Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Shanghai, 2012

2012 Chinese Grand Prix pit stops

2012 Chinese Grand Prix

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Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Shanghai, 2012Ferrari were the team to beat in the pits just as they were in Australia.

Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa made five visits to the pits and they all ranked among the six quickest of the race – a terrific display of speed and consistency from the Maranello squad.

McLaren’s pit stops were generally good and they won a battle in the pits with Lotus when Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen came in together on lap ten.

But a mistake during Jenson Button’s final pit stop proved very costly. A slow left-rear tyre change cost him around six seconds to Nico Rosberg.

Still, at least McLaren kept him in the pits and got the tyre on – Michael Schumacher’s race ended when he was sent out of the pits with the front-right wheel insufficiently tightened. Mercedes were fined ?óÔÇÜ?¼5,000 for the misdemeanour.

Button wasn’t the only driver to lose time with a slow pit stop. Romain Grosjean lost around five seconds with his stop on lap 38.

He continued to finish sixth, but as he ended the race a second behind Vettel there might have been more on offer.

Chinese Grand Prix pit stop times

Driver Team Pit stop time Gap On lap
1 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 20.024 38
2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 20.051 0.027 41
3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 20.136 0.112 27
4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 20.177 0.153 38
5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 20.250 0.226 18
6 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 20.296 0.272 12
7 Mark Webber Red Bull 20.377 0.353 21
8 Paul di Resta Force India 20.387 0.363 11
9 Mark Webber Red Bull 20.471 0.447 34
10 Mark Webber Red Bull 20.474 0.450 6
11 Jenson Button McLaren 20.474 0.450 24
12 Jenson Button McLaren 20.563 0.539 11
13 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 20.645 0.621 34
14 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 20.691 0.667 22
15 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 20.903 0.879 10
16 Paul di Resta Force India 21.006 0.982 32
17 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 21.012 0.988 25
18 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 21.027 1.003 30
19 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 21.113 1.089 13
20 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 21.146 1.122 31
21 Romain Grosjean Lotus 21.184 1.160 11
22 Bruno Senna Williams 21.184 1.160 12
23 Pastor Maldonado Williams 21.229 1.205 33
24 Bruno Senna Williams 21.323 1.299 29
25 Timo Glock Marussia 21.327 1.303 18
26 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 21.433 1.409 10
27 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 21.449 1.425 9
28 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 21.494 1.470 28
29 Timo Glock Marussia 21.515 1.491 36
30 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 21.551 1.527 9
31 Pastor Maldonado Williams 21.569 1.545 11
32 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 21.746 1.722 12
33 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 21.795 1.771 38
34 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 21.851 1.827 10
35 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 21.884 1.860 17
36 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 22.007 1.983 29
37 Charles Pic Marussia 22.306 2.282 19
38 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 22.318 2.294 33
39 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 22.531 2.507 41
40 Sergio Perez Sauber 22.565 2.541 35
41 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 22.606 2.582 28
42 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 22.713 2.689 12
43 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 22.835 2.811 11
44 Sergio Perez Sauber 23.009 2.985 16
45 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 23.151 3.127 32
46 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 23.488 3.464 31
47 Charles Pic Marussia 23.579 3.555 37
48 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 23.623 3.599 28
49 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 23.634 3.610 17
50 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 24.937 4.913 16
51 Romain Grosjean Lotus 25.835 5.811 32
52 Jenson Button McLaren 26.618 6.594 39
53 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 32.407 12.383 9
54 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 37.748 17.724 29
55 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 85.796 65.772 47

2012 Chinese Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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5 comments on “2012 Chinese Grand Prix pit stops”

  1. Wallbreaker
    15th April 2012, 20:08

    If they were just as fast on track as they are in the pits *sigh* One doesn´t win a race or a championship like this…

    1. Profile Photo

      Eggry (@eggry)
      16th April 2012, 2:25

      Indeed

  2. Profile Photo

    AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
    16th April 2012, 11:40

    I’m not convinced that Button could have put a fight up to Rosberg without his delay. Rosberg was still putting consistently good and often quicker laps away. Kovalainen had it rough. Spent more time in the pits than on track almost!

    It’s encouraging from Ferrari and there will be times this season where their pit stop efficiency bags them points they wouldn’t otherwise score.

    1. Profile Photo

      Hydro (@hydrouk)
      16th April 2012, 13:29

      I think we’ll never really know, just because when Button got onto his fresh set, he was behind traffic which he wouldn’t have been in if his pit stop had gone to plan.

  3. Profile Photo

    French Steve (@french-steve)
    16th April 2012, 17:19

    Ferrari is brilliant in pit stops times. A good point for them.

Comments are closed.