UAE F1 Grand Prix 2012: Race Report - Jenson Button 4th, Lewis Hamilton retired

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JENSON BUTTON
- MP4-27A-01
- Started: 5th
- Finished: 4th
- Fastest lap: 1m44.533s (+0.569s, 4th)
- Pitstops: One: lap 29 (3.0s) [Opt-Pri]
- Points: 153 (6th)

“Congratulations to Kimi [Raikkonen] – he’s a man of few words, but he’s all about racing. He deserved this victory today.

“For me, it was quite a fun race. I had a few good battles out there – with Mark [Webber], Sebastian [Vettel] and Pastor [Maldonado] – and they were particularly good fun. But, unfortunately, I didn’t have the pace in the car to take the fight to the leaders today.

“The car felt very different from how it had on Friday – I just couldn’t find the grip, which was strange. And, at the end, I couldn’t have kept Sebastian back – he was on newer Options [tyres], so it was impossible to get the same amount of traction from my older Primes as he was getting from his newer Options.

“Lewis’s retirement meant we dropped more points to Ferrari in the constructors’ world championship. That was a great pity, but we have two big races remaining in which to make up the balance.”

LEWIS HAMILTON
- MP4-27A-01
- Started: 1st
- Finished: Ret – 19 laps, fuel pressure
- Fastest lap: 1m47.266s (+3.302s, 16th)
- Pitstops: n/a
- Points: 165 (5th)

“I’m gutted; I’d had really good pace all weekend and I feel certain we could have won today.

“I had a fuel pressure problem – it was very sudden, I was just entering a corner and the car just died on me.

“The only mistake I made all weekend was having a brief moment on lap two, when my brakes weren’t fully up to temperature and I locked up into Turn Eight. After that, however, everything was going really well. The car was a dream to drive – I was cruising and still pulling away when I had my problem.

“Nonetheless, we’ll have more opportunities in Austin and Sao Paulo. I hope we can get back to the front – I’d love to take a win or two more for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes before the end of the season.”

MARTIN WHITMARSH
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“From the point of view of sheer pace, Lewis totally dominated the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend – until loss of fuel pressure ended his race when he was serenely managing a comfortable lead.

“Until that point, he’d had the race in the bag, and it goes without saying that the entire Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team is absolutely gutted that through no fault of his own he wasn’t able to win here today. Lewis, too, is understandably disappointed – but he’s also as keen as mustard to give it his very best shot to win the season’s final two grands prix, at Austin and Sao Paulo.

“Jenson, too, drove a gutsy and spirited race, ending up fourth, having been overtaken at the end by Seb, who was on fresher tyres [than Jenson was] and whose car had been re-geared prior to the race for better top speed.

“To Kimi, who is of course an old friend of ours, having won nine grands prix for McLaren Mercedes during his time with us [2002-2006], I want to say ‘Well done’. Today we saw a great drive by a great driver.

“Last, here are two brand-new McLaren-related milestones for all you train-spotters out there. First, until Lewis’s race came to an end on lap 20, he’d taken McLaren’s aggregate of kilometres spent in the lead of world championship grands prix past the 50,000km mark. And, second, in scoring 12 world championship points for fourth place, Jenson established a new benchmark in Formula 1: 56 points-scoring grands prix on the trot for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, eclipsing the previous record which had been held hitherto by Ferrari.

“Neither of those stats provides much comfort today for anyone at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, but they certainly both bear witness to a truly impressive magnum opus of on-track McLaren achievement in Formula 1, going back all the way to 1966, and I salute all the many men and women whose sterling efforts have contributed to that.

“Next we go to Austin, a new venue for our sport. Lewis won the last United States Grand Prix – at Indianapolis in 2007 – and you may be well sure that he, Jenson and everyone else in our team will be aiming to make it two United States Grand Prix victories on the trot for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.”

~ Official photos and report courtesy of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes ~

Copyright © 2012, mercedesgla. All rights reserved.

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UAE F1 Grand Prix 2012: Race Report - Michael Schumacher 11th, Nico Rosberg DNF

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A dramatic Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit this evening saw Michael Schumacher finish just outside the points in 11th place whilst Nico Rosberg retired following a collision.

• An incident on lap one which damaged his front wing caused Nico to box for a new nose dropping him to P21
• He subsequently retired on lap eight after a heavy collision with the HRT of Narain Karthikeyan
• Michael was going well on a one-stop prime/option strategy and was running in eighth place by lap 41
• He picked up a puncture from debris and had to make an additional stop which dropped him out of the points

Michael Schumacher
“Unfortunately we have to say that again we suffered bad luck today. Due to the puncture I had to do another pit stop very late in the race which lost me a points scoring position. Of course this is part of the game and you cannot do anything about it but it was a real pity as we had reasonable pace and could have taken some points. Towards the end of the race I was hoping to close the gap to the top ten, and we were making good progress, but it just didn’t work out.”

Nico Rosberg
“My car felt competitive today so it’s a real shame not to have finished the race and scored some points. Unfortunately that chance was gone after the first lap incident with Romain, after which I had to come into the pits for a new nose. Then there was the accident which put me out of the race. Narain told me that his steering broke and he needed to brake which I didn’t expect in that high-speed corner. There was no time for me to react, and I’m very thankful that we are both fine. I went to the medical centre for a precautionary check but everything is good. I will look forward now and hope for a better two races to end the season.”

Ross Brawn
“We had a reasonable car today so it’s disappointing not to have picked up any points. Nico’s front wing was damaged on the first lap which meant an early stop but he was going well after that. His accident on lap seven was fairly dramatic and we obviously need to have a look at what happened. Karthikeyan reported a problem with his car and certainly it looked very unusual. Thankfully both drivers were fine afterwards. Michael drove a strong race and we had a good strategy but unfortunately he picked up a puncture in the debris left from the various accidents which made the end of his race very difficult. The dice just aren’t falling for us at the moment but the positive is that the car was better this weekend so we just need to keep working hard.”

Norbert Haug
“Nico´s race lasted only seven laps today, and thankfully his accident ended without any serious consequences. Before that, his front wing change on the first lap after a collision with another car put him back to the back of the field. Michael was in seventh position when he picked up debris, and subsequently a puncture, during the safety car period which dropped him back to 11th place after his additional pit stop which is where he finished.”

~ Official photos and report courtesy of MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS ~

Copyright © 2012, mercedesgla. All rights reserved.

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UAE F1 Grand Prix 2012: Qualifying Report - Lewis Hamilton starts the race from pole position

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LEWIS HAMILTON
- MP4-27A-02
- FP3: 1st, 1m42.130s, 18 laps
- Qualifying:
- Q1: 1st, 1m41.497s (on Primes)
- Q2: 1st, 1m40.901s (on Options)
- Q3: 1st overall, 1m40.630s (on Options)

“Those extra three-tenths came from my family!

“Our car works incredibly well around here. Our aero package really suits this track; the set-up was perfect, and everything came together perfectly for qualifying. My lap felt really great – I enjoyed it so much. I love this track!

“Still, I’m realistic: the race tomorrow is going to be tough. At the start, it’s down to the team to make sure the clutch performs perfectly because the getaway will be incredibly important. Our race pace is very strong, but so is Red Bull’s – and staying ahead will be tough, particularly with the double DRS zones.

“I really want to finish on a high for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. I’ll give it everything I’ve got tomorrow.”

JENSON BUTTON
- MP4-27A-01
- FP3: 2nd, 1m42.420s (+0.290s), 17 laps
- Qualifying:
- Q1: 10t, 1m42.342s (on Primes)
- Q2: 9th, 1m41.873s (on Options)
- Q3: 6th overall, 1m41.290s (on Options)

“I shouldn’t really be starting this far back. All weekend, I’ve been pretty happy with the car, but, for some reason, we just couldn’t find the pace in qualifying – and we don’t know why.

“Obviously, our car is very quick around here – Lewis put it on pole by quite a margin – so there’s some more time to find.

“While starting sixth will make the race more difficult, there are two good DRS overtaking zones, so hopefully there’ll be plenty of overtaking. Also, our race pace has looked good all weekend, so I’m still feeling optimistic.”

MARTIN WHITMARSH
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“Lewis drove brilliantly in qualifying here in Abu Dhabi today – he was quickest in Q1, Q2 and Q3 – and pole position was never really in doubt, was it?

“It was the 25th pole of his Formula 1 career – all of them scored in Vodafone McLaren Mercedes cars – and he’s now perfectly positioned to drive to victory tomorrow.

“Having said that, you get no points for pole position in Formula 1, so we don’t intend to get carried away. Equally, there’s a lot of hard work for us to do between now and flag-fall at the end of tomorrow’s race, and we never under-estimate our opposition. But we’ve got a good race car, and Lewis loves this circuit.

“Jenson is understandably a little disappointed with qualifying, but he’s a truly fantastic racer and he can still mount a serious challenge from sixth place on tomorrow’s starting grid. Moreover, his long-run pace was good yesterday – so, like Lewis, he’ll certainly be one to watch when the five red lights go out on the startline gantry.”

~ Official photos and report courtesy of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes ~

Copyright © 2012, mercedesgla. All rights reserved.

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