2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Dry [ 2 ] Air Temp 29 °C (84 °F) [ 2 ]

The 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (formally the 2012 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ) was a Formula One motor race held on 4 November 2012 at the Yas Marina Circuit , Yas Island , Abu Dhabi , United Arab Emirates . It was the eighteenth round of the 2012 Formula One season and the fourth Abu Dhabi Grand Prix . The 55-lap race was won by Lotus driver Kimi Räikkönen after starting from fourth position. Fernando Alonso finished second in a Ferrari with his championship rival Sebastian Ve...

The victory was Räikkönen's first of the season, his first since he returned to Formula One at the start of the year, and his first since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix . It was the first time a Lotus had won a race since Ayrton Senna 's victory in Detroit in 1987. Alonso's second place allowed him to narrow the gap to Vettel in the Drivers' Championship to ten points. Räikkönen's radio communications during the race were widely reported, particularly his comment to his engineer on lap 23: “Just l...

The Grand Prix was contested by twelve teams with two drivers each. The teams (also known as constructors ) were Red Bull , McLaren , Ferrari , Mercedes , Lotus , Force India , Sauber , Toro Rosso , Williams , Caterham , HRT and Marussia . [ 3 ] Tyre supplier Pirelli brought two types of tyre to the race; two dry compounds (soft "options" and medium "primes"). The Medium compound was distinguished by a white-band with the Soft compound being denoted by a yellow-band. [ 4 ] The rules of the 2012 ...

After finishing in second place behind Vettel in the Indian Grand Prix Alonso stated it was crucial that he stayed within reach of the Red Bull team and hoped his Ferrari team would finish strongly and not become inflicted with mechanical failures. [ 8 ] Despite winning the last four Grands Prix Vettel felt that his lead in the Drivers' Championship remained "vulnerable" and did not believe his Red Bull team had proven themselves as the fastest in the field. [ 9 ]

Some teams made modifications to their cars in preparation for the event. Williams drivers Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado tested a new front wing during the Friday practice sessions which had three small flaps on its upper section but opted to run an older specification for qualifying and the race. [ 10 ] Ferrari introduced upgrades for the F2012 as part of a strategy to remain in contention for the championship. The upgrades included a new front wing with updated main planes, flaps, and endp...

Three practice sessions (two on Friday and a third on Saturday) were held before the main Sunday race. The Friday afternoon and evening sessions each lasted ninety minutes. The third session was held on Saturday afternoon and lasted an hour. [ 5 ] Conditions were hot and dry for the Friday practice sessions with air and track temperatures falling as sunset emerged meaning lap times were faster in the evening. Drivers had to cope with a tailwind between turns eight and nine. [ 15 ] Hamilton set t...

Conditions remained hot and dry for the Saturday afternoon practice session. Hamilton set the fastest lap of the third session at one minute and 42.130 seconds on soft compound tyres, nearly three-tenths of a second faster than teammate Button. Vettel was in his garage for fifty-five minutes because his mechanics rectified a problem with his brake callipers; he managed to do one flying lap with the fastest time in the track's second sector to secure the third quickest-time overall. Vettel's time...

“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, ...

Hamilton complained of cold tyres and locked up heading into turn eight on lap two allowing Räikkönen to gain advantage but Hamilton withstood pressure from the Lotus driver to retain the lead. [ 24 ] [ 27 ] Vettel had made early progress passing the HRT's, Marussia and Caterhams, but his early progress came at the expense of his right-front wing endplate when he made contact with Senna's left-rear at turn eight switchback on the same lap. Hamilton regained the optimum temperature needed for his...

Racing resumed at the end of lap 14 when the safety car drove into the pit lane with Hamilton leading Räikkönen. Alonso drove slower than Webber, allowing the Red Bull driver to pull alongside Alonso, but the Ferrari driver maintained third position. Vettel moved up to 19th place after he overtook di Resta and de la Rosa. [ 24 ] [ 28 ] Hamilton again started to pull away from Räikkönen. Vettel started to battle Grosjean for 17th position and during an overtaking manoeuvre, Vettel drove off the r...

On the following lap Maldonado was passed by Button (who took the inside line) for third position, [ 24 ] [ 30 ] while Vettel moved into the points-scoring positions by passing Ricciardo for tenth on the same lap. [ 28 ] Pérez moved in front of Massa for fifth on lap 25, while Vettel passed Schumacher for eighth place on the next lap. Kobayashi made the first scheduled pit stop for tyres on the 26th lap. [ 24 ] Webber employed his DRS system on lap 26 on the straight linking turns ten and eleven...

On lap 39 di Resta forced Pérez wide at turn 13; as Pérez rejoined the circuit, he cut back across the front of Grosjean and the two made contact at the next corner, which in turn forced Grosjean into the path of Webber who was attempting to drive on the inside line and the pair collided. [ 27 ] [ 28 ] Grosjean and Webber retired because of damage to their cars and the debris on-track from the accident called for the second safety car period of the race. The safety remained out for three laps, ...

Alonso drew to within 1.9 seconds of Räikkönen on lap 53, but was unable to get close enough to challenge the Lotus driver, [ 24 ] who held on to secure his only victory of the season (and Lotus’ first ever), and became the eighth driver to win a race in the 2012 season. Alonso was second, 0.8 seconds behind Räikkönen with Vettel third. Button finished fourth. [ 30 ] Maldonado took fifth despite not being able to use his car's KERS after the first safety car period. [ 27 ] He was seven seconds a...

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and in a later press conference. Räikkonen said that he was "very happy" for the Lotus team and himself after a difficult second half of the season. He also stated the development of his car helped to increase his straight line speed although he later revealed that he was using the same car from the Korean Grand Prix . [ 32 ] Alonso was pleased with his second-place result but also felt Ferrari was not the most competitive te...

Notes: