The rain is always somewhere around the corner in Malaysia, so ahead of the second race of the season we look back to an all time classic – the 2012 race around the Sepang International Circuit.
It was a McLaren front row lockout, Hamilton on pole with Button in second. Michael Schumacher was a surprise third, whilst Ferrari’s woes continued as Alonso qualified 9th and Massa 12th.
On race day, all cars except the two HRTs began the race on intermediate tyres – the Spanish team chose to begin on full wets.
Hamilton and Button led away from a slightly damp grid, with Lewis just about fighting off his team mate. Grosjean jumped up to third, but made contact with the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher. Webber took advantage to climb to the final podium spot with Vettel not far behind.
The rain began falling harder and harder as the race went on, causing Grosjean to spin off on the fourth lap.
With torrential rain beginning to fall, Perez pitted for full wets on lap four and was soon followed by almost everyone else. The rain continued – leading to the deployment of the safety car on lap seven and the red flag coming out on lap nine.
Vergne and Karthikeyan benefited the most, the Frenchman being able to change to full wets during the stoppage and the Indian up into the points for HRT as he hadn’t made a pit stop due to starting on the full wets. Perez’s early stop meant that he was now up into the podium positions.
A 50 minute suspension eventually ended with the race restarting behind the safety car for 4 laps. Most cars peeled into the pits within six laps of the restart, a slow pit stop costing Hamilton the effective lead and allowing team mate Button to take the 2008 world champion’s place.
Drama! Alonso, also gaining from the pit stops, was being chased down by Button. The Brit tried to overtake Karthikeyan, hit the rear of the HRT and lost his front wing, forcing him back to the pits and allowing Hamilton’s McLaren to pass him.
When Perez eventually pitted, he rejoined ahead of Alonso’s Ferrari in the lead of the race, but it didn’t take long for the double world champion to pass the Mexican and take the lead – a remarkable achievement when considering how bad the 2012 Ferrari was.
Late in the race, the track tried up and all of the cars switched to slick tyres – but that was not to be the end of the excitement! Perez’s Sauber Ferrari was lapping much quicker than Alonso’s works car and began closing the gap. Karthikeyan was once again in the wars, with reigning champion Vettel clipping his rear left tyre against the HRT’s front wing and ruining the points scoring chances for both of the drivers.
Out in front, 21 year old Perez continued to close the gap to Alonso – but a mistake at turn 14 ultimately cost him a chance of winning the epic race.
The Malaysian GP was just one epic race in one of the most exciting seasons ever. Alonso would go into the final race with a chance of winning the title, albeit finishing runner up in what was another epic title decider at Interlagos. A string of podiums for Perez gained him a promotion to McLaren for 2013. Despite failing to stand on the podium, he did secure a second ever podium for Force India at Bahrain last season.
Pictures courtesy of Sauber F1 Team.
