2012 Chinese Grand Prix pit stops

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 ?��?�5,000 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

	Driver	Team	Pit stop time	Gap	On lap
1	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	20.024		38
2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	20.051	0.027	41
3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	20.136	0.112	27
4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	20.177	0.153	38
5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	20.250	0.226	18
6	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	20.296	0.272	12
7	Mark Webber	Red Bull	20.377	0.353	21
8	Paul di Resta	Force India	20.387	0.363	11
9	Mark Webber	Red Bull	20.471	0.447	34
10	Mark Webber	Red Bull	20.474	0.450	6
11	Jenson Button	McLaren	20.474	0.450	24
12	Jenson Button	McLaren	20.563	0.539	11
13	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	20.645	0.621	34
14	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	20.691	0.667	22
15	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	20.903	0.879	10
16	Paul di Resta	Force India	21.006	0.982	32
17	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	21.012	0.988	25
18	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	21.027	1.003	30
19	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	21.113	1.089	13
20	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	21.146	1.122	31
21	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	21.184	1.160	11
22	Bruno Senna	Williams	21.184	1.160	12
23	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	21.229	1.205	33
24	Bruno Senna	Williams	21.323	1.299	29
25	Timo Glock	Marussia	21.327	1.303	18
26	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus	21.433	1.409	10
27	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	21.449	1.425	9
28	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus	21.494	1.470	28
29	Timo Glock	Marussia	21.515	1.491	36
30	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	21.551	1.527	9
31	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	21.569	1.545	11
32	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	21.746	1.722	12
33	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	21.795	1.771	38
34	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	21.851	1.827	10
35	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	21.884	1.860	17
36	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	22.007	1.983	29
37	Charles Pic	Marussia	22.306	2.282	19
38	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	22.318	2.294	33
39	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	22.531	2.507	41
40	Sergio Perez	Sauber	22.565	2.541	35
41	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	22.606	2.582	28
42	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	22.713	2.689	12
43	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	22.835	2.811	11
44	Sergio Perez	Sauber	23.009	2.985	16
45	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	23.151	3.127	32
46	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	23.488	3.464	31
47	Charles Pic	Marussia	23.579	3.555	37
48	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	23.623	3.599	28
49	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	23.634	3.610	17
50	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	24.937	4.913	16
51	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	25.835	5.811	32
52	Jenson Button	McLaren	26.618	6.594	39
53	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	32.407	12.383	9
54	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	37.748	17.724	29
55	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	85.796	65.772	47

2012 Chinese Grand Prix

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Image ?�?� Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

5 comments on “2012 Chinese Grand Prix pit stops”

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. Eggry (@eggry)
  16th April 2012, 2:25
  Indeed
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. 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.
French Steve (@french-steve)
16th April 2012, 17:19
Ferrari is brilliant in pit stops times. A good point for them.