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The Indian Grand Prix 2012 was the 17th round of the 2012 F1 season, and took place at the Buddh International Circuit in Uttar Pradesh, India, on October 28th.
Sebastian Vettel won the race from the pole, followed by Fernando Alonso, and Mark Webber completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 28 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 25-33: 22 stops
The fastest pit stop was Sebastian Vettel's, stopping the clock at 20.707 seconds during his pit stop on lap 33, while the slowest one was was Pastor Maldonado's, who stopped the clock at 28.053 seconds, 7.346 seconds slower than Vettel, during his pit stop on lap 30.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
We saw a variety of options in terms of pit stop strategies during this race, however most drivers chose a 1 stop. Only Michael Schumacher, Jean-Éric Vergne, Sergio Pérez and Pastor Maldonado decided to try something different with a 2 stops strategy.
The race winner, Sebastian Vettel, was on a 1 stop strategy.
1 stop
-
1Jenson Button
-
2Narain Karthikeyan
-
3Bruno Senna
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1Nico Rosberg
-
-Kimi Räikkönen
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2Daniel Ricciardo
-
-Felipe Massa
-
4Nico Hülkenberg
-
4Paul di Resta
-
5Charles Pic
-
3Fernando Alonso
-
1Mark Webber
-
1Timo Glock
-
2Vitaly Petrov
-
1Lewis Hamilton
-
2Heikki Kovalainen
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1Pedro de la Rosa
-
-Sebastian Vettel
-
2Romain Grosjean
-
3Kamui Kobayashi
2 stops
-
8Michael Schumacher
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3Jean-Éric Vergne
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16Sergio Pérez
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7Pastor Maldonado
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy gained 1.53 positions on average, while those on a 2 stops strategy lost an average of 2 positions.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 1 stop strategy was the best option.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Buddh International Circuit, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There race went on mostly with no incidents. Only 3 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, Michael Schumacher, who had to retire on lap 55, and Pedro de la Rosa, and Sergio Pérez, both had to retire due to an accident.
Retired
-
Michael SchumacherLap 55
Accident
-
Pedro de la RosaLap 43
-
Sergio PérezLap 21
Qualifying
Sebastian Vettel managed to get the pole position by 0.044 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:25.283. Mark Webber was right behind him, helping Red Bull score a one-two and monopolize the first line of the grid.
The second line fo the grid was dominated by McLaren, with Lewis Hamilton in third position, and Jenson Button in fourth.
But the team pairings didn't stop there, as the two Ferraris were right behind them, with Fernando Alonso in fith position, and Felipe Massa in sixth.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and all of the drivers that took place in Q2 improved their times in this second session.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that 5 out of the 9 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.