[Race] The GROAT - Round 2 - 2019 Hockenheimring vs 2012 Sepang

[crmalcolm]

2019 Hockenheimring
The race was scheduled for 67 laps with the formation lap due to start at 15:10 local time (13:10 UTC). A rule relevant to a race which has been declared as "wet" at its start was employed for the first time at this Grand Prix. The rule states that after the formation lap and zero or more additional laps behind the safety car, the race director has three options by which to proceed: a standing start without the safety car, a rolling start without the safety car, or suspending the race. The number of additional formation laps is subtracted from the overall race distance in all 3 instances.

Since at race time the track conditions were considered unsuitable due to heavy rain, all 20 cars were obligated to start on the wet tyres. After the formation lap and three additional laps behind the safety car, the race director elected to begin the grand prix with a standing start. Accordingly, the race distance was set to 64 laps, with all four laps behind the safety car at the beginning of the race officially scored as formation laps.

At the standing start the Red Bulls driven by Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly were both very slow off the starting grid and lost several places each. Kimi Räikkönen took advantage, and ended up in third by the end of the first lap. Both Ferrari drivers had a first lap which saw them move up the order. Charles Leclerc who started in 10th was up to 6th, and Sebastian Vettel had improved from 20th to 14th. Verstappen, who had dropped down due to his start, passed Räikkönen for third immediately before Sergio Pérez spun off coming out of turn 10, he hit the wall on the inside taking him out of the race. This caused the race's first safety car to appear on lap two. As the track began to dry Vettel and Alexander Albon pitted for intermediate tyres, with the majority of the other cars doing the same on the following lap. The safety car period ended on lap 5.

Kevin Magnussen, Lance Stroll, Lando Norris, George Russell and Robert Kubica, all of whom stayed out on their wet tyres, quickly found themselves being overtaken by those on the intermediate tyres. All ultimately pitted for intermediates, but lost out for not having done so earlier dropping them to the back of the race. Daniel Ricciardo suffered an exhaust failure on lap 14, causing a virtual safety car. On lap 18, Carlos Sainz lost control of his McLaren at turn 16, causing it to run wide and aquaplane on the slippery, dragstrip area of the track, before narrowly avoiding the barriers. This caused a local yellow flag before he was able to drive off under his own power.

By lap 22, the track had dried sufficiently that teams further down the order decided to risk slick tyres. The first driver to attempt them was Magnussen in his Haas on soft tyres, followed shortly after by Vettel. Verstappen pitted from third position and fitted the medium tyres. Valtteri Bottas then pitted on lap 27 from second and was also fitted with mediums. Almost immediately after Bottas pitted, Verstappen lost control of his car and performed a 360 degree spin at turn 14, but managed to recover.

Norris's car lost power on track on lap 26, prompting a second deployment of the virtual safety car. Many teams took the opportunity to pit their drivers for dry weather tires, including Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. A notable exception was Sainz; with McLaren putting on a fresh set of intermediate tyres on his car. As Hamilton was leaving the pits on soft tyres, Leclerc spun into the tyre barrier at turn 17. He tried to drive out from the gravel, but his Ferrari SF90 was beached. This ended his race, and prompted the second full safety car of the day. At the end of the lap, Hamilton, now in the lead behind the safety car, also lost control at turn 17, damaging his front wing on the wall and returning into the pit lane cutting across the track as he did so. His Mercedes team was not ready for him, and Hamilton endured a 50.3 second pit stop in which his front wing was replaced and he had switched back onto intermediate tyres. It became clear to all teams at this point that dry weather tyres were not viable, and all teams were back on intermediate tyres by the time the second safety car period ended at lap 34.

At the beginning of lap 34, the top five drivers in order were Verstappen, Nico Hülkenberg, Bottas, Albon and Hamilton. Vettel, who had started last, was now in 8th. Shortly after the safety car restart, Hamilton was found to have entered the pit lane on the wrong side of a safety bollard on lap 27, and was given a five-second penalty. Meanwhile, on track, Bottas and Hamilton overtook the cars ahead of them to race second and third respectively behind Verstappen. Räikkönen avoided beaching his car in a turn 17 gravel trap on lap 39, losing numerous places. One lap later, Hülkenberg slid into another gravel trap on the same corner, and was unable to free his car. This brought out the third safety car of the day. A few drivers including race leader Verstappen pitted during this safety car period; Verstappen's stop was notable as the fastest F1 pit stop time ever at 1.88 seconds, beating the previous time of 1.91 seconds, set during the 2019 British Grand Prix. All drivers who pitted during this safety car kept intermediate tyres, with one notable exception: Lance Stroll, who was the only driver to fit slick tyres. The third safety car period ended on lap 46.

By this point in the race, the rain had stopped falling, and a clear dry line had formed on the track. Half the field pitted on lap 46 for dry weather tyres, including Verstappen and Bottas. Hamilton took the lead ahead of both. All the drivers remaining on intermediates, Hamilton included, pitted on lap 47 for slick tyres. Hamilton, because he had to serve his five-second penalty, was relegated to 12th position after his stop. Meanwhile, Stroll, the only driver to take slicks during the previous safety car, briefly inherited the lead of the race. Verstappen and then Daniil Kvyat soon passed him within a lap leaving Stroll in 3rd.

The next several laps of the race saw Verstappen extend his race lead to more than ten seconds. Sebastian Vettel, who had started lap 46 in 8th, began showing pace on dry tyres and moving through the midfield. Lewis Hamilton spun out at turn 1, narrowly avoiding the barriers, dropping down to 13th on lap 53. The field was frozen once again on lap 56, when Valtteri Bottas, running in 4th, slid off track and into a tyre barrier in a near identical spin to Hamilton a few laps earlier, suffering front suspension damage that would end his race. Verstappen's 10 second lead disappeared as Bottas's shunt brought out the fourth and final safety car of the race. Sebastian Vettel, who had by this point moved up to 5th position, found himself in a favorable position to attack the frontrunners heading into the final few laps.

The safety car caused by Bottas's crash ended on lap 60. Pierre Gasly's car suffered terminal damage when he collided with Albon two laps later. Verstappen extended his race lead once again, pulling over 7 seconds ahead of 2nd position by the final lap. Vettel was able to pass Sainz, Stroll, and Kvyat to finish in 2nd after starting the race in last. Kvyat, finishing 3rd, achieved Toro Rosso's first podium since Vettel's victory at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. Verstappen won his second race of the last three, also picking up the point for fastest lap and the spectator voted "Driver of the Day" award. Phil Turner, Red Bull team chief mechanic joined him on the podium to receive the winning manufacturer's award.

After the race, both Alfa Romeo drivers Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi were penalised 30 seconds for use of driver aids at the start. This relegated them to 12th and 13th, respectively. The penalties moved Hamilton up to 9th and prevented Mercedes from leaving the race without points for the first time since the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix. It further allowed Kubica, moved up to 10th, to earn his and Williams's first and what would prove to be the only point in Williams's 2019 campaign. An appeal against the penalties was lodged by Alfa Romeo after the race and was subsequently dismissed by the FIA World Council.


2012 Sepang
Forty minutes before the race the pitwall radar read that more than thirty minutes of steady 2-3 (0 = no rain and 4 = heavy shower) intensity rain was expected at 15:50 pm local time (ten mins before race start). All drivers except the two HRT's began the race on the green banded intermediate tyre. The HRT team opted for the blue banded full wet tyres. Grosjean starting from 7th, made a good start and was third into turn 1. Schumacher and Grosjean made contact at turn 4 and both spun, losing several positions in the process and Grosjean eventually retired on lap 4 after spinning into a gravel trap. On the first lap, turn 9 to 11 was almost completely dry but the rest of the track was very wet. Pérez stopped after the first lap to change to full wets in a move that would elevate him to an eventual podium scoring position. With almost all drivers having pitted onto full wets by laps 5, the pitwall radar was shown to read "the intensity will increase to 4 from time to time" meaning heavy rain was still to come.

The safety car was deployed on the 7th lap, purely because of the heavy rain, and the race was suspended on lap 9. This worked in favour of Jean-Éric Vergne, the only driver still running on intermediates, who was able to change to full wets (as required by race officials) without the necessity of a pit stop. The HRT of Karthikeyan benefited from starting the race on full wets, having not needed to pit stop and was in tenth when the race was suspended. Grosjean's car was rescued from the gravel and brought back in the pits during the suspension. The race suspension last around fifty minutes and in that time many drivers opted to leave their car and some (Rosberg) changed footwear. While the cars were suspended on the grid, many teams brought out gazebos to place over their cars to keep them and team equipment (i.e. laptops and tyre warmers) dry.

The race restarted under the safety car around local time 17:15. As the track steadily dried pit crew members attempted to dry the team pit box. After 4 laps behind the safety car, the majority of the drivers once again pitted to change to intermediate tyres, meanwhile Vettel lost his radio so he had to use the pit confirmation button on his steering wheel for most of the race. On lap 15, Jenson Button clumsily locked up the rear wheels and made contact with Karthikeyan, forcing him to pit again to change the front wing, ending his podium chances. Subsequently, he made up a few places but was unable to finish in the top 10. Alonso emerged from this as the new leader when he overtook Sergio Pérez on lap 16, a lead he only briefly relinquished with a lap 40 pit stop. Rosberg was in fourth on lap 23 but slowly slipped backwards when his tyres overheated and he consequently pitted early for more inters. As the track slowly dried further, the top five all had comfortable gaps between them. During this period Senna was posting quick lap times and moving up through the midfield.

By lap 31 heavier rain was again forecast but never eventuated. After being 7.795 seconds behind Alonso in 2nd, Pérez began to set consecutive fastest laps and was closing the gap to the leader. The forecast rain prevented most cars from changing to slicks when the track was dry. An image of Hamilton's front tyre revealed that drivers were essentially racing on slicks anyway as the intermediate tread had worn off. Daniel Ricciardo was the first to take the gamble and change to dry tyres on lap 37. The teams watched his lap times go purple (fastest for the day) for every sector on the timescreens. He set the fastest lap by some three seconds on Pérez and that initiated the change from wet to dry tyres for everyone else. By lap 39, Pérez had excellent pace and cut the gap to Alonso back down to 1.339 seconds. Between laps 39 and 42 there was yet another round of pit stops, this time onto slick tyres. Alonso pitted on lap 40 while Pérez waited until the next lap. In that time Pérez, who prior to the pitstop had been within two seconds, now dropped to 7.180 seconds off Alonso. After the change to slicks, Pérez on the prime tyre, again consistently cut down on Alonso's (medium tyre) lead to within half a second. Controversially on lap 50, Pérez was told on the radio "be careful, we need this position" referring to the 18 points on offer for 2nd place. On the same lap Pérez took too much curb on turn 14 and had a slight off. This cost him at least five seconds and ensured he remain in 2nd position. Commentators questioned whether Sauber - whose engine is supplied by Ferrari - gave a coded message to Pérez asking him to allow the engine supplier to take victory. Sauber denied this emphatically after the race. Late in the race, Vettel received a puncture against the front wing of Narain Karthikeyan, and he pitted from 4th place, finishing 11th; Karthikeyan was given a 20-second post-race penalty for his part in the collision. Pastor Maldonado, who was running 10th, was forced to retire on the penultimate lap when his engine gave way, allowing Michael Schumacher his first points of the season.

Vettel and Red Bull boss Christian Horner criticised Karthikeyan's driving, with Vettel calling Karthikeyan an "idiot". Karthikeyan hit back at Vettel, calling him a "cry-baby". Later, Karthikeyan decided to call a truce with Vettel, stating his respect for Vettel's abilities and saying "I think we have to deal with it in a mature way and forget about it."

[S griffin]

Two wet thrillers. Hockenheim 2019 was a great race, but Malaysia 2012 was extra special due to the emergence of Perez, with his chase of Alonso