2012 Grand Prix season

[TBWG]

Monaco Practice 1   Joe Saward

Fernando Alonso set the pace in the first practice session in Monte Carlo with a lap that was four-tenths faster than Romain Grosjean’s Lotus and Sergio Perez’s Sauber. Lewis Hamilton was fourth in his McLaren ahead of the Williams of Pastor Maldonado. With five different teams in the top five places it looks as though Monaco will be pretty unpredictable, although it is hard to know what would have changed if the session had not ended six minutes early after Heikki Kovalainen had a very oily and smoky blow-up in the tunnel.

This left plenty of uncertainty, with Felipe Massa sixth, Kamui Kobayashi seventh, Jenson Button eighth, Sebastian Vettel ninth and Nico Rosberg 10th. Michael Schumacher was next ahead of Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India, the Toro Rossos of Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo and Paul di Resta in the second Force India. Bruno Senna was 17th in the second Williams ahead of Kovalainen and his team-mate Vitaly Petrov, Narain Karthikeyan’s HRT, the Marussias of Pic and Glock (in that order), Pedro de la Rosa’s HRT and Kimi Raikkonen, who did only one in and out lap because he wanted to change his steering set-up.


2nd Practice


Jenson Button goes fastest in rain-hit second practice for the Monaco Grand Prix
By Matt Beer    Thursday, May 24th 2012,


Jenson Button was quickest in Thursday afternoon practice for the Monaco Grand Prix, as all the leading positions were set in 15 minutes of early dry running before showers intervened.

All the teams were expecting rain to feature in practice two, which meant a rush of early runs prior to the first precipitation arriving a quarter of an hour in.

By that time, Button's McLaren was on top with a lap in 1m15.746s, 0.392 seconds clear of second-placed Romain Grosjean's Lotus.

The Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso were next up, with Barcelona winner Pastor Maldonado completing the top five for Williams.

Championship leader Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull was back in 10th.

The rain did briefly ease around the half-hour mark, encouraging a few drivers to come back out on slicks, but conditions were far from good enough for quick times, and a second shower came soon after. Although the track dried out again towards the end, even with nearly the full field on the circuit at times, a truly dry line never emerged.

Despite the slippery conditions, everyone managed to avoid the barriers. There were plenty of trips down escape roads, with everyone managing to continue except Heikki Kovalainen, who could not get his Caterham's reverse gear to cooperate after sliding off at Mirabeau.


Pos           Driver                Team                  Time               Laps
 1. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m15.746             14
 2. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m16.138s  + 0.392   17
 3. Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m16.602s  + 0.856   19
 4. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m16.661s  + 0.915   21
 5. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m16.820s  + 1.074   18
 6. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m17.021s  + 1.275   13
 7. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m17.148s  + 1.402   21
 8. Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m17.153s  + 1.407   20
 9. Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m17.293s  + 1.547    9
10. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m17.303s  + 1.557   19
11. Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m17.375s  + 1.629   17
12. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m17.395s  + 1.649   19
13. Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault      1m17.655s  + 1.909   18
14. Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1m17.800s  + 2.054   23
15. Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m18.251s  + 2.505   22
16. Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1m18.440s  + 2.694   23
17. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m18.522s  + 2.776   20
18. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m18.808s  + 3.062   24
19. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m19.267s  + 3.521   23
20. Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1m19.309s  + 3.563   27
21. Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1m20.029s  + 4.283   13
22. Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1m20.240s  + 4.494   19
23. Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1m20.631s  + 4.885   12
24. Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1m20.886s  + 5.140   10

All Timing Unofficial

TBWG

[gotlost]

Ecclestone: Formula One teams agree to race until 2020May 24, 2012 -- Updated 2026 GMT (0426 HKT)
  Ecclestone reveals Concorde AgreementSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone tells CNN sport's future has been secured
Current deal, called Concorde Agreement, runs out at the end of the current season
Ecclestone says all teams have agreed to an extended deal until 2020
Mercedes, who were said to be considering pulling out of sport, are also set to sign
(CNN) -- Bernie Ecclestone has exclusively told CNN that Formula One's 12 teams have struck an agreement to secure the future of the sport until 2020.

The F1 supremo revealed a new eight-year deal that will bind all 12 constructors in the elite division of motorsport beyond the current "Concorde Agreement" that expires at the end of this season.

The contract outlines the terms by which teams compete in Formula One and how the lucrative prize money and television revenues on offer are divided.

Progress on the deal has been complicated by F1's planned public offering on the Singapore stock market that could yield around $3 billion.

Vettel: Monaco no place for ''



Force India travel to Monaco

Force India travel to Monaco

The magic of the Monaco Grand Prix

A virtual tour of the Monaco Grand Prix Ecclestone revealed in March the majority of the dozen teams had agreed in principle to tie themselves to an extension of the Concorde Agreement that was most recently signed in 2009, but doubts remained over Mercedes.

The German constructor, who have seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher in their ranks, were reported to be considering quitting the sport but during an interview in Monaco, Ecclestone said an agreement had been reached.

"Well we've just got people now, all the current teams, to sign up until 2020 and then I hope another 10 years after that and then forever. Everybody has agreed with it," he told CNN World Sport anchor Amanda Davies.

"You'll have to wait to see if Mercedes have but I'm confident everything with Mercedes will be fine," Ecclestone added.

When asked if his concerns about Mercedes pulling out of the sport had gone he replied: "Absolutely."

The Concorde Agreement is between Formula One's governing body, the FIA, the sport's rights holders and the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA).

High-profile teams Red Bull, for whom double world champion Sebastian Vettel drives, and iconic constructor Ferrari have recently withdrawn from FOTA, adding complications to the negotiation process.

The waters are further muddied by F1's preparations to float on the Singapore stock exchange and the division of seats on the new board that will be created.

Mercedes were said to be seeking clarification of their part in F1's future plans, insisting on a more prominent role than offered having been a part of the sport since the 1950s.

The iconic Silver Arrow version of the Mercedes led the team to back-to-back championships in the 1950s and immortalized the car in motorsport's history.

They were said to be threatening to withdraw from the sport altogether but Ecclestone's revelation signals a breakthrough in discussions and an end in sight to a saga that had threatened to rumble on through the current season.

[TBWG]

   
Q3: Aussie hops to pole
by Joe Saward

Michael Schumacher set the fastest lap of the Q3 session in Monaco, but the old stager has a five-place grid penalty to serve and so will not start the race from pole position, leaving that for Mark Webber, who was second quickest in his Red Bull Renault. However, the Mercedes team looked pretty good as Nico Rosberg was third fastest, ahead of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren, Romain Grosjean's Lotus, the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen;s Lotus, Pastor Maldonado's Williams (which will drop 10 places on the grid) and Sebastian Vettel, who did not complete a timed lap in the session.
   
The provisional grid for Monaco


If there are no additional penalties after qualifying, the grid at Monaco will be as follows:

1 M Webber Red Bull 1:14.381
2 N Rosberg Mercedes 1:14.572
3 L Hamilton McLaren 1:14.583
4 R Grosjean Lotus 1:14.639
5 F Alonso Ferrari 1:14.948
6 M Schumacher Mercedes 1:14.301
7 F Massa Ferrari 1:15.049
8 K Raikkonen Lotus 1:15.199
9 S Vettel Red Bull No time
10 N Hulkenberg Force India 1:15.421
11 K Kobayashi Sauber 1:15.508
12 J Button McLaren 1:15.536
13 B Senna Williams 1:15.709
14 P Di Resta Force India 1:15.718
15 D Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:15.878
16 J Vergne Toro Rosso 1:16.885
17 H Kovalainen Caterham 1:16.538
18 V Petrov Caterham 1:17.404
19 P Maldonado Williams 1:15.245
20 T Glock Marussia 1:17.947
21 P de la Rosa HRT 1:18.096
22 C Pic Marussia 1:18.607
23 N Karthikeyan HRT 1:19.310
24 S Perez Sauber No time



TBWG

Has Massa found his mojo?

[TBWG]

Monaco GP - Sunday - Race Report

 © The Cahier Archive

Mark Webber won his second Monaco GP in three years after a superbly controlled lights to flag drive. It meant that for the first time in the history of the world championship, six different drivers have won the first six races of a season.

Webber had been magnanimous about his Saturday 'pole', admitting that it had been Schumacher's day but he'd take it nonetheless. And having taken it, he wasn't about to waste it.

Starts have not always been Mark's strength but this time both the Red Bull and Rosberg's second-placed Mercedes were off like jack rabbits.

"The initial getaway was good and I knew straight away that it was good enough to get to Turn 1 in front," Webber said. "Then it was reasonably straightforward at first -- getting a gap on supersofts and managing it to Nico, then a matter of trying to get a reasonable gap with the weather threatening around pit stop time."

This was a race that the strategists didn't call quite right beforehand. For anyone starting from the top six or seven grid slots Monaco has traditionally been a two-stop race, with those further back often trying just the one.

Last year, Sebastian Vettel won it with a one-stop, but that required the handy help of a late race red flag that permitted a change of tyres. This time, given the degradation patterns of the 2012 Pirellis, many thought that a one-stop would be a real long shot. But nobody quite knew.

Vettel, starting ninth after a tricky qualifying day, and on the prime tyre, was one man expected to try it but, as things turned out, the entire top 10 made it through with just one visit to the pits.

The dilemma for the leaders on the supersofts was how to take them far enough into the race to facilitate the one stopper, an equation that became further complicated by the possible arrival of rain around the stop time, tempting drivers to stay out even longer in case a switch to rain tyres was required.

Up front it was a question of who would blink first and force the issue. That man was Rosberg, who headed for the pits after 27 laps. The order when he did so was Webber, Nico, Hamilton, Alonso, Massa, Vettel - all covered by 13.5s.

Rosberg had been just 2s behind the lead Red Bull when he pitted, with Hamilton and Alonso running as one a further 5s behind, with Massa well in touch and Vettel 2s further back and looking good.

Sebastian was helped a little by an early Safety Car after a messy first corner. Grosjean and Alonso made contact and the Lotus then hit Schumacher and spun out. There would be no repeat of Saturday's glory for Michael either. Schumacher completed the first lap eighth and was destined to retire with no fuel pressure 15 laps from the end.

As the rest scrambled to miss Grosjean's stricken Lotus, Kobayashi's Sauber was knocked into the air and tagged Button's McLaren, meaning that Jenson, who started a lowly 12th, dropped another couple of places.

Button spent much of a frustrating afternoon behind Heikki Kovalainen's Caterham before hitting it and spinning out after 70 laps. There had been some fairly robust defence from the Finn prior to that, some of which left Jenson unimpressed.

Back to the front though, "and it was a bit of a surprise that Nico went in when he did," Webber admitted. Red Bull did not bring the race leader in for another two laps.

"I was just hoping that Nico wasn't getting the tyres in..." Webber said, "but I had trust in the guys and the strategy."

Normally, the 'undercut' as it's called, is the best strategy, but not today. In Monaco it took drivers longer to get the prime tyres up to temperature and Webber pitted out still in front, by 1.5s.

McLaren pitted third-placed Hamilton on the same lap as Webber but Ferrari kept Alonso out for another lap and Fernando immediately started to turn the timing monitors purple with quickest sector times. When he pitted a lap later, he came out in front of Hamilton, now third behind Webber and Rosberg.

Here was a chance for Ferrari to have won the race. As Alonso admitted later, if they had kept him out another couple of laps he would likely have jumped Rosberg and Webber too.

But, as he also said, it's fine with hindsight but it was hard to predict both the time it took to warm up the primes and the fact that Fernando would be capable of setting purple sector times on supersofts more than 30 laps old!

While that's true, the team had timing monitors in front of them displaying the information, so did they consider leaving Alonso out?

"We considered it but thought at that stage that we were doing the right thing," team principal Stefano Domenicali explained.

"Fernando did a perfect 'in' lap, the team did a perfect pit stop and we jumped Hamilton. Maybe we could have waited to see the other sector times but in Monaco the lap is very short and you don't have so long to think."

When the leaders all pitted it left Vettel in front, going very quickly on the new primes he'd started on that were now 30 laps old. The gap to Webber was 10s but it started to grow rapidly as Sebastian lapped in the low to mid 1:19s, while Webber circulated in low 1:21s on his new primes. This was a surprise.

Within six laps the gap was out to 16s and that prompted a radio message from Mercedes to Rosberg suggesting that Webber was deliberately backing up the field to give Vettel the requited 20s needed to pit and re-emerge still in front.

Team orders, of course, are not illegal and it would have been a smart move. Vettel could then have allowed Webber to re-pass and Red Bull would have had itself a 1-2. But that, in fact, was not what was happening.

"It was tricky to get the primes started," Webber explained. "Seb was in the groove and doing some quick times. I had to keep an eye on the gap while ensuring that I got the tyres to the end of the race. At the start of the stint I had very low front grip."

Webber kept the gap at around 16s and when Vettel pitted on lap 46 he re-emerged fourth, right in front of Hamilton. Lewis was not amused, feeling that with a bit of warning he could have done something about it.

With that segment of the race negotiated, Webber should have been safe, but there was another snake to slide down in the form of the elements. With 10 laps to go, spotting rain started to intensify. With eight laps to go the surface was greasy, the first five were nose-to-tail and the pressure was on the race leader.

"It's incredibly tricky leading in those conditions," Webber conceded. "All of a sudden the car is wheel-spinning, the front end's not biting and that's not very encouraging around this place when you are leading with 10 laps to go..."

He coped superbly though, and didn't put a wheel wrong.

"It's great to win here twice fair and square off the pole," he smiled. "Nico kept me honest and it was a good grand prix. I think we got the absolute maximum out of this weekend."

Rosberg sportingly admitted that Webber had driven a great race, never giving him the sniff of a chance.

"Mark controlled me well and I have to say I think I had the best car," Rosberg said. "It makes me hope for a lot more in the next few races."

Alonso, too, was happy: "I was trying to finish in front of Sebastian and Lewis. Race-by-race you concentrate on different drivers. At the next one it will be Mark because he's now second in championship."

Behind Hamilton and a happier Massa, Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg put both Force Indias in the points, with Raikkonen and Bruno Senna claiming the final points.

For both Lotus and Williams it was a disappointing race. With Grosjean out on the first lap and Raikkonen struggling in the first stint when the temperatures dropped, Lotus technical director James Allison called the race "a completely joyless experience from start to finish."

Pastor Maldonado proved that a fortnight is a very long time in motor racing, quite literally going from hero to zero when he hit De la Rosa's HRT in the first corner melee and then crashed with a broken front wing and it was left to Senna to bring the team its lone point.

Amazingly, Alonso now leads the championship alone, with 76 points. Vettel and Webber have 73 points each, Hamilton has 63, Rosberg, 59, Raikkonen, 51, and Button, 45 after his third non-score in six races.

Red Bull Racing became the first repeat win team of 2012 and now enjoys a 38-point advantage over McLaren in the constructors' championship. Montreal is next. Seven from seven, anyone?


TBWG

[TBWG]

The Secret Diary of Adrian Newey Aged 53¾ - Part 5 Hole-gate

Well, trusty tome, as you can possibly imagine (if you had the capacity for independent thought) I am not best pleased to have someone mess around with my floor. The FIA's ruling that the RBR8's "fully enclosed hole" in the rear section of the floor was illegal was more than a touch disappointing. Notwithstanding the fact that we already had a letter from Charlie, in his best writing, saying that we could keep it, Sauber and the Ferrari boys have exactly the same thing.


The only significant difference between our "fully enclosed hole" and theirs is that that have a slit which travels all of the way to the outside of the floor, linking it to the open air, whereas our hole is the equivalent of the Caspian Sea, totally landlocked. To comply with the cheese-eating regulation monkeys in Paris, all we need to do is get some apprentice with a hacksaw and remove the hole's 'flagrant' isolation. It's hardly the difference between winning or not winning the World Championship.


As a protest, we may not even take the hole to Canada at all.


I know I shouldn't get a bee in my bonnet over these things but it's better to jot down my irascible feelings here than let it all out when a microphone is shoved under my nose by Ted or the small Irishman. I have to say that Eddie's interviewing technique is about as unpredictable as a set of Pirelli softs - one moment he says we are absolutely nowhere this season and the next I'm a god-like genius on a par with Stephen Hawking.


The win in Monaco was a tremendous boost of course and it was a pleasure to collect the trophy from Prince Albert and Princess Charlene. It's quite refreshing to have a Princess 'Charlene' on the throne and should the royal couple be blessed with children it would be fitting to have a whole Country and Western dynasty of Grimaldis - with Princess Mary-Lou, Princess Mary-Jo-Beth and son and heir Prince Billy-Bob. That would be Prince Billy-Bob The First.


Back in the office and Jana was overjoyed that Mark had won in Monaco. She is single-mindedly behind the Wild Australian Boy to an extent I haven't witnessed in her before. When we were at Woking together she didn't mind who won just as long as Ron didn't come into the office and talk to her. Now her colours are very firmly pinned to Mark's mast. She was very worried when she read the rumours that Mark might be off to Ferrari next year and looked at me accusingly as though I were behind the whole thing: "and then you hire a midget, because midgets you can put anywhere in the car, not like Mark who is big strong hunk of man."


Another departure from her McLaren days is that she has started to read the motorsport press and actually take an interest in what's going on. I am not entirely sure, trusted almanac, that this is a good thing. She said to me the other day. "That Dr. Helmet, he must be pain in the arse."  I didn't want to engage further, so I let it pass. That didn't work. "He is always saying this and saying that and giving his opinion on this or that and then Christian has to answer more questions and it just stirs up trouble." I gave her one of my friendly shrugs and she levelled her eyes. "You know this is true."


I noticed she is continuing the subtle psychological warfare in preparation for any visit by Sebastian. In addition to the children's wooden blocks, she has bought him a play-table and a little chair for him to sit on. In case there was any doubt she painted a name badge S-E-B-A-S-T-I-A-N and plonked it in the middle. Occasionally she glances across at it and smiles.


Unfortunately this was spotted by Sebastian's charming and effervescent PA, the lovely Britta Roeske, when she popped into my office for something or other. I'm pretty sure someone must have told her about Jana (and the playtable) in the canteen but there was what I can only describe as a frosty moment when the two feisty blondes looked each other up and down but said nothing. It was an explosive atmopshere exacerbated by the fact there was a lot of peroxide in the room. As she was leaving Britta said to Jana: "Nice to see that Adrian lets you bring your son into the office," and with that she was gone through the door before Jana could get off a single syllable in reply. A real professional. I pretended I hadn't heard anything and buried my head in the plans for a new wing endplate.


As for more pressing matters, we're off to Canada with high expectations of our first win there, hole or no hole. Mercedes look like the car to beat but knowing Michael's recent bad luck he'll probably be leading the race and hit a beaver on the penultimate lap. That's providing he escapes Romain Grosjean at the start. These days that's a big IF.


TBWG

[TBWG]

Lewis Hamilton quickest in opening practice for the Canadian Grand Prix
By Matt Beer    Friday, June 8th 2012

Lewis Hamilton was fastest for McLaren in the opening free practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

The McLaren edged out Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull by just over a tenth of a second, with Nico Rosberg's Mercedes third.

It was the Lotus duo who exchanged the top spot initially, before Rosberg and Hamilton made it their own private battle for the rest of the session. First Rosberg put in a 1m16.837s 20 minutes in to depose Kimi Raikkonen, then Hamilton replied with a 1m16.080s seven minutes later.

The McLaren would stay in front for almost the rest of the session - deposed only for mere moments with 20 minutes to go when Rosberg did a 1m15.782s that Hamilton instantly answered with a 1m15.564s.

Rosberg was among several drivers who then tried super soft tyres in the closing stages, as with rain forecast for the afternoon, Mercedes, Red Bull, Lotus, Nico Hulkenberg, Daniel Ricciardo and the HRTs all chose to try the softer rubber earlier than usual. But the Mercedes did not go any quicker than it had on softs, so Hamilton retained first position, and Rosberg found himself pushed down to third right at the end when Vettel squeezed into second place on super softs.

Vettel may have to take a trip to the stewards' office between sessions, as he is under investigation for an incident where he took a shortcut over the final chicane to pass Bruno Senna's Williams and ensure clear track for the start of a flying lap.

Fernando Alonso was the quickest Ferrari driver in fourth, with team-mate Felipe Massa 12th as the pair evaluated different exhaust layouts.

Mark Webber completed the top five in the second Red Bull, following by Hulkenberg's Force India, the Saubers of Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez, and Michael Schumacher's Mercedes.

Jenson Button was 10th despite his McLaren only managing 12 laps before it was sidelined in the garage with an oil leak.

Thirteen minutes of running were lost just after the mid-way point when Heikki Kovalainen put his Caterham into the wall on the exit of the Turn 8/9 chicane, doing substantial damage to the car's right-hand side. Kovalainen emerged unscathed. The rest of the field confined themselves to minor trips over the grass and asphalt run-offs.

Pos  Driver                Team                    Time              Laps
 1.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes        1m15.564            30
 2.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault        1m15.682s  + 0.118  29
 3.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes                1m15.782s  + 0.218  30
 4.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                 1m15.842s  + 0.278  34
 5.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault        1m15.897s  + 0.333  28
 6.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes    1m15.986s  + 0.422  29
 7.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari          1m16.000s  + 0.436  31
 8.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari          1m16.249s  + 0.685  32
 9.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes                1m16.264s  + 0.700  28
10.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1m16.347s  + 0.783  12
11.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes    1m16.460s  + 0.896  32
12.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                 1m16.619s  + 1.055  17
13.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault        1m16.859s  + 1.295  25
14.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault           1m16.890s  + 1.326  36
15.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault           1m17.014s  + 1.450  41
16.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m17.352s  + 1.788  28
17.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m17.580s  + 2.016  31
18.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault        1m17.935s  + 2.371  23
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault        1m18.177s  + 2.613  16
20.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth            1m18.182s  + 2.618  26
21.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault        1m18.762s  + 3.198  36
22.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth            1m19.354s  + 3.790  23
23.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth       1m20.004s  + 4.440  21
24.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth       1m20.067s  + 4.503  23

TBWG 

[TBWG]

   
Lewis Lane
by Joe Saward

Lewis Hamilton continued to lead the way in Montreal, but not by much... the McLaren driver ended the second session on top of the timesheets, but was just 0.054sec ahead of Fernando Alonso, who was a tenth clear of Felipe Massa. World Champion Sebastian Vettel was fourth ahead of the Force India of Paul di Resta, the Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi, Michael Schumacher's Mercedes and Nico Hulkenberg's Force India. Jenson Button was ninth and the top 10 was rounded off by Nico Rosberg in the second Mercedes.

The top 14 were covered by just over a second, with Sergio Perez, Mark Webber, Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean all within the second of Hamilton.

Kimi Raikkonen was next ahead of Heikki Kovalainen in his rebuilt Caterham, Bruno Senna, who crashed his Williams at the last corner, and Vitaly Petrov. This meant that the Caterhams were ahead of the Toro Rossos of Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo, with the HRTs and the Marussias mixed with, with Pedro de la Rosa head of Timo Glock, Narain Karthikeyan and Charles Pic.

In addition to Senna's crash, Glock had a spin and even Alonso went gyrating across the back chicane.

As soon as the session ended the weather turned sour with the circuit being drenched by torrential rain.


TBWG

[TBWG]

Sebastian finds his primary digit again
by Joe Saward

Sebastian Vettel set the pace on Saturday morning in Montreal with a time that was just 0.006 secs ahead of Fernando Alonso's Ferrari. The top 16 cars were all covered by a second. The McLaren of Lewis Hamilton was third ahead of Mark Webber's Red Bull, Pastor Maldonado's Williams, Felipe Massa's Ferrari, Michael Schumacher, Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen. The top 10 was completed by Nico Hulkenberg in his Force India.

The two Saubers were next with Sergio Perez just ahead of Kamui Kobayashi, and then Bruno Senna's Williams, Jenson Button, still struggling with his McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo's Toro Rosso and Vitaly Petrov's Caterham.

Heikki Kovalainen was 18th ahead of Pedro de la Rosa's HRT, the Marussia of Timo Glock, Narain Karthikeyan's HRT and Charles Pic in the second Marussia.

At the back were Jean-Eric Vergne, who crashed his Toro Rosso at T1 and Nico Rosberg who suffered a mechanical failure with his Mercedes.


TBWG

[TBWG]

Sebastian Vettel storms to Canadian Grand Prix pole position
By Matt Beer    Saturday, June 9th 2012,

Sebastian Vettel grabbed his second pole position of the 2012 Formula 1 season with a comfortable 0.3-second margin in Canadian Grand Prix qualifying.

The Red Bull driver's cushion was surprisingly ample given that just 0.8s had covered 17 cars in Q1 and the whole Q2 field had been within a second.

Vettel started Q3 on provisional pole with a 1m13.905s and was not headed thereafter, as he improved to 1m13.784s on his second run to put himself further out of reach.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton will join Vettel on the front row, having grabbed second from Fernando Alonso's Ferrari with his second Q3 attempt. Alonso looked like a pole threat until a disappointing final sector on his best lap left him to settle for third.

Mark Webber completes the top four in the second Red Bull, followed by Nico Rosberg in the leading Mercedes - four places ahead of team-mate Michael Schumacher - and Felipe Massa's Ferrari in sixth.

Romain Grosjean reached Q3 for Lotus and claimed seventh but his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen did not make it into the pole shoot-out, only managing 12th in Q2.

Force India's Paul di Resta made his second Q3 appearance of the year and earned eighth on the grid.

Jenson Button avoided a third consecutive Q2 elimination, but only just. The McLaren driver sat 10th at the end of the second segment and looked in grave danger of being edged out by Pastor Maldonado, only for the Spanish GP winner to spin his Williams into the wall at the final chicane, leaving him 17th. Button will start 10th, having spoiled one set of super softs by locking up.

The second Williams of Bruno Senna was only one place ahead of Maldonado in 16th. Also out in Q2 were both Saubers - with Kamui Kobayashi just 0.008s shy of a Q3 spot in 11th and Sergio Perez back in 15th - the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg and the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo.

After his morning practice crash, Ricciardo's team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne's underwhelming Saturday continued as a mistake on his best lap saw the Frenchman exiting qualifying in Q1 for the fourth time in his first seven grands prix. Not only was he knocked out, but Vergne was outqualified by both Caterhams and will start 20th.

In another Q1 surprise, Pedro de la Rosa put his HRT 21st on the grid, beating both Marussias.

Pos  Driver                Team                 Time         Gap   
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m13.784s
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m14.087s
 3.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m14.151s
 4.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m14.346s
 5.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m14.411s
 6.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m14.465s
 7.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m14.645s
 8.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m14.705s
 9.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m14.812s
10.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m15.182s
Q2 cut-off time: 1m14.680s                                  Gap **
11.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m14.688s  + 0.501
12.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m14.734s  + 0.547
13.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes 1m14.748s  + 0.561
14.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m15.078s  + 0.891
15.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m15.156s  + 0.969
16.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault     1m15.170s  + 0.983
17.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m15.231s  + 1.044
Q1 cut-off time: 1m15.552s                                   Gap *
18.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault     1m16.263s  + 1.602
19.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault     1m16.482s  + 1.821
20.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m16.602s  + 1.941
21.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth         1m17.492s  + 2.831
22.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth    1m17.901s  + 3.240
23.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth    1m18.255s  + 3.594
24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth         1m18.330s  + 3.669

107% time: 1m19.887s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2


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[TBWG]

Hamilton becomes seventh winner in seven races in the Canadian Grand Prix
By Matt Beer    Sunday, June 10th 2012,

Lewis Hamilton finally took his first victory of the 2012 Formula 1 season as the McLaren driver charged back to pass the one-stopping Fernando Alonso's Ferrari and win the Canadian Grand Prix for the third time in his career.

The result also makes Hamilton the seventh different race winner in as many GPs this year, extending the record.

Lotus's Romain Grosjean and Sauber's Sergio Perez took the second podium finishes of their careers as they demoted the fading Alonso, who eventually dropped to fifth.

Poleman Sebastian Vettel only finished fourth, but had led Hamilton and Alonso in the opening stint. The Red Bull driver was the first of the trio to stop for tyres, and found himself jumped by both his rivals as they came in shortly afterwards. Alonso came off best of all as he vaulted both the Red Bull and the McLaren, but Hamilton was able to re-pass the Ferrari in the DRS zone on Alonso's out-lap.

The McLaren then edged slightly away before coming in for a second tyre stop on lap 49. Alonso and Vettel decided to try and make it to the end on their existing rubber, but Hamilton had the pace to hunt down and pass both of them, going to win and claim the points lead in the process.

Vettel then gave up his one-stop attempt and made a very late tyre stop, while Alonso clung on and hoped to still make it to the end in second, only for his pace to get ever worse. Grosjean - who had pitted only two laps later than the Ferrari - was soon past Alonso into second, with Perez (who left his sole stop until lap 41) and the recovering Vettel also easily dismissing the Spaniard.

Two-stoppers Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) and Mark Webber (Red Bull) were sixth and seventh, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus and Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber.

Felipe Massa spun from fifth to 12th in his Ferrari early on, and had to settle for 10th after stopping twice for tyres.

Force India's Paul di Resta had a spell as high as sixth in the early running, only to lose ground with a relatively early first of two pitstops, leaving him 11th.

It was another disastrous race for both Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher. The second McLaren had to make three tyre stops and finished a lapped 16th, while the rear wing flap on Schumacher's Mercedes jammed open, ending his race.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Canadian Grand Prix
Montreal, Canada;
70 laps; 305.270km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos      Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           1h32:29.586
 2.  Grosjean      Lotus-Renault              +     2.513
 3.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +     5.260
 4.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           +     7.295
 5.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    13.411
 6.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    13.842
 7.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    15.085
 8.  Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault              +    15.567
 9.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +    24.432
10.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    25.272
11.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +    37.693
12.  Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes       +    46.236
13.  Maldonado     Williams-Renault           +    47.052
14.  Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:04.475
15.  Vergne        Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
16.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +     1 lap
17.  Senna         Williams-Renault           +     1 lap
18.  Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
19.  Petrov        Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
20.  Pic           Marussia-Cosworth          +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:15.752

Not classified/retirements:



Driver        Team                         On lap
Glock         Marussia-Cosworth            57
Schumacher    Mercedes                     34
De la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth                 25
Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth                 23


World Championship standings, round 7:               

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Hamilton      88        1.  Red Bull-Renault          164
 2.  Alonso        86        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          133
 3.  Vettel        85        3.  Lotus-Renault             108
 4.  Webber        79        4.  Ferrari                    97
 5.  Rosberg       67        5.  Mercedes                   69
 6.  Raikkonen     55        6.  Sauber-Ferrari             58
 7.  Grosjean      53        7.  Williams-Renault           44
 8.  Button        45        8.  Force India-Mercedes       28
 9.  Perez         37        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari          6
10.  Maldonado     29       
11.  Kobayashi     21       
12.  Di Resta      21       
13.  Senna         15       
14.  Massa         11       
15.  Hulkenberg     7       
16.  Vergne         4       
17.  Schumacher     2       
18.  Ricciardo      2       
       
All timing unofficial


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[TBWG]

   
Pastor rises
by Joe Saward

Pastor Maldonado set the fastest time of the morning session in an overcast, but warm Valencia, but the F1 stars were again very closely matched, with 13 drivers within a second of the fastest time. The closest to Pastor was Sebastian Vettel, with Mark Webber third, all three of them covered by just 0.09s, with Jenson Button's McLaren a tiny fraction behind them. Then came Fernando Alonso and Paul di Resta, Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Kimi Raikkonen, Romain Grosjean, Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez. Felipe Massa was the first over a second in arrears, ahead of Force India test driver Jules Bianchi (in for Nico Hulkenberg in the session) and Valtteri Bottas (replacing Bruno Senna for the morning).

There was good news for the Caterham crew, as a new floor seems to have had a good effect with Heikki Kovalainen ahead of the two Toro Rossos (Jean-Eric Verge ahead of Daniel Ricciardo), Vitaly Petrov, Charles Pic, Pedro de la Rosa, Narain Karthikeyan and Timo Glock.

Various drivers went up escape roads, but otherwise there were no major incidents.


TBWG

[TBWG]

    
Vett’s cool!
by Joe Saward

Sebastian Vettel set the pace in the Friday afternoon session on the streets of Valencia, with the wind dropping and the sun coming out, pushing up the temperatures considerably. The result was a rather odd top 10 as teams did different work in preparation for the race on Sunday. The top 15 was nonetheless covered by just a second. Second fastest was Nico Hulkenberg in his Force India ahead of Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber and Michael Schumacher's Mercedes. Bruno Senna was fifth ahead of Paul di Resta in the second Force India, Fernando Alonso's Ferrari; Romain Grosjean's Lotus, Mark Webber's Red Bull and the Second Mercedes of Nico Rosberg.

Within a second of the fastest time were Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button, Pastor Maldonado, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa. Sergio Perez was 16th but it was a Caterham next in 17th, ahead of the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo. Heikki Kovalainen was 19th, ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne, followed by the Marussias of Timo Glock and Charles Pic and the HRTs of Narain Karthikeyan and Pedro de la Rosa, the last-named having crashed midway through the session.


TBWG

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Button mushrooms
by Joe Saward

Jenson Button set the pace in the third practice session in Valencia, on a bright and sunny morning. It was interesting to see the Lotuses of Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen second and third, ahead of the Force Indias of Nico HUlkenberg and Paul di Resta. Sergio Perez was sixth ahead of Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Pastor Maldonado, Kamui Kobayashi and Fernando Alonso.

Sebastian Vettel was 13th but only 0.87s off the fastest time. Behind the Red Bull driver were Bruno Senna, Nico Rosberg and the two Toro Rossos, with Jean-Eric Vergne ahead of Dan Ricciardo. The Caterhams looked less competitive than they had on Friday but Heikki Kovalainen was 18th, ahead of Mark Webber, who had mechanical troubles and did only four laps, Vitaly Petrov and the usual melange of HRTs and Marussias, led on this occasion by Pedro de la Rosa, from Charles Pic.



TBWG

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Sebastian Vettel flies to European Grand Prix pole position
By Matt Beer    Saturday, June 23rd 2012,

Sebastian Vettel beat Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado to pole position in a spectacular qualifying battle ahead of the European Grand Prix in Valencia.

Williams driver Maldonado looked set to start first for the second time this season - having inherited Barcelona pole after Hamilton was penalised - as he surged to the top with a 1m38.475s lap in the closing moments of qualifying.

But Vettel was putting in a spectacular lap in the revised Red Bull, coming through to depose Maldonado by nearly four tenths of a second with a 1m38.086s.

Hamilton's McLaren then slipped ahead of Maldonado by 0.065s with the Briton's final lap.

Lotus could not quite produce the pole challenge that many had predicted, but still qualified better than has often been the case this year, with Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen lining up fourth and fifth.

The astonishingly close initial stages of the session claimed several early victims - including both Ferraris, Michael Schumacher's Mercedes and Mark Webber's Red Bull, none of which made it into the top 10.

That was in part because a host of underdogs proceeded to Q3, with both Force Indias and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi reaching the top 10.

The Force Indias both made appearances inside the top four during Q3 before being edged back to eighth (Nico Hulkenberg) and 10th (Paul di Resta), split by Jenson Button's McLaren.

Kobayashi took seventh, just behind Nico Rosberg's Mercedes.

Less than three tenths of a second covered the top 13 cars in Q2, and several top teams were squeezed out.

Most significantly for the title battle and most disappointing for the Spanish crowd was that Alonso missed out on Q3 by 0.004s, as lapping just 0.218s off pacesetter Grosjean left him 11th. Schumacher squeezed in between the two Ferraris in 12th, with all three less than 0.08s from the Q3 cut-off.

The other early shock was that Webber only managed 19th, hampered by hydraulic issues and a lack of DRS on his Red Bull.

The session gave Heikki Kovalainen and Caterham another chance to star, and the Finn outpaced both Toro Rossos to take 16th on the grid, behind Bruno Senna (Williams) and Sergio Perez (Sauber), both of whom were some way off their team-mates' pace in Q2.

It was a tough session for Marussia. While Timo Glock was sidelined by illness, his team-mate Charles Pic was unable to beat either HRT.

           Pos  Driver                Team                 Time         Gap   
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m38.086s
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m38.410s  + 0.324
 3.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m38.475s  + 0.389
 4.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m38.505s  + 0.419
 5.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m38.513s  + 0.427
 6.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m38.623s  + 0.537
 7.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m38.741s  + 0.655
 8.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes 1m38.752s  + 0.666
 9.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m38.801s  + 0.715
10.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m38.992s  + 0.906
Q2 cut-off time: 1m38.703s                                   Gap **
11.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m38.707s  + 0.218
12.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m38.770s  + 0.281
13.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m38.780s  + 0.291
14.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault     1m39.207s  + 0.718
15.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m39.358s  + 0.869
16.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault     1m40.295s  + 1.806
17.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m40.358s  + 1.869
Q1 cut-off time: 1m40.087s                                   Gap *
18.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m40.203s  + 1.378
19.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m40.395s  + 1.570
20.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault     1m40.457s  + 1.632
21.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth         1m42.171s  + 3.346
22.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth         1m42.527s  + 3.702
23.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth    1m42.675s  + 3.850

107% time: 1m45.742s

* Gap to quickest in Q1

** Gap to quickest in Q2


TBWG

[TBWG]

 
Alonso becomes first double winner in 2012 with superb European GP victory
By Matt Beer    Sunday, June 24th 2012,

Fernando Alonso came through from 11th on the grid to take a remarkable home victory in the European Grand Prix in Valencia.

The result made the Ferrari driver the first repeat winner of the incredible 2012 Formula 1 season, and also moved Alonso into the championship lead.

The latter outcome was due in large part to Sebastian Vettel retiring with a mechanical problem on his Red Bull after dominating the first half of the race, and Lewis Hamilton's McLaren retiring late on in a collision with Pastor Maldonado's Williams as they fought for third.

Lotus's Romain Grosjean had looked like a victory threat as he chased Alonso, only to suffer an alternator failure, but his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen came through to claim second after a late pass on the fading Hamilton, whose incident with Maldonado then allowed Michael Schumacher to make his podium return for Mercedes in third place, chased by 19th-place qualifier Mark Webber's Red Bull.

Vettel commanded the early stages, immediately pulling out a lead of several seconds as the pack behind took several corners to sort itself out. Front row qualifier Hamilton got away slowly, and had to fend off several attackers before establishing himself in second ahead of Grosjean, Kamui Kobayashi, Maldonado, Raikkonen, Nico Hulkenberg and the fast-starting Alonso.

During the opening stint Alonso overtook Hulkenberg and followed Raikkonen past Maldonado, then jumped Raikkonen and Kobayashi by running one lap longer before his first pitstop.

This group then came out in a long train of yet-to-stop cars, through which Alonso made much more assertive progress than his rivals.

Approaching half-distance, Vettel was leading by 20 seconds over Grosjean, who had overtaken Hamilton with a neat outside-line move on lap 10 and then pulled out a 10s gap over the McLaren, which had Alonso edging closer.

When the safety car was called out to clear debris from a clash between Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso and Heikki Kovalainen's Caterham, most drivers made their second and final pitstops. Hamilton's was very slow, allowing Alonso to get up to third, and the Spaniard then went around the outside of Grosjean into the first corner at the restart to claim second.

Moments later that second place became the race lead, as Vettel's Red Bull suddenly cut out and retired, to the world champion's shock.

Grosjean kept Alonso under pressure and still seemed a likely winner, only for an alternator failure to halt the Lotus with 17 laps to go.

After that Alonso was able to pull clear and become the first repeat winner of the 2012 season, retaking the championship lead in the process.

Hamilton held on to second until the final two laps, when his tyres appeared to wilt. Raikkonen got past after a long battle, but when Maldonado tried to do likewise, the pair clashed, putting the McLaren in the barriers and breaking the Williams's front wing.

That allowed Schumacher through to claim the first podium of his Formula 1 return, as fended off Webber, who made great progress through from 19th on the grid.

Both Schumacher and Webber passed the Force Indias in the closing stages, with Nico Rosberg then getting his Mercedes between Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta's Force Indias to take sixth on the last lap.

Jenson Button had a low-key run to eighth for McLaren, ahead of Sergio Perez's Sauber and the limping Maldonado.

The second Ferrari of Felipe Massa was delayed with damage from a collision with Kobayashi and finished a lowly 16th. Kobayashi, who had already had to change front wings once after hitting Bruno Senna's Williams, had to retire after the incident.

For some of the race it looked like Caterham might score its first point, as solid pace and the attrition ahead allowed Vitaly Petrov to pick his way up to 10th place. But the Russian was pushed back down the order and then tangled with Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The European Grand Prix
Valencia Street Circuit, Europe;
57 laps; 308.883km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Alonso        Ferrari                    1h44:16.449
 2.  Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault              +     6.421
 3.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +    12.639
 4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    13.628
 5.  Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes       +    19.993
 6.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    21.176
 7.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +    22.866
 8.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    24.653
 9.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +    27.777
10.  Maldonado     Williams-Renault           +    34.653
11.  Senna         Williams-Renault           +    35.961
12.  Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +    37.041
13.  Petrov        Caterham-Renault           +  1:15.871
14.  Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault           +  1:34.654
15.  Pic           Marussia-Cosworth          +  1:36.551
16.  Massa         Ferrari                    +     1 lap
17.  De la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth               +     1 lap
18.  Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth               +     1 lap
19.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Rosberg, 1:42.163

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Grosjean      Lotus-Renault                41
Vettel        Red Bull-Renault             34
Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari               34
Vergne        Toro Rosso-Ferrari           27
Glock         Marussia-Cosworth            1


World Championship standings, round 8:               

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Alonso       111        1.  Red Bull-Renault          176
 2.  Webber        91        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          137
 3.  Hamilton      88        3.  Lotus-Renault             126
 4.  Vettel        85        4.  Ferrari                   122
 5.  Rosberg       75        5.  Mercedes                   92
 6.  Raikkonen     73        6.  Sauber-Ferrari             60
 7.  Grosjean      53        7.  Williams-Renault           45
 8.  Button        49        8.  Force India-Mercedes       44
 9.  Perez         39        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari          6
10.  Maldonado     30       
11.  Di Resta      27       
12.  Kobayashi     21       
13.  Hulkenberg    17       
14.  Schumacher    17       
15.  Senna         15       
16.  Massa         11       
17.  Vergne         4       
18.  Ricciardo      2       
       
All timing unofficial


TBWG