2012 Formula One World Championship

The 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 66th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 63rd FIA Formula One World Championship, a motor racing series for Formula One cars, recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) – the governing body of motorsport – as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The championship was contested over twenty rounds, which started in Australia on 18 March and ended in Brazil on 25 November. The 2012 ...

The early season was tumultuous, with seven different drivers winning the first seven races of the championship; a record for the series. It was not until the European Grand Prix in June that a driver, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso , won his second race of the year, and with it, emerged as a championship contender. Alonso maintained his hold on the championship lead for the next seven races, taking his third win in Germany and finishing on the podium in the United Kingdom , Italy and Singapore . How...

In addition to seeing seven different drivers win the first seven races, the 2012 season broke several records. The calendar for the season included twenty races, breaking the previous record of nineteen, which was first set in 2005 . Six current or former World Drivers' Champions – Sebastian Vettel , Fernando Alonso , Jenson Button , Lewis Hamilton , Kimi Räikkönen , and Michael Schumacher – started the season, breaking the record of five established in 1970 . [ 4 ]

This was the last season for 7-time world champion, Michael Schumacher as he announced his retirement from Formula One for the second time, after the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix .

The following twelve teams and twenty-five race drivers competed in the 2012 Formula One World Championship . [ 5 ] The FIA published a provisional entry list on 30 November 2011, [ 6 ] and the grid was finalised on 17 February. [ 7 ] All teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli . [ 8 ]

Eight drivers were entered by teams as third or test drivers during Friday practice sessions:

At the November 2011 meeting of the Formula One Commission in Geneva, several teams were given permission to change their constructor names – the name recognised by the FIA as the entity that effectively owns the team, and to which all results for that team are credited [ 36 ] – with final approval from the World Motor Sport Council granted in December of that year: [ 35 ] [ 37 ]

Williams announced that they would be using Renault engines for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, with an option to use Renault engines again in 2014 under the next generation of engine regulations. [ 45 ] Renault had previously supplied engines to Williams from 1989 to 1997 , when the team won four World Drivers' Championships and five World Constructors' Championships . Following their worst season in their thirty-year history [ 46 ] – in which they finished ninth in the World Constructors' Champions...

In the week before the 2011 Indian Grand Prix , Force India announced that the Sahara Group had purchased a 42.5% stake in the team, valued at US$100 million. [ 50 ] The investment gave the Sahara Group and team principal Vijay Mallya an equal stake in the team, with team director Michiel Mol controlling the remaining 15% of the team. Under the terms of the sale, the Sahara Group became Force India's naming-rights sponsor. Mercedes GP also changed the name of their team, announcing that they wer...

HRT team principal Colin Kolles formally left his position, with the team citing the relocation of their headquarters to Spain as the reason for the separation. [ 52 ] Former Minardi driver Luis Pérez-Sala took Kolles's place as team principal. [ 53 ] In January 2012, the team relocated to a new facility in Valencia [ 54 ] before settling at a permanent facility in Caja Mágica , Madrid . [ 55 ]

Peter Sauber formally stepped down from his position as team principal of Sauber F1 in the week before the Korean Grand Prix , appointing the team's CEO, Monisha Kaltenborn as his successor. [ 56 ] Kaltenborn's appointment made her the first female team principal in the sport's sixty-three-year history. [ 57 ]

Like Räikkönen and Grosjean, Nico Hülkenberg also returned to Formula One, joining Force India alongside Paul di Resta . [ 20 ] Adrian Sutil left the team, having spent six years with both Force India and its previous incarnations, Spyker and Midland . [ 20 ] He initially sought a drive with Williams , before negotiations collapsed in December 2011. [ 62 ] Sutil was later the subject of criminal action, charged with grievous bodily harm after allegedly assaulting a senior Renault team member wit...

Scuderia Toro Rosso did not retain Jaime Alguersuari or Sébastien Buemi , instead choosing to replace them with Daniel Ricciardo and 2011 Formula Renault 3.5 Series runner-up Jean-Éric Vergne . [ 22 ] Ricciardo had previously served as the team's test and reserve driver before being placed at HRT for the 2011 British Grand Prix , while Vergne had completed a limited testing schedule for the team in the second half of the 2011 season. Sébastien Buemi became Red Bull Racing 's testing and reserve ...

Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan returned to Formula One with HRT . [ 26 ] [ 27 ] De la Rosa had been without a full-time drive since the 2010 Italian Grand Prix , having spent the majority of the 2011 season as a test driver for McLaren and making one appearance racing for Sauber ; Karthikeyan was dropped by the team before the 2011 British Grand Prix in favour of Ricciardo. He, too, made a one-race appearance at the Indian Grand Prix , before leaving the team until the 2012 season began...

Jérôme d'Ambrosio left Marussia (then known as Virgin Racing ) after the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix . [ 29 ] He later joined Lotus F1 as their third driver. [ 73 ] Charles Pic – who placed fourth in the 2011 GP2 Series driving for Addax – joined Marussia , replacing d'Ambrosio. [ 29 ]

The season only saw one driver change, which was brought about when Lotus driver Romain Grosjean was found by race stewards to be responsible for causing a multi-car pile-up at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix . He was given a one-race ban and a €50,000 fine for his role in the collision, forcing him to miss the Italian Grand Prix . [ 74 ] He was replaced by the team's testing and reserve driver, Jérôme d'Ambrosio . [ 19 ] Grosjean returned to the team for the next round in Singapore . [ 75 ]

The 2012 season was preceded by three test sessions; one at Jerez de la Frontera and two in Barcelona. These sessions gave the teams and drivers the opportunity to familiarise themselves with their cars, though the teams downplayed the accuracy of testing times as being representative of the running order for the season. [ 147 ] At the second test in Barcelona, Lotus F1 discovered a critical fault in the build of their chassis that forced them to miss four days of running, [ 148 ] while both HRT...

"We are all terrified that somebody will unlock the secret and win everything. Unless, of course, that's us!"

The season began in Australia. Jenson Button took an early lead from pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton and the Red Bull cars while the rest of the field was bottle-necked by contact in the first corner. Button remained unchallenged throughout, even after a mid-race safety car to retrieve the stricken Caterham of Vitaly Petrov . Button went on to take his third victory at the Melbourne circuit , ahead of Sebastian Vettel , who profited from the safety car to pass Hamilton. [ 152 ] McLaren team principal...

McLaren locked out the front row of the grid for the second race in succession, with Lewis Hamilton once again on pole. Both HRT cars qualified for the race, but filled out the final row of the grid almost two seconds behind Marussia's Charles Pic in twenty-second position. [ 158 ] In the race, Hamilton made a better start than Jenson Button , but his lead was short-lived; heavy rain interrupted the race, forcing the suspension of the Grand Prix. [ 159 ] When the race restarted an hour later, Bu...

The championship resumed three weeks later in China, with the lead-in period to the race marked by Lotus F1 protesting the legality of Mercedes's rear wing design . [ 166 ] The FIA rejected the protest, and with Mercedes allowed to continue racing with their car unchanged, [ 167 ] Nico Rosberg took his – and the team's – first pole position since their return to Formula One in 2010 , [ 168 ] while a penalty to Lewis Hamilton for a gearbox change promoted Michael Schumacher to second on the grid....

In the face of ongoing media speculation and public pressure to cancel the race due to ongoing political instability in Bahrain, [ 173 ] [ 174 ] the FIA released a statement at the Chinese Grand Prix confirming that the Bahrain Grand Prix would go ahead as planned. [ 175 ] The week preceding the Grand Prix saw a renewed wave of protests against the government's attempts use the race to "tell the outside world that the whole thing is back to normal", [ 176 ] [ 177 ] while human rights organisatio...

Sebastian Vettel qualified on pole, his first since the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix . Heikki Kovalainen qualified sixteenth, the second time Caterham (and its predecessor, Team Lotus ) advanced beyond the first qualifying period in dry conditions. [ 182 ] Vettel went on to win the race [ 183 ] – becoming the fourth winner in as many races – after spending much of the race defending against Kimi Räikkönen . Having started eleventh, Räikkönen used an extra set of soft tyres to move up through the fi...

The decision to hold the race despite the ongoing protests made it one of the most controversial Grands Prix in the sport's sixty-year history. [ 187 ] [ 188 ] [ 189 ] [ 190 ]

Starting on 1 May, the teams conducted a three-day test at the Mugello Circuit in Italy ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. The test gave teams the opportunity to assess major aerodynamic upgrades before racing them. [ 191 ] [ 192 ] HRT elected not to take part in the test, instead choosing to concentrate on establishing themselves at their new headquarters in Madrid . [ 55 ] Both Lotus's trackside operations director Alan Permane and Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber questioned the value of testi...

"We drive like on raw eggs and I don't want to stress the tires at all. Otherwise you just overdo it and you go nowhere."

Following criticism over the sensitivity of their tyre compounds, [ 198 ] [ 199 ] [ 200 ] tyre supplier Pirelli announced changes to their tyre allocation for the Spanish Grand Prix, making pit strategy the focal point of the Grand Prix. [ 201 ] Pirelli would later diagnose the problems with the tyre compounds as originating from developing them on a testing chassis that was two years out-of-date at the time. [ 202 ] Lewis Hamilton took his third pole of the season, edging out Williams driver Pa...

For the second consecutive race, the fastest driver in qualifying did not start the race from pole. Michael Schumacher set the fastest time, but a five-place grid penalty [ 211 ] left him sixth overall. Two hours before the race, protests against parts introduced onto the floor of the Red Bull RB8 [ 212 ] left team principal Christian Horner with a choice: to change the offending parts and start both cars from the pit lane, guaranteeing that any result the team recorded would be preserved; or to...

"It really pisses me off, to be honest, because the car has passed every single technical regulation after the race. All of the teams that were against it did not make any protest after Monaco. The car passed the test after Bahrain, the car passed the test after Monaco, and now there has been a clarification on the rule. And the rule now is different. We had a car which was legal for the first part of the season. And now the rule has been changed and we'll start again."

One week before the Canadian Grand Prix, the FIA declared the floor used by Red Bull in Monaco to be illegal, forcing the team to change the offending parts for the Canadian Grand Prix. [ 224 ] Despite the ruling, the team's results were kept intact. [ 225 ] The team was also forced to change the design of their axles, after FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting felt that holes in the axles contravened the technical regulations. [ 226 ] Nevertheless, Sebastian Vettel comfortably took pole position b...

Fernando Alonso became the first man to win two races in 2012 at the European Grand Prix in Valencia, [ 235 ] scoring his first home win since the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix . Starting eleventh, [ 236 ] he was forced to navigate his way through traffic, narrowly avoiding early contact between Bruno Senna and Kamui Kobayashi as Sebastian Vettel broke free of the field to establish a twenty-second lead by the first round of stops. Vettel's lead was quashed when Heikki Kovalainen and Jean-Éric Vergne ...

Difficult conditions greeted the teams upon their arrival at the Silverstone Circuit , [ 241 ] as parts of the Midlands received a month's rainfall in the space of two days. [ 242 ] The torrential rain lasted throughout the weekend, forcing qualifying to be suspended for ninety minutes, [ 243 ] before race day dawned clear. The circuit was declared dry, allowing the drivers to start on the tyre compound of their choice, with Alonso on the harder tyre streaking away at the start while Paul di Res...

Limited running in practice and a wet qualifying session meant that teams had to improvise their strategies at the Hockenheimring . Fernando Alonso controlled much of the race from pole position, only relinquishing the lead when he pitted, and he went on to take his third victory of the season. [ 252 ] Lewis Hamilton 's one hundredth Grand Prix started with a disaster when he picked up a puncture on the third lap and spent most of the race at the tail end of the field before retiring on lap 56 w...

As the championship moved into the second half of the season, Fernando Alonso maintained a thirty-four-point lead over his nearest rival, Mark Webber , with Sebastian Vettel a further ten points behind. [ 257 ] Alonso's outlook for the race was dour, qualifying sixth and pinning his hopes on a wet race [ 258 ] as Lewis Hamilton continued McLaren 's mid-season resurgence, returning to pole position for the first time since the Malaysian Grand Prix. [ 259 ] Following an aborted start triggered by ...

The championship resumed one month later in Belgium. [ 79 ] Jenson Button qualified on pole [ 267 ] and broke away at the start while a four-car pile-up started behind him when Romain Grosjean made contact with Lewis Hamilton and they both slammed into Fernando Alonso and Sergio Pérez , eliminating all four on the spot and triggering the safety car. Kamui Kobayashi 's car was also damaged, and Pastor Maldonado was spun around amidst the chaos. Grosjean was later given a one-race ban for causing ...

"When you love racing this is very hard. I accept my mistake. We know that La Source is a very tough corner. [...] I did a mistake [sic] and I misjudged the gap with Lewis [Hamilton]. I was sure I was in front of him. So a small mistake made a big incident. I didn't change my line, I went from left to right. I was not really wanting to put anyone in the wall – I'm not here to stop the race in the first corner. I'm very, very sorry and I'm glad that nobody is hurt. But I have to say it is a very,...

The final race in Europe took place at Monza . Ferrari's early bid to put Fernando Alonso on pole position by way of using Felipe Massa to offer him a slipstream ended in disaster when Alonso's rear anti-roll bar failed in the final period of qualifying, [ 275 ] leaving the championship leader marooned in tenth while Lewis Hamilton took pole. [ 276 ] Hamilton asserted early control over the race, and while Ferrari made significant ground early on to be running second and third – despite losing t...

Red Bull Racing suffered a double retirement, with Vettel falling victim to another alternator failure and Mark Webber spinning violently at the Ascari chicane, with the resultant damage to his tyres sending vibrations through the car that forced him to retire. This allowed Hamilton to leapfrog both drivers and Kimi Räikkönen – who finished the race fifth – to take second place in the World Drivers' Championship, with the result enabling McLaren to close the gap to Red Bull in the World Construc...

As the teams returned to Asia, the focus shifted to the championship race. Lewis Hamilton put himself in the ideal position to take the fight to Fernando Alonso , qualifying on pole whilst Alonso could only manage fifth place. [ 284 ] In the physically most demanding race of the year, the teams jostled for position through the first phase of the Grand Prix, trying to position themselves for the final ten laps. Just as the drivers established a rhythm, Hamilton's gearbox failed, forcing him out o...

Fernando Alonso was the victim of a dramatic first corner clash, spinning out when he made contact with Kimi Räikkönen and paving the way for his championship rivals to make considerable inroads into his twenty-nine-point championship lead. Mark Webber was also caught up in the opening lap melee when he was hit by Romain Grosjean ; Webber was forced to pit straight away, while Grosjean was given a ten-second stop-go penalty for causing yet another first lap incident. [ 291 ] Bruno Senna also ran...

With Alonso retiring and Vettel taking a full twenty-five points for victory, [ 296 ] the championship fight became as close as it had been all season long. [ 297 ]

"It's five races to go, it will be like a mini championship, because we start with the same points and we need to score one more point [than Vettel] in five races. So we will try to do it."

Sebastian Vettel 's momentum continued one week later in Korea, winning his third consecutive race and taking a six-point championship lead as Fernando Alonso finished third. [ 299 ] [ 300 ] Vettel overcame pole-sitter Mark Webber at the start, and was aided in building up a lead by first-lap contact between Jenson Button , Nico Rosberg and Kamui Kobayashi that saw Button and Rosberg retire with damage from the collision; Rosberg pulled over on the approach to the third turn, forcing a protracte...

Ferrari's strategy for staying in the championship battle saw them introduce upgrades to the F2012 at every remaining race in the season, starting with an extensive revision for the Indian Grand Prix, [ 308 ] but whatever advantage they offered was still not enough for Fernando Alonso to catch Sebastian Vettel . Vettel dominated the weekend, setting the fastest time in every practice session before qualifying on pole, [ 309 ] [ 310 ] [ 311 ] [ 312 ] and leading every lap of the sixty-lap race, [...

Sebastian Vettel 's dominant run was derailed in Abu Dhabi when his car was found to have insufficient fuel after qualifying and he was subsequently moved to the back of the grid. [ 319 ] As Lewis Hamilton led the race away from the start, Vettel started from pit lane and took advantage of a chaotic opening corner that saw Nico Hülkenberg , Paul di Resta , Romain Grosjean and Bruno Senna tangle; Hülkenberg was forced out, while di Resta and Grosjean pitted with damage. [ 320 ] Vettel began to ro...

Despite its troubled construction period, the Circuit of the Americas passed its final FIA inspection on 25 September, allowing the race to go ahead. [ 326 ] [ 327 ] Sebastian Vettel took his sixth pole position of the season, whilst Alonso struggled throughout qualifying to start the race ninth, [ 328 ] which became eighth when Romain Grosjean received a grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change. [ 329 ] Amid concerns that drivers starting from even-numbered grid slots would suffer from a ...

The final race of the season was run in conditions that were never quite wet enough for drivers to use wet tyres, but never quite dry enough for slick tyres to provide enough grip. While Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton fought over the race lead, Sebastian Vettel was involved in a first-lap clash with Bruno Senna that damaged his exhaust and spun him around, relegating him to last place. Senna retired on the spot, as did Sergio Pérez , who was caught in the crossfire. [ 337 ] The race was one of...

Three days after the Brazilian Grand Prix , reports began to surface suggesting that Sebastian Vettel 's championship was under threat and that Ferrari would be filing a formal protest against the race results. [ 346 ] The challenge centred on a pass Vettel made on Jean-Éric Vergne early in the race. At the time, the first sector of the circuit was under yellow flag conditions following the spin and retirement of Pastor Maldonado at Curva do Sol, the Interlagos circuit's third corner, which feed...

Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers. [ 336 ]

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