2012 Italian Grand Prix

The 2012 Italian Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Gran Premio Santander d'Italia 2012)[1] was a Formula One motor race that took place at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy on 9 September 2012.[3] It was the thirteenth race of the 2012 season, and the final race in Europe before the teams returned to Asia for the Singapore Grand Prix.

2012 Italian Grand Prix
Race 13 of 20 in the 2012 Formula One World Championship
Layout of the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
Race details
Date 9 September 2012
Official name Formula 1 Gran Premio Santander d'Italia 2012[1]
Location Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza, Italy
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.793 km (3.6 mi)
Distance 53 laps, 306.720 km (190.58 mi)
Weather

Dry and sizzlingly sunny[2]
Air temp 28 °C (82 °F)[2]


Track temp 40 °C (104 °F)[2]
Pole position
Driver
McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:24.010
Fastest lap
Driver Nico Rosberg Mercedes
Time 1:27.239 on lap 53
Podium
First
McLaren-Mercedes
Second
Sauber-Ferrari
Third
Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton qualified on pole, ahead of teammate Jenson Button. The result gave McLaren their sixty-second front-row lock-out, breaking the previous record set by Williams.[4] Hamilton won the race by four seconds from Sergio Pérez, with Fernando Alonso completing the podium.[5]

Report

Background

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought its silver-banded hard compound tyre as the harder "prime" tyre and the white-banded medium compound tyre as the softer "option" tyre.[6]

Circuit changes

The drag reduction system zones used in 2011 were shortened for the 2012 race.[7] The first DRS zone, located on the straight between the second Lesmo corner and the Variante Ascari, was shortened by fifty meters, while the DRS zone on the front straight was shortened by five meters.

Driver penalties

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean did not participate in the race due to receiving a one-race ban for his involvement in the first-lap incident at the Belgian Grand Prix that saw four cars crash heavily at the La Source hairpin.[8] Grosjean was replaced by the team's testing and reserve driver, Jérôme d'Ambrosio.[9]

Pastor Maldonado received two five-place grid penalties. the first for jumping the start of the Belgian Grand Prix and the second for causing an avoidable accident with Timo Glock after Grosjean's accident.[10]

Paul di Resta was also demoted five places for an unscheduled gearbox change on Saturday morning, his second gearbox penalty of the season.[11]

Driver changes

Ma Qinghua became the first Chinese driver to take part in a Grand Prix weekend when he drove Narain Karthikeyan's HRT F112 in the first free practice session on Friday morning.[12] Valtteri Bottas drove Bruno Senna's Williams FW34 in the same session, while Jules Bianchi took Paul di Resta's place at Force India.

Free practice

Mercedes AMG driver Michael Schumacher was fastest in the first practice session, three-tenths of a second quicker than Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg.[13] For Lotus, Jérôme d'Ambrosio finished the session fifteenth, over a second and a half slower than Schumacher and sixth-tenths down on teammate Kimi Räikkönen. Ma Qinghua was the slowest runner after ninety minutes, nearly six seconds slower than Schumacher, and within two seconds of teammate Pedro de la Rosa. At the end of the session, both Fernando Alonso and Pastor Maldonado were observed to stop on the circuit with technical problems.

Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver in the second session,[14] narrowly edging out Button and Alonso, the latter of whom had another disrupted session with a series of technical problems surrounding the gearbox and brakes that limited his time on the circuit. Having set the fastest time in the morning session, Schumacher finished tenth following a series of off-track excursions. He was highly-critical of the speed bumps placed around the Variante della Roggia chicane, claiming they were a safety hazard that could result in serious injury if a driver hit them at speed.

Hamilton was once again fastest in the third session, just one thousandth of a second ahead of Alonso.[15] Paul di Resta finished the session third, while Sebastian Vettel suffered a loss of power on his final lap and pulled over at the Roggia chicane. The Red Bull RB8 was consistently one of the slowest cars through the speed trap, evidenced by the way neither Red Bull driver featured in the top ten runners in any of the free practice sessions, with the exception of Mark Webber, who set the ninth-fastest time of the first session.

Race
Vettel walking back to the pits after his retirement

Felipe Massa made a great start to pass Jenson Button for second place. He pulled alongside pole sitter Lewis Hamilton going into the first chicane, but Hamilton had the inside line and was able to stay ahead. Fernando Alonso was able to make his way up from 10th to 7th place by the end of the first lap, and passed Kimi Räikkönen for 6th going into the first chicane on the second lap.

On lap 4, Sebastian Vettel passed Michael Schumacher under braking into the first chicane for 4th place. One lap later, Bruno Senna attempted to pass Nico Rosberg around the outside into the first chicane. Senna turned into Rosberg, they banged wheels, and Senna went straight through the chicane to take 11th. Fernando Alonso was able to pass Schumacher coming out of the Parabolica on lap 7.

On lap 8, Bruno Senna tried to pass Paul di Resta on the outside going into the second chicane. Di Resta moved over, forcing Senna onto the gravel. Senna went straight through the chicane and back onto the racing line right in front of Mark Webber, who dodged around him as they entered the first Lesmo corner. On the next lap, Jean-Éric Vergne had a right rear suspension failure under braking into the first chicane. He spun and slid sideways over one of the curbs, launching his car into the air over the chicane.

Jenson Button retook 2nd place from Felipe Massa in the 2nd chicane on lap 19. Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel pitted at the same time on lap 21, and came out right behind Massa with only a car's length separating each of the three. Lewis Hamilton pitted on lap 24, allowing Sergio Pérez, who hadn't pitted yet, to take the lead from 2nd.

On lap 26, Fernando Alonso tried to go around the outside of Sebastian Vettel through Curva Grande. Vettel moved to the outside, pushing Alonso off the track and onto the gravel. The move was similar to a move Vettel pulled on Alonso the year before, but this time Vettel was given a drive-through penalty. Alonso was able to pass Vettel on lap 29, and the drive-through on lap 35 put Vettel in 9th place behind Webber.

After the podium ceremony, third-placed Alonso took over a TV camera

Lewis Hamilton retook the lead from Sergio Pérez on lap 29. Pérez pitted on the next lap and came back out in 8th place. Jenson Button retired on lap 34 following a sudden loss of fuel pressure. This moved Felipe Massa back up to 2nd with Fernando Alonso and Sergio Pérez gaining on him. Massa was passed by Alonso on lap 40, and then by Pérez three laps later. Pérez quickly chased down Alonso and passed him on lap 46.

Sebastian Vettel retired on lap 47 with a failed alternator. On lap 51, Mark Webber clipped the curb on the exit of the Ascari chicane and spun. He fell out of the point-scoring positions and retired due to severely flat-spotted tires.

Lewis Hamilton won the race, with Sergio Pérez, who started 12th, in second and quickly catching him. Fernando Alonso completed the podium, having started 10th.

Classification

Qualifying
Pos. No. Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
1 4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:24.211 1:24.394 1:24.010 1
2 3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:24.672 1:24.255 1:24.133 2
3 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:24.882 1:24.505 1:24.247 3
4 11 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:24.875 1:24.345 1:24.304 91
5 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:25.302 1:24.675 1:24.540 4
6 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:25.011 1:24.687 1:24.802 5
7 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:24.689 1:24.515 1:24.833 6
8 9 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 1:25.151 1:24.742 1:24.855 7
9 14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:25.317 1:24.683 1:25.109 8
10 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:24.175 1:24.242 1:25.678 10
11 2 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:25.556 1:24.809 11
12 18 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:25.103 1:24.820 222
13 15 Sergio Pérez Sauber-Ferrari 1:25.300 1:24.901 12
14 19 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1:25.135 1:25.042 13
15 16 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:25.728 1:25.312 14
16 10 Jérôme d'Ambrosio Lotus-Renault 1:25.834 1:25.408 15
17 17 Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:25.649 1:25.441 16
18 20 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1:26.382 17
19 21 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1:26.887 18
20 24 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1:27.039 19
21 25 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1:27.073 20
22 23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:27.441 21
23 22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1:27.629 23
107% time: 1:30.067
DNQ 12 Nico Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes no time 243
Source:[4]

Notes:

  • ^1 — Paul di Resta was demoted five places for an unscheduled gearbox change.[11]
  • ^2 — Pastor Maldonado was given two five-place grid penalties for jumping the start and causing an avoidable accident during the previous race in Belgium.[10]
  • ^3 — Nico Hülkenberg failed to set a lap time when his car stopped on the circuit during the first qualifying period. As he was unable to get the car restarted, he was not allowed to take any further part in qualifying. His entry to the race depended on a special dispensation from race stewards, which was subsequently granted.

Race
Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 53 1:19:41.221 1 25
2 15 Sergio Pérez Sauber-Ferrari 53 +4.356 12 18
3 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 53 +20.594 10 15
4 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 53 +29.667 3 12
5 9 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 53 +30.881 7 10
6 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 53 +31.259 4 8
7 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 53 +33.550 6 6
8 11 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 53 +41.057 9 4
9 14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 53 +43.898 8 2
10 19 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 53 +48.144 13 1
11 18 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 53 +48.682 22
12 16 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 53 +50.316 14
13 10 Jérôme d'Ambrosio Lotus-Renault 53 +1:15.861 15
14 20 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 52 +1 Lap 17
15 21 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 52 +1 Lap 18
16 25 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 52 +1 Lap 20
17 24 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 52 +1 Lap 19
18 22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 52 +1 Lap 23
19 23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 52 +1 Lap 21
20 2 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 51 Spin 11
21 12 Nico Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes 50 Brakes 24
22 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 47 Alternator 5
Ret 3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 32 Fuel pressure 2
Ret 17 Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8 Suspension 16
Source:[5]

Championship standings after the race
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

References
  1. "Formula 1 Gran Premio Santander d'Italia 2012". formula1.com. Formula One Administration. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  2. "Formula 1 Gran Premio Santander d'Italia 2012 (Race)". formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 9 September 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  3. Collantine, Keith (7 December 2011). "United States Grand Prix remains on unchanged 2012 F1 calendar". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  4. Collantine, Keith (8 September 2012). "2012 Italian Grand Prix grid". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  5. "Formula 1 Gran Premio Santander d'Italia 2012 – Provisional Results". Formula One World Championship Limited. 9 September 2012. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  6. "Pirelli reveal tyre choices for final three rounds". Formula One. 16 October 2012. Archived from the original on 11 January 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  7. Collantine, Keith (6 September 2012). "Monza's two DRS zones shortened". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  8. Strang, Simon; Beer, Matt (2 September 2012). "Belgian GP: Romain Grosjean gets one-race ban for start crash". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  9. Monza, Keith (4 September 2012). "Jerome d'Ambrosio to stand in for Grosjean at Monza". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  10. Collantine, Keith (2 September 2012). "Double penalty for Maldonado after jump start and crash". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  11. Collantine, Keith (8 September 2012). "Di Resta gets five-place grid penalty". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  12. Collantine, Keith (5 September 2012). "Ma Qing Hua to drive for HRT in Monza practice". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  13. Collantine, Keith (7 September 2012). "Schumacher leads first Monza practice for Mercedes". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  14. Collantine, Keith (7 September 2012). "McLaren head second practice as Alonso hits trouble". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  15. Collantine, Keith (8 September 2012). "Hamilton leads Alonso by tiny margin at Monza". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  16. "Italy 2012 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
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2012 Belgian Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
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2012 Singapore Grand Prix
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2013 Italian Grand Prix
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