2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix lap charts

Sebastian Vettel avoided a penalty during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by allowing Romain Grosjean to re-pass him after going off the track.

Abu Dhabi 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
Lewis Hamilton	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Mark Webber	2	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	7	7	7	6	6	6	4	4	10	10	9	8	8	8	8
Pastor Maldonado	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	6	11	11	11	10	9	9	9	9	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
Kimi Raikkonen	4	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	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	1	1
Jenson Button	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	4	3	3	3	3	3	2	6	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4
Fernando Alonso	6	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	7	5	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Nico Rosberg	7	12	21	21	21	21	21	20
Felipe Massa	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	5	6	6	10	15	15	14	14	14	14	13	12	12	12	12	9	9	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7
Romain Grosjean	9	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	20	20	20	20	20	20	19	18	18	18	17	16	15	15	14	14	14	14	13	11	10	10	9	7	7	5	5	5	5	5
Nico Hulkenberg	10
Sergio Perez	11	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	6	5	5	5	5	5	3	2	9	9	8	7	7	7	7	12	14	14	14	13	12	12	17	17	17	17	17	17	16	16	15	15	15
Paul di Resta	12	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	21	21	21	21	21	21	20	20	19	19	18	17	16	16	16	15	15	15	14	12	11	11	10	8	8	7	6	6	6	6	5	5	11	11	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Michael Schumacher	13	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	10	8	8	14	13	13	13	13	12	11	11	11	11	8	8	7	8	16	14	13	12	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	11	11	11
Bruno Senna	14	19	17	17	17	17	16	15	15	15	14	14	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	12	11	12	12	12	12	12	9	9	8	8	7	5	5	14	13	13	13	13	10	10	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Kamui Kobayashi	15	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	9	16	14	12	12	12	12	12	11	10	10	10	10	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Daniel Ricciardo	16	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	11	11	11	11	11	11	10	10	10	11	11	11	11	16	16	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	13	12	12	12	11	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Jean-Eric Vergne	17	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	13	15	15	15	15	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	12	10	9	9	8	6	6	6	14	14	14	14	11	11	10	10	9	9	10	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12
Heikki Kovalainen	18	15	13	13	13	13	13	14	14	14	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	13	13	14	15	16	16	16	15	13	13	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	14	13	13	13	12	13	14	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13
Charles Pic	19	17	16	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	17	17	20	20	20	20	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	20	20	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	17	17	17	17
Vitaly Petrov	20	16	15	15	16	16	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	16	16	16	16	19	19	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	19	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	16	16	16	16	15	16	16	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	16	16	16
Timo Glock	21	14	14	14	15	15	15	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	15	15	15	15	16	18	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	18	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	15	15	15	15	14	15	15	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14
Pedro de la Rosa	22	21	20	20	20	20	20	21	19	19	19	19	19	19	18	21	21	21	21	21	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	19	17	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	18	18	18	18	17	17	17	16	16	16	16	16	16	17	17	17	17	17
Narain Karthikeyan	23	18	19	19	19	19	19	19
Sebastian Vettel	24	20	18	16	14	14	14	13	13	12	12	12	12	11	21	19	17	17	15	15	12	11	11	10	10	8	7	7	7	5	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3

There has already been much debate on how fortunate Vettel was to finish on the podium, behind title rival Alonso, having started in the pits.

It’s worth noting that both drivers benefited from events outside their control. It’s likely neither would have finished on the podium had it not been for Lewis Hamilton’s retirement with a fuel pressure problem and Pastor Maldonado’s KERS failure during the first safety car period.

As the chart above shows Vettel made a string of passes during his ascent through the field including three on lap 16 alone. However the third of these, on Romain Grosjean, was completed with all four of his wheels off the track at turn ten.

Vettel was stung by this in Germany when he passed Jenson Button with all four wheels off the track and received a penalty after the race which dropped him from second to fifth.

Red Bull were not about to get in trouble a second time and race engineer Guillaume Rocquelin was quick to tell Vettel to “give position back to Grosjean now”.

He complied before the lap was over, then re-passed Grosjean on the very next lap, this time for good. This was a vital move for Vettel on a car which was quick enough to win the race, which was also on soft tyres that were little older than his.

Abu Dhabi 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
Lewis Hamilton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mark Webber	4.247	3.207	4.252	5.361	6.014	6.793	7.512	8.315	7.357	2.979	2.856	3.003	3.189	2.49	5.092	6.332	7.001	7.947	8.623	5.905	7.046	9.081	15.99	17.121	18.209	19.57	19.739	20.289	22.506	24.089	40.114	20.828	22.103	23.506	25.343	26.899	28.774
Pastor Maldonado	2.753	1.678	2.813	3.673	4.212	4.935	5.45	5.922	1.793	1.583	1.783	1.684	1.593	1.529	2.62	3.908	5.05	6.019	7.19	4.651	6.477	8.238	10.614	13.019	13.955	15.153	16.353	18.956	23.536	43.216	41.797	23.781	24.933	26.249	27.458	28.301	29.782	32.601	39.992	12.458	2.707	2.859	4.668	5.749	6.513	7.717	8.296	8.935	9.368	10.28	10.97	11.637	12.262	13.226	13.007
Kimi Raikkonen	1.408	0.898	1.965	2.398	2.536	3.075	3.571	3.839	0.873	0.772	0.896	0.76	0.801	0.806	1.612	2.33	2.692	3.093	3.442	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	0	0	0
Jenson Button	4.859	4.155	5.158	6.175	7.042	7.838	8.998	9.805	10.183	3.94	3.856	3.945	3.689	2.961	5.824	7.358	8.123	8.896	9.708	6.761	7.712	9.787	11.253	11.803	11.887	11.935	11.944	12.447	13.595	30.751	27.836	8.375	8.803	9.148	9.516	9.706	9.913	9.847	15.463	2.237	1.11	1.608	2.799	3.637	3.955	4.522	4.648	5.015	5.34	5.415	5.144	7.053	7.441	7.806	7.787
Fernando Alonso	3.55	2.354	3.528	4.497	5.067	5.665	6.462	7.525	5.468	2.113	2.224	2.32	2.257	2.427	4.406	5.524	6.115	7.041	8.088	5.326	5.487	5.793	6.253	6.741	6.869	7.259	7.715	10.641	29.751	29.655	26.971	7.425	7.926	8.316	8.671	8.826	9.053	8.724	9.246	1.586	0.587	0.954	1.94	2.563	3.014	3.248	3.02	2.828	2.217	2.029	1.752	1.485	1.082	1.25	0.852
Nico Rosberg	9.303	35.817	36.58	37.368	37.948	39.743	41.822
Felipe Massa	5.507	4.995	6.237	7.482	8.244	9.037	10.297	11.295	11.66	4.456	4.555	4.668	4.456	3.705	6.515	8.722	9.827	11.077	12.072	9.408	10.289	11.424	13.023	16.327	17.637	31.158	50.516	50.776	50.357	49.962	47.938	28.98	30.256	31.466	32.822	34.125	35.314	37.199	46.524	18.579	4.306	4.434	6.831	8.429	9.608	11.271	12.852	14.071	15.204	16.871	17.82	18.96	20.167	21.73	22.896
Romain Grosjean	33.631	56.832	58.027	59.013	59.392	60.551	61.523	67.445	71.424	38.867	17.09	18.832	16.223	11.906	16.242	20.666	23.603	26.76	28.737	26.11	27.373	28.604	29.777	31.309	32.489	33.904	34.926	35.921	36.145	36.891	35.985	17.922	19.656	21.502	23.245	24.643	27.045
Nico Hulkenberg
Sergio Perez	7.803	6.69	7.89	8.995	9.467	10.244	11.323	12.104	12.819	5.515	5.325	5.627	5.097	4.156	7.12	9.346	10.616	11.791	12.944	10.223	11.063	12.201	13.658	14.936	15.558	16.285	17.284	19.22	20.279	22.396	38.439	19.806	21.368	23.006	24.872	26.512	28.312	53.43	89.846	42.243	10.018	9.148	11.103	14.946	42.092	43.064	43.746	45.479	46.07	47.452	49.025	50.82	52.651	53.502	56.768
Paul di Resta	58.052	82.932	84.544	86.148	87.211	88.577	90.102	104.032	108.818	76.085	28.068	19.775	16.877	12.507	17.279	21.445	24.239	27.397	29.818	27.863	29.39	30.775	32.312	33.761	34.874	36.12	37.051	38.007	38.326	38.765	37.295	19.175	20.872	22.492	24.366	25.897	27.832	30.251	37.823	21.183	7.07	6.404	9.032	11.345	12.45	13.319	14.772	15.956	16.838	18.509	19.39	20.45	21.574	23.212	24.16
Michael Schumacher	8.336	8.01	9.773	11.526	13.002	14.521	15.977	17.489	15.659	7.91	7.195	8.331	7.435	5.441	8.596	11.221	12.856	14.908	18.148	15.708	17.078	18.528	19.879	21.752	24.29	26.415	29.94	49.126	48.908	48.792	46.691	27.905	29.44	30.721	32.127	33.415	34.393	36.359	44.202	15.654	4.736	11.551	13.623	15.477	16.038	17.621	19.209	21.922	22.822	23.841	24.191	25.066	25.854	26.882	28.075
Bruno Senna	14.099	16.261	19.954	23.945	27.116	29.749	32.02	33.717	36.597	12.813	11.27	12.825	10.583	7.179	11.423	14.811	17.612	20.002	22.562	20.565	22.932	24.704	26.641	28.256	29.71	31.14	31.891	32.61	32.791	33.35	31.879	14.618	37.655	38.429	38.853	39.412	40.042	41.01	49.081	19.101	5.239	4.938	7.533	9.04	10.29	12.089	13.527	15.094	15.819	17.604	18.516	19.585	20.873	22.478	23.542
Kamui Kobayashi	6.436	5.817	7.403	10.452	11.78	13.246	14.545	16.012	14.603	6.475	6.136	7.291	5.847	5.082	8.114	10.568	12.162	14.169	15.94	13.797	15.333	16.828	18.216	20.324	23.492	42.714	44.835	46.2	46.076	46.461	44.656	25.926	27.188	28.359	29.434	30.529	31.804	34.318	41.96	14.472	3.444	3.895	5.958	7.576	8.815	10.289	11.641	13.154	14.07	15.532	16.17	17.331	18.571	19.705	20.076
Daniel Ricciardo	9.041	8.958	10.948	12.772	14.517	16.257	18.052	19.66	19.805	8.948	8.606	9.31	8.558	6.12	9.564	12.337	14.195	16.025	18.856	16.923	18.897	20.829	23.959	25.779	27.438	31.821	53.706	55.223	56.027	57.058	55.603	37.22	39.454	42.145	44.398	45.854	47.782	54.155	65.357	22.697	8.116	7.243	9.797	13.06	14.003	15.367	16.53	17.769	18.932	20.585	21.621	22.972	24.382	26.085	27.463
Jean-Eric Vergne	9.38	9.591	11.687	13.525	15.575	17.549	19.558	21.276	25.255	14.255	12.914	13.92	11.943	7.903	12.031	15.512	18.246	20.675	24.05	23.71	25.225	26.73	28.307	29.755	30.935	32.397	33.517	34.652	35.354	36.199	34.883	16.99	20.432	40.842	41.926	43.206	44.358	47.219	53.968	20.44	6.468	5.838	8.469	12.633	15.245	17.144	18.618	21.464	24.541	26.613	28.198	29.828	31.448	33.063	34.906
Heikki Kovalainen	11.561	12.221	14.62	17.285	19.485	21.866	24.838	27.35	30.519	11.534	10.721	11.976	9.475	6.745	10.732	14.022	16.667	19.297	23.51	23.124	26.365	29.785	33.349	35.919	38.344	40.837	43.018	47.039	70.995	72.318	71.367	53.869	56.485	58.683	61.035	63.384	65.932	73.837	81.9	32.203	8.97	8.741	13.221	17.394	20.006	22.983	25.651	28.579	31.159	34.014	36.254	39.18	42.101	45.695	47.764
Charles Pic	13.054	15.897	21.024	24.958	28.6	32.21	36.146	39.79	45.407	18.668	15.619	16.927	14.03	10.541	15.854	22.805	26.934	30.853	34.724	34.486	38.052	41.659	44.948	48.37	51.902	56.691	80.108	82.991	85.389	87.524	87.714	70.977	74.001	76.839	79.998	83.361	86.738	102.152	113.595	65.987	26.04
Vitaly Petrov	12.189	15.386	19.04	23.471	26.745	30.842	34.505	39.033	44.186	17.223	14.621	15.789	13.399	9.468	14.925	19.171	22.803	28.944	32.858	32.824	36.151	39.629	43.451	47.442	50.957	54.327	59.618	82.043	84.347	86.252	86.389	69.725	72.886	75.672	78.901	81.944	85.303	99.994	109.797	61.018	16.155	11.145	16.822	20.919	24.354	27.781	31.215	34.895	38.564	42.414	45.907	50.485	55.4	59.916	64.595
Timo Glock	11.249	14.627	18.24	22.962	26.086	29.416	34.033	38.131	42.78	16.819	13.764	14.986	12.605	8.958	14.371	18.496	22.031	26.385	31.251	31.436	35.093	38.866	42.165	45.405	48.576	51.753	56.889	78.523	80.094	81.423	80.781	63.516	66.215	68.555	70.828	73.4	76.524	88.767	98.227	52.339	10.749	10.567	16.201	19.658	22.545	25.711	29.252	33.085	36.481	40.021	43.321	46.447	49.834	52.936	56.473
Pedro de la Rosa	22.086	23.39	27.404	31.75	35.389	39.416	43.939	50.598	55.863	19.338	16.362	17.865	15.033	11.61	19.104	24.758	29.228	33.411	37.989	38.463	42.928	46.86	50.98	55.016	58.716	62.573	66.491	71.739	95.503	97.589	97.912	81.282	85.06	88.535	91.65	94.862	98.211	118.381	129.352	86.511	41.193	13.209	18.323	22.6	27.091	31.219	34.794	38.745	42.453	46.918	51.858	58.176	62.618	67.834	71.778
Narain Karthikeyan	13.736	18.149	23.046	27.521	31.408	35.221	39.748
Sebastian Vettel	15.132	16.774	19.433	21.042	21.731	22.526	23.19	23.755	24.895	9.725	9.578	10.291	8.229	12.872	16.606	19.705	23.075	23.796	24.531	21.247	21.695	22.114	22.199	22.435	22.613	22.831	22.679	22.751	23.149	23.252	20.597	1.451	2.086	2.777	3.63	4.1	6.35	24.4	29.875	3.329	2.212	2.132	3.388	4.362	4.478	5.448	5.539	5.92	6.224	6.455	6.128	5.863	5.698	5.103	4.163

As noted in the pre-race analysis, if you’re a driver in a quick car starting at the back of the field a safety car deployment is what you want.

That was the case for Vettel in Abu Dhabi just as it was for Schumacher in Belgium last year and Alonso in Monaco the year before.

In Vettel’s case the two safety car periods fell very nicely, saving him around 12 and 26 seconds respectively. Without the second safety car period it’s extremely unlikely he would have finished on the podium – he was set for fourth place without it.

Had he been able to get past Button more quickly in the final stint, the race could have ended with a three-way battle for the lead between him, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso.

2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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17 comments on “2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix lap charts”

jonchuckle (@jonchuckle)
5th November 2012, 11:03

Are you working for Total now, Keith? ;)
1. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  5th November 2012, 11:06
  
  @jonchuckle And Renault. And Pirelli….
  1. jonchuckle (@jonchuckle)
    5th November 2012, 11:12
    
    I knew it!
Anonymouse
5th November 2012, 12:25

I too like gRomain Grosejan
Estesark (@estesark)
5th November 2012, 12:48

Hang on a moment. Everyone is saying Vettel raced from 24th to 3rd, and that’s what the lap chart on this page indicates. But looking at this picture, it’s clear that Vettel started ahead of one other car – that of Pedro de la Rosa, who also lined up in the pit lane. Was he ever actually in 24th position?
1. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  5th November 2012, 12:50
  
  @Estesark That very point is addressed in the stats and facts article which has just gone up:
  
  Lotus take 80th Grand Prix win after 25 years
  1. Estesark (@estesark)
    5th November 2012, 13:01
    
    @keithcollantine Thanks! Looks like that was published just as I was writing my comment.
Cosmas (@cosmas)
5th November 2012, 13:27

What really pops up in the second graph is Vettel’s flat line from lap 16 to 30 meaning he laped as quick as the Leader (Raikkonen) despite having to deal with traffic and overtaking. These 15 laps played in my view the biggest role in Vettel’s phenomenal success to finish on the podium. He gained 19 places in these laps , without those gained because some people in front of him pited earlier ( i think 7) means he did 12 overtakes in that period.
1. scarlet
  5th November 2012, 18:01
  
  This is the crux of why Vettel jumped all the faster midfield cars. His driving and his Red Bull on the new soft tyres were fast enough to allow him to pass Di Resta and Grosjean, who held up the rest of the pack once they’d stopped onto mediums. Once he got past Vergne who jumped out of his way, and a slow down the straights Senna, he also didn’t really encounter much more cars because they all pitted out of the way in time, besides Schumacher, who was around a second and a half of a lap slower than the leaders.
  1. Cosmas (@cosmas)
    6th November 2012, 13:52
    
    Its really noteworthy how some people reading the numbers under their colored sunglasses. What about the 8 first laps when he drove with the harder compound? didn’t he overtook then? What about the extra pit stop he made? Didn’t he loose places and time then?
    He choose a setup with higher top speed for easier overtaking sacrificing absolute laptime yet he could keep the rhythm of the leaders. Is that so easy for you ?
    A setup which he never tried in practice?
sumedh
5th November 2012, 13:55

I think Grosjean’s and Di Resta’s performance dictated a number of strategies here. They were not fast enough to hold Vettel up but fast enough to ensure that whoever pitted came out behind them. And as they had pitted during the SC, they didn’t need to pit. This meant that Perez, Kamui, Michael, Webber, Felipe could not make use of the fresher tyres to make inroads into Vettel’s lead.

Vettel made most of this opportunity though. He was behind them, overtook them and a bunch of other cars to build enough lead that he had a gap of a pitstop to Grosjean. And this gap he built was not due to “luck”, it was just his speed.
Atomic Wolf (@atomicwolf)
5th November 2012, 16:23

Sebastian Vettel avoided a penalty during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by allowing Romain Grosjean to re-pass him after going off the track.

I didn’t actually see this “re-pass” when watching on the beeb. DID Vettel ACTUALLY let Grosjean re-pass him ??
1. sumedh
  5th November 2012, 17:20
  
  On Sky, I only saw Vettel’s illegal pass.
  But I did see that he was behind Grosjean a short while after that.
  And then I did see that he was ahead of Vettel.
  
  But I didn’t see any of the other two passes. Then again, I dont think they were exciting to watch.
  1. Atomic Wolf (@atomicwolf)
    6th November 2012, 13:03
    
    Thanx very much, I’ll let him off then, lol
Himmat
6th November 2012, 4:55

You make a fair point of Maldonado. He was losing 4 tenths a lap after the first SC. Safe to say considering his OK pace even without it, he’d have held on to second at the very least, and maybe even trouble RAI as he had the best straightline speed.
1. Himmat
  6th November 2012, 4:58
  
  Due to the KERS problem that is.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
8th November 2012, 18:15

Raikkonen was really able to take advantage of that clean air that Hamilton left him. Hamilton absolutely had this one in the bag before his car failed him.