Grid: SV, MW, LH, FA, FM, RK, JB, NH, RB, VP, SB, NR, AS, VL, MS, PDLR, JA, KK, JT, HK, LDG, TG, KC, BS
01/57: LH has passed MW into Turn 1
RK passes JB for P6
Pit-car from LH says “Vettel hit me” and vibrations from the front left wheel
02: SV, LH, FA, FM, RK, JB, RB, NH
MW down to P9!
JT pits
MS up from P15 to P11
03: SV fastest lap 1:43.768
MW fighting to pass NH
04: Replay shows slow start for MW; wide in Turn 1 lets FA through
Replay of LH up the inside of SV into Turn 1 then they make contact
05/57: SV, LH, FA, FM, RK, JB, RB, NH
JT pits for a second time – apparently he’s got a stuck gear
06: SV f/lap 1:43.055 – he’s got a 3.0sec lead over LH
Looks like JT has rejoined the circuit
07: SV f/lap 1:42.684
08: MW pits from P9 – bit slow on the front left – rejoins down in P18
09: SV f/lap 1:42.654
FA f/lap 1:42.566
NR pits
10/57: MW slams into the back of HK – flips the Red Bull, lands upside down – looks like both drivers are OK
Safety Car deployed
Almost everyone heads for the pits – the first 6 runners had already passed the pit entrance so JB was the first one in
11[SC]: Great on-board video as MW flips!
LH pits – new nose cone
MS seems to be moving pretty quickly despite the yellow flags
12[SC]: MS held at the pit exit until everyone has passed by – that’s why he was so fast on the pit in
13[SC]: SV, LH, KK, JB, RB, RK, SB, AS; retirements: HK, MW
14[SC]: Looks like the debris is cleared
MS pits again – he did a couple of laps on hard tyres and he’s back onto the softs
SC in at the end of this lap
KK hasn’t pitted under the SC
SV has slowed right down, trying to back everyone up
SC heads into the pit lane; SV plays the SC role until they cross the line
SV outbrakes himself into the final corner – locks up and almost lets LH through
15/57: JB can’t make it past KK
RK’s hounding RB for P5
FA passes NH for P9
16: JB’s got to pass KK – KK is already 2.5sec behind LH
17: SV f/lap 1:42.059
Sounds like FA / Ferrari are going to protest LH holding them up when JB pitted
18: SV f/lap 1:41.904
LH f/lap 1:41.828
19: SV f/lap 1:41.696
LH asks if he can save fuel; given new engine mapping and told he can attack later
20/57: SV, LH, KK, JB, RB, RK, SB, AS
NR told to change the brake bias to preserve them
21: SV f/lap 1:41.478
Car 2 (LH) under investigation, presumably for his speed behind the safety car … but if he was within the time he’s given* he shouldn’t get a penalty
(*Each driver is given a delta time to maintain while behind the SC)
22: NR warned again about his brakes
23: KK now 10s behind LH; JB is 1.4s behind KK, so he’s not trying to pass at the moment
25/57: LH given a drive-through penalty
Replay shows LH passed the SC as it exited the pit lane
26: Pit-car for LH tells him to change the engine mapping and attack SV before he serves his drive-through penalty
BBC report MW is fine
27: LH f/lap 1:40.715
Replay shows someone’s thrown a glass bottle on the track! Fortunately it’s not broken yet
28: LH enters the pit lane from P2 – serves his drive-through – rejoins still ahead of KK
Half distance
29: SV now has a 14.5sec lead over LH
FA still whining about LH – maybe he should concentrate on improving on P9
30/57: SV, LH, KK, JB, RB, RK, SB, AS
SV f/lap 1:40.985
LH 1:40.686
31: JB still 1.5s behind KK – why isn’t he attacking?
32: LH is closing by almost 0.5s per lap, which means it’ll take 27 laps to catch SV (there’s only 25 left) assuming SV doesn’t change his pace
34: RK told to cool the car by pulling out of RB’s slipstream
35/57: SV, LH, KK, JB, RB, RK, SB, AS
KK and LdG have yet to stop for the other tyre compound
36: LH f/lap 1:40.670 … and everyone from P3 to P8 set personal fastest laps as thNH’e fuel continues to burn off
37: LH’s pace drops as he catches some back markers
MS pits from P16 – that’s his 3rd stop
38: Blue flags for the KC/BS/TG battle
TG & BS make contact – BS brakes his front wing and TG gets a puncture
TG pits
39: BS pits for a new nose
MS f/lap 1:40.148 on fresh soft tyres
40/57: SV, LH, KK, JB, RB, RK, SB, AS
AS passes SB for P7
SB runs a bit wide but FA can’t pass him – is he going to start whining about that now?
41: Smoke from the rear of NH’s Williams
42: MS f/lap 1:39.895
43: LdG is lapped by KK but holds his line and slows up JB … then LdG pits
44: Cars 1, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 22 will all be investigated after the race for being too fast behind the SC … so we’ll have no idea of the real result when this race ends 🙁
[That’s JB, RB, NH, RK, VP, AS, VL, SB & PdlR]
45/57: SV, LH, KK, JB, RB, RK, AS, SB; retirements: HK, MW
46: Pit-car for FA tell him 5 cars in front of him under investigation
48: LH f/lap 1:39.776 – that’s almost 1.5s faster than SV!
SV’s lead is 7.9s and there’s only 9 laps left – SV will need to pick up his pace
49: SV posts 1:39.863 but LH sets f/lap 1:39.418
When is KK going to pit?
50/57: LH cuts the lead to 6.6sec
51: NH pulls the Williams off track and parks it
Replay shows NH has a delaminated right rear tyre and a big chuck missing from the bodywork; his race engineer stressing he park it next to a fire marshal
53: SV f/lap 1:39.141 and pushes the gap over LH back to 8.0sec
Sauber pit crew getting ready for KK
54: KK finally pits -rejoins in P9, ahead of team mate PdlR but just behind FA
MS f/lap 1:38.968
55/57: SV, LH, JB, RB, RK, AS, SB
JB f/lap 1:38.766
56: Everyone’s still pushing hard because the potential time penalties (for the 9 cars being investigated for the speed behind the safety car)
FA all over the rear wing of SB, but KK is right on FA’s tail too
FA runs a bit wide, giving SB a reprieve but can KK attack?
57 [final lap]: FA runs wide again and this time KK steals P8
Can KK attack SB too?
SV takes the chequered flag
LH home for P2 just 5secs behind
JB over the line for P3 but he’s one of the 9 under investigation
P4=RB, 5=RK, 6=AS
KK has passed SB into the final corner!
P7=KK, 8=SB, 9=FA, 10=PdlR
P11=VP, 12=NR, 13=VL, 14=FM, 15=JA, 16=MS
P17=LdG (+1 lap), 18=TG(+2 laps), 19=KC(+2), 20=BS(+2), 21=JT(+4 laps)
DNF: NH, HK, MW
So the very provisional results are: SV, LH, JB*, RB*, RK*, AS*, KK, SB*, FA, PDLR*, VP*, NR, VL*, FM, JA, MS, LDG, TG, KC, BS, JT (DNF: NH*, HK, MW) … but the ones marked with an asterisk are under investigation, so the final result could be quite different.
I’ll update once we hear the outcome of the stewards’ investigations – who knows, Kobayashi could end up in P3!
Free the Valencia nine! 🙂
The FIA announced:
So the revised result is: SV, LH, JB*, RB*, RK*, AS*, KK, FA, SB*, NR, PDLR*, VP*, VL*, FM, JA, MS, LDG, TG, KC, BS, JT (DNF: NH*, HK, MW)
It’s a shame that Alonso benefited from the penalties – he was just a whiner all weekend.