F1 2012 — A Retrospective Part 21: Brazil
THE TITLE DECIDER
Qualifying
With all the focus squarely on Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, it was actually McLaren who dominated proceedings on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton took pole position in his final race for the team. He finished .055s ahead of Jenson Button, who took second.
Mark Webber was quicker than his championship contending teammate. The Australian finished above Vettel, as Red Bull locked out the second row.
Fortunately for Vettel, Alonso was only quick enough for eighth and, too, was behind his teammate. Felipe Massa, always quick at his home Grand Prix, was fifth. Pastor Maldonado and Nico Hulkenberg split the Scuderia.
However, Maldonado was handed a 10-place grid penalty for skipping past the weigh-bridge, which was his third reprimand of the season. This moved Alonso up to seventh.
Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Rosberg rounded out the top 10 in Q3, but Paul di Resta was moved up to 10th following the penalty to the Williams.
Michael Schumacher only managed 14th in his final ever qualifying session. He set his car up for a wet weather session on Sunday, but it was a dry track come Q2.
The session started wet for Q1, but it was rapidly drying and by Q2 everyone was back on the slick tyres.
Romain Grosjean cost himself by colliding with the HRT of Pedro de la Rosa. He managed to nurse his car back to the garage, but he was unable to fit the right tyres on quickly enough to set a time. This left the Lotus driver down in 18th.
Pre-Race
This was it. Everything led to this race. The highs, the lows, the controversies, the excitement. Brazil had been the backdrop of five previous title deciders, and on this day it was set to crown either Vettel or Alonso as a three time World Champion.
Vettel was looking to defend his crown. He won in 2010 and 2011. The 2011 season was a walk in the park compared to 2010 and 2012. He didn’t lead the 2010 campaign at all until the very final race. This time, it was the German defending the lead from Alonso.
For Alonso, he hadn’t won a championship since 2006 when he fended off Schumacher’s Ferrari. He came close in 2007 and 2010, missing out in Brazil to Raikkonen’s Ferrari by one point and himself missing out for Ferrari in 2010 in Abu Dhabi.
“There is a drizzle in the air, there is tension all around the packed grandstands and down in the grid as well. There is nothing quite like a title decider here in Sao Paulo,” said David Croft to kickstart the coverage of the final race of the 2012 season.
“Forecast is for it to be dry,” Vettel was told as he sat in the car waiting for the formation lap to begin.
Martin Brundle described the uncertainty over the weather as “worst case scenario,” for Vettel. “Just when you want a simple afternoon.”
Ted Kravitz brought a calmer weather report. “It is really expected to dry up,” he said. He mentioned that the wet weather tyres were all being wheeled away from the grid and back to the garages of each team. Everyone was starting on dry tyres.
Schumacher, Kamui Kobayashi and Grosjean were the notable drivers to opt for the Hard compound. Everyone else was starting on the Medium tyres.
As the race was set to begin, raindrops were seen forming on the camera lens. Nothing about this was promising to be easy.
Race
Lap one was not the start Vettel was looking for. Pretty much everything that could go wrong did, but it wasn’t over yet. He initially got off the line quite well, but he was squeezed out of Turn One by Webber.
He was seventh by Turn Three and was surrounded by cars in the run up to Turn Four. Raikkonen locked up massively and swerved right, off the track, to avoid running into the back of the Red Bull.
When the championship leader turned into the fourth corner, he failed to spot Bruno Senna coming down the inside and they collided! Vettel was spun backwards and rolling down the hill as everyone drove past him.
Senna picked up Sergio Perez in the aftermath of the incident, ending both of their races. This was Perez’s final race for Sauber, and Senna’s final race in F1. Neither were hoping it ended so soon.
Vettel picked up damage to his left sidepod. The body work opened up above the rear left tyre, exposing the inside of the car, like bone showing through on a horrific ankle injury. He was now down to 22nd by Turn Six.
Meanwhile, both of the Ferraris enjoyed lightning getaways off the line. Massa jumped ahead of both Red Bulls into Turn One, before passing Button around the outside of Turn Two. Massa ended up back behind Button by the end of the lap, but that was still good enough for third place.
Alonso tried to follow suit around Turn One, but was blocked by Button. This allowed Webber to take back the position ahead of the Spaniard. But, crucially, he was ahead of Vettel and into fifth come Turn Three.
Coming around Turn 14, Webber picked up an incredible slip stream from Massa. He moved to the outside as they crossed the start/finish line and moved ahead of Massa into Turn One. But Alonso moved to the inside and passed both of them! It was an incredible move!
That put Alonso up to third, ahead of Webber in fourth, and it meant the Spaniard was in a championship winning position. Stop the count! But this was just lap two of a 71 lap race.
“It’s Alonso’s game now in the world championship with Vettel down,” said Croft.
Hulkenberg made quick work of Massa at Turn Three, the Force India driver was now up to fifth. The team were confident in the car’s speed around Interlagos, and the German earned pole here in 2010 so clearly enjoyed the track.
The fight for fifth in the Constructors Championship, against Sauber, wasn’t over yet either.
“Sebastian [Vettel], there is visible damage but stay out to see how the car behaves. We cannot fix it, it’s not front wing, we cannot fix the damage,” said Guillaume “Rocky” Rocquelin, Vettel’s race engineer.
However, Vettel set the fastest lap of the race so far on lap two. He was up to 19th by Turn Four of lap three and was gaining on the cars ahead.
At some point around that lap, Maldonado went off and his race ended. The Sky Sports broadcast managed to completely miss this, including both commentators, and I myself only discovered this upon researching the race after having watched back the full archive.
Sky’s coverage was caught between showing the action, which was everywhere, and the replays of the chaotic opening lap.
“He really did get mugged off into Turn One,” said Brundle about Vettel’s race start. His own teammate, meant to be his biggest on-track ally on a day such as this, squeezed him out of the corner. That definitely never came back to haunt Webber.
The replays also showed just how close Raikkonen came to completely wiping out Vettel at Turn Four.
The former World Champion reacted so quickly to take avoiding action, otherwise the German’s title defence would’ve been entirely out of his own hands. On-track, he was up to 16th by the end of lap four.
DRS was disabled that lap, but enabled once again come lap five. It wasn’t clear why on the broadcast, but it was presumably for the recovery of Maldonado’s car by the marshals.
At the start of lap five, Alonso ran wide! He went off at Turn One after locking up and he rejoined the track behind Hulkenberg and under pressure from Webber and Massa. Hulkenberg had moved ahead of Webber at Turn Four on lap three and was now up to a podium place. He was flying it in the Force India.
“It’s starting to rain harder! That’s why we’re seeing Alonso off the track. I can see Wet tyres being readied in the pits. No one coming in just yet,” said Kravitz, as everything remained very hectic at a time when most races usually began to settle down.
While Sky were showing replays of the race they missed the actual race itself, there was too much going on and the broadcaster was continuing to struggle with the action. This time, they missed Massa passing Webber for fifth place around Turn One and Two.
They did, however, catch Kobayashi passing di Resta at Turn Four for seventh place. Within that shot, the cars from fourth down to 11th could all be seen at that corner. Eight cars all running right by each other.
Vettel was just in the background, no more than 200–300m away, sitting in 12th.
Raikkonen was the first to brave a trip into the pits for a set of Intermediate tyres. It was raining, but Lotus were the only ones who thought it was heavy enough to switch to appropriate tyres.
Schumacher also came in at the end of that lap, but for another set of Hard tyres.
Grosjean was unable to follow suit, as he went off! He misjudged the entry into Turn 11 and spun. There was nothing he could do after that as the car skidded on to the grass and then into the barrier. His race, and his season, was over.
Out in front, Button was suddenly all over the back of Hamilton. He attempted a move on the race leader, and his teammate, into Turn One of lap seven.
Hamilton held onto the lead at Turn Two and Three, but Button got a great exit on the run up to Turn Four.
He caught the slip stream of his fellow McLaren and was lining up a move when Sky switched over to Webber who had spun at Turn One! He was shoved by Kobayashi, who had nowhere to go with di Resta the other side of him. Right behind that, one of the Toro Rosso drivers went off, much like Alonso had earlier.
Button was still in second place, but the broadcast missed what happened live and settled for watching it unfold via replay. Even by lap seven, it was still far too chaotic to keep up with.
All while this was going on, Vettel quietly moved up to eighth. He passed Rosberg at the start of lap eight, taking the inside line at Turn One to get ahead of the Mercedes. Alonso was still 5s behind Hulkenberg, in that spot the Spaniard needed for the title.
But Hulkenberg was gaining on the McLarens instead. Alonso needed to find some pace, he was losing ground on the championship.
Webber was now down in 18th following the collision. Kobayashi suffered front wing damage, but stayed out. He was struggling for grip and ran wide at Turn Two.
Button kept pressuring Hamilton and at Turn Four he finally managed to get ahead of his teammate. Hamilton was massively struggling for grip, but Button was smooth sailing down the inside into Turn Five and he now led the Grand Prix!
“You need so much skill in these conditions. You just don’t know how much grip is going to be in the braking zone at turn-in on the middle of the corner or when you touch the throttle,” said Brundle, clearly speaking from experience.
“It’s really an adventure, every lap it changes. You can’t build any confidence in the track that there will be enough grip.”
Brundle’s voice was now a full octave higher than usual. He was loving the drama.
“It’s a long race. Keep your car on the black stuff,” was Rocky’s word of encouragement to Vettel. He was leading the championship at this stage but there was still a long way left to go.
Kobayashi pitted, which promoted the German up to seventh, this was enough as it stood.
Raikkonen was going 2.5s slower on his intermediate tyres, that looked the wrong move at this point. Button was encouraged with this news, he was told he was much quicker staying on this tyre. Vettel was up to sixth by lap nine.
Schumacher was into the pits again, this time changing for a set of Intermediate tyres, but he was still only on lap eight.
The rain was starting to get heavier. Webber, Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo all went in for a change to the Intermediate tyres on lap nine.
On lap 10, Alonso went off at Turn One again! He was really struggling in these changing conditions.
Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel pitted at the end of that lap. Hamilton had a slow stop, but he was still comfortably ahead of the Ferrari. Kravitz got a look at Vettel’s car. He said there was “considerable,” damage to the floor of the car. Di Resta also pitted that lap.
“It’s stopped raining, it’s stopped raining,” reported Button on lap 11. He had stayed out, which now looked the right call if he was to be believed. Hulkenberg also stayed out and was now in second place.
Raikkonen was down in 15th after making the early switch to the Intermediate tyres. However, he had Webber and Vettel behind him.
The chaos meant that the three backmarker teams, Caterham, Marussia and HRT were all now ahead of the championship leader.
Heikki Kovalainen was in sixth place! If Caterham finished in the top 12 then they would move up to 10th in the Constructors Championship, which was worth an extra £15 million to the team. Money like that was invaluable for those three teams.
On lap 12, Raikkonen was passed by both Red Bull drivers at Turn Four. Webber then let his teammate through for 14th place. Hamilton passed Massa, who had stayed out, and was now back into third place. Alonso was currently ninth.
On lap 13, Vettel was back pressuring Rosberg. He was unable to pass the Mercedes at Turn Four, but he did get ahead around the final corners on the run up to Turn One of lap 14, he was now in 13th.
Vettel was in eighth by the start of lap 15 as the backmarkers all peeled into the pits. Webber moved ahead of Rosberg around Turn Nine for ninth place.
Meanwhile, Alonso moved up to sixth within that time frame. Vettel still led the championship, Alonso now needed a big swing to get back ahead.
Kravitz reported that the drivers were being told this rain was set to last for another five minutes.
“These tyres are going off,” said Hamilton. He was only on the Intermediates a handful of laps, but yet he was still struggling for grip.
Kobayashi passed Massa at Turn Four. The Brazilian was still on the Medium tyres he began the race with, and he was now massively in trouble. They did not look like the right tyres for him to be on. Button and Hulkenberg were managing much better, still out in front.
Alonso was up to fourth at this point, he got ahead of Massa too, but he needed to get into the top three to win the championship. Vettel was now also ahead of Massa, who was quickly going backwards. Vettel also passed Kobayashi at Turn One of lap 15 and was now in fifth.
Hulkenberg was closing in on Button. There were only nine tenths separating the two of them by lap 16.
The German was having a go at the race leader, but he was unable to get ahead. The guys on the dry tyres were now also starting to set quicker laps than those on the wet weather options. Of course, it was at this moment that Ferrari finally pitted Massa.
Hulkenberg was within DRS range of Button but was still yet to get ahead of the Briton. Hamilton was 18s behind this fight in third, with Alonso a further 16s behind in fourth. They were so far ahead of the rest of the pack, but nothing could separate the top two.
Hamilton was told over the radio that these drizzly conditions were set to last another 30 minutes. He pitted for a set of Hard tyres at the end of that lap. Schumacher also came in that lap.
Hulkenberg finally got close enough to Button around Turn 15, he picked up a great slipstream after the McLaren was caught out of shape at the corner. The German flew by around the outside and took the lead of the race into Turn One!
Despite taking pole here in the Williams in 2010, Hulkenberg had never led a race before in his Formula One career until now. Force India were also yet to win a Grand Prix. This was their chance.
The dry tyres were now lapping three to four seconds quicker per lap than the Intermediate tyres. Everyone was scrambling to get back into the pits to change for the Hard compound.
Alonso and Rosberg were the next ones in at the end of lap 18.
“I don’t think I’ve ever commentated on 20 laps like that in my life. It’s just going off everywhere, it’s incredible,” remarked an over-excited Brundle.
Vettel and Webber were next in at the end of lap 19. Red Bull double stacked their cars in order to get them on the right tyres as quickly as possible.
Alonso still led Vettel, from fourth, but they were both almost an entire lap down on the race leader. The gap to Hulkenberg was 65s, with Vettel in fifth still.
Rosberg suffered a right rear puncture on lap 20. There was debris scattered around the track and he was the unfortunate victim. He was back in the pits already, having only stopped two laps prior, but was able to continue.
Out front, Hulkenberg led by eight tenths on Button. The German set the fastest lap of the race as the pair extended their considerable advantage over the cars behind.
Alonso reported to the pit wall that there was a lot of debris on the track. However, this was clearly a message for race director Charlie Whiting. The Safety Car (SC) was duly deployed on lap 23. This was both what Alonso needed, and what the drivers needed to avoid any further punctured tyres.
Hulkenberg and Button both used this time to make their first pit stop. They both changed to the Hard compound. The Force India driver retained his lead of the race as they exited the pit lane.
Before the SC was called out, Hamilton was a full 55s behind in third place.
The top 10 now read: Hulkenberg, Button, Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel, Kobayashi, Webber, di Resta, Ricciardo and Raikkonen.
Massa was down in 11th place, with Schumacher and Rosberg in 15th and 20th respectively.
The lapped cars were told to leapfrog the leaders to get back onto the same lap as everyone. This meant everyone behind Massa was free to get ahead of the SC. Effectively, Massa was now at the back of the queue despite being in 11th.
“Starting to rain again at Turn Four,” said Alonso. Well, he said it in Italian, but the broadcasters introduced a new auto-translator for this race, which was now coming in handy.
The SC was set to come in at the end of lap 29. There were still over 40 laps left to go and the weather forecast was still unclear. Vettel was leading the championship by 11 points at this stage, but there was still a lot of race left to go.
At the restart, Vettel was immediately swamped by both Kobayashi and Webber! Kobayashi passed the German down the inside of Turn One, but Webber ran wide and went off the track for his trouble. He was down in 14th place.
Kobayashi kept the momentum up and was now looking to pass Alonso next. Massa was already up to eighth place in the other Ferrari.
On lap 31, Hamilton passed Button at Turn Four. DRS wasn’t enabled yet, they had to wait until two laps after the SC came in, but the 2008 World Champion didn’t need it to get into second place ahead of his teammate.
On lap 32, Alonso was caught out of shape, having closed in on Button, at Turn Two and Three. This allowed Kobayashi to close in and pass the Ferrari into Turn Four. The Sauber driver was without a seat for 2013, but was pushing like he was the one in the championship battle.
Massa passed di Resta down the inside of Turn Nine to take seventh place. Ricciardo and Raikkonen followed suit around Turn 10 and 13. The Scot was sliding around Turn 12.
Alonso retook fourth place from Kobayashi into Turn One on lap 33. Raikkonen was next to run wide at that corner, he was now down in 12th and behind Webber, who was attacking Schumacher in the battle for 10th.
On lap 34, Webber managed to get ahead of the Mercedes for 10th place. Meanwhile, Massa managed to get past Vettel in the other Red Bull. That was exactly what Alonso needed from his teammate.
Vettel was going 1s a lap slower than Hamilton in the dry conditions, that was the result of the damage to the car from the opening lap. Hamilton was going quickest of anyone on track, but was 2.3s behind the race leader.
On lap 37, Massa overtook Kobayashi for fifth place at Turn Four. Ferrari were also looking to secure second in the Constructors Championship from McLaren and were now well in position to do so.
Raikkonen overtook Schumacher on lap 38 in a superb battle between the two veterans. The Finn took the outside of Turn One, but held the line around the corner to have the inside of Turn Two, which he used to get ahead into Turn Three. It was a stern defence from the seven time World Champion, but Raikkonen was ahead.
On lap 40, di Resta was next in line to overtake Schumacher. He took the German’s position around Turn Four. The Mercedes was clearly lacking pace in the drying conditions.
On lap 41, Webber was back up as high as eighth. He passed Ricciardo at Turn Four.
Hulkenberg got onto the radio to warn his team that he didn’t believe the tyres could make it to the end of the race, but he was encouraged to keep going. The lead of the race was cut down to 1.5s.
Alonso was 6s off the podium places now and falling away.
Hamilton closed the gap to Hulkenberg by six tenths on lap 44, he was the much quicker car at this point.
On lap 48, he took the lead of the race after Hulkenberg spun at Turn Seven! He was briefly perpendicular to everyone on track, but he quickly reverted. However, Hamilton was close enough to take advantage and he now led in his final race for the McLaren team.
On lap 49, footage was shown of the intense wear the Alonso’s front right tyre was suffering from. Kravitz reported that all of the drivers were struggling with the same issue.
However, there was so much uncertainty over the weather, still, that teams didn’t want to lose time having to pit twice in quick succession if the rain started getting any heavier.
Hamilton now led by 2s, while the weather radar was saying it was now about to stop raining.
But on lap 51, Rosberg pitted for a set of Intermediate tyres! Ricciardo also pitted but it was for a new set of Hard tyres. Meanwhile, Vettel’s radio was no longer working. He was able to hear messages, but unable to give any.
The championship leader pitted on lap 52 for a set of Medium tyres. He was now in 10th place, but still leading Alonso in the only way that mattered.
On lap 54, a replay showed Raikkonen running wide at Turn 12. He took a slip road that he thought brought him back onto the track. But it brought him to a closed gate. He was completely off the circuit!
He had to do a U-Turn to go back from where he came to get back onto the track. What a bizarre adventure from the Lotus driver. He then pitted at the end of that lap.
On lap 55, Hulkenberg caught up to Hamilton and went down the inside of the race leader at Turn One but they collided! Hamilton was out of the race with front left suspension damage. Hulkenberg continued, but he was walking wounded. Button now led the race!
Hamilton had lost time behind backmarkers, which allowed the Force India driver to catch up on the run up to the first corner. He then lost control of the car at Turn One and slid into the McLaren. They banged wheels, but it was enough to take Hamilton out of the race.
Alonso was promoted to third as a consequence, this was exactly what he needed to get back into the title winning position. Vettel, too, was up to ninth place, which meant they were now level on points. In that scenario, Vettel led due to having won more Grands Prix over the season.
However, Vettel pitted for a set of Intermediate tyres at the end of that lap. It took 11.4! They weren’t ready for him in the pit lane! Alonso now led the championship, with Vettel in 11th.
Hulkenberg was handed a drive-through penalty for his role in the collision with Hamilton.
On lap 56, it was now clear the Intermediate tyres were the right choice to be on. At the exit of Turn Three, Alonso’s car almost lost total control but for a superb piece of driving to keep it on the track.
By lap 57, Vettel was back up to ninth and Alonso was in the pit lane. The championship lead changed hands again as the Spaniard dropped to fourth place behind Massa.
On lap 58, Alonso was back onto the podium places in third. Hulkenberg took his penalty at the end of that lap. There were now four points between the title rivals.
Webber was now in fourth, having passed Hulkenberg during the drive-through penalty. Schumacher was now up to sixth.
Hamilton was given a round of applause as he made his way back to the McLaren garage. It was an anticlimactic end to a dramatic season for the Briton and a final goodbye to the team before he moved to Mercedes for 2013.
On-track, the gap between the two Ferraris was now 4s. Massa was ahead of Alonso, but that was certainly not set to last.
On lap 62, they swapped places which moved Alonso up to second place in the race but he was still second place in the championship as well. He was running out of time, with only 10 laps remaining, and he needed to catch up to, and pass, Button if he was to win the 2012 F1 season.
Vettel was in seventh, which was enough to lead Alonso by one point. He was also gaining on Schumacher ahead.
“Just keep it on the track, mate. Keep it on the track,” was the message of encouragement to Vettel. It was down to the wire, but the German looked to have the title in his hands now.
On lap 64, Schumacher allowed Vettel through at Turn Five. Schumacher wished Vettel well in the build up to the final race and this was a gesture of goodwill towards his fellow countrymen.
Button’s lead was 20s on Alonso and it was the Ferrari drivers only apparent route to championship victory. He needed a miracle, but there were only a handful of laps remaining.
At the other end of the championship, Vitaly Petrov passed Charles Pic for 12th place at Turn Four. That was the position Caterham needed for 10th in the Constructors Championship.
On lap 67, di Resta overtook Jean-Eric Vergne around the outside of Turn Four to move up to ninth place.
On lap 68, Vettel was warned to slow down. He was currently the quickest man on track, the wet weather conditions helping to make up for the loss of speed in the dry.
On lap 69, Kobayashi ran wide attempting to overtake Schumacher at Turn Four. This dropped the Japanese driver down to 10th. The two touched wheels, which caused Kobayashi to spin from the inside line.
On lap 70, di Resta sealed the championship’s fate by crashing out of the race at Turn 14. His car was destroyed in the wreckage, as the Scot lost control of the car going around the final set of corners on the main straight.
There was nothing he could do to save himself from the wall. A promising day for Force India ultimately ended in disappointment.
This brought out the Safety Car once again. With only one lap remaining, this effectively ended the race. The SC did peel into the pits on the final lap, as part of a new rule following the “Monaco fiasco,” according to Brundle.
Button brought his McLaren home in first place. He won the opening Grand Prix in Australia and now he closed out the season on the top step of the podium yet again.
Alonso finished in second, with Massa in third for a double podium for Ferrari. However, with Vettel’s sixth place finish it meant that the Spaniard missed out on a third world championship once more.
Vettel was the youngest ever triple World Champion. He broke the record of Aryton Senna, at the age of only 25, and became the third man in F1 history to win three consecutive Drivers Championships, after the greats Juan Manuel Fangio and, of course, Michael Schumacher.
Red Bull had done it, Vettel had done it. That great combination was champion once again, in 2012.
The final standings were as follows
Drivers Championship Round 20 (Top Five)
Race Verdict: 5/5
Author’s Note:
The final part on Friday will look at the immediate and long-term aftermath of this race. This will follow the usual pattern of looking at Post-Race, Driver in Focus and a full Race Verdict. It will also look at the Winter Break, the 2013 Season and beyond.
Previous entries in the series can be found here
Part 20: The United States
