Plenty happened in the gap between the Singapore and Japanese races.
In an epically expensive and protracted game of musical carbon fibre chairs, Hamilton finds himself sat in a silver car, with the same engine but less chance of winning, whilst Perez heads to McLaren, who are probably busy trying to cancel half of next year’s order with Pirelli, as they won’t be needing so many tyres with Sergio and Button on the books.
Schumi called it a day, again, which is hardly surprising, seeing as Bernie said he would several weeks ago. That and the fact that he hadn’t got a car at Mercedes any more.
So has the music stopped now? Looks like there might still be a seat at Ferrari, but it probably depended a lot on what it’s current holder got up to in Japan. Please step up and face the music, Mr Massa...
Quali saw Senna (another man whose seat must be less than secure) drop out in Q1 after being held up by Vergne, JEV getting a penalty for his seeming inability to get out of the way.
With Button and Hulkenberg both facing 5 place penalties for gearbox changes, and Schumi 10 for his spectacular failure to spot another car in Singapore, it didn’t help anyone much when Kimi spun in Q3, just when half the field were out on their flying lap.
Once everything had shaken out, fallen off, been penalised, parked it or not bothered, Vettel was on pole from Webber, Kobayashi a great 3rd at his home place, and Button and Hamilton 8th and 9th, with Alonso only 6th.
It seems to have become compulsory for there to be a massive, scary, shunt at the start of races, involving Alonso, and for the 2nd race in a row, ‘Nando was out at the first corner through no fault of his own. Kimi clipped the Championship leader, and the instant puncture saw him spin off the track, then back on it – right into the path of half the field. Somehow, they all avoided him, but his race was over.
Rosberg was out too, punted out by Senna, whilst Mr Accident himself, Grosjean, ploughed into Webber, leaving the Aussie to limp back to the pits, with Senna and Grosjean himself having to stop for new noses too. Whilst all this was going on, Vettel was away, pursued by Kobayashi.
At the restart, Vettel caught Kamui napping and legged it, whilst Kimi tried to brave it round the outside of Perez, but ran wide. Sergio was in fighting mood, and on lap 6 passed the man whose seat he has next year in a beautiful dive up the inside of Happy Hamilton.
Grosjean, who is clearly trying to out-do Maldonad’oh for penalties, bagged another one for his collection, picking up a 10 second stop/go for his assault on Webber.
After 10 laps, Seb was 5 seconds ahead of Kobayashi, pursued by Button, an on-form Massa, Raikkonen and Perez.
Sergio was soon battling Kimi again, and as the first round of pit stops commenced, Ricciardo was briefly 3rd on lap 17 before pitting, but his lack of pace on used tyres was enough to hold up JB and Kamui, allowing Massa to jump both of them and move into 2nd.
Jenson was on the radio fretting about his gearbox’s seeming lack of gears, but there was worse news for his new team-mate as Perez tried another move on Hamilton, wobbled a bit, then spun lamely into a gravel trap and out of the race.
Lap 20 – Vettel was 9 second up on Massa, followed by Kobayashi. The Stewards finally caught up on Bruno too, handing him a drive through for picking on Rosberg.
Schumi was having a good afternoon, moving up from 23rd on the grid to pass di Resta for 10th.
Kobayashi was being reeled in by JB by lap 32, and pitted for fresh tyres, whilst Hamilton’s stop saw him exit the pits just behind Kimi, but with the inside of the corner to his advantage. It was close, but Lewis just bagged the place.
Jenson’s stop on lap 36 was slightly delayed by some hesitation from his crew, but it mattered not; when he exited the pits, Kamui was well out of reach. Massa and Vettel stopped on the following laps, both retaining their positions.
With 40 laps gone, Seb was a cosy 18 seconds ahead of Felipe. Over the subsequent laps, Jenson again closed on Kobayashi, but it took him until the penultimate lap to get into DRS range, but to no avail.
Seb received his usual resigned warning from the team about not trying to get the fastest lap at the end, but as usual he ignored it, and sealed a dominant victory that puts him just behind Alonso in the title race.
Massa bagged his first podium in nearly 2 years (and possibly the continuation of his Ferrari contract too) and Kobayashi claimed an emotional 3rd place to take his first ever podium finish.
With three-quarters of the season completed, it’s still tough to figure out who might win the 2012 title. Can Alonso manage more than one corner, and keep his lead with a Ferrari that isn’t the best car? Can Vettel maintain his current pace and nab it for the third year in a row? Could Raikkonen keep scoring points and sneak in at the end?
Delicious, isn’t it..?
(Alanis Morissette is having a damn good complain at the moment, from the depths of her 'The Collection' album.)
Comments
Post a Comment