2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

The 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio Petrobras do Brasil 2012) was the 20th and final race of the 2012 Formula One Season. It took place at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace on November 25 2012.
It was Michael Schumacher's final race in Formula One.
With a 13-point gap between championship leader, Sebastian Vettel and second-placed Fernando Alonso, the 2012 Drivers' World Championship was to be decided here.
Lewis Hamilton took pole position ahead of teammate Jenson Button. Vettel qualified fourth, behind his teammate Mark Webber. Alonso qualified in eighth.
Button won the rain-affected race in a safety-car finish ahead of Alonso, with Felipe Massa in third. Webber finished fourth, with Nico Hülkenberg in fifth, after an impressive race ruined by a collision with Hamilton. Vettel's sixth place, achieved after an accident at the start, gave him the championship.
__TOC__
==Background==
Tyres Available	Tyres Available	Tyres Available	Tyres Available
Option 	Prime 	Inter 	Wet
 	 	 	
Ahead of the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix, driver, Sebastian Vettel leads the World Drivers Championship by 13 points from Spaniard, Fernando Alonso. The championship would be decided at this race. No other drivers are in contention for the title. Following Vettel's 2nd place at the , Red Bull have secured the Constructors' Championship, holding an unassailable lead of 73 points ahead of .
This race was the last for Michael Schumacher as he would retire for the second time after being in for 3 years.
The São Paulo circuit remains mostly unchanged from last season, although the grandstands have been moved back slightly around the Subida dos Boxes section due to numerous major incidents, including a number of fatal accidents, in the last couple of years. As a result, there will be more run-off around this section of the circuit. Also as a reaction to this, the DRS zone will be moved to the straighter Reta Oposta between turns 3 and 4.
Pirelli provided teams with early prototypes during Friday practice.
Early weather indications shown a high probability of rain throughout the weekend, which may be a contributing factor in the championship battle.
===Championship permutations===
For Sebastian Vettel to win the 2012 Drivers' World Championship if:
*Vettel finished in the top 4, or
*Alonso failed to win, and Vettel finished 7th or higher, or
*Alonso finished third, and Vettel finished 9th or higher, or
*Alonso failed to make the podium places.
For Fernando Alonso to win the championship:'''
*Alonso needed to finish in the top 3, and outscore Vettel by a minimum of 14 points.
==Entry list==
The full entry list for the is shown below:
No. 	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor 	Chassis 	Engine 	Model 	Tyre
1 	Sebastian Vettel 	Red Bull Racing 	 	RB8 	 	RS27-2012 	
2 	Mark Webber 	Red Bull Racing 	 	RB8 	 	RS27-2012 	
3 	Jenson Button 	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4-27 	 	FO 108Z 	
4 	Lewis Hamilton 	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4-27 	 	FO 108Z 	
5 	Fernando Alonso 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	F2012 	 	056 	
6 	Felipe Massa 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	F2012 	 	056 	
7 	Michael Schumacher 	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	 	W03 	 	FO 108Z 	
8 	Nico Rosberg 	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	 	W03 	 	FO 108Z 	
9 	Kimi Räikkönen 	Lotus F1 Team 	 	E20 	 	RS27-2012 	
10 	Romain Grosjean 	Lotus F1 Team 	 	E20 	 	RS27-2012 	
11 	Paul di Resta 	Sahara Force India F1 Team 	 	VJM05 	 	FO 108Z 	
12 	Nico Hülkenberg 	Sahara Force India F1 Team 	 	VJM05 	 	FO 108Z 	
14 	Kamui Kobayashi 	Sauber F1 Team 	 	C31 	 	056 	
15 	Sergio Pérez 	Sauber F1 Team 	 	C31 	 	056 	
16 	Daniel Ricciardo 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR7 	 	056 	
17 	Jean-Éric Vergne 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR7 	 	056 	
18 	Pastor Maldonado 	Williams F1 	 	FW34 	 	RS27-2012 	
19 	Bruno Senna 	Williams F1 	 	FW34 	 	RS27-2012 	
20 	Heikki Kovalainen 	Caterham F1 Team 	 	CT01 	 	RS27-2012 	
21 	Vitaly Petrov 	Caterham F1 Team 	 	CT01 	 	RS27-2012 	
22 	Pedro de la Rosa 	HRT F1 Team 	 	F112 	 	CA2012 	
23 	Narain Karthikeyan 	HRT F1 Team 	 	F112 	 	CA2012 	
24 	Timo Glock 	Marussia F1 Team 	 	MR01 	 	CA2012 	
25 	Charles Pic 	Marussia F1 Team 	 	MR01 	 	CA2012 	
Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only 	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only
19 	Valtteri Bottas 	Williams F1 	 	FW34 	 	RS27-2012 	
20 	Giedo van der Garde 	Caterham F1 Team 	 	CT01 	 	RS27-2012 	
==Practice==
===FP1===
===FP2===
===FP3===
===Practice Results===
==Qualifying==
===Q1===
===Q2===
===Q3===
===Qualifying Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Team		Q1 	Q1 		Q2 	Q2 		Q3 	Q3 	Grid
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Team		Pos	Time 		Pos	Time 		Pos	Time 	Grid
1 	4 	Lewis Hamilton 	 		1 	1:15.075		2 	1:13.398		1 	1:12.458	1
2 	3 	Jenson Button 	 		3 	1:15.456		3 	1:13.515		2 	1:12.513	2
3 	2 	Mark Webber 	 		11 	1:16.180		4 	1:13.667		3 	1:12.581	3
4 	1 	Sebastian Vettel 	 		5 	1:15.644		1 	1:13.209		4 	1:12.760	4
5 	6 	Felipe Massa 	 		12 	1:16.263		10 	1:14.048		5 	1:12.987	5
6 	18 	Pastor Maldonado 	 		13 	1:16.266		6 	1:13.698		6 	1:13.174	16*
7 	12 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 		4 	1:15.536		7 	1:13.704		7 	1:13.206	6
8 	5 	Fernando Alonso 	 		10 	1:16.097		9 	1:13.856		8 	1:13.253	7
9 	9 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 		15 	1:16.432		5 	1:13.698		9 	1:13.298	8
10 	8 	Nico Rosberg 	 		7 	1:15.929		8 	1:13.848		10 	1:13.489	9
11 	11 	Paul di Resta 	 		6 	1:15.901		11 	1:14.121		 	 	10
12 	19 	Bruno Senna 	 		2 	1:15.333		12 	1:14.219		 	 	11
13 	15 	Sergio Pérez 	 		8 	1:15.974		13 	1:14.234		 	 	12
14 	7 	Michael Schumacher	 		9 	1:16.005		14 	1:16.334		 	 	13
15 	14 	Kamui Kobayashi 	 		14 	1:16.400		15 	1:14.380		 	 	14
16 	16 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 		17 	1:16.744		16 	1:14.574		 	 	15
17 	17 	Jean-Éric Vergne 	 		16 	1:16.722		17 	1:14.619		 	 	17
18 	10 	Romain Grosjean 	 		18 	1:16.967		 	 		 	 	18
19 	21 	Vitaly Petrov 	 		19 	1:17.073		 	 		 	 	19
20 	20 	Heikki Kovalainen 	 		20 	1:17.086		 	 		 	 	20
21 	24 	Timo Glock 	 		21 	1:17.508		 	 		 	 	21
22 	25 	Charles Pic 	 		22 	1:18.104		 	 		 	 	22
23 	23 	Narain Karthikeyan	 		23 	1:19.576		 	 		 	 	23
24 	22 	Pedro de la Rosa 	 		24 	1:19.699		 	 		 	 	24
* Pastor Maldonado was given a ten-place grid penalty for receiving a third reprimand of the season for missing a call to the weighbridge after the second qualifying session.
===Grid===
* Pastor Maldonado was given a ten-place grid penalty for receiving a third reprimand of the season for missing a call to the weighbridge after the second qualifying session.
==Race==
===Report===
===Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1 	3 	Jenson Button 	 	71 	1:45:22.656 	2 	25
2 	5 	Fernando Alonso 	 	71 	+ 2.734 s 	7 	18
3 	6 	Felipe Massa 	 	71 	+ 3.615 s 	5 	15
4 	2 	Mark Webber 	 	71 	+ 4.936 s 	3 	12
5 	12 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	71 	+ 5.708 s 	6 	10
6 	1 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	71 	+ 9.453 s 	4 	8
7 	7 	Michael Schumacher	 	71 	+ 11.907 s 	13 	6
8 	17 	Jean-Éric Vergne 	 	71 	+ 28.653 s 	17 	4
9 	14 	Kamui Kobayashi 	 	71 	+ 31.250 s 	14 	2
10 	9 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	70 	+ 1 lap 	8 	1
11 	21 	Vitaly Petrov 	 	70 	+ 1 lap 	19 	
12 	25 	Charles Pic 	 	70 	+ 1 lap 	22 	
13 	16 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 	70 	+ 1 lap 	15 	
14 	20 	Heikki Kovalainen 	 	70 	+ 1 lap 	20 	
15 	8 	Nico Rosberg 	 	70 	+ 1 lap 	9 	
16 	24 	Timo Glock 	 	70 	+ 1 lap 	21 	
17 	22 	Pedro de la Rosa 	 	69 	+ 2 laps 	24 	
18 	23 	Narain Karthikeyan	 	69 	+ 2 laps 	23 	
19 	11 	Paul di Resta 	 	68 	Accident 	10 	
Ret 	4 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	54 	Collision 	1 	
Ret 	10 	Romain Grosjean 	 	5 	Accident 	18 	
Ret 	18 	Pastor Maldonado 	 	1 	Accident 	16 	
Ret 	19 	Bruno Senna 	 	0 	Collision 	11 	
Ret 	15 	Sergio Pérez 	 	0 	Collision 	12 	
==Milestones==
* Kimi Räikkönen's 175th start (177th race).
* Last Race: Michael Schumacher, , Pedro de la Rosa, Narain Karthikeyan, Timo Glock, Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna.
* Jenson Button's 15th and final win.
* Räikkönen scored points for the 19th race in a season, a new record.
* Kamui Kobayashi's last points finish and last race for Sauber.
* Caterham achieved their best finish of 11th.
* Sebastian Vettel becomes the three-time champion after Michael Schumacher achieved his world title in .
* McLaren's last F1 win for nearly 9 years, until the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.
* Lewis Hamilton's last race for McLaren.
==Final Standings==
Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts 	+/-
1 	Sebastian Vettel 	281 	
2 	Fernando Alonso 	278 	
3 	Kimi Räikkönen 	207 	
4 	Lewis Hamilton 	190 	
5 	Jenson Button 	188 	1
6 	Mark Webber 	179 	1
7 	Felipe Massa 	122 	
8 	Romain Grosjean 	96 	
9 	Nico Rosberg 	93 	
10 	Sergio Pérez 	66 	
11 	Nico Hülkenberg 	63 	1
12 	Kamui Kobayashi 	60 	1
13 	Michael Schumacher 	49 	2
14 	Paul di Resta 	46 	1
15 	Pastor Maldonado 	45 	1
16 	Bruno Senna 	30 	
17 	Jean-Éric Vergne 	16 	
18 	Daniel Ricciardo 	10 	
19 	Vitaly Petrov 	0 	1
20 	Timo Glock 	0 	1
21 	Charles Pic 	0 	1
22 	Heikki Kovalainen 	0 	1
23 	Jérôme d'Ambrosio 	0 	
24 	Narain Karthikeyan 	0 	
25 	Pedro de la Rosa 	0 	
Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship
Pos. 	Team 	Pts 	+/-
1 	 	460 	
2 	 	400 	
3 	 	378 	
4 	 	303 	
5 	 	142 	
6 	 	126 	
7 	 	109 	
8 	 	76 	
9 	 	26 	
10 	 	0 	
11 	 	0 	
12 	 	0 	
==Notes==
Category:2012 Grands Prix
Category:Brazilian Grand Prix
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:Formula One races in Brazil