2012 Hungarian Grand Prix fastest laps

Romain Grosjean said Michael Schumacher cost him second place to Kimi Raikkonen by not responding to blue flags quickly enough.

Hungarian Grand Prix lap times

The first part of Raikkonen’s race was compromised as he fell behind Fernando Alonso. But when Alonso pitted after 17 laps the Ferrari driver got stuck behind Sergio Perez.

This was good news for Raikkonen as he was able both to stay out longer, playing to the Lotus’s tyre-preserving strength, while gaining position over the Ferrari.

The benefits of this extended into his second stint, allowing him to run for an extended period in clear air, catching the leaders while not stressing his tyres too much in the turbulence of others. The lap times chart below shows he was the quickest driver on the track for ten laps between lap 25 and lap 39.

The front-runners generally made their second pit stops slightly earlier than they needed to, cover each other’s pit stops. Raikkonen, with no pressure from behind to begin with, was able to carry on much later than the rest.

Some might interpret this all as Raikkonen being lucky, but really it’s just an example of how having a quick car underneath you automatically gives you more strategic options.

Where Raikkonen was rather fortunate was that Alonso also decided to stay out late, and held up Grosjean and Vettel who came out of the pits behind him.

If this was partly a tactical move by Ferrari to delay one of Alonso’s foremost championship rivals it was a shrewd one. But more likely he was just concerned about not running out of tyre life close to the end of the race, which has been a problem for him in recent races.

Grosjean was vexed even further by Michael Schumacher: “I got stuck behind Michael who didn?��t respect the blue flags at all which cost me a lot of time.

“Because of this I lost a place to Kimi, and at the same time a possible chance to fight for the win.”

Given how tight it was between the Lotuses when Raikkonen came out of the pits, a few tenths of a second might have made the different between Grosjean keeping and losing second.

One interesting question is whether Lotus would have left the positions like that, or ordered Grosjean to let his team mate, with six-lap fresher tyres, pass him.

All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded):

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/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	56	57	58	59	60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69
Lewis Hamilton	93.423	89.504	89.096	88.644	88.471	88.314	87.874	88.194	88.031	87.705	87.813	87.794	87.667	87.924	87.958	88.231	88.33	91.714	104.69	87.857	87.465	87.374	87.394	87.387	87.397	87.162	87.473	87.366	87.563	87.536	87.891	87.391	87.602	87.445	87.486	87.774	88.073	87.492	88.132	89.258	103.047	86.687	86.665	86.249	86.664	87.03	87.202	86.913	87.044	87.142	87.238	86.817	86.424	86.559	86.396	86.125	86.315	86.112	86.359	85.801	86.627	86.358	85.752	85.942	85.677	85.885	86.08	86.107	86.391
Romain Grosjean	94.879	90.149	89.368	88.46	88.529	88.301	87.968	87.992	88.047	87.87	88.073	88.005	87.386	88.036	87.787	87.88	88.271	88.457	91.106	106.085	86.725	86.925	86.535	86.993	88.173	87.907	87.294	86.819	87.094	87.379	87.727	87.732	87.435	87.458	87.952	87.428	87.566	87.676	90.233	103.65	87.318	87.791	88.102	86.853	86.487	88.374	86.538	86.85	86.886	86.496	86.61	86.303	87.554	86.469	86.349	86.985	86.343	86.696	86.05	86.669	86.333	86.64	86.829	86.805	86.635	86.313	86.456	86.384	86.553
Sebastian Vettel	96.703	90.36	89.32	88.956	88.718	88.86	88.664	88.565	88.474	88.261	88.363	88.827	88.282	88.479	89.139	88.027	90.729	104.144	87.327	87.731	87.627	87.372	87.272	87.057	87.533	86.99	87.502	86.918	87.503	87.355	87.526	87.356	87.559	88.084	86.512	86.725	86.783	89.872	102.328	86.949	87.278	87.355	87.7	87.214	86.982	87.639	87.426	86.948	87.026	86.906	86.813	86.686	86.541	86.296	86.2	86.871	86.443	88.457	101.412	85.137	84.864	84.584	85.682	85.152	84.85	84.773	84.752	84.136	84.242
Jenson Button	95.84	90.309	89.389	88.844	88.781	88.454	88.572	88.356	88.439	88.332	88.403	89.296	88.029	88.367	92.444	103.609	87.918	87.963	87.788	88.174	87.432	87.258	87.163	87.28	87.419	87.125	87.232	87.247	87.363	87.321	87.339	87.465	88.041	89.971	102.565	87.183	87.313	87.672	88.196	87.476	87.769	87.051	86.424	86.349	89.348	103.386	86.682	87.1	87.286	87.425	86.882	86.932	86.394	86.419	86.703	86.639	86.104	85.831	86.91	86.647	86.554	86.44	86.312	85.867	86.126	86.695	86.23	87.319	86.554
Kimi Raikkonen	97.664	90.944	89.85	89.471	89.66	88.834	88.708	88.504	88.699	89.028	88.425	88.64	88.143	88.528	88.324	88.121	88.362	87.669	87.716	90.083	104.964	87.371	87.694	87.296	86.763	86.9	87.527	87.455	86.904	87.173	87.364	87.438	87.178	87.305	86.995	86.365	86.128	86.817	86.719	88.122	85.728	85.934	86.663	86.454	88.869	103.161	86.328	86.395	86.683	86.386	86.627	86.477	86.437	86.53	86.328	86.335	86.194	86.314	86.11	85.96	86.364	86.341	85.914	85.908	85.811	86.118	86.021	85.926	86.368
Fernando Alonso	97.308	90.827	89.831	89.321	89.352	88.952	88.84	88.614	88.622	88.592	88.508	88.485	88.244	88.46	88.345	88.369	90.995	105.235	89.195	88.146	88.911	88.439	87.997	88.164	87.834	87.587	87.475	87.299	87.244	87.486	87.378	87.386	87.422	87.637	87.422	87.256	87.875	87.311	87.467	87.75	88.421	87.902	90.995	103.832	86.963	86.999	87.026	86.977	87.288	87.087	86.923	86.768	86.437	86.439	86.6	86.651	86.111	86.07	87.405	86.449	86.394	86.062	86.042	85.769	85.738	86.187	86.529	86.117	86.394
Felipe Massa	99.656	91.226	90.363	89.542	89.277	89.103	89.28	88.796	88.664	88.837	88.993	89.101	88.572	89.014	89.186	89.281	89.991	92.016	105.269	88.069	87.883	87.696	88.984	88.233	88.598	87.442	87.529	87.676	87.363	87.464	87.534	87.433	87.445	87.471	87.533	87.63	87.618	87.282	87.853	88.199	88.637	87.966	90.749	104.137	86.582	86.659	86.695	87.019	86.205	86.207	86.352	86.982	86.282	85.92	86.066	86.557	86.229	86.087	86.004	86.268	86.012	86.39	86.657	86.422	86.225	86.561	86.964	86.898	89.019
Pastor Maldonado	101.573	91.373	90.59	90.054	89.943	89.467	89.338	89.156	89.211	88.892	89.137	89.392	89	89.126	91.863	105.815	89.529	88.885	88.699	88.656	88.608	88.282	88.538	88.443	88.944	88.548	88.281	87.961	88.052	87.926	87.942	88.025	87.785	87.954	88.007	88.091	87.843	87.793	87.958	87.745	90.061	103.927	87.229	86.975	87.236	88.552	89.322	86.26	86.777	87.501	86.833	89.162	97.02	87.059	86.694	86.433	86.023	85.9	86.384	86.037	86.347	86.488	85.723	86.027	85.811	86.076	86.055	85.95	86.822
Bruno Senna	99.377	90.99	90.083	89.507	89.486	89.079	89.162	88.578	88.66	88.897	88.722	88.74	88.359	88.791	88.73	91.495	104.859	87.609	87.875	88.547	88.904	88.922	87.815	88.25	87.609	87.603	87.663	87.754	87.786	87.436	87.295	87.529	87.634	87.697	87.596	87.14	87.435	87.8	88.025	87.519	87.816	89.389	103.509	87.169	87.094	87.182	86.931	86.618	87.497	87.27	86.952	86.717	86.584	86.518	86.66	86.865	86.514	86.536	86.639	86.555	86.935	86.504	86.422	86.249	86.248	86.738	86.611	86.704	87.018
Nico Hulkenberg	100.117	91.575	90.478	89.852	89.72	89.142	89.377	88.984	88.916	89.031	89.122	89.479	89.119	89.101	92.02	107.299	88.904	88.733	88.874	88.55	88.549	88.213	88.517	88.643	88.917	88.605	87.449	87.871	87.958	87.946	88.135	88.014	88.108	87.981	88.267	87.952	87.869	87.908	90.156	103.334	86.839	87.714	87.375	87.316	88.332	89.233	86.893	87.128	87.112	87.259	86.584	86.996	86.243	86.834	86.758	86.654	86.407	86.111	86.191	86.073	86.702	86.557	86.799	86.498	86.795	87.351	87.593	87.444	88.21
Mark Webber	98.639	90.987	90.092	89.465	89.365	88.962	88.816	88.668	88.716	88.807	88.516	88.574	88.374	88.494	88.762	88.395	88.483	88.267	88.333	90.735	104.648	88.227	88.085	88.54	87.737	87.704	87.531	87.439	87.384	87.509	87.057	87.499	87.359	87.356	87.363	87.426	87.481	87.681	89.911	101.645	85.402	86.429	87.286	86.028	87.321	86.772	86.674	86.447	86.263	86.009	86.477	86.262	86.786	86.89	88.458	102.406	85.998	86.022	86.083	86.129	86.393	86.539	86.658	86.062	86.14	86.758	86.973	86.296	86.968
Paul di Resta	102.366	91.868	91.263	90.523	90.523	89.599	89.321	88.96	88.771	89.245	89.232	89.308	88.87	89.154	89.408	92.086	105.852	88.411	88.393	88.216	88.034	88.367	88.34	88.435	88.941	88.214	88.955	88.036	87.855	87.902	88.031	88.009	88.19	88.053	87.879	88.04	87.775	90.026	102.502	86.898	86.97	87.467	87.158	87.398	88.1	89.105	90.459	87.06	86.992	87.982	87.285	86.413	86.195	86.205	86.706	86.125	85.976	86.156	86.468	86.249	86.591	86.741	87.276	86.543	87.506	87.69	87.523	87.761	88.439
Nico Rosberg	100.709	91.596	90.541	89.952	89.916	89.087	89.35	88.948	88.992	89.238	89.144	89.417	88.956	89.076	89.472	90.7	105.73	88.578	88.751	88.335	88.227	87.766	88.389	88.78	88.206	88.029	87.697	87.698	87.665	87.921	87.948	87.532	87.801	87.673	87.427	87.295	87.567	87.962	87.982	90.863	105.089	86.949	87.479	87.605	87.626	87.414	87.566	88.334	87.285	87.244	87.938	86.73	87.03	87.123	86.411	86.662	86.382	85.83	86.345	86.33	86.634	87.039	86.258	86.226	86.669	86.776	86.583	87.298	86.966
Sergio Perez	101.984	91.482	90.715	90.133	90.007	89.351	89.637	89.102	89.075	89.018	89.418	89.497	89.518	89.192	89.292	89.864	89.221	89.689	89.45	91.404	94.047	105.283	87.787	88.371	88.233	88.596	89.509	88.603	88.933	88.689	88.386	88.515	89.495	89.173	87.648	86.969	87.108	87.264	87.268	87.192	88.868	88.225	87.929	88.057	88.794	89.119	92.586	104.366	86.59	86.681	86.378	86.658	87.455	86.274	87.146	86.44	85.698	85.536	85.689	85.598	85.41	85.797	85.677	85.866	85.218	85.596	86.071	85.895	86.262
Kamui Kobayashi	104.433	93.072	91.779	90.753	90.796	90.158	90.455	92.642	106.698	89.366	88.918	88.299	88.632	88.548	89.783	89.601	90.678	89.146	89.017	88.817	88.778	88.548	89.309	88.859	88.699	88.708	88.78	88.786	90.59	89.145	89.026	89.117	88.686	88.996	88.945	89.981	89.305	89.926	90.623	93.612	106.61	87.297	86.528	86.773	86.822	85.887	86.291	86.956	86.872	86.444	86.175	86.179	86.407	86.095	86.341	86.764	86.567	86.767	86.354	86.13	85.745	86.305	86.217	87.158	86.78	87.254	93.917
Jean-Eric Vergne	103.469	92.13	91.175	90.755	90.544	90.426	90.005	89.909	89.6	90.073	89.893	92.823	106.555	88.712	89.292	90.663	89.044	89.421	89.181	89.019	89.011	88.774	88.787	88.946	88.801	88.937	89.227	89.355	90.041	94.013	105.29	87.871	87.639	88.674	87.665	87.462	87.496	87.121	87.27	87.278	87.279	87.18	87.907	87.931	87.944	90.628	109.622	87.557	87.054	87.087	86.965	87.179	86.572	86.521	87.019	86.98	86.581	86.416	86.248	86.53	87.396	87.065	87.55	93.682	102.899	86.061	86.126	88.159
Michael Schumacher	111.767	108.199	89.932	92.612	99.086	89.648	89.602	89.855	89.789	89.508	89.67	90.114	89.409	89.902	90.611	88.985	89.188	89.551	89.263	88.84	88.842	88.584	88.789	88.776	88.619	88.803	88.749	88.851	89.421	88.916	89.339	92.001	107.719	88.383	89.355	88.339	88.558	88.29	88.274	88.323	88.887	89.828	87.884	91.297	88.401	87.852	87.953	88.756	88.747	87.604	87.631	87.568	87.199	87.117	87.173	86.778	87.94	91.93
Daniel Ricciardo	102.752	92.138	91.219	90.777	90.52	89.968	89.926	89.985	89.498	89.512	89.562	89.521	89.243	91.609	107.49	88.642	88.837	88.944	88.688	88.587	88.454	88.399	88.548	88.454	88.429	88.795	89.646	88.408	89.16	88.385	88.66	88.585	89.314	92.122	105.597	88.428	87.473	87.461	87.233	88.621	87.131	87.266	87.008	87.172	87.465	87.162	89.671	105.357	87.792	87.144	87.081	86.743	86.968	87.344	90.449	87.474	90.72	86.966	86.508	87.214	87.486	87.096	87.382	88.53	88.929	86.869	86.782	86.949
Heikki Kovalainen	103.176	93.099	91.23	90.843	90.535	90.333	90.386	90.179	89.555	89.916	90.197	90.059	89.661	89.9	89.987	90.301	93.861	107.542	90.052	89.97	89.204	88.922	88.954	89.662	89.336	89.297	88.879	88.961	89.03	89.12	89.354	89.494	89.398	88.868	90.719	91.929	107.757	88.441	90.107	92.078	90.712	88.49	88.372	88.623	90.304	88.44	88.39	92.097	90.101	88.562	89.829	88.307	88.577	88.197	88.823	91.332	105.543	86.801	89.055	87.4	86.836	86.595	86.93	87.016	87.041	86.871	87.569	87.394
Vitaly Petrov	104.063	92.788	91.432	91.119	90.542	90.196	90.526	89.955	89.788	90.332	90.15	90.093	90.557	90.389	90.107	91.007	93.046	95.03	107.968	89.512	90.217	88.983	89.448	89.038	88.715	89.008	89.164	88.985	89.121	89.205	89.161	89.191	89.302	89.694	92.88	107.102	89.006	91.194	89.172	89.521	91.91	89.691	89.022	91.924	89.654	89.657	91.438	89.213	88.867	90.445	91.228	105.433	89.179	87.78	89.456	87.994	89.613	88.51	87.629	90.061	88.883	87.782	90.212	88.172	89.583	88.539	88.137
Charles Pic	105.467	93.83	92.374	91.868	91.632	91.327	91.055	91.091	90.605	90.961	90.803	90.832	90.588	90.489	90.583	92.289	91.572	90.934	91.105	93.391	106.523	88.727	89.095	89.073	88.771	88.904	88.945	89.013	89.17	91.875	89.534	90.126	93.28	89.78	89.292	89.664	92.371	92.565	94.478	107.484	93.931	90.349	89.015	88.909	89.246	89.091	89.255	89.163	89.087	89.223	89.147	90.174	89.376	89.228	90.768	88.913	91.616	90.219	88.823	91.532	88.957	89.746	89.252	90.992	91.948	88.875	91.042
Timo Glock	105.902	93.977	102.105	91.596	91.659	91.928	91.873	92.007	92.402	92.094	91.964	91.983	92.437	92.561	92.029	92.768	92.513	96.863	111.807	94.64	92.264	92.277	91.766	94.359	91.455	93.021	90.966	94.179	91.705	91.049	90.793	93.294	90.203	90.194	90.264	90.4	92.817	91.934	90.7	93.318	107.565	92.088	89.674	89.715	91.75	89.809	91.634	92.744	91.249	89.429	89.065	88.94	90.46	90.439	88.447	88.809	88.9	90.413	89.189	93.747	91.079	89.626	91.985	89.806	92.211	94.324
Pedro de la Rosa	106.612	95.047	93.891	92.609	92.453	91.771	91.972	91.888	91.706	91.997	92.642	91.551	91.508	91.568	92.114	92.923	92.241	92.346	92.068	92.871	92.951	95.908	113.541	92.833	92.609	94.767	91.007	93.055	91.819	93.071	90.737	90.719	90.858	90.531	92.695	92.866	93.33	91.878	90.647	91.279	95.418	109.431	89.928	89.859	90.967	91.298	90.207	93.929	90.111	89.36	89.3	90.558	89.499	89.98	89.274	88.765	90.644	92.045	90.152	89.878	89.314	89.467	91.409	91.11	91.081	93.765
Narain Karthikeyan	107.069	95.312	93.707	92.835	92.291	92.569	92.709	92	91.918	92.499	92.385	91.841	91.437	93.591	92.568	92.734	92.731	95.491	113.244	92.799	93.47	92.122	93.288	94.642	91.348	91.347	92.673	93.003	92.995	91.149	92.782	92.713	91.111	91	91.434	93.947	91.583	90.81	97.463	110.834	90.266	93.442	90.308	94.221	90.309	91.275	92.418	90.207	92.896	90.438	91.301	89.76	97.709	91.948	89.616	89.506	99.83	91.874	92.516	95.968

Hungarian Grand Prix fastest laps

Sebastian Vettel set the fastest lap of the race while trying to catch Grosjean after his third pit stop:

Each driver’s fastest lap:

Rank	Driver	Car	Fastest lap	Gap	On lap
1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1’24.136		68
2	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	1’25.218	1.082	65
3	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1’25.402	1.266	41
4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1’25.677	1.541	65
5	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	1’25.723	1.587	63
6	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus-Renault	1’25.728	1.592	41
7	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1’25.738	1.602	65
8	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1’25.745	1.609	61
9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1’25.830	1.694	58
10	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1’25.831	1.695	58
11	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1’25.920	1.784	54
12	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1’25.976	1.840	57
13	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1’26.050	1.914	59
14	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1’26.061	1.925	66
15	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1’26.073	1.937	60
16	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	1’26.248	2.112	65
17	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1’26.508	2.372	59
18	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	1’26.595	2.459	62
19	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1’26.778	2.642	56
20	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	1’27.629	3.493	59
21	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	1’28.447	4.311	55
22	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	1’28.727	4.591	22
23	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	1’28.765	4.629	56
24	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	1’29.506	5.370	56

2012 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Image ?�?� Daimler/Hoch Zwei

13 comments on “2012 Hungarian Grand Prix fastest laps”

sumedh
30th July 2012, 3:46

Based on this graph, I find it hard to believe that no one tried a 1-stop strategy. No one’s tyres seemed close to the ‘cliff’. Hell! Kimi was setting fastest laps at the end of his stint on soft tyres.

Track position was king. And this was clear to all of us within the first 20 laps or so. Still, most tried to do a 3-stopper!!

Only one who survived the 3-stop strategy was Vettel. In hindsight, I think Vettel did the 3rd pit stop just because he could, I doubt he needed it.
1. Maksutov (@maksutov)
  30th July 2012, 4:18
  
  Based on this graph, I find it hard to see where Grosjean lost so much time behind MSC. Obviously it would have been sometime before Kimi’s last stop.. unless its lap 46, but I didn’t think MSC was in front of Grosjean at that time…
  1. Tim C (@asasuka)
    30th July 2012, 8:38
    
    I think he was just looking for an excuse. Even after the pitstops when they were literally on the same piece of road, Grosjean couldn’t keep up. Grosjean just didnt have the pace, which is highlighted with the 13th fastest lap.
    1. OOliver
      30th July 2012, 11:16
      
      It only takes a corner or two to lose massive amounts of time.
  2. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
    30th July 2012, 12:26
    
    @maksutov Lap 44 looks like a good candidate. Alonso had already pitted yet Grosjean was some way off Raikkonen’s pace. If I see anything on the onboards later I’ll post more.
2. Enigma (@enigma)
  30th July 2012, 12:00
  
  Yeah, he knew that he couldn’t overtake the 3 in front on tyres of same age, so he tried something different as he had a chance of basically a free stop. He was catching up very quickly towards the end. He nearly beat Grosjean and, had Kimi and Lewis had tyre problems, he could have won.
  
  Red Bull had a choice between Vettel finishing 4th or Vettel finishing somewhere in the top 4. They chose the latter. It didn’t help them, but they gave it a shot.
  1. Kimi4WDC
    30th July 2012, 23:48
    
    You really stretching it with a win. Considering how long Soft lasted for Kimi and Lewis being in free air, win was totally out of question, 3rd was in reach IF Romain kept on going wide in certain corners.
leotef (@leotef)
30th July 2012, 6:57

Nothing new being indirectly or in hindsight blamed by another drivers. But this one, GRO on MSC case is, coupled with MSC’s intentional or inadvertent mistake at the start, and further down to the crash during practice, repercussing on the matter of his future as a F1 driver. So better ask himself, “am I gradually becoming a tumbling block on the road rather than a top tier contender with all the glories under his name, err, for a moment letting alone those controversies around him?”
Sometimes being wise and knowing the limit is not as handy as it seems clear to grasp? Who knows..
AdrianMorse (@adrianmorse)
30th July 2012, 7:47

Impressive long last stint from Hamilton, he was still setting good times at the end of his stint, including the fourth-fastest lap of the race, and he managed to pull out 10 seconds ocer Grosjean (who seemed to have some problems with his left front tyre, but still). Still, Hamilton’s pole was crucial for his race win, as both Lotuses and Vettel seemed to be at least as fast as Hamilton on race pace.

Looking at Button’s lap chart, it’s even more baffling why McLaren put him on a three-stopper. His second stint was his strongest, and he was even catching the leaders, and his lap times looked fine by the time he pitted.

I was also surprised by how early Vettel came in for his second stop. He surely didn’t need to cover Button, who was safely tucked in behind Senna. Also, his tyres seemed fine as he was rapidly catching Hamilton and Grosjean. Perhaps the plan was to undercut the leaders, but he was still almost 4 seconds behind Grosjean when he pitted. Wouldn’t it have been better to close the gap first? His stop now forced the leaders to respond, but it also gave them plenty of time to do so. The only thing he achieved is that Hamilton and Grosjean pitted a few laps earlier than planned, but the only one to benefit from that was Raikkonen, not Vettel himself.
1. OOliver
  30th July 2012, 11:24
  
  Buttton was not able to run away from Vettel and secondly, Mclaren tried to use the undercut as they had done successfully all of last year, to get Button closer to the Grosjean and Hamilton, giving him a chance to jump ahead if they had any slow stop. He was also released into open air on his first stop.
  Button was probably going to finish 5th because, Kimi and Vettel had much better race pace and could manage their tyres much better. The only real loss was Alonso getting ahead of him.
  For Vettel’s stop, it was the window to set faster lap times and make up ground
2. sato113 (@sato113)
  30th July 2012, 13:31
  
  equally impressive 2nd stint from hamilton too then. both his medium tyres stints were 29 laps long, so after their 2nd stint where his tyres were ok i’m sure mcalren knew his final stint would be fine.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
30th July 2012, 13:34

Seems to me that Hamilton really benefited from having clean air (most of the time) and caused headaches for both Lotus drivers when they were busy dealing with his wake. Obviously that happens at every race but yesterday, well there might as well have been an invisible wall up.
1. Kimi4WDC
  30th July 2012, 23:50
  
  Reminded me of certain era, not so long ago :)