A decade ago, round three of the 2012 F1 season saw the teams and drivers arrive at the Shanghai International Circuit. Tensions were high because of the long discussions about Mercedes front wing F duct’s legality, said legality being argued by Mercedes competitor’s.
Notably, Hamilton, who at the time was looking to add another championship to his name, was to serve a five place grid penalty for changing the gearbox of his McLaren.
Over the three practice sessions, Mercedes and McLaren showed their speed on track by hosting their cars in the top 3 of all of the sessions. Hamilton topped FP1 and FP3, while seven time world champion Schumacher split the young Brit’s dominance and topped FP2.
Qualifying
When it came to qualifying, it was a different ball game. Red Bull and Mercedes were confident in their car; both leaving it late to do runs in Q1, but both teams were safe with that bold move. The usual suspects were out in Q1 such as Vergne, Kovalainen, Petrov, Glock, De la Rosa and Karthikeyan.
In Q2, probably the most unexpected event at the point during the weekend, was the exit of two time world champion Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull. Both Mercedes, Hamilton and Raikkonen stayed in the pits while others did their final runs in attempt to escape elimination. This eventually dumped Vettel out of Q2, he was joined by Massa, Maldonado, Senna, di Resta and Ricciardo.
The top 10 shootout was full of excitement as it could have been anyone’s pole position for the taking. First to set a lapped time was Rosberg, punching a 1:35.1 on the clock, half a second faster than his team mate Schumacher, Hamilton and Webber. With confidence in his time, he stepped out of the car with two minutes left on the clock; but there was no one who could stop Rosberg from claiming his first pole position in Formula 1. Hamilton ended up P2 but would later drop back to P7 for his gearbox penalty.
Starting grid: Rosberg, Schumacher, Kobayashi, Raikkonen, Button, Webber, Hamilton, Perez, Alonso, Grosjean
Race
Finally, the much anticipated race day came along and Vergne was to start in the pitlane after changes to his car before the race.
Most of the grid started on soft tyres, but starting medium tyres were Massa, Senna and both Toro Rossos. Good starts from the Mercedes pair saw them avoid trouble but Kobayashi and Webber fell backwards in order and found themselves in a tight pickle, with Webber behind Alonso. An early stop by Webber led the others to follow his actions shortly after.
The only retirement of the race came from a mistake in the pitlane by Mercedes when Schumacher went to make his first pitstop. A possible podium finish turned into a nightmare for the German team. With the round of pitstops completed the lead was Rosberg, Button, Hamilton, Webber and Raikkonen.
Webber was the first to pit again for new tyres on Lap 22; Button and Hamilton followed his lead. Raikkonen stopped later and ended up losing many places after the pitstop. By Lap 30, the different strategies were more clear cut: Rosberg, Vettel and Raikkonen were all on two stop strategies while Button, Hamilton and Webber were doing three stops.
After Rosberg’s final stop Button took the lead but would still have to make another stop himself. But when Hamilton, Alonso and Button pitted, it was not smooth sailing for Button as there was an issue with his rear left tyre which delayed his stop giving the lead back to Rosberg. When Massa pitted, it left Raikkonen behind the leading Rosberg but there was a train of cars behind him.
With five laps to go Button, Hamilton and Webber overtook Vettel with their much fresher tyres for 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Nico Rosberg held his own and took good care of his tyres to see himself victorious in F1 for the first time in his career. He was joined by a double McLaren podium in Button and Hamilton.
Top 10 points scorers: Rosberg, Button, Hamilton, Webber, Vettel, Grosjean, Senna, Maldonado, Alonso, Kobayashi
Rosberg’s win moved him to P6 in the championship standings but it was McLaren’s Hamilton and Button who were first and second.
Hope you enjoyed that Flashback Friday, we will be back in the new year with lots more to share!
The Fastest Sector 