was the only driver to lap quicker, using full wets.

But Perez did it again on lap 14, showing tremendous feel for the wet conditions, lapping three seconds faster than anyone else on the full wet tyres after the race restarted.

Later in the race a string of drivers took advantage of the switch to medium slick tyres to post some flying times: Daniel Ricciardo on lap 39, Heikki Kovalainen the lap after that and Pastor Maldonado the lap after that.

Jenson Button’s initial struggle on the intermediate tyres is clear to see. He was around five seconds per lap quicker when he took a set of fresh intermediates on lap 25.

Interestingly, in both his stints he started out lapping quicker than Hamilton but his times dropped off.

2012 Malaysian Grand Prix


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    31 comments on “2012 Malaysian Grand Prix fastest laps”

    1. Perez really did get it together in the race, he was faster than his team-mate virtually every lap (though brake problems and traffic didn’t help Kamui). It was amazing to see him faster than Alonso lap after lap, during the race you’d think that Alonso would have found a way to go faster than him eventually, but it didn’t happen. I really hope Sauber can improve over the year because both of their drivers deserve a good and consistent car.

    2. Caterham still a good second off the midfield… disappointing, to say the least.

      1. yeah,I agree. Seems like they will be struggling around in 10th place in the constructors. lucky the race restarted after the stoppage as HRT cud have got a half point with a 10th place finish for Kartheikyhan

      2. @mmc Yeah I’m really disappointed that Caterham haven’t been able to close up on the midfield a bit more. But it might rather be due to the midfield teams getting closer to the front runners rather than Caterham not closing the gap. The improvements made by Williams and Sauber may be examples of this.

        1. Take a look at the statistics. There are some fun facts there. In 2011 (first two races) the gap between the last midfield car and the first Lotus/Caterham in fastest dry lap times was around 0.2-0.3 sec. In 2012 that gap is 1.3 sec., give or take.

          Take into account: their relative race pace, the way the new regulations and Pirelli tyres affect the lap times in general and the gap between them and the fastest lap record holder per each race and you’ll find out they haven’t actually improved much since last year. The midfield teams, however, did. And to make matters worse for T. Fernandez, Marussia seems to have closed the gap on them.

          Another year with no (or a few lucky) points in store for them, I’m afraid.

        2. I think we expected an improvement from Williams and no doubt Caterham did as well. However, their improvement has been better than I thought! @bleeps_and_tweaks

    3. I think that had Perez and Hamilton pitted right at the time Alonso did, Perez could have gotten in front of Alonso and won. But on the other hand, the we wouldn’t have hat that amazing reeling in of Alonso by Checo at a second per lap canter.

      1. I agree, he was just that fast, and HAM was not quite as fast for most of it, though halfway the last stint Brundle and Crofty just seemed to miss his good pace as it was drowned out by the great effort by Perez :) Alonso really started to fade a bit (well, compared to 2nd-6th guys) around that same time.

    4. hope that f1 fanatic could make the graph zoom-able so it easier to compare the lap time in a smaller interval rather than the whole race

      1. Yeah would be nice. What would provide that would be a way to select the beginning lap and end lap of the chart. So if you wanted to see the last 5 laps, you entered 52 and 56. Essentially that would act as a zoom.

      2. Completely agree. We need more precision in lap times…

    5. Interestingly, in both his stints he started out lapping quicker than Hamilton but his times dropped off.

      This is what is most mysterious to me: is the pace that Button showed at the beginning of the stints the pace that the McLaren ‘should’ have been able to do consistently? For instance, on Button’s first timed lap after colliding with the HRT, he posted a 2m00.94, almost 2.5s faster than Hamilton, and comfortably setting the fastest lap of the race. Was he asking too much of the tyres in only a handful of laps? McLaren and Button declared after the race that he lost tyre temperature behind other cars, but what I find strange is that he was unable to overtake those slower cars while his tyres were still warm and 4 seconds faster than the cars directly in front of him.

      I was also surprised that Hamilton was so fast in the wet before the safety car, but unable to make any impression on Alonso and Perez after the safety car. Lewis drove with laudable consistency (and even managed some pretty impressive sector times on the lap of his stop to dry tyres), but I find it hard to believe to that he would let two cars drive away from him if he had pace to spare.

      1. I think both Ferrari and Sauber have been light on their tyres for years, everyone talked about tyre
        degradation being a big issue at Sepang prior to the race, and that the fastest teams over one lap
        faded away while Ferarri and Sauber ended up in front ….

        Not really that surprising with the benefit of hindsight. Lots was of course mixed up with weather,
        smart choices from Sauber, hesitancy to pit from those in front. But, suspect degradation was a bigger factor here than most are saying.

      2. I think Lewis is trying very hard, maybe to hard, to follow the JB plan of consistent points by reducing risk, looking at the points it’s working.

        1. correction! Lewis Hamilton is desperately trying to repeat 2007, as he ctually stated live on air in round-up interview on sky!

    6. Schumi’s pace in the final stint was actually pretty good. Maybe the tyre issue was partly solved, at least in his car and on a dry track, too bad it rained.

      1. might have been because they emptied the pipe of water that carries air to the front wing.
        i was wondering when a down pour like we had would the water get into that devise they are running and foul it up every time they tried to use DRS.

    7. Perez did an amazing job and he was very consistent all the way through. Outstanding job and a very good effort for a job interview. I’m going to go ahead and guess that it will be following the European GP Ferrari will make their announcement.

      Goodbye Massa, Hellllooooo Perez

    8. Woah, looking at the whole time set of just Button and Hamilton it appears Hamilton is learning to nurse his tyres better this season, whereas Button ate his the whole way through the race.

    9. Not trying to take away anything from Perez , who had a really great race under the conditions , but I imagine they had gambled on a full wet set-up for his car while Kamui’s was possibly not so much. Also explains why the front (slick) tyres of Perez took such a battering in the latter part . So I would not yet say Perez is ready to take Massa’s seat and be the world champion next year……

      1. Dont know about Perez, but Alonzo’s ferrari was definitely wet-tuned. So, if indeed Checo’s Sauber was wet-setup too, he certainly was not going any slower than the dry set-up cars( except Webber’s RedBull and Raikkonen’s Lotus ). And for a sauber to qualify in 9th with wet set-up in a dry( and HOT ) qualifying session, even ahead of FI’s and TR’s, would be a little far-stretched idea, I feel! It looks more like providence( weather ), gamble( early wet tyres ) and some extremely inspired wet driving by Checo was the real reason behind his 2nd place showing.

        Regarding tyre wear, I remember seeing some close-up shots of Lewis’s front left tyre, that was probably more worn-out than Perez’s, and yet Lewis was deffo on a dry weather set-up. I guess, the taste of a historic( first mexican? ) win somehow inspired Perez to put his Sauber on rails!

        Given that Filipe is struggling for balance and tyre wear, the same things that Perez was able to control the best, plus with both drivers subscribing to the Latin geography, only makes it a very logical decision to replace Massa with Perez, maybe even before midway of 2012 season!

    10. The tyres are just too inconsistent.
      I am sure Button and Rosberg had the same kind of problems with the intermediates. Rosberg reported his were worn out, he had them changed, the pit called him that they wered still brand new.
      Button was unable to get his first set to work or they appeared to wear out.

      The irony is that Mercedes appear to be very hard on their tyres. If they can’t get the inters to wear out, then the inters are probably not consistent.
      Right now, these tyres are just a lottery.

    11. Mclaren appears to have good qualifying pace but very average race pace.
      The car goes well when you have smooth flowing curves and not so tight corners.
      But when you have sudden change of direction, one corner directly following an accute angled turn, the car becomes lethargic, almost like drivng a long bus.

    12. @ FedERROR.
      That shot of Lewis left tyre was his inters before he switched to slicks. He had done quite a good number of laps on them.
      During a red flag, the teams are allowed to change the setup on the cars. I remember a team came on the radio to one of their drivers that they were switching to dry setup for the rest of the race as that was what they expected the track condition to improve to.

      1. yep, u r rite about Lewis’ tyre.

    13. That’s a very comfortable lead from Raikkonen right there.

      There’s a 1s gap between Marussia, Caterham and Williams. Looks like it could be another lonely season at the back for Marussia and Caterham.

      1. Williams is the reference point for Caterham.

        They were both with Cosworth, Williams scored points. Although, Caterham were new and had to rush the design. So their first year was understandable.

        2nd year:
        Caterham switched to Renault. Williams remained with Cosworth.
        Williams barely managed to scrape through with 4 points. Yes Williams had years of experience and a history.
        Caterham could be excused for still getting their design department and certain infrastructure together. But they did hire some experienced hands and Gascoyne himself is a former high profile aerodynamicist.
        Okay, they didn’t have KERS and had a case in court.

        It is only 2 races into their third year.
        Caterham and Williams have the same engines.
        Caterham took time out and designed a brand new car adopting the current trend.
        Williams have a car that can operate just below the top level and consistently in the upper mid field.

        Caterham on the other hand are still trouncing their peers. But they have not made any progress in getting consistent battles with the mid field.
        The fact both their drivers are setting similar times makes me believe the car is already reaching the limits of its potential and they probably need a rethink of their rear end design.

        If the remaining races suffer fewer attrition, they will finish 11th in the championship.

        I know it isn’t easy, but the’ve made too much noise.

        1. All the more reason why customer cars should be welcomed back into F1. Vendor concerns himself with the technical nitty-gritty and Teams concentrate on racing! Imagine, if RedBull were ‘officially’ allowed to help TorroRosso, we would have had so much closer racing. After all, at the end of the day, who really cares if a driver put his finger in a hole to enable f-duct( 2009 ), if and despite that, the only action on the track was the noise grunted out by the cars, with very rare spots of actual racing!
          Caterham and the other new teams seem to be taking two steps backwards for every one step forward, and because a team like ForceIndia bought their way into an existing setup, it was relatively easier for them to make the transition, the same effect a customer concept will replicate. But then again, maybe F1 is no longer a sport, it’s only business now :-(

          1. F1 is still a sport, I wouldn’t worry about that.

            Yes, undoubtedly we would see closer racing with customer cars, however, your ‘who cares’ point about things like the f-duct is a bit contradictory. That’s the kind of innovation that does provide a significant advantage.

    14. Fastest lap nr. 36 for Kimi in his career. :)

      1. Glad to see he’s still got it. A great race for Kimi, only overshadowed by Alonso and Perez.

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