2012 Singapore Grand Prix fastest laps

12 comments on “2012 Singapore Grand Prix fastest laps”

1. 

   @HoHum (@hohum)
   23rd September 2012, 23:51

   I am going to take this opportunity to point out something that seems to have gone without comment all weekend, I ask you what is happening when FORCE INDIA start alongside Alonso on the 3rd. row, ahead of Webber and just behind Vettel, and this on a high downforce lowspeed circuit ? The results prove it was not a fluke, Di Resta finished almost unnoticed exactly where he spent most of the race and qualified, behind Alonso but elevated to 4th. place, and Hulkenberg took the fastest lap. Di Resta and FI should be applauded for this performance. To me it once again illustrates how close the cars are this year, funny tyres or not.
   1. 

      Aditya Banerjee (@chicanef1)
      24th September 2012, 8:34

      Hulkenberg’s fastest lap was due to the fact that he had a puncture towards the end and pitted for options at the fag end, and was able to set quick times while others were struggling with old primes. The only person against whom he was fighting with for fastest lap honours was Kobayashi who too had to pit for damage in the closing stages. Hulkenberg’s fastest lap proves that they were faster than Sauber, nothing else. However di Resta’s performance was really good, although his position was flattered due to failures of other cars and the timing of Safety Car period which helped him to get close to Alonso. However their good performance in high-downforce tracks, something which had plagued them for the last 3 seasons- is impressive and encouraging.
   2. 

      Nickpkr
      24th September 2012, 23:09

      Standard is quite high this season, kobayashi, Massa, done best of fourth too but front row qualys, “younger rookies” several podiums and even a win, a fourth place isn’t exactly quite an accomplishment this year, Glock twelve in the other hands that was pretty awesome !
2. 

   mhop (@mhop)
   24th September 2012, 9:36

   Yes, Di Resta put in another stunning performance yesterday. Very happy for him. The fact that Di Resta clearly excels at this circuit — the “ultimate challenge” for the drivers — shows the depth of his talent. (Last year he also finished a career best 6th here.)

   Another thing that has gone largely unnoticed: I believe the SC actually cost Di Resta a podium place in front of Alonso. If you remember, a few laps before the SC Alonso and Maldonado pitted, but when they came out they were stuck behind the two stoppers and lapping more than 2 seconds a lap slower than Di Resta. Another few laps like that and he would have jumped them in the pitstop. Unfortunately the SC denied him that opportunity.

   Anyway, well done Paul. Scotland is proud of you.
   1. 

      Aditya Banerjee (@chicanef1)
      24th September 2012, 15:05

      Well, the first Safety Car period helped him and the second hindered his progress. Fair enough, mate.
3. 

   Nirupam (@nirupam)
   24th September 2012, 10:10

   The first chart actually shows how good a race Massa had, He lost 52+ sec in lap 1 itself. Even we count out the pit stop time (presuming he would require another one anyway), which in Singapore is something like 30 sec, still there was 22 sec of loss. Now had that not been the case, probably he would have finished in 4th place, Di Resta finished 23 sec ahead of Massa
   1. 

      Casanova (@casanova)
      25th September 2012, 10:49

      But the safety car closed all the gaps up until 15 laps before the end, so it’s not a fair comparison between the two figures really. In fact it says more about Di Resta’s pace that the gap stretched out that far in just the last 15 competitive laps – he must have been more than a second a lap faster.
4. 

   AdrianMorse (@adrianmorse)
   24th September 2012, 10:52

   Just read DiResta’s comments on Autosport (I have a couple more views left on my work computer…) about how the timing of the safety car left him unable to challenge for a better result. Alonso’s second stop would have put him in three-stop territory, and it would have been interesting to see Fernando getting back at a two-stopping DiResta at the end of the race.
5. 

   Mallesh Magdum (@malleshmagdum)
   24th September 2012, 12:47

   I wonder whether not running in Q3 hurt Mercedes’ chances of a better finish
   1. 

      Aditya Banerjee (@chicanef1)
      24th September 2012, 15:07

      Better finish? 5th is a great result for Merc, seeing that their tyres eat themselves up quicker than everybody else(save Petrov, who took five stops and I dunno why).
   2. 

      ubik
      24th September 2012, 15:33

      should have they run they could have (with big maybe) beaten Grosjean and would have destroyed their tires, they would have pitted 2 laps before and loose many positions where overtaking is impossible. Rosberg was ahead in fifth because they didn’t run in Q3, it was very tight when he rejoined ahaed of Grosjean then Kimi. I think it is the best and unexpected result he could had have. Why they did not use soft at the begining has more difficult answers…
6. 

   AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
   24th September 2012, 23:25

   Ha! Look at that gap on the graph from Hulkenberg! Not only did he have fresh tyres but he was running both his and two Sauber front wings!

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