Japanese Grand Prix 2012

Essentially, the Japanese Grand Prix was all over at the first turn when Vettel, in one of his patented starts, sped ahead as Räikkönen’s Lotus punctured Alonso’s rear left tire and his teammate Grosjean took out both Rosberg and Webber (who survived, but poorly). Lotus Boy Grosjean is now branded a “First-Turn-Nutcase” by the Aussie. Grosjean was given a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for what was his seventh first-lap incident this year; remember that he was banned from the Italian Grand Prix after causing a first-corner pile-up in Belgium.

Defechereux thought it a slow race too. “After the first turn, the rest was mostly processional, with no great wheel-to-wheel battles as in previous races – the DRS zone was much too short. It was back to winning places by better tire or pit stop management.”

All of this was almost overshadowed by Schumacher’s sad story. As reported by Sports Illustrated.com, Schumacher said, “Basically, I’ve decided to retire at the end of the year. Although I was able and capable of competing with the best drivers that are around, at some point it’s time to say goodbye and this time it might be forever.” At Suzuka, he was issued a 10-place grid penalty for causing a crash with Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne during the Singapore GP. He’s been getting by on a wing and a prayer; he tried hard for a hugely successful comeback that didn’t come, but no one can blame him for trying. The Mercedes team has not been top notch, either. Had Schumacher returned with Red Bull Renault the story might have been much different. But it’s over now. After covering his F1 victories for the past ten years, we will miss him.

Stirling Moss, on the other hand, is not sure that Schumacher, despite his multiple world championships, was all that good. Moss said the German should never have come back in the first place. Quoted by the Telegraph, Moss said:
“I’m not Michael’s greatest fan. I just don’t think he was such a great driver. A great driver, someone who won seven world titles, would have been able to see off a driver like [Nico] Rosberg without any problem. Michael couldn’t. He was bloody good, no doubt about it, but he wasn’t great.”

While we ponder the loss of Schumacher, we watched as a Japanese driver won a podium position for the first time, and on top of that, at his home Grand Prix. What a day it must have been for Kobayashi, an up-and-comer that we have been noting on these pages since 2009. We hope his first Grand Prix victory will come soon.

His teammate Perez is now moving to McLaren, surely a golden opportunity. At McLaren, Perez will either make it or break it; his talent or lack of talent will become apparent very quickly. He’ll be at the top, where the game is played on a whole new level. Unlike his Sauber teammate, he finished well down in 22nd at Suzuka after a spin.

And that leaves Hamilton, going to Mercedes, which apparently no one thinks is a very swift move. But once in a while you just have to move on, like salesman at a car dealership. Things get stale, old, and maybe Hamilton needs a challenge at a new team…after all he has driven for McLaren since day one. We wish him well; if MB gets its act together at the same time, the move could prove to be a good thing. In Japan, Hamilton mustered a fifth overall.

The circus continues next weekend at Korea, onto India on October 28th, Abu Dhabi on November 4th, Austin, Texas on November 18th, and wraps up in Brazil November 25th.

Race Results

1	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	1h28m56.242s
2	MASSA	Ferrari	+ 20.6s
3	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 24.5s
4	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 25.0s
5	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 46.4s
6	RÄIKKÖNEN	Lotus-Renault	+ 50.4
7	HULKENBERG	Force India-Mercedes	+ 51.1s
8	MALDONADO	Williams-Renault	+ 52.3s
9	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	+ 54.6s
10	RICCIARDO	STR-Ferrari	+ 66.9s
11	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	+ 67.7s
12	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	+ 83.4s
13	VERGNE	STR-Ferrari	+ 88.6s
14	SENNA	Williams-Renault	+ 88.7s
15	KOVALAINEN	Caterham-Renault	+ 1 lap
16	GLOCK	Marussia-Cosworth	+ 1 lap
17	PETROV	Caterham-Renault	+ 1 lap
18	DE LA ROSA	HRT-Cosworth	+ 1 lap
19	GROSJEAN	Lotus-Renault	+ 2 laps, retired
20	PIC	Marussia-Cosworth	+ 16 laps, engine
21	KARTHIKEYAN	HRT-Cosworth	+ 21 laps, retired
22	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 35 laps, spin
23	ALONSO	Ferrari	+ 53 laps, accident
24	ROSBERG	Mercedes	+ 53 laps, accident
Fastest Lap	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	1m35.774s

NOTE: Schumacher dropped 10 grid spots for causing a collision at previous round; Button and Hulkenberg dropped five for unscheduled gearbox changes; Vergne dropped three for blocking Senna in Q1.

Driver’s Championship Standings

1	ALONSO	Ferrari	194 Points
2	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	190 Points
3	RÄIKKÖNEN	Lotus-Renault	157 Points
4	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	152 Points
5	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	134 Points
6	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	131 Points
7	ROSBERG	Mercedes	93 Points
8	GROSJEAN	Lotus-Renault	82 Points
9	MASSA	Ferrari	69 Points
10	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	66 Points
11	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	50 Points
12	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	44 Points
13	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	43 Points
14	HULKENBERG	Force India-Mercedes	37 Points
15	MALDONADO	Williams-Renault	33 Points
16	SENNA	Williams-Renault	25 Points
17	VERGNE	STR-Ferrari	8 Points
18	RICCIARDO	STR-Ferrari	7 Points

Constructor’s Championship Standings

1	RBR-RENAULT	324 Points
2	McLAREN-MERCEDES	283 Points
3	FERRARI	263 Points
4	LOTUS-RENAULT	239 Points
5	MERCEDES	136 Points
6	SAUBER-FERRARI	116 Points
7	FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES	81 Points
8	WILLIAMS-RENAULT	58 Points
9	STR-FERRARI	15 Points