Grosjean returned to the car in Singapore, and once again out-qualified Räikkönen, starting eighth while his team-mate could do no better than twelfth. In the race it was Räikkönen who performed better, finishing sixth, a second ahead of Grosjean. Despite not having won a race by this point, Räikkönen remained in championship contention, sitting in third place, forty-five points behind championship leader Fernando Alonso. While Alonso's nearest rival, Sebastian Vettel, would make significant in-roads into Alonso's championship lead in Japan, Räikkönen went on to finish sixth after making contact with Alonso during the start that forced the Ferrari driver out of the race. Grosjean, on the other hand, was once again caught up in a first-corner melee, making contact with Mark Webber and earning a ten-second stop-go penalty for his troubles, the harshest in-race penalty available to the race stewards. With eight first-lap incidents from fourteen starts to his name in 2012 alone, Red Bull Racing team principal opined that Lotus "needed to control" Grosjean, describing the Frenchman as dangerous to himself and others.