It might come as a surprise to learn Ferrari were closer to the pace on average in 2012 compared to 2011. Over the first four races where they were a dismal 1.26% off, but from Spain the figure was half that: 0.63%. Having struggled in the first four races, the upgrades introduced in Spain after the Mugello test allowed them to slash their deficit by more than half – progress they built on in the remainder of the year. In the latter part of the season they hit the front once more, but McLaren beat them in the final two rounds.įerrari’s performance in 2012 was closely scrutinised and the data tells an interesting story. However they were later required to make a change to their engine maps which appeared to set them back again. Red Bull exhibited crushing pace in the European Grand Prix which prompted speculation they were about to return to their dominance of 2011. The pole positions statistics back this up as the two teams took eight each, though McLaren lost one due to a penalty in Spain and Red Bull picked one up for the same reason in Monaco. If we average out the teams’ performance across the entire season McLaren emerge as the quickest team ahead of Red Bull (see table). Instead they fell back into the clutches of Marussia, who they were involved in a fight for tenth in the championship with until the final race. Eight races in it looked as though Caterham were finally going to catch the midfield.
The cars at the tail of the field were generally closer to the pace this year. Throughout the season there were often six teams covered by 1% on lap time – last year there was usually only three. While Red Bull felt the effect of the changes most strongly, it had consequences for every team in the pit lane. Last year they were the quickest team at 18 out of 19 race weekends (94.7%), this year that fell to 7 out of 20 (35%). It was said from the beginning of the season that the restrictions on exhaust-blowing would hit Adrian Newey’s cars hardest, and here is the proof. One point leaps out immediately when comparing this graph with the same data for last year: Red Bull got slower.
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