2012 United States Grand Prix

The 2012 United States Grand Prix was the 19th and penultimate race of the 2012 Formula One Season. It was the inaugural event held at the newly built Circuit of the Americas, and the first United States Grand Prix since . It was the 34th Formula One event run under the title of United States Grand Prix, and the 63rd race in the United States altogether.
Sebastian Vettel took pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton, with Fernando Alonso qualifying ninth. Alonso started seventh, as Romain Grosjean and, in a tactical move, Felipe Massa, both received five-place gearbox penalties.
Hamilton won the race, taking the lead from Vettel with fourteen laps remaining. Vettel finished second, with Alonso driving another strong race to achieve another podium, albeit nearly 40 seconds down on the leading pair, with teammate Massa also recovering strongly to finish fourth.
As a result, Vettel managed to extend his championship lead over Alonso by three points to thirteen. required only four points from the race to win their third constructors' title, and with Vettel coming second they achieved the feat.
The event was Sebastian Vettel's 100th race.
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==Background==
Tyres Available	Tyres Available	Tyres Available	Tyres Available
Option 	Prime 	Inter 	Wet
 	 	 	
Formula One returned to the United States for the first since since , where the race was held at Indianapolis. The idea of a race in Austin, Texas was first proposed in 2010, and the Circuit of the Americas broke ground on January 2, 2011. It was completed on September 21, 2012, and officially opened a month later, with American motor racing legend and the country's only living F1 championship winner, Mario Andretti, driving the circuit in a Lotus 79.
As for the championship battle, Sebastian Vettel, who was competing in his 100th race, led Fernando Alonso by ten points after the former's impressive comeback up the field at the . Vettel's team, , required just four points take their third consecutive constructors' title.
The DRS zone was the long back straight between turns 11 and 12.
==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
23 	Ma Qinghua 	HRT F1 Team 	 	F112 	 	CA2012 	
==Practice Overview==
===FP1===
===FP2===
===FP3===
===Practice Times===
No.	Driver 	Team		FP1 	 		FP2 	 		FP3 	
No.	Driver 	Team		Time 	Pos		Time	Pos		Time	Pos
1 	Sebastian Vettel 	 		1:38.125	1 		 	 		 	
2 	Mark Webber 	 		1:40.650	5 		 	 		 	
3 	Jenson Button 	 		1:40.528	4 		 	 		 	
4 	Lewis Hamilton 	 		1:39.543	2 		 	 		 	
5 	Fernando Alonso 	 		1:40.337	3 		 	 		 	
6 	Felipe Massa 	 		1:40.966	6 		 	 		 	
7 	Michael Schumacher	 		1:42.588	17 		 	 		 	
8 	Nico Rosberg 	 		1:41.159	9 		 	 		 	
9 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 		1:41.880	14 		 	 		 	
10 	Romain Grosjean 	 		1:41.998	15 		 	 		 	
11 	Paul di Resta 	 		1:41.783	11 		 	 		 	
12 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 		1:41.023	7 		 	 		 	
14 	Kamui Kobayashi 	 		1:41.036	8 		 	 		 	
15 	Sergio Pérez 	 		1:41.473	10 		 	 		 	
16 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 		1:41.825	12 		 	 		 	
17 	Jean-Éric Vergne 	 		1:41.833	13 		 	 		 	
18 	Pastor Maldonado 	 		1:42.539	16 		 	 		 	
19 	Bruno Senna 	 		1:44.548	22 		 	 		 	
20 	Heikki Kovalainen 	 		1:43.443	19 		 	 		 	
21 	Vitaly Petrov 	 		1:43.522	20 		 	 		 	
22 	Pedro de la Rosa 	 		1:46.917	23 		 	 		 	
23 	Ma Qinghua 	 		1:48.559	24 		 	 		 	
23 	Narain Karthikeyan	 		DNP 	 		 	 		 	
24 	Timo Glock 	 		1:44.464	21 		 	 		 	
25 	Charles Pic 	 		1:43.288	18 		 	 		 	
==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 	1 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	 	1 	1:36.558 	 	1 	1:35.796 	 	1 	1:35.657 	1
2 	4 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	 	2 	1:37.058 	 	4 	1:36.795 	 	2 	1:35.766 	2
3 	2 	Mark Webber 	 	 	3 	1:37.215 	 	2 	1:36.298 	 	3 	1:36.174 	3
4 	10 	Romain Grosjean 	 	 	4 	1:37.486 	 	5 	1:36.906 	 	4 	1:36.587 	8*
5 	9 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	 	12 	1:38.051 	 	10 	1:37.404 	 	5 	1:36.708 	4
6 	7 	Michael Schumacher 	 	 	10 	1:37.927 	 	8 	1:37.102 	 	6 	1:36.794 	5
7 	6 	Felipe Massa 	 	 	8 	1:37.667 	 	3 	1:36.549 	 	7 	1:36.937 	11*
8 	12 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	 	9 	1:37.756 	 	6 	1:37.066 	 	8 	1:37.141 	6
9 	5 	Fernando Alonso 	 	 	11 	1:37.968 	 	9 	1:37.123 	 	9 	1:37.300 	7
10 	18 	Pastor Maldonado 	 	 	6 	1:37.537 	 	7 	1:37.011 	 	10 	1:37.842 	9
11 	19 	Bruno Senna 	 	 	5 	1:37.520 	 	11 	1:37.604 	 	 	 	10
12 	3 	Jenson Button 	 	 	7 	1:37.565 	 	12 	1:37.616 	 	 	 	12
13 	11 	Paul di Resta 	 	 	13 	1:38.104 	 	13 	1:37.665 	 	 	 	13
14 	17 	Jean-Éric Vergne 	 	 	15 	1:38.434 	 	14 	1:37.879 	 	 	 	14
15 	15 	Sergio Pérez 	 	 	16 	1:38.500 	 	15 	1:38.206 	 	 	 	15
16 	14 	Kamui Kobayashi 	 	 	14 	1:38.418 	 	16 	1:38.437 	 	 	 	16
17 	8 	Nico Rosberg 	 	 	17 	1:38.862 	 	17 	1:38.501 	 	 	 	17
18 	16 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 	 	18 	1:39.114 	 	 	 	 	 	 	18
19 	24 	Timo Glock 	 	 	19 	1:40.056 	 	 	 	 	 	 	19
20 	25 	Charles Pic 	 	 	20 	1:40.664 	 	 	 	 	 	 	20
21 	21 	Vitaly Petrov 	 	 	21 	1:40.809 	 	 	 	 	 	 	21
22 	20 	Heikki Kovalainen 	 	 	22 	1:41.166 	 	 	 	 	 	 	22
23 	22 	Pedro de la Rosa 	 	 	23 	1:42.011 	 	 	 	 	 	 	23
24 	23 	Narain Karthikeyan 	 	 	24 	1:42.740 	 	 	 	 	 	 	24
107% time: 1:43.317	107% time: 1:43.317	107% time: 1:43.317	107% time: 1:43.317	107% time: 1:43.317	107% time: 1:43.317	107% time: 1:43.317	107% time: 1:43.317	107% time: 1:43.317	107% time: 1:43.317	107% time: 1:43.317	107% time: 1:43.317	107% time: 1:43.317	107% time: 1:43.317
Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source:
;Notes:
* * — Romain Grosjean received a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change, and Felipe Massa received the same penalty when Ferrari broke the FIA seal on his gearbox in order to maximise Fernando Alonso's grid position.
===Grid===
Notes: 
* Romain Grosjean received a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change (qualified fourth).
† tactically removed the seal on Felipe Massa's gearbox, incurring a five-place grid penalty for the Brazilian (qualified seventh). This moved Fernando Alonso up to seventh and onto the clean side of the grid.
==Race==
===Report===
===Results===
Pos.	No.	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1 	4 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	56 	1:35:55.269 	2 	25
2 	1 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	56 	+ 0.675 	1 	18
3 	5 	Fernando Alonso 	 	56 	+ 39.229 	7 	15
4 	6 	Felipe Massa 	 	56 	+ 46.013 	11 	12
5 	3 	Jenson Button 	 	56 	+ 56.432 	12 	10
6 	9 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	56 	+ 1:04.425 	4 	8
7 	10 	Romain Grosjean 	 	56 	+ 1:10.313 	8 	6
8 	12 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	56 	+ 1:13.792 	6 	4
9 	18 	Pastor Maldonado 	 	56 	+ 1:14.525 	9 	2
10 	19 	Bruno Senna 	 	55 	+ 1:15.133 	10 	1
11 	15 	Sergio Pérez 	 	56 	+ 1:24.341 	15 	
12 	16 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 	56 	+ 1:24.871 	18 	
13 	8 	Nico Rosberg 	 	56 	+ 1:25.510 	17 	
14 	14 	Kamui Kobayashi 	 	55 	+ 1 Lap 	16 	
15 	11 	Paul di Resta 	 	55 	+ 1 Lap 	13 	
16 	7 	Michael Schumacher	 	55 	+ 1 Lap 	5 	
17 	21 	Vitaly Petrov 	 	55 	+ 1 Lap 	21 	
18 	20 	Heikki Kovalainen 	 	55 	+ 1 Lap 	22 	
19 	24 	Timo Glock 	 	55 	+ 1 Lap 	19 	
20 	25 	Charles Pic 	 	54 	+ 2 Laps 	20 	
21 	22 	Pedro de la Rosa 	 	54 	+ 2 Laps 	23 	
22 	23 	Narain Karthikeyan	 	54 	+ 2 Laps 	24 	
Ret 	2 	Mark Webber 	 	16 	Alternator 	3 	
Ret 	17 	Jean-Éric Vergne 	 	14 	Suspension 	14 	
==Milestones==
* Sebastian Vettel's 100th race.
* Romain Grosjean's 25th race.
* 's third Constructors' title.
** Also their third consecutive title.
** In doing so, they became the first team to win their first three titles in consecutive seasons.
==Standings after the race==
Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts
1 	Sebastian Vettel 	273
2 	Fernando Alonso 	260
3 	Kimi Räikkönen 	206
4 	Lewis Hamilton 	190
5 	Mark Webber 	167
6 	Jenson Button 	163
7 	Felipe Massa 	107
8 	Romain Grosjean 	96
9 	Nico Rosberg 	93
10 	Sergio Pérez 	66
11 	Kamui Kobayashi 	58
12 	Nico Hülkenberg 	53
13 	Paul di Resta 	46
14 	Pastor Maldonado 	45
15 	Michael Schumacher 	43
16 	Bruno Senna 	31
17 	Jean-Éric Vergne 	12
18 	Daniel Ricciardo 	10
19 	Heikki Kovalainen 	0
20 	Vitaly Petrov 	0
21 	Timo Glock 	0
22 	Charles Pic 	0
23 	Narain Karthikeyan 	0
24 	Pedro de la Rosa 	0
25 	Jérôme d'Ambrosio 	0
Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship
Pos. 	Team 	Pts
1 	 	440
2 	 	367
3 	 	353
4 	 	302
5 	 	136
6 	 	122
7 	 	99
8 	 	76
9 	 	21
10 	 	0
11 	 	0
12 	 	0
==Notes==
Category:2012 Grands Prix
Category:United States Grand Prix
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:Formula One races in the United States