Bahrain GP: Williams drivers end races in their pits


Senna Pit Stop

By Andrew Hooper
April 22 2012

The finish of the 2012 Bahrain Grand prix would see both Williams cars finish in their garages. Pastor Maldonado would retire after a massive spin caused by a puncture late in the race while Bruno Senna would stop his car in his garage with only two laps remaining. A major disappointment after the results of China. One can only hope that the Williams team will turn things around in Spain.

 
 Bahrain GP Race Review
 
Senna
 

For the Williams F1 team the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix would make its 150th race powered by Renault. For team drivers Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado this race was going to be a difficult one with Bruno starting from fifteenth and Pastor, after a gearbox change, staring from twenty first. A points scoring finish was going to be a difficult task. On pole was Vettel from Hamilton and Webber in third. Button was fourth from Rosberg, Ricciardo, Grosjean,
Perez, Alonso, and Di Resta in tenth. Another driver receiving a five grid place penalty for a gearbox change was Schumacher seeing him start from twenty second. With the grid formed the cars would move away on their parade lap for the fifty seven lap race. The DRS zone for this race would be on the start-finish straight. The top eight cars would all be staring on the soft tyre as Vettel lead the field around the lap. It was reported that both Williams cars would start the race on the soft tyre. The only driver on the medium was Kobayashi.

The grid would form and as the lights went out it would be a great start from Vettel with Hamilton following but a poor start from Button. Grosjean was fighting Webber for third while Bruno was fighting with Perez. Alonso was fifth from Button and Raikkonen, Rosberg, Massa, and Senna in tenth, from fifteenth. At the end of the lap Vettel was leading by 2.2 seconds over Hamilton. Kovalainen would pit having a left rear puncture. Ricciardo had dropped to sixteenth while Di Resta would pass Bruno for tenth. Webber was right behind Hamilton as Vettel extended his lead to 2.9 seconds. Pastor was down in fifteenth with Schumacher challenging him. Ricciardo had made a poor start and was now seventeenth. Massa would pass Raikkonen for seventh at Turn one.

 
Maldonado
 
Grosjean would pass Webber using his DRS at the first turn. Rosberg had also made a slow start but Massa had made up a lot of places at the start. Di Resta had passed Perez for tenth with Bruno now twelfth. Raikkonen would pass Massa going through Turn five and six. Lap five and Vettel was now leading by 4.5 seconds. Grosjean was now right behind Hamilton with Webber 1.3 seconds further back. Grosjean would pass Hamilton for second using his DRS while for Williams Pastor would pass Vergne for fourteenth going into Turn one. Bruno was still in twelfth as Ricciardo would pit taking on a new nose. On lap nine we would have Button, Massa, Rosberg all pitting. Button would switch onto the medium compound. Raikkonen would pass Alonso for fifth at Turn one. Hamilton and Webber would pit on lap ten. Alonso would also come in. But for Hamilton it would be a slow stop seeing him lose time, after a problem with his left rear tyre.

We would also have Perez, Bruno, Schumacher, Hulkenberg, and De la Rosa all come in for their first stops. Lap eleven Grosjean would pit from second joined by Vergne, and Petrov. Vettel was still leading while an incident between Rosberg and Hamilton was under investigation. It appeared that Rosberg had forced Hamilton off the track defending his position. Lap twelve and Vettel and Raikkonen would both pit. Pastor had also pitted from sixth. Di Resta was in the lead but would be passed by Vettel. Di Resta was second from Grosjean Kobayashi who had yet to pit, Webber, Raikkonen, Button, Alonso, Hamilton, and Rosberg in tenth. Pastor was now thirteenth while Bruno had lost time dropping to fifteenth. Bruno would be passed by Hulkenberg while Raikkonen had passed Webber at Turn
eleven. Hamilton had passed Alonso for eighth. Di Resta would pit on lap fifteen seeing Grosjean back up to second. Kobayashi would also pit from seventh.

Raikkonen was now third while with the pit stops Pastor had moved up to eleventh, having started from twenty first. Bruno was now fifteenth with Kobayashi right behind. Pastor was 3.0 seconds behind Perez but was closing in slowly. Lap eighteen and Vettel was leading by 5.1 seconds with Raikkonen 2.1 seconds behind his team-mate. Kobayashi would pass Bruno for fifteenth while Pastor would reduce the gap to Perez with it now 1.8 seconds. Di Resta would complain that Pastor was "weaving all over the place" with Di Resta just 0.7 seconds behind the Williams. Hulkenberg would pit from fifteen on lap twenty. It was announced that the incident between Rosberg and Hamilton would be investigated after the race. Bruno was now in fifteenth while Pastor continued to run close behind Perez. Pastor would pass Perez going into Turn four. But while this was happening Di Resta was able to get past Pastor taking tenth.
 
Maldonado
 
Perez would pit from twelfth while after twenty two laps Vettel was leading Grosjean by 5.7 seconds. Button would pit on lap twenty three, followed by Rosberg and Massa. Button and Rosberg would take the medium while Massa would take the soft. Pastor was now up to tenth as Raikkonen would pass Grosjean for second. Lap twenty four we would have Webber, Hamilton, Alonso, Pastor, and Schumacher pit. It would be another slow stop for Hamilton with what appeared to be the same problem. Lap twenty five and Raikkonen would pit taking on the medium tyres. Bruno would also come in from tenth. Vettel was now leading Grosjean by 7.6 seconds and he and Grosjean would pit the next lap. Pastor had a massive 360 degree spin after a left rear puncture, while Vergne had pitted from fifteenth. Pastor would pit with chances of a points scoring finish ended. He would retire in his pit.

Rosberg was coming in for a lot of criticism after also having a moment with Alonso, seeing Alonso off the track. The Ferrari driver would tell his team that Rosberg did not leave him any space seeing him off the road. Lap twenty nine and Raikkonen was now 1.7 seconds behind Vettel. Grosjean was third followed by Webber, Di Resta, Button, Kobayashi, Rosberg, Alonso, Massa, and Hamilton in tenth. Bruno was still in fifteenth. Rosberg would pass Kobayashi for seventh with the Sauber running on much older tyres while Rosberg would use his DRS to pass at Turn one. Raikkonen would continue to close in into Vettel while Kobayashi would pit on lap thirty two. Alonso was lucky not to his the entry to the pit lane as he appeared to start to follow Kobayashi into the pit but changed his mind at the last moment. Raikkonen was now 1.1 seconds behind Vettel after thirty two laps with Grosjean a distant third.

Bruno was now in a lonely fourteenth while Raikkonen was within the one second DRS zone. Lap thirty four and Di Resta would pit from sixth. Raikkonen was now only three or four cars lengths behind the Red Bull. Di Resta would come back out in thirteenth three seconds in front of Bruno. Raikkonen despite several attempts could not get past Vettel. Vettel was on the soft tyre while Raikkonen on the medium. Ninth placed Hamilton was losing time to Perez while on lap thirty seven Rosberg would pit. Hamilton and Hulkenberg would also come in. Rosberg would stay on the medium tyre joined by Hamilton. The next lap and Button would pit followed by Alonso, Perez, and Schumacher. Raikkonen was now 1.0 seconds behind Vettel after lap thirty eight. Massa would pit next while Bruno would pit from eleventh.
 
Senna
 
It was reported that Pastor's problem was due to a puncture that he had at Turn one but he would lose control of the car at Turn four. Vettel and Raikkonen would both pit on lap forty with both drivers taking on the medium tyre. Webber would also come in while on lap forty one Grosjean would pit from the lead. Vettel would return to the lead from Raikkonen and Grosjean. Vettel's lead was now 2.2 seconds over Raikkonen while Hamilton would use his DRS to pass ninth placed Kobayashi. Vettel was pushing extending his lead out to 2.9 seconds. Webber was fourth from Di Resta, Rosberg, Button, Alonso, Hamilton, and Massa now in tenth having passed the Sauber. Lap forty two and Vettel's lead was out to 3.2 seconds and starting to look more comfortable in the lead. For Williams Bruno was still in fifteenth which is so disappointing after such a good start to the race. Ten laps to the end of the race and there was little difference in the pace of Vettel and Raikkonen.

Lap forty seven and Vettel's lead was now 2.6 seconds with Raikkonen looking like he was making his final charge to take the lead. Rosberg was now right behind Di Resta looking to take fifth place. At the front the gap was now remaining fairly static but by lap fifty Vettel had slightly extended his lead out to 3.4 seconds. Kobayashi would pit from fifteenth with Bruno now fourteenth. Rosberg would pass Di Resta for fifth passing the Force India into Turn one. Seventh placed Button was also closing in onto sixth placed Di Resta. Button would pit on lap fifty four with a left rear puncture in a dramatic change at the end of the race. With three laps remaining Vettel's lead was 3.1 seconds while Button had dropped to thirteenth. Bruno would pit on lap fifty six retiring in his pit making it a double DNF for the Williams team. A big disappointment after the successful result in China. Button would also pit to retire his car in his pit with the McLaren sounding very rough.

Vettel would start is final lap and would complete this crossing the finish line still over three seconds in the lead, taking victory in the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix. For the Lotus team they would have Raikkonen and Grosjean finish in second and third. Webber was fourth from Rosberg, Di Resta, Alonso, Hamilton, Massa, and Schumacher in tenth. Vettel was told by his team to stop at the pit exit. There was every chance that the results of the race may changed if Rosberg's driving sees him receive a penalty. Rosberg would also pit at the exit of the pit lane like Vettel. For the Williams team this race weekend was one that saw technical issues play a major role what with Pastor's KERS issue on the Saturday followed by retirements for both Bruno and Pastor. One can only hope that the next race in Spain will see a turn around for the team.
 
Maldonado
 

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Bahrain GP: Williams drivers end races in their pits
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