2012 Chinese Grand Prix pit stops

2012 Chinese Grand Prix

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Ferrari were the team to beat in the pits just as they were in Australia.

Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa made five visits to the pits and they all ranked among the six quickest of the race – a terrific display of speed and consistency from the Maranello squad.

McLaren’s pit stops were generally good and they won a battle in the pits with Lotus when Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen came in together on lap ten.

But a mistake during Jenson Button’s final pit stop proved very costly. A slow left-rear tyre change cost him around six seconds to Nico Rosberg.

Still, at least McLaren kept him in the pits and got the tyre on – Michael Schumacher’s race ended when he was sent out of the pits with the front-right wheel insufficiently tightened. Mercedes were fined ?óÔÇÜ?¼5,000 for the misdemeanour.

Button wasn’t the only driver to lose time with a slow pit stop. Romain Grosjean lost around five seconds with his stop on lap 38.

He continued to finish sixth, but as he ended the race a second behind Vettel there might have been more on offer.

Chinese Grand Prix pit stop times

DriverTeamPit stop timeGapOn lap
1Fernando AlonsoFerrari20.02438
2Felipe MassaFerrari20.0510.02741
3Fernando AlonsoFerrari20.1360.11227
4Lewis HamiltonMcLaren20.1770.15338
5Felipe MassaFerrari20.2500.22618
6Fernando AlonsoFerrari20.2960.27212
7Mark WebberRed Bull20.3770.35321
8Paul di RestaForce India20.3870.36311
9Mark WebberRed Bull20.4710.44734
10Mark WebberRed Bull20.4740.4506
11Jenson ButtonMcLaren20.4740.45024
12Jenson ButtonMcLaren20.5630.53911
13Nico RosbergMercedes20.6450.62134
14Lewis HamiltonMcLaren20.6910.66722
15Lewis HamiltonMcLaren20.9030.87910
16Paul di RestaForce India21.0060.98232
17Kamui KobayashiSauber21.0120.98825
18Nico HulkenbergForce India21.0271.00330
19Nico RosbergMercedes21.1131.08913
20Sebastian VettelRed Bull21.1461.12231
21Romain GrosjeanLotus21.1841.16011
22Bruno SennaWilliams21.1841.16012
23Pastor MaldonadoWilliams21.2291.20533
24Bruno SennaWilliams21.3231.29929
25Timo GlockMarussia21.3271.30318
26Kimi RaikkonenLotus21.4331.40910
27Sebastian VettelRed Bull21.4491.4259
28Kimi RaikkonenLotus21.4941.47028
29Timo GlockMarussia21.5151.49136
30Kamui KobayashiSauber21.5511.5279
31Pastor MaldonadoWilliams21.5691.54511
32Michael SchumacherMercedes21.7461.72212
33Kamui KobayashiSauber21.7951.77138
34Vitaly PetrovCaterham21.8511.82710
35Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso21.8841.86017
36Vitaly PetrovCaterham22.0071.98329
37Charles PicMarussia22.3062.28219
38Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso22.3182.29433
39Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso22.5312.50741
40Sergio PerezSauber22.5652.54135
41Heikki KovalainenCaterham22.6062.58228
42Heikki KovalainenCaterham22.7132.68912
43Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso22.8352.81111
44Sergio PerezSauber23.0092.98516
45Narain KarthikeyanHRT23.1513.12732
46Pedro de la RosaHRT23.4883.46431
47Charles PicMarussia23.5793.55537
48Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso23.6233.59928
49Pedro de la RosaHRT23.6343.61017
50Narain KarthikeyanHRT24.9374.91316
51Romain GrosjeanLotus25.8355.81132
52Jenson ButtonMcLaren26.6186.59439
53Nico HulkenbergForce India32.40712.3839
54Heikki KovalainenCaterham37.74817.72429
55Heikki KovalainenCaterham85.79665.77247

2012 Chinese Grand Prix

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Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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5 comments on “2012 Chinese Grand Prix pit stops”

  1. Wallbreaker
    15th April 2012, 20:08

    If they were just as fast on track as they are in the pits *sigh* One doesn´t win a race or a championship like this…

    1. Profile Photo

      Eggry (@eggry)
      16th April 2012, 2:25

      Indeed

  2. Profile Photo

    AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
    16th April 2012, 11:40

    I’m not convinced that Button could have put a fight up to Rosberg without his delay. Rosberg was still putting consistently good and often quicker laps away. Kovalainen had it rough. Spent more time in the pits than on track almost!

    It’s encouraging from Ferrari and there will be times this season where their pit stop efficiency bags them points they wouldn’t otherwise score.

    1. Profile Photo

      Hydro (@hydrouk)
      16th April 2012, 13:29

      I think we’ll never really know, just because when Button got onto his fresh set, he was behind traffic which he wouldn’t have been in if his pit stop had gone to plan.

  3. Profile Photo

    French Steve (@french-steve)
    16th April 2012, 17:19

    Ferrari is brilliant in pit stops times. A good point for them.

Comments are closed.