2012 Japanese Grand Prix

The 2012 Japanese Grand Prix was the 15th race of the 2012 Formula One Season, which took place on October 7 2012 at the Suzuka Circuit. It was the 28th running of the Japanese Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship and the 24th at the Suzuka Circuit.
Sebastian Vettel won in a dominant display, winning the race, leading every lap from pole position and setting the fastest lap, his second Grand Chelem, after the 2011 Singapore Grand Prix and second consecutive victory. Second was Felipe Massa, who secured his first podium since the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix, over two years ago. Kamui Kobayashi, who started from third on the grid, mirrored Aguri Suzuki's efforts at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix by finishing in third place. It was the first podium for a Japanese driver since Takuma Sato at the 2004 United States Grand Prix.
Vettel's win made him the first driver to complete back-to-back victories in 2012.
The result significantly cut Fernando Alonso's Drivers Championship lead to just 4 points, after the Spaniard spun out with a puncture at the first corner. Vettel's win extends 's lead in the Constructors' Championship to 41 points over .
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==Background==
After a two-week break, driver Fernando Alonso went into the event leading the Driver's World Championship at a slightly reduced points margin to second placed Sebastian Vettel in the , who sat 29 points behind the championship leader. After Vettel's win at the previous event in Singapore, were able to extend their lead in the Constructors World Championship over the second placed team by a 36-point margin.
Following his collision with Jean-Éric Vergne in Singapore, Michael Schumacher will take a 10-place grid penalty for the Japanese Grand Prix.
During the two week break between the Singapore Grand Prix and the Japanese Grand Prix there were some major driver announcements for the 2013 Formula One Season. After some impressive performances in 2012 driver Sergio Perez was confirmed to be joining the team for 2013 replacing Lewis Hamilton who had raced with the team since 2007. Hamilton, a major championship contender in 2012 was confirmed shortly after to have joined the team for 2013 replacing Michael Schumacher in the team. Shortly after this announcement Schumacher announced his retirement from F1 at the conclusion of the 2012 season.
==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===
As the first practice session got underway at Suzuka it was the McLarens that had set the immediate pace at the Japanese circuit. Winner of the 2011 event, Jenson Button set the pace ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. Mark Webber presented a strong challenge to the McLaren's in his to finish a respectable third in the standings ahead of the two 's of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. 
Championship leader Fernando Alonso struggled in his and could only finish the session 11th, some way off the pace of teammate Felipe Massa who finished 7th in the standings behind the Japanese home favourite Kamui Kobayashi. Another championship contender to struggle in the first practice session was Sebastian Vettel who could only manage a disappointing 17th in the standings.
In the midfield, Valtteri Bottas substituted for Bruno Senna at where he finished the standings 18th, eight places behind teammate Pastor Maldonado. The other reserve driver participating in the first practice session was Giedo van der Garde at who replaced Heikki Kovalainen. Van der Garde finished the session 23rd, three places behind teammate Vitaly Petrov. 
===FP2===
The second practice session turned out to be heavily action packed with many cars having either accidents or spins. Only 6 minutes into the session, Paul di Resta crashed his at the Spoon Curve meaning that he was unable to set a competitive lap time. Shortly after, Michael Schumacher crashed his at the exact same place meaning he would finish the session a disappointing 10th. It was an all round bad session for Mercedes with Nico Rosberg retiring from the session with oil pressure issues at the Esses, midway through the session.
The session saw minor spins for the of Heikki Kovalainen, both the 's of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi, 's Timo Glock, 's Pastor Maldonado, 's Felipe Massa and 's Kimi Raikkonen. In the dying minutes of the session however, the Caterham of Vitaly Petrov suffered a rear wing failure which detached from his car sending him flying into the barriers at the first corner. Petrov escaped the accident relatively unscathed.
Up at the front, and continued to set the pace. This time with the Red Bull of Mark Webber leading the times ahead of the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton and his teammate Sebastian Vettelwho had made a strong recovery after a disappointing first practice session. 
Nico Hulkenberg impressed in his to finish the session a strong fourth in the standings ahead of the recovering Fernando Alonso in the .
===FP3===
At the conclusion of the final practice session at Suzuka it was the two 's that dominated the timing sheets with Sebastian Vettel topping the timesheets ahead of teammate Mark Webber. driver Felipe Massa put in a strong performance to finish 3rd at the conclusion of the session, significantly ahead of teammate Fernando Alonso who finished a disappointing 13th.
Michael Schumacher finished the session 4th for . Schumacher had looked strong throughout the session and had briefly topped the timesheets. Teammate Nico Rosberg faired less well and finished the session a disappointing 15th. 
 did not show particularly strong pace in the session with Jenson Button finishing in 8th position and Lewis Hamilton finishing in 13th position. Towards the end of the session Hamilton notably had a hair raising moment at the Bus Stop Chicane. Hamilton encountered slower cars while entering the chicane whilst on a hot lap, one of these slow cars was the of Charles Pic who was on an in-lap to the pits. Pic had been driving very slowly on the racing line and was nearly hit at very high speed by Lewis Hamilton who managed to avoid the trailing Marussia at the very last second. 
The only other notable incident was when the of Nico Hulkenberg went off the circuit at the second degner and landed his car into the barriers during the final 20 minutes of the session.
===Practice Results===
No.	Driver 	Team		FP1	FP1 		FP2	FP2 		FP3	FP3
No.	Driver 	Team		Pos	Time 		Pos	Time 		Pos	Time
1 	Sebastian Vettel 	 		17 	1:36.366		3 	1:32.836		1 	1:32.136
2 	Mark Webber 	 		3 	1:34.856		1 	1:32.493		2 	1:32.371
3 	Jenson Button 	 		1 	1:34.507		7 	1:33.349		8 	1:33.025
4 	Lewis Hamilton 	 		2 	1:34.740		2 	1:32.707		13 	133.569
5 	Fernando Alonso 	 		11 	1:35.484		5 	1:33.093		11 	1:33.184
6 	Felipe Massa 	 		7 	1:35.283		9 	1:33.614		3 	1:32.824
7 	Michael Schumacher 	 		5 	1:35.122		10 	1:33.750		4 	1:32.918
8 	Nico Rosberg 	 		4 	1:35.059		11 	1:33.866		15 	1:33.899
9 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 		13 	1:35.691		14 	1:34.291		12 	1:33.224
10 	Romain Grosjean 	 		14 	1:35.724		6 	1:33.107		7 	1:33.008
11 	Paul di Resta 	 		8 	1:35.299		24 	no time 		9 	1:33.094
12 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 		9 	1:35.474		4 	1:32.987		18 	1:34.369
14 	Kamui Kobayashi 	 		6 	1:35.199		13 	1:33.983		6 	1:32.924
15 	Sergio Pérez 	 		12 	1:35.584		12 	1:33.903		5 	1:32.920
16 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 		15 	1:36.123		16 	1:34.863		17 	1:34.023
17 	Jean-Éric Vergne 	 		16 	1:36.222		17 	1:35.080		14 	1:33.722
18 	Pastor Maldonado 	 		10 	1:35.478		15 	1:34.300		10 	1:33.160
19 	Bruno Senna 	 		DNP	DNP 		8 	1:33.499		16 	1:33.984
19 	Valtteri Bottas 	 		18 	1:36.389		DNP	DNP 		DNP	DNP
20 	Heikki Kovalainen 	 		DNP	DNP 		18 	1:35.711		19 	1:35.568
20 	Giedo van der Garde	 		23 	1:39.374		DNP	DNP 		DNP	DNP
21 	Vitaly Petrov 	 		20 	1:38.295		19 	1:35.870		20 	1:36.355
22 	Pedro de la Rosa 	 		24 	1:39.688		22 	1:37.342		24 	1:36.875
23 	Narain Karthikeyan 	 		22 	1:39.043		23 	1:37.701		23 	1:36.649
24 	Timo Glock 	 		19 	1:37.717		20 	1:36.194		21 	1:36.389
25 	Charles Pic 	 		21 	1:38.616		21 	1:36.636		22 	1:36.517
 	 	 		 	 		 	 		 	
 	 	 		 	 		 	 		 	
 	 	 		 	 		 	 		 	
==Qualifying==
===Q1===
===Q2===
===Q3===
===Post-Qualifying===
===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 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
2 	2 	Mark Webber 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
3 	3 	Jenson Button 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
4 	14 	Kamui Kobayashi 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
5 	10 	Romain Grosjean 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
6 	15 	Sergio Perez 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
7 	5 	Fernando Alonso 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
8 	9 	Kimi Raikkonen 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
9 	4 	Lewis Hamilton 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
10 	12 	Nico Hulkenberg 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
11 	6 	Felipe Massa 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
12 	11 	Paul di Resta 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
13 	7 	Michael Schumacher	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
14 	18 	Pastor Maldonado 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
15 	8 	Nico Rosberg 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
16 	16 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
17 	17 	Jean-Eric Vergne 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
18 	19 	Bruno Senna 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
19 	20 	Heikki Kovalainen 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
20 	24 	Timo Glock 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
21 	22 	Pedro de la Rosa 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
22 	25 	Charles Pic 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
23 	21 	Vitaly Petrov 	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
24 	23 	Narain Karthikeyan	 		 	 		 	 		 	 	
===Grid===
;Notes
*Button (Qualified 3rd, Grid 8th) and Hulkenberg (Qualified 10th, Grid 15th) were demoted five places each due to unscheduled gearbox changes.
†Vergne was demoted places from 17th to 19th for blocking Bruno Senna in Q1.
‡Schumacher was demoted from 13th to 23rd for causing a collision at the . 
==Race==
===Results===
 	 	Driver 	Constructor	 	 	 	
1 	1 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	53	1:28.56.242	1 	25
2 	6 	Felipe Massa 	 	53	+20.632 	10	18
3 	14	Kamui Kobayashi 	 	53	+24.538 	3 	15
4 	3 	Jenson Button 	 	53	+25.098 	8 	12
5 	4 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	53	+46.490 	9 	10
6 	9 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	53	+50.424 	7 	8
7 	12	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	53	+51.159 	15	6
8 	18	Pastor Maldonado 	 	53	+52.364 	12	4
9 	2 	Mark Webber 	 	53	+54.675 	2 	2
10 	16	Daniel Ricciardo 	 	53	+1:06.919 	14	1
11 	7 	Michael Schumacher	 	53	+1:07.769 	23	
12 	11	Paul di Resta 	 	53	+1:23.460 	11	
13 	17	Jean-Eric Vergne 	 	53	+1:28.648 	19	
14 	19	Bruno Senna 	 	53	+1:28.709 	16	
15 	20	Heikki Kovalainen 	 	52	+1 Lap 	17	
16 	24	Timo Glock 	 	52	+1 Lap 	18	
17 	21	Vitaly Petrov 	 	52	+1 Lap 	22	
18 	22	Pedro de la Rosa 	 	52	+1 Lap 	20	
19 	10	Romain Grosjean 	 	51	Gearbox 	4 	
Ret	25	Charles Pic 	 	36	Engine 	21	
Ret	23	Narain Karthikeyan	 	32	Vibrations 	24	
Ret	15	Sergio Perez 	 	19	Spun Off 	5 	
Ret	5 	Fernando Alonso 	 	0 	Spun Off 	6 	
Ret	8 	Nico Rosberg 	 	0 	Collision 	13	
==Milestones==
* Jenson Button's 225th race entry.
==Standings after the race==
Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts
1 	Fernando Alonso 	194
2 	Sebastian Vettel 	190
3 	Kimi Räikkönen 	157
4 	Lewis Hamilton 	152
5 	Mark Webber 	134
6 	Jenson Button 	131
7 	Nico Rosberg 	93
8 	Romain Grosjean 	82
9 	Felipe Massa 	69
10 	Sergio Pérez 	66
11 	Kamui Kobayashi 	50
12 	Paul di Resta 	44
13 	Michael Schumacher 	43
14 	Nico Hülkenberg 	37
15 	Pastor Maldonado 	33
16 	Bruno Senna 	25
17 	Jean-Éric Vergne 	8
18 	Daniel Ricciardo 	7
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 	 	324
2 	 	283
3 	 	263
4 	 	239
5 	 	136
6 	 	114
7 	 	81
8 	 	58
9 	 	14
10 	 	0
11 	 	0
12 	 	0
==Notes==
Category:Japanese Grand Prix
Category:2012 Grands Prix
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:Formula One races in Japan