2012 Formula One World Championship

Sebastian Vettel (pictured in 2011) became a three-time World Champion with Red Bull Racing.

Fernando Alonso, driving for Ferrari, finished runner-up, three points behind Vettel.

Kimi Räikkönen finished the season in third place on his return to F1, driving for Lotus.

The 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 66th season of

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. However, costly first-lap retirements in Belgium and Japan allowed his rivals to catch up, and defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel – like Alonso, a two-time title winner – took the lead in the sixteenth race of the season. Vettel, too, encountered difficulties throughout the season; contact with a backmarker left him to finish outside the points in Malaysia, while alternator failures at the European and Italian Grands Prix cost him valuable points and exclusion from qualifying in Abu Dhabi led him to start from the pit lane. Vettel entered the final race of the season with a thirteen-point lead over Alonso. Alonso needed a podium finish to stand any chance of becoming World Drivers' Champion, but in a race of attrition that finished under the safety car, Vettel finished in sixth place, scoring enough points to win his third consecutive championship, becoming just the third driver in the sport's sixty-three-year history to do so. In the World Constructors' Championship, Red Bull Racing secured their third consecutive title when Sebastian Vettel finished second at the United States Grand Prix.

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]

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	No.	Race Drivers	Rounds
Red Bull Racing	Red Bull-Renault	RB8	Renault RS27-2012	1	Sebastian Vettel[9]	All
				2	Mark Webber[10]	All
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren-Mercedes	MP4-27	Mercedes FO 108Z	3	Jenson Button[11]	All
				4	Lewis Hamilton[12]	All
Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	F2012	Ferrari Type 056	5	Fernando Alonso[13]	All
				6	Felipe Massa[14]	All
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes	F1 W03	Mercedes FO 108Z	7	Michael Schumacher[15]	All
				8	Nico Rosberg[16]	All
Lotus F1 Team	Lotus-Renault	E20	Renault RS27-2012	9	Kimi Räikkönen[17]	All
				10	Romain Grosjean[18]	1–12, 14–20
					Jérôme d'Ambrosio[19]	13
Sahara Force India F1 Team	Force India-Mercedes	VJM05	Mercedes FO 108Z	11	Paul di Resta[20]	All
				12	Nico Hülkenberg[20]	All
Sauber F1 Team	Sauber-Ferrari	C31	Ferrari Type 056	14	Kamui Kobayashi[21]	All
				15	Sergio Pérez[21]	All
Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	STR7	Ferrari Type 056	16	Daniel Ricciardo[22]	All
				17	Jean-Éric Vergne[22]	All
Williams F1 Team	Williams-Renault	FW34	Renault RS27-2012	18	Pastor Maldonado[23]	All
				19	Bruno Senna[24]	All
Caterham F1 Team	Caterham-Renault	CT01	Renault RS27-2012	20	Heikki Kovalainen[25]	All
				21	Vitaly Petrov[7]	All
HRT Formula 1 Team	HRT-Cosworth	F112	Cosworth CA2012	22	Pedro de la Rosa[26]	All
				23	Narain Karthikeyan[27]	All
Marussia F1 Team	Marussia-Cosworth	MR01	Cosworth CA2012	24	Timo Glock[28]	All
				25	Charles Pic[29]	All

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

Drivers that took part in free practice sessions during the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship

Constructor	Practice drivers
	Driver name	Rounds
Caterham-Renault	Giedo van der Garde Alexander Rossi	3, 15–18, 20 5
Force India-Mercedes	Jules Bianchi	3, 5, 8–11, 13, 16, 18
Hispania-Cosworth	Dani Clos Ma Qinghua	5, 9–12, 16 13–14, 18–19
Marussia-Cosworth	Max Chilton	18
Sauber-Ferrari	Esteban Gutiérrez	17
Williams-Renault	Valtteri Bottas	2–5, 8–13, 15–18, 20
Sources:[30][21][23][31][32][33][34]

• Caterham, reflecting team principal Tony Fernandes's purchase of Caterham Cars.^[38][39]
• Renault changed its constructor name to Lotus after Lotus Cars expanded its title sponsorship program to include teams in Formula One and support series GP2 and GP3.^[40]
• Virgin became Marussia, following increased ownership of the team by Russian sports car manufacturer Marussia Motors.^[41][42]

As a result of the name changes, Team Lotus and Lotus Renault GP declared that their

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 were to become known as Mercedes AMG. The new name originates from AMG, Mercedes-Benz's performance and luxury road car brand.^[51]

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]

The 2012 season saw several driver changes.

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]

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	18 March
2	Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur	25 March
3	Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	15 April
4	Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	22 April
5	Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló	13 May
6	Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	27 May
7	Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal	10 June
8	European Grand Prix	Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia	24 June
9	British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	8 July
10	German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	22 July
11	Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	29 July
12	Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	2 September
13	Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza	9 September
14	Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	23 September
15	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka	7 October
16	Korean Grand Prix	Yeongam	14 October
17	Indian Grand Prix	Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida	28 October
18	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	4 November
19	United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas	18 November
20	Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	25 November
Source:[76]

• After the 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix was cancelled,^[3][77] the race was reinstated for the 2012 season with a provisional date in October.^[78] The final version of the calendar brought the race forward to April.^[79]
• The German Grand Prix returned to Hockenheim after the 2011 German Grand Prix was held at the Nürburgring, in line with the event's policy of alternating between venues.^[80]
• In May 2010, it was announced that
  World Motor Sport Council and the release of the final 2012 calendar – to sort out their differences or else risk losing the event entirely.^[85] The final calendar included the race,^[79] with Ecclestone confirming that a new arrangement had been made, and that the event organisers had paid their circuit sanctioning fees for 2012.^[86] The race was originally scheduled to be held in June, but was moved back to become the penultimate event of the season in response to concerns over the heat of the Texas summer and its effects on teams, drivers and spectators,^[87] and the failure of race organisers to meet a key deadline for the race sanctioning fees.^[88]

• The
  Formula One Management and the event organisers could not agree on a renewed contract. In August 2011, organisers of the race revealed that they were negotiating with Bernie Ecclestone to resume their place on the calendar.^[90] However, the race was removed from the calendar later that month.^[91] It would eventually return in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[92]

• The
  Williams^[94] and Mercedes^[95] used the Young Driver Tests in Abu Dhabi as an opportunity to test parts for the 2012 season in the face of the ban. In October 2011, a clarification to the amended rules was issued, effectively banning "exotic" engine maps;^[96] in November, further amendments were introduced, completely banning the practice of blowing exhaust gasses over parts of the car to improve downforce, following a bid by several teams to allow it under certain conditions.^[97] Further amendments were made in February 2012 when Mercedes alerted the FIA to a loophole in the regulations that would allow teams to continue using a partially blown diffuser. The FIA responded by re-writing the software governing the engine's Electronic Control Unit to close the loophole.^[98]
• At the German Grand Prix in July, Red Bull Racing were referred to race stewards after FIA Technical Delegate Jo Bauer noted that their engine maps had the potential to violate the technical regulations.^[99] Red Bull stood accused of manipulating the relationship between the torque produced by the Red Bull RB8 and the degree to which the throttle was open – particularly in medium-speed corners – thereby allowing more air to pass through the exhaust and over the diffuser, generating more downforce. Red Bull were cleared of wrongdoing, as, in the stewards' words, they had not technically broken any rules, but the FIA announced plans to rewrite the regulations governing throttle mapping so as to outlaw the practice entirely ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix one week later.^[100] The rule changes required teams to submit an engine map used during one of the first four races of the season, which became known as the "reference map". Any subsequent changes to the throttle map would require the approval of the FIA, provided that the torque output above 6,000 rpm was within two percent of the output specified on the reference map.^[101] Further changes would be allowed at races with "exceptional atmospheric conditions", as designated by the FIA.^[101]
• In January 2012, the FIA banned the use of "reactive ride-height".
  Williams,^[107] submitted plans to the FIA for their own versions of the device before it was banned one week later. The FIA later confirmed that the reactive ride-height systems violated Article 3.15 of the technical regulations, which states that "any aerodynamic effect created by the suspension should be incidental to its primary function" and "any device that influences the car's aerodynamics must remain immobile in relation to the sprung part of the car"^[108] and further noted that the system's primary purpose was achieving aerodynamic gains as opposed to providing stability under braking, and that the use of reactive ride-heights could also be challenged under Article 10.2 of the technical regulations, which govern suspension systems.^[109]

• Technical regulations for 2012 include the reprofiling of the car's nose. The pre-2012 regulations allowed the nose to be as high as 62.5 centimetres (24.6 in) above ground, but the revisions to the sporting code lowered the maximum allowable height to 55 centimetres (22 in) 150mm ahead of the front bulkhead.^[110] This resulted in cars being launched with a "platypus" nose, as teams designed cars with a visible change in height along the nose assembly of the car.^[111] Mercedes AMG team principal Ross Brawn explained the distinctive nose shape as having come about from "several teams" wanting to use their 2011 chassis as the basis for their 2012 cars.^[112]
• Drivers were no longer permitted to have a "joker" gearbox change. Prior to 2012, drivers were entitled to change their gearboxes once over the course of the season without incurring a five-place grid penalty. This system was abandoned in 2012, with drivers only being allowed to change gearboxes once every five races.^[113]
• Starting in 2012, all cars were required to pass their mandatory FIA crash tests before being allowed to take part in pre-season testing.^[114] Previously, passing the crash tests was only a requirement prior to the first race of the season. Crash tests for the 2012 season will also be more rigorous than in previous years.^[115]
• At the meeting for the Formula One Commission in Geneva in November 2011, the use of helium in air guns used to change tyres during pit stops was banned. Despite increasing the rotation speed of the air guns by up to 30%, the practice of using helium was deemed to be too expensive to continue for the competitive gains it offered.^[116]
• At the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the FIA banned the use of "trick brake" devices, which used a bi-metallic strip that changed shape when heated by the brakes to open or close off braking ducts and improving braking efficiency under certain conditions. This was deemed to be in breach of Article 11.4 of the Sporting Regulations, which states that the only permissible changes to the braking system while a car is moving must be directly controlled by the driver.^[117]

• After being banned in 2009, in-season testing returned in 2012, with a test held at Mugello on 1 May ahead of the European leg of the 2012 championship.^[118] As teams were only permitted to do fifteen days of testing over the course of the season, the pre-season winter testing schedule was cut back to accommodate the Mugello test.^[119]
• At the September 2011 meeting of the
  World Motor Sport Council, representatives of the member organisations voted to amend the rules for double-waved yellow flags in all FIA-sanctioned championships. The amendment means that double-waved flags will be shown when a track marshal is working on or beside the circuit.^[120]
• Tyre supplier Pirelli revised their tyre compounds for the 2012 season in an effort to encourage teams to use each of the compounds supplied for individual races.^[121] Pirelli predicted that the changes would translate into 0.7 seconds' difference per lap between the harder and softer compounds, down from 1.5 seconds per lap in 2011.^[122] According to Pirelli, the hardest tyre compound available is just 31% harder than the softest compound on offer; by comparison, the hardest tyres used in 2011 were 70% harder than the softest.^[123]
• Faced with several constructors applying for name changes,
  Sauber competing as "BMW Sauber" in 2010, despite BMW withdrawing from the sport at the end of the 2009 season—in order to preserve their status as a current constructor and their claim to a share of the television rights paid to teams that placed in the top ten in the final World Constructors' Championship standings.^[127][128]
• At the final meeting of the World Motorsports Commission in December 2011, a series of amendments to the sporting regulations were published. Chief among these is the re-introduction of a rule that will allow all lapped traffic under the safety car (which remained the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG introduced in 2010)^{[129][130][131]} to be released from the queue before the car returns to pit lane, allowing the drivers to unlap themselves and to ensure a clean restart.^[132]
• Drivers were not permitted to leave the confines of the circuit without a justifiable reason, following a spate of incidents in 2011 when drivers were sighted using access roads around the circuit to shorten their reconnaissance and in-laps in order to preserve their fuel and tyres.^[114] Similarly, drivers will not be allowed to return to the normal racing line should they choose a defensive line going into a corner.^[133]
• Races were run to a maximum four-hour time limit to prevent the indefinite suspension of a race. This will stop the theoretical possibility of a race lasting more than eight hours. This rule was introduced in response to the rain-interrupted 2011 Canadian Grand Prix, which set a record for the longest race in Formula One history, at four hours, four minutes and thirty-nine seconds.^[133]
• Any driver in the pit lane when a race is suspended was permitted to return to the circuit and take up the position on the grid that they were running in at the time of the suspension.^[114]
• At the
  Drag Reduction System (DRS) during a race while yellow flags were being shown in the same sector as the DRS zone.^[134] The move followed an incident at the European Grand Prix in which Michael Schumacher was observed to activate his DRS while yellow flags were being shown.^[135]

• In July 2011, a joint broadcasting deal for
  Mark Thompson to answer questions over the details of the broadcasting arrangement.^[141]
• In December 2011,
  Sauber also left the organisation, though the Swiss team did not publicly give a reason for ending their membership.^[145] In February 2012, Red Bull Racing's sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso was also reported as having left the organisation since the first schism in December.^[146]

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 and Marussia were unable to complete any mileage with their 2012 cars after both the HRT F112 and Marussia MR01 failed their crash tests, though both teams were able to complete shakedowns of their cars.^[149][150]

The season began in Australia.

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.^[169] Schumacher would ultimately retire from the race after the first round of stops when it was discovered that one of his wheels had not been attached properly. Rosberg took an early lead in the race, and while his attempt to complete the race with only two pit stops came under threat from second-placed Jenson Button, a mistake by Button's pit crew during his final stop handed Rosberg a nineteen-second advantage over Kimi Räikkönen.^[170] Räikkönen was attempting a similar two-stop strategy, but his tyres wore out seven laps from the end of the race, and he lost eleven positions in a single lap. This forced Rosberg to drive conservatively to preserve his tyres while Button recovered from his disastrous pit stop to pass Sebastian Vettel for second. Button was held up by the incumbent World Champion long enough for Rosberg to preserve his tyres, and he became the 103rd person to win a Grand Prix.^[171] The result was also Mercedes's first win as a constructor since Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1955 Italian Grand Prix. Button was second, with Hamilton scoring his third consecutive third place, giving him a two-point championship lead over Button; Fernando Alonso, who had been leading the championship before the race, finished ninth. After two retirements in the opening rounds of the championship, Romain Grosjean scored his first points in Formula One by finishing sixth.^[172]

In the face of ongoing media speculation and public pressure to cancel the race due to

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 testing at the Mugello circuit as the characteristics of the circuit were unlike any of the circuits the championship was due to visit after the test,^[193][194] while Caterham driver Vitaly Petrov was critical of the choice of Mugello as a testing venue as he felt it was not safe enough for Formula One.^[195] Petrov's comments came shortly after Fernando Alonso crashed on the final morning of the test.^[196] Red Bull Racing and Lotus team principals Christian Horner and Éric Boullier were also critical of the test as they felt that the costs of conducting in-season testing outweighed any benefits, with Horner stating his opposition to continuing mid-season testing in the future.^[194][197]

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 leave the parts on the car, allowing both drivers to start the race from the positions they qualified in, but risking a post-race exclusion. Horner ultimately chose the latter option, and Mark Webber started from pole,^[213] establishing an early lead over Nico Rosberg as a first-corner accident eliminated four cars.^[214] The race was run under the constant threat of rain, with drivers trying to extend the life of their tyres to avoid being forced to make an additional stop and falling down the order. The rain never materialised, though Jean-Éric Vergne was observed using a set of intermediate tyres late in the race.^[215] The variety of strategies used by the front-runners resulted in the last ten laps being contested with the top six cars running nose-to-tail. Webber visibly faded in the final laps, but held on when the following cars were momentarily pinned behind the slow-moving Heikki Kovalainen. Webber won the race – his second on the streets of Monaco – with Rosberg second and Fernando Alonso third,^[216] the result giving Alonso a three-point lead in the championship. Red Bull Racing maintained their lead in the Constructors' Championship as rival teams chose not to follow through on the threat of their pre-race protest,^[217] while Kovalainen finished thirteenth to see Caterham overtake Marussia for tenth place.^[218] Elsewhere, Spanish Grand Prix winner Pastor Maldonado was given a ten-place grid penalty for an incident that saw him clip Sergio Pérez.^[219][220] Combined with a five-place penalty for changing his gearbox, Maldonado started from the back row of the grid^[221] where he was eliminated in the first-corner accident.^[214]

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 by three-tenths of a second.^[227] Vettel controlled the early phase of the race, but was caught and passed by Lewis Hamilton before the first round of stops, while Fernando Alonso slipped through shortly afterwards. All three drivers were using a two-stop strategy at the time, but as Hamilton made his second stop, both Alonso and Vettel shifted to a one-stop strategy,^[228][229] with Alonso's team resorting to discussing strategy options in his native Spanish to prevent their rivals from overhearing their plans. Hamilton had twenty laps to make up a twelve-second deficit, and he easily reeled Vettel in; in response, Red Bull pitted the reigning World Champion, and Vettel fell to fifth. Hamilton's next target was Alonso, whose tyres lost all grip and he fell victim to Hamilton, Romain Grosjean, Sergio Pérez and Vettel in quick succession. Hamilton won the race, becoming the seventh winner in seven races and taking a two-point lead in the championship.^[223] Grosjean's second place saw Lotus take third place in the Constructors' Championship from Ferrari.^[230] Both Grosjean and Pérez expressed surprise at finishing on the podium,^[231][232] while 2011 winner Jenson Button finished sixteenth in what he described as his "worst race in years"^[233] and Michael Schumacher suffered a hydraulics failure that left his drag reduction system (DRS) device jammed in the open position.^[234]

Difficult conditions greeted the teams upon their arrival at the

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 with a suspension problem. Confusion briefly reigned when Hamilton, in seventeenth place at the time, began lapping faster than the leaders and sought to unlap himself. Sebastian Vettel later claimed that this was a ploy by McLaren to force both him and Alonso to drive defensively against Hamilton, slowing them down enough to allow team-mate Jenson Button to leap-frog them at the second round of stops;^[253] Vettel lost a position to Button, but Alonso was unaffected, as Ferrari pitted him before Hamilton could interfere with his race. Button briefly looked as if he had the pace to pass Alonso for the race lead, but the race was deadlocked in the final twenty laps, and Button began to fade in the final five laps of the race. The race was marked by another technical dispute regarding Red Bull Racing, who were referred to the stewards by FIA Technical Delegate Jo Bauer for what he felt was an illegal engine map in use on the Red Bull RB8.^[249] The stewards elected to take no action against Red Bull, stating that the team had not violated any of the technical regulations, but noted that they did not accept all of the arguments presented by the team when asked to explain.^[254] The stewards were less forgiving of Vettel, who ran wide at the hairpin while trying to pass Button and could only complete the pass outside the limits of the circuit. Vettel had twenty seconds added to his race time as a penalty, demoting him to fifth overall. With Button promoted to second, Kimi Räikkönen inherited third place and Kamui Kobayashi was classified a then season-best fourth.^[255][256]

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 Michael Schumacher lining up in the wrong grid position and then shutting his engine off in the confusion,^[260][261] Hamilton and Grosjean lead the field away. After prematurely moving Jenson Button onto a three-stop strategy, McLaren gave Hamilton the order to hold position as the tight confines of the Hungaroring circuit forced the teams to try to make up positions in the pits. This was evidenced by Kimi Räikkönen, who inherited the lead after the first set of stops and produced a series of fast laps that allowed him to rejoin in second, coming dangerously close to team-mate Grosjean under brakes as he emerged from the pit lane.^[262] Despite taking two seconds out of Hamilton's lead within five laps of rejoining the race, Räikkönen was powerless to reel Hamilton in any further. Hamilton won the race, the nineteenth of his career, with Räikkönen second and Grosjean in third.^[263] Hamilton's victory brought with it twenty-five points that put him back in championship contention, while a late decision by Red Bull to move Mark Webber onto a three-stop strategy saw the Australian slip further behind Fernando Alonso, as the Spaniard extended his championship lead to forty points.^[264]

The championship resumed one month later in Belgium.

The final race in Europe took place at

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 Constructors' Championship.^[283]

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 of the race and handing the lead to Sebastian Vettel.^[285] The race was shortened by two laps to fit the two-hour time limit for a Grand Prix following a pair of lengthy safety car interventions; first, Narain Karthikeyan understeered into the barriers under the grandstands on lap 30, forcing the safety car to be deployed. The drivers had little opportunity to get comfortable on the restart, as Michael Schumacher misjudged his braking point at the end of the Esplanade Bridge, careening into the back of Jean-Éric Vergne and triggering the safety car for the second time in an accident that was a near mirror-image of his collision with Sergio Pérez in 2011. He was later given a ten-place grid penalty for the Japanese Grand Prix.^[286] Vettel controlled the race from the second restart, beating Jenson Button to the line, for his second win of the season and his first since the Bahrain Grand Prix five months previously.^[287] Alonso completed the podium, retaining his championship lead after defending from Paul di Resta late in the race.^[288] Elsewhere, a string of retirements – including a late engine problem for Bruno Senna, which left the Brazilian with minor burns to his back^[289] – and a series of altercations involving Mark Webber, Nico Hülkenberg, Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Pérez as they fought over the minor points positions allowed Timo Glock to finish twelfth, the result seeing Marussia retake tenth position in the World Constructors' Championship from Caterham.^[290]

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]

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 round up the HRTs, Marussias and Caterhams, but his early progress came at the expense of his front wing endplate when he made contact with Senna at Turn 8 switchback. He chose not to pit for the time being, as the race was interrupted by the intervention of the safety car. Nico Rosberg, who had been forced to pit with damage to his front wing, was in the process of overtaking Narain Karthikeyan as Karthikeyan's car began to fail and the Indian quickly slowed. Rosberg, caught unawares by Karthikeyan's troubles, was launched over the back of the HRT and into the barrier.^[321] During the safety car period, Vettel was forced to pit when he swerved to avoid Daniel Ricciardo and crashed into the polystyrene bollard marking the start of the DRS zone, further damaging his wing. Red Bull Racing took the opportunity to pit him early, with the downside being that Vettel would have to do 42 laps on the soft tyre when supplier Pirelli predicted they could only do 36. Meanwhile, Hamilton suffered another mechanical failure while leading the race, and was once again forced out, handing the lead to Kimi Räikkönen while Fernando Alonso inherited second.^[322] Vettel began to work his way through the field again, but was forced to make a second stop when his tyres started losing grip. He was saved by the second appearance of the safety car moments later, brought about when di Resta forced Sergio Pérez wide; as Pérez rejoined the circuit, he cut back across the front of Grosjean and the two made contact, which in turn forced Grosjean into the path of Mark Webber. Grosjean and Webber retired, whilst Pérez was given a stop-go penalty.^[323] When racing resumed, Räikkönen began to rebuild his lead over Alonso, who was being harried by Jenson Button; Button himself was being harried by Vettel in fourth. Button and Vettel's duel allowed Alonso to break free, and he started chasing down Räikkönen in the last five laps. Räikkönen held on to secure his – and Lotus F1's – first victory of the season.^[318] Alonso was second, while Vettel caught and passed Button to complete the podium,^[324] keeping a ten-point championship lead in the process.^[325] With both Alonso and Vettel finishing on the podium with him, Räikkönen's win was not enough to keep him in contention for the World Drivers' Championship, leaving the title to be fought out between Alonso and Vettel over the final two races of the season.^[325]

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 lack of grip as they were located off the racing line, Ferrari deliberately broke the seal on Felipe Massa's gearbox, thereby giving him a five-place grid penalty and promoting Alonso to seventh and the clean side of the grid.^[330] Ferrari's fears were not without merit as the drivers starting from even-number spaces fell behind at the start of the race. Vettel quickly converted pole position into a steady race lead as Lewis Hamilton fought to regain second place from Mark Webber. Moments after Hamilton caught him on lap 17, the Australian suffered yet another alternator problem, and coasted to a halt.^[331] Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner later admitted that the team's perpetual alternator problems were a serious concern with just one race left in the championship, a World Championship at stake and very little time to diagnose and correct the problem.^[332] With Webber now out of the running, Hamilton then turned his attentions on Vettel and steadily closed the gap to the lead, overtaking the World Championship leader on lap 42 when Vettel got caught behind Narain Karthikeyan in the meandering first sector,^[333] which allowed Hamilton to pass Vettel along the long back straight. Hamilton held onto the lead for the final fourteen laps, but with Vettel never more than a second and a half behind him, Hamilton could not afford to relax, and he won the race by just six-tenths of a second. Alonso recovered from seventh to finish third – marking the first time that he, Hamilton and Vettel had stood on the podium together in the one hundred races all three had contested together – and forcing the title fight to extend to the final round in Brazil.^[334] Further down the order, Massa overcame his gearbox penalty to finish fourth, while Jenson Button fell from twelfth on the grid to sixteenth at the end of the first lap, using an alternative strategy to claw his way back up to fifth. Michael Schumacher, on the other hand, went backwards; after qualifying fifth, his Mercedes chewed through its tyres, forcing him to make a second stop that sent him plummeting down the order to finish sixteenth,^[335] and a clutch problem during his stop deprived Kimi Räikkönen of the chance to compete with Alonso for the final podium place. Both Marussia drivers out-qualified the Caterhams for the first time, only for Timo Glock and Charles Pic be out-raced by Heikki Kovalainen and Vitaly Petrov, but the Russian team held onto tenth place in the World Constructors' Championship. Despite losing Webber to an alternator failure, Red Bull collected enough points to secure their third consecutive World Constructors' Championship title.^[2]

Championship leader table[336]
Grand Prix	Championship leader	Lead
Australia	Jenson Button	7
Malaysia	Fernando Alonso	5
China	Lewis Hamilton	2
Bahrain	Sebastian Vettel	4
Spain		0
Monaco	Fernando Alonso	3
Canada	Lewis Hamilton	2
Europe	Fernando Alonso	20
Great Britain		13
Germany		34
Hungary		40
Belgium		24
Italy		37
Singapore		29
Japan		4
Korea	Sebastian Vettel	6
India		13
Abu Dhabi		10
United States		13
Brazil		3

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

Results and standings

Grands Prix

Round	Grand Prix	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning constructor	Report
1	Australian Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Jenson Button	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
2	Malaysian Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Kimi Räikkönen	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	Report
3	Chinese Grand Prix	Nico Rosberg	Kamui Kobayashi	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	Report
4	Bahrain Grand Prix	Sebastian Vettel	Sebastian Vettel	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	Report
5	Spanish Grand Prix	Pastor Maldonado[N 1]	Romain Grosjean	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	Report
6	Monaco Grand Prix	Mark Webber[N 2]	Sergio Pérez	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	Report
7	Canadian Grand Prix	Sebastian Vettel	Sebastian Vettel	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
8	European Grand Prix	Sebastian Vettel	Nico Rosberg	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	Report
9	British Grand Prix	Fernando Alonso	Kimi Räikkönen	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	Report
10	German Grand Prix	Fernando Alonso	Michael Schumacher	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	Report
11	Hungarian Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Sebastian Vettel	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
12	Belgian Grand Prix	Jenson Button	Bruno Senna	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
13	Italian Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Nico Rosberg	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
14	Singapore Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Nico Hülkenberg	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	Report
15	Japanese Grand Prix	Sebastian Vettel	Sebastian Vettel	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	Report
16	Korean Grand Prix	Mark Webber	Mark Webber	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	Report
17	Indian Grand Prix	Sebastian Vettel	Jenson Button	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	Report
18	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Sebastian Vettel	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	Report
19	United States Grand Prix	Sebastian Vettel	Sebastian Vettel	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
20	Brazilian Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Lewis Hamilton	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
Sources:[355][356]

Scoring system

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

Pos. Driver AUS MAL CHN BHR ESP MON CAN EUR GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN JPN KOR IND ABU USA BRA Points 1 Sebastian Vettel 2 11 5 1PF 6 4 4PF RetP 3 5 4F 2 22† 1 1PF 1 1P 3F 2PF 6 281 2 Fernando Alonso 5 1 9 7 2 3 5 1 2P 1P 5 Ret 3 3 Ret 3 2 2 3 2 278 3 Kimi Räikkönen 7 5F 14 2 3 9 8 2 5F 3 2 3 5 6 6 5 7 1 6 10 207 4 Lewis Hamilton 3P 3P 3 8 8 5 1 19† 8 Ret 1P Ret 1P RetP 5 10 4 RetP 1 RetPF 190 5 Jenson Button 1F 14 2 18† 9 16† 16 8 10 2 6 1P Ret 2 4 Ret 5F 4 5 1 188 6 Mark Webber 4 4 4 4 11 1P 7 4 1 8 8 6 20† 11 9 2PF 3 Ret Ret 4 179 7 Felipe Massa Ret 15 13 9 15 6 10 16 4 12 9 5 4 8 2 4 6 7 4 3 122 8 Romain Grosjean Ret Ret 6 3 4F Ret 2 Ret 6 18 3 Ret 7 19† 7 9 Ret 7 Ret 96 9 Nico Rosberg 12 13 1P 5 7 2 6 6F 15 10 10 11 7F 5 Ret Ret 11 Ret 13 15 93 10 Sergio Pérez 8 2 11 11 Ret 11F 3 9 Ret 6 14 Ret 2 10 Ret 11 Ret 15 11 Ret 66 11 Nico Hülkenberg Ret 9 15 12 10 8 12 5 12 9 11 4 21† 14F 7 6 8 Ret 8 5 63 12 Kamui Kobayashi 6 Ret 10F 13 5 Ret 9 Ret 11 4 18† 13 9 13 3 Ret 14 6 14 9 60 13 Michael Schumacher Ret 10 Ret 10 Ret Ret Ret 3 7 7F Ret 7 6 Ret 11 13 22† 11 16 7 49 14 Paul di Resta 10 7 12 6 14 7 11 7 Ret 11 12 10 8 4 12 12 12 9 15 19† 46 15 Pastor Maldonado 13† 19† 8 Ret 1P Ret 13 12 16 15 13 Ret 11 Ret 8 14 16 5 9 Ret 45 16 Bruno Senna 16† 6 7 22† Ret 10 17 10 9 17 7 12F 10 18† 14 15 10 8 10 Ret 31 17 Jean-Éric Vergne 11 8 16 14 12 12 15 Ret 14 14 16 8 Ret Ret 13 8 15 12 Ret 8 16 18 Daniel Ricciardo 9 12 17 15 13 Ret 14 11 13 13 15 9 12 9 10 9 13 10 12 13 10 19 Vitaly Petrov Ret 16 18 16 17 Ret 19 13 DNS 16 19 14 15 19 17 16 17 16 17 11 0 20 Timo Glock 14 17 19 19 18 14 Ret DNS 18 22 21 15 17 12 16 18 20 14 19 16 0 21 Charles Pic 15† 20 20 Ret Ret Ret 20 15 19 20 20 16 16 16 Ret 19 19 Ret 20 12 0 22 Heikki Kovalainen Ret 18 23 17 16 13 18 14 17 19 17 17 14 15 15 17 18 13 18 14 0 23 Jérôme d'Ambrosio 13 0 24 Narain Karthikeyan DNQ 22 22 21 Ret 15 Ret 18 21 23 Ret Ret 19 Ret Ret 20 21 Ret 22 18 0 25 Pedro de la Rosa DNQ 21 21 20 19 Ret Ret 17 20 21 22 18 18 17 18 Ret Ret 17 21 17 0 Pos. Driver AUS MAL CHN BHR ESP MON CAN EUR GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN JPN KOR IND ABU USA BRA Points Source:[336]

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Other points position Blue Other classified position Not classified, finished (NC) Purple Not classified, retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrawn (WD) Did not enter (empty cell) Annotation Meaning P Pole position F Fastest lap

Notes:

• † – Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Pos. Constructor No. AUS MAL CHN BHR ESP MON CAN EUR GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN JPN KOR IND ABU USA BRA Points 1 Red Bull-Renault 1 2 11 5 1PF 6 4 4PF RetP 3 5 4F 2 22† 1 1PF 1 1P 3F 2PF 6 460 2 4 4 4 4 11 1P 7 4 1 8 8 6 20† 11 9 2PF 3 Ret Ret 4 2 Ferrari 5 5 1 9 7 2 3 5 1 2P 1P 5 Ret 3 3 Ret 3 2 2 3 2 400 6 Ret 15 13 9 15 6 10 16 4 12 9 5 4 8 2 4 6 7 4 3 3 McLaren-Mercedes 3 1F 14 2 18† 9 16† 16 8 10 2 6 1P Ret 2 4 Ret 5F 4 5 1 378 4 3P 3P 3 8 8 5 1 19† 8 Ret 1P Ret 1P RetP 5 10 4 RetP 1 RetPF 4 Lotus-Renault 9 7 5F 14 2 3 9 8 2 5F 3 2 3 5 6 6 5 7 1 6 10 303 10 Ret Ret 6 3 4F Ret 2 Ret 6 18 3 Ret 13 7 19† 7 9 Ret 7 Ret 5 Mercedes 7 Ret 10 Ret 10 Ret Ret Ret 3 7 7F Ret 7 6 Ret 11 13 22† 11 16 7 142 8 12 13 1P 5 7 2 6 6F 15 10 10 11 7F 5 Ret Ret 11 Ret 13 15 6 Sauber-Ferrari 14 6 Ret 10F 13 5 Ret 9 Ret 11 4 18† 13 9 13 3 Ret 14 6 14 9 126 15 8 2 11 11 Ret 11F 3 9 Ret 6 14 Ret 2 10 Ret 11 Ret 15 11 Ret 7 Force India-Mercedes 11 10 7 12 6 14 7 11 7 Ret 11 12 10 8 4 12 12 12 9 15 19† 109 12 Ret 9 15 12 10 8 12 5 12 9 11 4 21† 14F 7 6 8 Ret 8 5 8 Williams-Renault 18 13† 19† 8 Ret 1P Ret 13 12 16 15 13 Ret 11 Ret 8 14 16 5 9 Ret 76 19 16† 6 7 22† Ret 10 17 10 9 17 7 12F 10 18† 14 15 10 8 10 Ret 9 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 16 9 12 17 15 13 Ret 14 11 13 13 15 9 12 9 10 9 13 10 12 13 26 17 11 8 16 14 12 12 15 Ret 14 14 16 8 Ret Ret 13 8 15 12 Ret 8 10 Caterham-Renault 20 Ret 18 23 17 16 13 18 14 17 19 17 17 14 15 15 17 18 13 18 14 0 21 Ret 16 18 16 17 Ret 19 13 DNS 16 19 14 15 19 17 16 17 16 17 11 11 Marussia-Cosworth 24 14 17 19 19 18 14 Ret DNS 18 22 21 15 17 12 16 18 20 14 19 16 0 25 15† 20 20 Ret Ret Ret 20 15 19 20 20 16 16 16 Ret 19 19 Ret 20 12 12 HRT-Cosworth 22 DNQ 21 21 20 19 Ret Ret 17 20 21 22 18 18 17 18 Ret Ret 17 21 17 0 23 DNQ 22 22 21 Ret 15 Ret 18 21 23 Ret Ret 19 Ret Ret 20 21 Ret 22 18 Pos. Constructor No. AUS MAL CHN BHR ESP MON CAN EUR GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN JPN KOR IND ABU USA BRA Points Source:[336]

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Other points position Blue Other classified position Not classified, finished (NC) Purple Not classified, retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrawn (WD) Did not enter (empty cell) Annotation Meaning P Pole position F Fastest lap

Notes:

• † – Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.
• Official FIA results for the Constructors' Championship identified the constructors as "Red Bull Racing", "Scuderia Ferrari", "Vodafone McLaren Mercedes", etc.^[336]