2012 European Grand Prix lap charts

Three of the top four finishers all started outside of the top ten: Fernando Alonso won from 11th, Michael Schumacher went from 12th to third and Mark Webber finished behind him having started 19th.

Here’s how they did it.

European Grand Prix lap chart

The positions of each driver on every lap. Use the control below to show/hide different drivers:

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

	0	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	57
Sebastian Vettel	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Lewis Hamilton	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	9	8	7	5	5	5	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	5	6	6	6	6	6	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4
Pastor Maldonado	3	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	12	12	12	12	12	10	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	7	10	10	10	10	10	8	8	8	6	6	6	6	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	7	10
Romain Grosjean	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Kimi Raikkonen	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	9	10	10	10	10	8	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2
Nico Rosberg	6	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	5	4	4	3	4	5	12	13	13	12	12	11	10	9	8	7	7	7	7	8	11	12	13	12	11	11	11	9	9	9	9	9	13	12	12	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	8	6
Kamui Kobayashi	7	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	10	11	11	11	11	9	17	18	18	17	17	15	15	14	13	13	13	13	13	13
Nico Hulkenberg	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	7	13	14	14	14	14	12	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	7	11	11	11	11	11	11	9	9	9	7	7	7	7	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
Jenson Button	9	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	19	19	18	16	15	15	15	15	15	13	10	10	10	9	9	9	13	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	12	11	11	10	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	8
Paul di Resta	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	4	3	3	2	2	3	4	4	5	14	15	14	14	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	10	10	10	9	8	8	8	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	8	8	6	7
Fernando Alonso	11	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	6	3	6	9	9	7	6	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Michael Schumacher	12	12	12	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	12	11	11	11	6	5	6	6	6	17	15	14	14	13	13	12	11	10	9	8	8	8	8	7	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	11	11	11	11	10	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	7	6	6	3	3
Felipe Massa	13	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	16	17	15	14	13	13	13	13	11	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	12	14	14	14	14	14	14	20	20	20	20	20	20	19	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	17	15	15	15	16	18	18	17	16
Bruno Senna	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	13	12	12	12	7	8	7	7	8	7	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	22	22	21	21	21	21	21	18	17	16	15	15	15	15	14	14	14	14	14	14	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	11
Sergio Perez	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	20	20	19	18	16	16	16	16	16	14	11	11	11	10	10	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	13	13	12	11	10	10	10	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	9	9	9	9	9
Heikki Kovalainen	16	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	19	17	17	21	21	20	20	20	19	19	19	18	17	17	18	18	17	17	21	21	20	20	20	20	20	17	18	18	17	16	16	16	15	15	15	15	15	15	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	15	14	14
Daniel Ricciardo	17	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	14	13	13	13	18	18	18	17	17	16	13	12	12	11	11	10	9	8	6	4	4	4	4	4	3	5	5	14	14	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	12	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	12	12
Jean-Eric Vergne	18	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	18	18	16	17	17	17	17	20	20	20	19	19	19	19	19	18	18
Mark Webber	19	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	15	14	14	14	11	9	8	8	9	15	16	15	15	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	9	9	9	9	7	7	7	8	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	11	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	8	7	7	4	4
Vitaly Petrov	20	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	18	16	15	15	19	19	19	19	18	18	18	14	16	16	16	16	19	19	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	14	14	14	13	12	12	12	10	10	10	10	12	11	15	18	17	16	16	15	15	15	14	13	13
Pedro de la Rosa	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	20	20	22	21	21	21	21	21	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	18	19	18	18	18	18	18	15	15	15	16	17	17	17	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	15	18	18	18	18	17	17	18	17
Narain Karthikeyan	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	21	22	23	23	23	23	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	20	18	22	22	22	22	22	19	19	19	19	19	19	20	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	18
Charles Pic	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	22	22	22	22	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	19	20	19	19	19	19	19	16	16	17	18	18	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	16	16	17	17	17	16	16	16	15	15

Alonso owed his progress in the race to several things: a good start, rapid pit work by Ferrari, his own overtaking prowess – and a ready supply of unused tyres due to his exit in the second part of qualifying.

He passed Button off the line, and took Rosberg and Di Resta in turns four and five. Hulkenberg was dispensed with on lap 12.

Quick pit stops got him ahead of two rivals who might have proved especially hard to pass: Raikkonen at his first stop, Hamilton at his second – the latter thanks to more problems for McLaren on pit lane.

In between the two Alonso made light work of passing Webber, Senna and Schumacher in little more than one lap in a quite superb piece of driving.

Having inherited third from Hamilton, he nailed Grosjean with an opportunistic pass for second after the restart. It was Vettel’s retirement which ultimately handed him the lead, but Alonso and his team’s graft won him every other place he gained.

European Grand Prix race chart

The gaps between each driver on every lap. Use the control below to show/hide different drivers:

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	57
Sebastian Vettel	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lewis Hamilton	1.969	4.002	5.386	6.836	7.613	8.508	9.202	9.691	10.113	12.381	13.834	15.284	30.116	36.479	36.922	27.649	17.972	19.882	21.798	22.908	24.066	25.111	26.556	27.831	28.87	29.772	30.647	63.098	57.604	12.809	4.395	4.82	1.725	2.085	1.6	1.709	1.892	2.561	2.731	3.444	3.903	3.585	3.784	3.92	3.717	3.938	4.276	4.266	4.217	3.611	3.504	3.524	3.757	4.58	8.655
Pastor Maldonado	4.535	6.476	7.678	8.61	10.236	11.52	12.403	13.289	13.69	14.63	16.194	18.497	21.455	39.47	44.013	33.834	24.262	29.026	34.118	37.725	38.198	38.075	39.855	40.289	40.705	41.393	41.697	67.905	64.195	18.84	8.454	8.229	3.148	4.327	4.663	6.485	8.692	9.108	9.335	9.763	10.204	9.9	10.156	10.174	10.265	10.556	10.871	10.542	10.128	9.449	8.73	8.285	7.88	7.561	8.652	22.817	34.63
Romain Grosjean	2.744	4.418	6.001	7.397	8.205	9.162	9.89	10.527	10.562	11.476	11.976	12.551	13.691	14.458	15.293	21.053	15.81	17.541	18.734	19.036	19.971	20.321	20.695	20.806	20.55	20.247	19.067	41.925	35.585	5.886	1.425	0.968	0.391	0.86	0.589	0.71	0.732	0.742	0.694	1.465
Kimi Raikkonen	5.088	7.517	8.739	9.427	10.839	12.212	13.087	14.302	14.34	15.16	16.716	18.892	20.256	37.354	41.721	32.492	23.709	27.764	33.009	34.586	35.261	35.557	36.959	37.379	37.4	37.23	36.953	61.234	55.634	11.772	3.341	3.946	1.623	2.39	2.562	2.359	2.763	3.281	3.401	3.976	4.841	4.613	4.491	4.502	4.378	4.447	4.907	4.952	5.328	5.024	4.484	4.256	4.333	5.267	7.451	7.486	6.421
Nico Rosberg	8.531	11.155	13.307	14.881	17.019	19.116	20.879	22.6	24.072	26.121	27.723	28.982	30.278	31.488	32.236	23.785	15.458	19.314	23.225	40.536	47.265	48.835	50.467	52.208	53.474	54.514	55.363	68.475	59.034	17.054	4.609	5.599	2.385	5.905	8.37	11.023	12.812	15.069	16.36	17.596	18.82	19.173	20.682	21.604	22.486	37.207	43.013	43.657	42.159	39.419	36.839	34.267	31.751	28.585	26.136	24.794	21.176
Kamui Kobayashi	4.013	5.055	6.434	7.98	9.009	10.121	11.06	11.888	12.326	13.445	15.096	16.84	18.926	37.848	42.877	33.073	24.002	28.444	33.816	57.01	62.795	62.889	63.97	64.543	65.487	65.868	65.723	80.758	72.203	21.616	10.532	10.555	4.339
Nico Hulkenberg	6.1	7.7	9.813	10.793	12.101	13.616	15.332	16.683	17.591	19.086	20.639	23.324	24.879	42.132	47.408	37.902	28.082	29.804	35.091	38.692	40.405	41.572	43.154	44.828	46.429	47.666	48.9	72.779	65.2	19.621	9.154	9.089	3.676	4.676	5.127	6.83	9.065	9.977	10.32	10.88	11.603	11.569	12.468	12.739	12.66	12.821	13.428	13.562	13.555	12.967	12.67	12.899	13.426	14.229	15.836	18.353	19.993
Jenson Button	9.571	12.64	14.291	15.493	17.487	19.688	21.624	23.631	25.075	40.649	46.029	46.66	47.405	48.244	48.468	39.355	29.354	31.113	35.671	39.798	41.243	42.613	44.275	45.924	47.544	62.377	67.169	84.871	75.462	28.033	12.256	11.831	4.911	6.235	6.957	8.747	10.356	12.542	13.845	15.949	17.379	17.898	19.083	20.202	20.903	21.618	22.44	22.629	24.382	24.137	23.797	23.469	23.724	24.124	24.488	25.651	24.653
Paul di Resta	7.259	9.58	11.515	13.257	15.09	17.087	18.928	20.427	21.391	22.714	24.054	25.46	26.852	28.457	29.58	21.437	13.284	16.726	20.797	24.797	29.392	34.879	56.254	63.166	64.475	65.077	65.124	79.462	66.574	20.131	9.865	9.98	4.232	5.182	5.846	7.409	9.436	10.959	12.001	13.159	13.872	13.806	14.415	14.772	14.565	15.064	15.464	15.496	15.507	15.409	15.394	15.485	16.463	18.231	20.346	22.619	22.866
Fernando Alonso	6.702	8.684	10.368	11.739	13.255	14.994	16.308	17.55	18.186	19.575	21.106	22.33	22.714	23.199	36.811	31.88	22.964	26.087	28.698	29.487	30.228	31.464	32.489	33.417	34.023	34.462	34.31	56.517	51.995	9.644	2.053	1.795	0.493	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Michael Schumacher	9.172	11.884	14.951	16.516	18.723	20.886	22.759	24.65	26.316	28.264	30.211	31.818	33.458	35.063	36.529	29.204	21.674	25.996	46.553	53.468	54.641	55.134	55.888	56.589	57.296	57.485	57.028	69.739	60.61	17.708	6.936	7.035	2.38	3.151	3.965	5.71	6.392	6.874	7.226	7.994	22.473	26.984	26.275	26.209	25.997	25.148	24.353	23.406	22.782	20.66	18.667	16.972	16.854	15.537	16.148	17.095	12.639
Felipe Massa	7.905	10.079	11.885	13.895	15.571	17.674	19.778	21.236	22.774	24.531	40.317	45.932	46.416	46.442	46.307	36.592	26.767	29.122	34.679	38.057	39.653	40.863	42.614	44.302	45.833	47.198	62.279	83.246	73.971	25.901	11.39	11.249	4.348	57.369	62.631	62.544	62.909	63.948	64.707	65.607	66.986	67.201	68.215	68.804	69.485	70.981	73.003	74.552	78.359	79.594	81.494	84.06	101.297	106.788	110.027	111.663
Bruno Senna	10.087	14.29	16.883	18.714	20.88	22.745	24.711	26.91	28.266	30.068	31.635	33.338	34.602	35.995	38.026	29.986	22.105	26.857	32.848	105.527	112.994	114.353	116.102	126.417	133.275	135.362	145.688	170.555	163.981	157.748	110.192	68.581	32.459	32.285	33.012	34.273	35.639	36.749	37.84	38.973	39.927	40.084	40.931	40.903	40.891	41.176	42.716	43.167	43.718	42.658	42.012	41.305	40.987	40.136	39.526	39.17	35.961
Sergio Perez	10.349	14.988	17.173	19.145	21.282	23.224	25.042	27.46	28.676	45.46	50.192	49.22	48.86	49.32	49.302	39.877	30.087	31.74	36.044	40.479	41.947	43.358	45.23	47.647	65.95	70.984	70.26	85.444	76.133	29.029	12.925	12.418	5.618	6.747	8.541	9.489	10.544	13.012	14.036	16.472	16.967	16.362	16.08	15.74	15.346	15.71	16.089	16.215	16.156	15.799	16.007	16.651	19.093	20.708	22.779	24.878	27.777
Heikki Kovalainen	11.839	16.54	19.533	21.652	24.211	26.824	29.382	31.889	35.333	38.206	40.873	59.034	65.62	67.339	67.877	59.143	49.986	52.56	54.941	57.706	60.151	62.127	65.938	68.245	70.519	73.095	136.031	164.342	162.823	154.644	109.491	67.894	30.312	31.302	33.753	36.175	38.108	40.265	42.095	43.723	45.57	46.676	48.242	49.789	51.394	53.537	56.326	58.397	60.964	62.982	65.41	68.497	72.491	76.504	83.083	89.461	94.654
Daniel Ricciardo	10.965	15.528	17.835	19.896	21.988	24.032	25.724	28.135	29.561	31.364	33.042	34.502	35.895	53.91	59.567	49.58	40.035	41.423	42.643	44.062	45.357	46.148	47.325	48.433	50.072	51.186	51.865	64.466	55.164	10.952	2.771	2.707	1.192	1.616	3.473	5.227	24.288	31.538	32.116	32.58	32.961	32.249	32.374	31.909	31.593	32.335	47.451	47.749	47.463	46.113	45.275	44.567	43.708	42.66	41.873	40.765	37.041
Jean-Eric Vergne	13.212	17.59	21.518	24.684	27.454	30.016	32.258	34.713	36.935	39.477	42.09	44.889	48.245	51.268	53.796	46.658	55.147	63.614	65.436	66.932	68.14	68.643	69.744	70.789	71.989	73.564
Mark Webber	11.504	16.138	18.67	20.871	22.865	25.1	26.736	29.12	30.527	32.503	34.15	35.728	36.98	37.985	38.761	30.69	22.758	27.426	42.423	54.179	55.768	56.176	56.712	57.507	58.072	58.721	58.851	72.055	63.422	18.604	7.799	7.771	2.691	3.95	4.518	6.076	9.166	20.661	29.909	28.96	27.983	27.611	27.244	26.941	26.851	26.131	25.468	24.212	23.468	21.708	19.605	17.591	17.327	16.719	16.64	17.272	13.628
Vitaly Petrov	12.563	16.966	20.305	22.722	25.373	27.687	30.02	32.573	34.856	37.251	39.63	42.414	59.638	65.22	65.263	56.141	46.589	48.657	50.445	53.157	56.669	58.642	60.817	63.832	82.162	88.367	90.108	127.056	107.764	57.744	15.106	14.495	6.568	8.251	9.394	11.576	13.746	15.881	17.659	19.722	21.625	22.587	24.32	25.953	29.533	31.842	68.088	74.92	79.241	79.736	81.683	82.262	81.436	80.36	79.901	78.735	75.871
Pedro de la Rosa	13.941	18.536	22.342	26.092	29.916	33.769	37.483	41.321	44.907	48.928	53.634	57.988	62.712	86.586	93.809	85.684	77.178	80.105	83.377	86.561	89.593	92.572	95.852	99.918	104.416	109.659	114.317	158.07	161.257	152.62	108.405	66.13	28.519	29.468	30.905	33.186	37.268	41.111	44.513	47.701	50.681	52.91	56.138	59.663	62.537	65.683	69.848	73.628	80.222	84.893	89.308	93.822	98.445	103.45	112.753	120.716
Narain Karthikeyan	14.543	19.414	24.291	28.312	32.417	37.377	41.354	47.033	51.259	55.498	60.023	64.794	70.117	76.487	98.164	99.485	92.169	95.976	99.207	102.002	106.477	109.523	113.008	116.445	119.807	122.677	133.705	152.603	180.118	166.218	127.488	79.385	38.895	40.116	41.614	44.134	46.933	49.967	62.65	72.974	75.466	77.162	79.955	82.607	85.259	87.908	90.516	92.846	94.942	96.947	99.288	102.086	107.019	111.476	121.22	129.983
Charles Pic	15.226	20.234	25.509	29.519	33.702	38.094	42.017	48.037	52.101	56.35	86.532	93.916	95.459	97.316	98.596	90.834	82.688	85.931	88.983	91.822	94.948	97.761	100.771	103.815	108.264	111.451	114.837	158.469	162.125	153.905	109.076	67.674	29.781	30.716	32.685	35.601	39.255	42.218	45.164	48.572	51.679	53.881	56.774	60.085	63.217	66.265	70.338	73.894	79.093	82.082	84.253	86.643	88.859	91.261	94.17	96.328	96.551

Schumacher made a less promising start from one place behind Alonso. The highest starter on the medium tyres, he held position to begin with, then slipped behind Button.

He ran longer than most in the first stint (though not quite as long as his team mate did on softs, Mercedes evidently not struggling with their rears) and when the safety car came out Mercedes were one of several teams to leave their drivers out.

In a 22-lap stint on softs, Schumacher ran as high as fifth before making his final pit stop with 16 laps to go. His pace in this final stint was such that even Ferrari had their eye on him, wary of a repeat of Canada.

He didn’t get quite that far but, with Webber following in his wheel tracks, he took Petrov, Button, Perez, Di Resta and Hulkenberg.

Had Maldonado and Hamilton not tangled, would Schumacher have caught the McLaren? The sudden loss of pace suffered by Hamilton on lap 55 – when he was 3.5s slower than Schumacher – suggests he might have.

The race chart also reveals Vettel’s lead peaked at 20.81s on lap 24 – almost the time it takes to make a pit stop.

Grosjean had begun to reverse the time loss before the safety car came out, cutting Vettel’s lead to 19s, but it’s far from certain Vettel would have allowed this progress to go unchecked any longer.

2012 European Grand Prix

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13 comments on “2012 European Grand Prix lap charts”

mostcool (@mostcool)
24th June 2012, 22:09
looking at Webber and Shumacher’s charts during the race, it’s like they are twins, or Webber had his car connected to Shumacher’s nearly all through the race.
1. Damon (@damon)
  24th June 2012, 22:27
  It also shows Schumacher was fending off Webber/an RBR for almost 40 laps and did a magnificent job right to the finish line making zero mistakes. A fantastic performance.
2. sumedh
  25th June 2012, 9:19
  Was about to post the same. Really happy for the two old guys as well
3. Can'tTurnBackTime(MW)
  25th June 2012, 19:57
  It was pure speed with clinical and synchronized overtaking just beautiful.
4. AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
  25th June 2012, 23:31
  @mostcool Well spotted! Really weird but cool.
5. Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
  25th June 2012, 23:56
  Yep, sounds like Michael had him covered all the way. His best drive since he came back, for me. Webber has a few words about it on the Red Bull site:
  Michael Schumacher was conserving his tyres at the start of that final stint and I got pretty close to him on a couple of occasions – but he’s not in his first grand prix and it’s not easy to pass into Turn 10.
the_sigman (@sigman1998)
25th June 2012, 8:24
I am thinking was the right strategy what Schumacher and Webber did?
1. Tom (@newdecade)
  25th June 2012, 23:04
  It only worked due to the safety car…. By lap 27 they were almost a minute behind Vettel, 30 off the podium. Fortunately overtaking was possible this time so they werent punished too much by being out of sync.
shaggymike (@shaggymike)
25th June 2012, 11:17
What happened to rosberg at the restart? They didn’t show in the tv coverage
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
25th June 2012, 13:56
What happened on lap 16? Grosjean lost like 6 seconds to Vettel :O? Yellow flag or something?
1. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  25th June 2012, 14:21
  @fer-no65 They both pitted on lap 16, so it’ll be caused by Vettel coming in and resuming in the lead, beginning a new lap, while Grosjean comes out and then has to get up to speed.
  1. Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
    25th June 2012, 15:09
    @keithcollantine Ah, I see… thanks !
andae23 (@andae23)
27th June 2012, 12:35
Thanks for putting in the effort!