2012 Bahrain Grand Prix

Sunny and hot [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Air Temp 27 °C (81 °F) [ 2 ]

The 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix (formally known as the 2012 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix ) [ 4 ] was a Formula One motor race held on 22 April 2012 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir , Bahrain . It was the first time Formula One returned to Bahrain after the 2011 race was cancelled due to ongoing anti-government protests . [ 5 ] The race, the eighth running of the Bahrain Grand Prix , was contested over 57 laps and was the fourth round of the 2012 Formula One season .

He was not without pressure though, as the Lotus of Kimi Räikkönen climbed the field, having started in eleventh place, and challenged for the lead before finishing second. Räikkönen's teammate Romain Grosjean took the first podium finish of his career by finishing third, after having a strong start and quickly moving into second place by overtaking Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber . Räikkönen passed Grosjean for second place roughly halfway through the race, being on a better tyre strategy. Hamil...

After using the "endurance circuit" in 2010 , the series reverted to using the "Grand Prix" configuration for the 2012 race. [ 4 ]

Similarly, the Drag Reduction System (DRS) was introduced for the 2011 season, and consequently had never been used at the Bahrain International Circuit in a race. Race officials elected to place it on the start-finish straight to allow for overtaking into the first corner complex. [ 18 ] The DRS detection point was positioned 108 metres (354 ft) from the apex to Turn 14, with the activation point located 270 metres (890 ft) after the final corner, creating a DRS zone of 820 metres (0.51 mi). [ ...

Williams driver Pastor Maldonado was given a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change when the team discovered an undiagnosed fault in his gearbox and they were forced to replace it. [ 22 ] Under Formula One regulations , a gearbox must be used for five consecutive events (including the race, qualifying session and third practice session for each event). An unscheduled gearbox change results in an automatic five-place grid penalty, applied after the qualifying session. Maldonado became the f...

Valtteri Bottas replaced Bruno Senna at Williams for the first practice session. [ 26 ] It was Bottas' third session, of a scheduled fifteen, driving Senna's car. [ 27 ] Bottas was the only reserve driver to take part in a practice session.

The first ninety-minute practice session began with the drivers performing installation laps, returning to pit lane before setting a lap time so as to work on the car setup. The majority of drivers completed the session using the harder "prime" tyres, while several teams – including Ferrari and Lotus – used the session to test new aerodynamic configurations to their front and rear wings. The surface of the circuit was visibly sandy, owing to a lack of use in the two years prior to the event. For...

With Force India electing not to take part in the second session over security concerns, [ 30 ] twenty-two cars took to the circuit for Friday's second ninety-minute practice session. A GP2 practice session between the first and second Formula One sessions meant that some of the sand on the surface of the circuit was cleaned up, [ 31 ] and teams began their first runs on the softer option compound of tyres. Narain Karthikeyan was the first driver out, setting a lap time of 1:41.710 almost straig...

The first period saw two distinct, informal phases. Most drivers recorded a "banker" lap on the harder prime tyres, so as to have a benchmark time to their name. Some drivers, most notably Fernando Alonso , chose to set their first lap on the softer option tyres so as to preserve an extra set of tyres for the race given the high rate of degradation. The session ran for the full twenty minutes without interruption, though Nico Rosberg ran wide at Turn 5 and passed through a gravel trap, while Kim...

Toro Rosso driver Jean-Éric Vergne spent most of the period facing the threat of elimination, even though he was as high up the order as sixth at one point, after putting on the softer tyres. However, as the second phase of the session began, the drivers switched to the softer tyres and the order changed rapidly. Vergne fell back down the order and was ultimately eliminated. It was the third consecutive Grand Prix in which he was eliminated in Q1. [ 35 ] He was later cited by the stewards for mi...

Also eliminated were the Marussias for Timo Glock and Charles Pic . Pic finished twenty-first, out-qualifying teammate Glock for the first time in his career. Glock set an early time on the harder compound tyres, but a mistake on his flying lap with the softer compound meant that he qualified twenty-third of twenty-four cars. [ 36 ] The HRTs of Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan finished in twenty-second and twenty-fourth; both were inside the 107% margin (1:40.380), but they were still fou...

Late in the session Kimi Räikkönen , the 2007 world champion, was eliminated by teammate Romain Grosjean . Räikkönen's first lap time initially looked to be enough to see him through to Q3, but Grosjean's final lap was quick enough to see the 2011 GP2 Series champion through to the third and final period for the fourth time in as many races; conversely, Felipe Massa missed the Q3 cut-off for the fourth race in succession.

Like Räikkönen, Sauber 's Kamui Kobayashi was also a victim of his teammate's final flying lap; having set the fastest lap time in Q1, Sergio Pérez progressed to Q3. Paul di Resta also advanced to Q3 despite missing the second free practice session, though teammate Nico Hülkenberg was not quick enough and missed the cut-off. Meanwhile, Bruno Senna 's final lap was marked by sector times that suggested he would also advance to Q3, but a mistake at Turn 13 cost him dearly, and he had to settle for...

Heikki Kovalainen only nominated to set a single lap time at the end of the period. Unable to challenge the other teams in terms of raw pace, Kovalainen finished the period in sixteenth after Pastor Maldonado was stricken by a KERS issue, and failed to set a lap time. This left him seventeenth overall; with his five-place penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change, [ 22 ] he would start the race in twenty-second.

Sebastian Vettel qualified on pole position, his and his team's first since the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix . Vettel's lap time of 1:32.422 was just two-tenths of a second faster than his Q2 time of 1:32.474, which he recorded at the 2009 , [ 37 ] the last time Formula One used the "Grand Prix" configuration of the Bahrain circuit ; prior to the ban on refuelling introduced for the 2010 season , [ 38 ] [ 39 ] cars were required completed Q3 with a full tank of fuel. This led to a trend in which th...

By the end of the session, just half of a second covered the top five runners. Vettel led Lewis Hamilton , with Mark Webber in third. Webber's first timed lap was marked by an incident at Turn 10 where he locked the front wheel up, dragging it across the surface of the circuit, and costing him time. Jenson Button finished fourth, once again out-qualified by teammate Hamilton. Nico Rosberg , who qualified on pole in Shanghai one week previously, was fifth. Daniel Ricciardo and Romain Grosjean fin...

As the red lights went out it was the drivers on the 'clean' driving line of the grid that mostly got the better start, especially towards the front half of the grid. The top three drivers from qualifying all held their position as Sebastian Vettel led into the first corner. Mark Webber did not have KERS for the first lap and lost any opportunity to gain on Lewis Hamilton in second. [ 45 ] Romain Grosjean , Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen all made great starts compared to the drivers on the dirty (and...

On the start of lap 3 Felipe Massa made a move down the inside of Räikkönen for 7th. They were side by side through turn 1 and 2 when Räikkönen yielded the position. At the start of lap 4, Grosjean was the first to use the DRS successfully on Webber when he took 3rd place with ease through turn 1. During the fifth lap, Räikkönen re-took 7th as Massa went deep into turn 4 and this resulted in Räikkönen gaining better traction through the 'S' turns (turns 5–7) squeezing Massa behind him. In the ea...

Lap 8 confirmed that Ricciardo had damaged his front wing when he pitted to switch to the medium tyre and swap his damaged front wing for a new one. Button complained on the radio about his rear tyres losing performance while the Lotus looked very strong as Räikkönen again put the DRS to good use and claimed Alonso on the 9th lap for 5th position. Button, Massa and Nico Rosberg all pitted together with Button coming out into 'clean air' however Rosberg and Massa rejoined behind a Marussia. The n...

The leader, Vettel, pitted and left the Paul di Resta (who had not yet pitted) in the lead – the first time a Force India has led a lap since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix when Giancarlo Fisichella was driving for them. By lap 15 all the cars had made at least one stop. At this stage, Vettel led the Lotus cars followed by teammate Webber and the Button-led McLarens. Alonso, Rosberg, Massa and Pérez rounded out the top 10 while 7 time world champion Michael Schumacher was in 13th – still clawing hi...

Lap 21 saw Räikkönen and Rosberg the only drivers in the top 9 on the soft compound after both saving a set during qualifying. During the same lap, Maldonando used DRS to put a move on Pérez, however went deep and the two duelled to turn 4 when di Resta who was behind them pounced through the inside as they battled each wide of the apex. Crucially, Räikkönen on softs had caught his teammate and was right behind him but was not able to overtake him, even with the DRS. It appeared the Lotus' were ...

The event took place between 20 and 22 April where throughout the weekend there was a range of support events. Taking part in the 2012 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix program was the first round of the 2012 Porsche Supercup season (2 races); the second round of the 2012 GP2 Series (1 feature race, 1 sprint race); and the WGA Supercars ME Championship (two 7 lap races). [ 46 ]