Brazilian Grand Prix 2012 - Report

Sebastian Vettel secured a third successive world title in dramatic style amid changing weather conditions in a thrilling Brazilian Grand Prix. A collision between Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton handed Jenson Button a third win of the season, with Fernando Alonso slotting into second. However, with Vettel lying in sixth position despite first lap contact that demoted him to the back of the pack, there was nothing Alonso could do to prevent the German becoming the sport’s youngest ever triple champion.

Qualifying on Saturday was for the most part dry, and McLaren were clearly the most competitive proposition. The net result of that was a front-row lockout for the Woking-built cars, with Hamilton securing pole position in his final race for the team ahead of teammate Button. Mark Webber qualified in third position with teammate Vettel alongside in fourth position, while Felipe Massa would start in fifth and Alonso seventh with the Ferrari not looking as competitive as its rivals in the dry.

Although all 24 drivers lined up with slick tyres at the start, spots of rain were beginning to fall just a few minutes before the start of the race. As the lights went out, both McLarens made good starts as Hamilton led away, whilst the Ferraris swarmed past the slow-starting Red Bulls. Massa took the outside of the track and drew alongside Button as the pack headed into the Senna ‘S’ for the first time, the Brazilian moving into second behind Hamilton. Alonso moved into fourth ahead of Webber, although the Aussie took the place  back later in the lap.

Vettel on the other hand was already down to seventh at the first corner after being passed by the Ferrari pair as well as Hulkenberg, who started sixth. At turn 4, as Kimi Raikkonen locked his brakes and ran wide, Vettel took a wide line and was collected by Bruno Senna, who attempted to dive up the inside. Whilst the points leader pirouetted as a result, dropping to the very rear of the field, Senna was eliminated on the spot along with a hapless Sergio Perez in his final outing for Sauber.

Back at the front, Hamilton continued to lead from Button, who was able to re-pass Massa later in the first lap. Webber was attempting to line-up the home favourite for a pass at the first corner of the second lap, but Alonso took advantage of the double slipstream to execute an audacious move around the outside of both drivers – putting himself, for the time being at least, in a championship winning position.

What Alonso didn’t count on however was a mighty resurgence by Vettel. Despite considerable damage to his rear bodywork and left-hand sidepod, the Red Bull driver was making short work of his rivals and had moved back into the points-paying positions by lap 7. In the meantime, the slippery track surface caught out Alonso, who ran wide at the Senna ‘S’ and dropped to fourth behind Hulkenberg whose impressive pace had already allowed him to dispatch Webber and Massa.

All the while, the two McLaren teammates were busy debating the lead, with Button getting the better of Hamilton at the first corner on lap 8. As the rain began to intensify, Hamilton joined a growing list of drivers to switch to intermediate tyres on lap 10; Alonso and Vettel followed shortly afterwards, the two title contenders erring on the side of caution in the treacherous conditions.

That transpired to be the wrong decision as the rain failed to last, allowing Button and Hulkenberg to stay out on slicks and accumulate a substantial lead over the rest of the field. As the track dried out, the rest of the field were forced to make a second stop to revert to slicks. A fierce battle was meanwhile shaping up for the lead between Button and an on-form Hulkenberg, and on lap 19 the Force India swept past to lead the first lap of his career.

On lap 23, the Safety Car was scrambled as debris from various earlier incidents was cleared, allowing Hulkenberg and Button, who were 50 seconds ahead of Hamilton in third, to change their tyres without relinquishing first and second places. Behind Hamilton were Alonso, Vettel, Kobayashi, Webber (who had been tipped into a spin by the Japanese driver before the rain arrived), whilst Massa had dropped to eleventh as a result of a very late switch to intermediates.

The race got underway again on lap 30, and a slow restart from Vettel allowed Kobayashi to pounce on the Red Bull driver to take fifth. Two laps later, the Japanese driver made his way past Alonso, although the Ferrari driver was able to take back the position a lap later. All the while, Hulkenberg had built up a 2.5 second lead over Hamilton, who moved ahead of teammate Button on lap 31 and set about closing the gap to Hulkenberg.

The gap had been reduced to just over a second in the space of ten laps, but Hulkenberg relinquished the lead to Hamilton with a half-spin on lap 48. Hulkenberg was in no mood to settle for second however, and the Force India driver was able to put pressure on Hamilton once more. On lap 55, as the pair approached lapped traffic, Hulkenberg dived up the inside of his adversary only to make contact which would put Hamilton out of the race.

Hulkenberg was able to continue in second behind Button, but by this stage the rain had returned. Massa was among the first to pit for a fresh set of intermediates on lap 55, putting him ahead of Alonso, who stopped a lap later, after a spirited charge back up the order after his earlier delay. Hulkenberg pitted on lap 57 and would drop to fifth place after returning to the pits on lap 58 to serve a drive-through penalty for causing the Hamilton incident.

Having also stopped for intermediates, Button now led by a considerable margin from Massa, Alonso, a recovering Webber (who gained ground with an earlier switch to intermediates), Hulkenberg and Schumacher, who had been busy clawing his way back up the field after an early puncture. Vettel was now seventh after losing substantial time in the pits due to the Red Bull mechanics failing to be ready for his stop. Seventh would nonetheless be good enough to claim the title if Alonso failed to win.

Although Alonso was able to catch and pass Massa on lap 62, there was nothing he or anybody could do about Button out front, whose lead at this time was twenty seconds. Vettel strengthened his position further by moving ahead of his countryman Schumacher to take sixth on lap 64. A late crash shortly after the final corner by Paul Di Resta from ninth position ensured that the final two laps of the season were run behind the Safety Car, guaranteeing Vettel enough points to clinch his third consecutive world championship.

Button thus ended the season in the same way he had begun it eight months earlier at Melbourne by standing atop the podium, taking the 15^th win of his career. Alonso did everything he could, but ultimately second position wasn’t quite good enough to overturn Vettel’s points advantage. Massa took to the podium for the second time this year before his adoring fans, ensuring Ferrari would stay ahead of McLaren in the battle for second in the constructors’ championship.

Webber finished in fourth position ahead of Hulkenberg and Vettel, with seventh place going to Schumacher in his final race appearance after repelling the advances of Kobayashi; a late spin by the Japanese driver dropped him down to ninth behind Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso. Raikkonen claimed the final point in an eventful afternoon for the Finn during which he attempted to return to the track via a hidden access road after running wide at the final corner, only to have to turn around due to a gate blocking his path.

Di Resta’s late crash and the ensuing Safety Car allowed Vitaly Petrov to cross the finish line in eleventh place, just beating Charles Pic's Marussia, and thus securing tenth in the standings (and the all-important extra prize money that comes with it) for Caterham. Behind Pic was Daniel Ricciardo, who was set for points until losing time by stopping for slicks shortly before the second rain shower. The Toro Rosso driver was on course to pass both Pic and Petrov, which would have denied Caterham that pivotal result.

Heikki Kovalainen was next in the second Caterham ahead of Nico Rosberg, who failed to recover from a puncture at mid-distance, Timo Glock in the second Marussia (who lost time when he was tagged by Vergne after the restart) and the HRT pair of Pedro de la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan in what could well be the team’s final race outing. Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado were the only other drivers to retire, both doing so in separate incidents early on. Grosjean had already brushed with the barriers in qualifying as he tried to pass a slower de la Rosa, limiting himself to 18th on the grid, while Maldonado had been due to start sixth but was demoted ten places for missing his weigh-in after his final timed lap.

The Interlagos circuit can always be relied upon to provide thrilling action, and this year was no exception. The Red Bull team must have thought it was all over when Vettel’s car was turned around right at the start, but a tremendous drive by the 25-year-old narrowly kept the championship out of the reach of Alonso. It was a mighty shame to see the Ferrari driver defeated after such an immaculate season, but Vettel was an equally worthy recipient of the crown. Perhaps 2012 will come to pass as the opening chapter in an era-defining rivalry between two men at the very top of their game.