2012 German Grand Prix
Race 10 of 20 in the 2012 Formula One World Championship
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The Hockenheimring
The Hockenheimring
Race details
Date 22 July 2012
Official name Formula 1 Grosser Preis Santander von Deutschland 2012[1]
Location Hockenheimring, Hockenheim, Germany
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.574 km (2.842 miles)
Distance 67 laps, 306.458 km (190.424 miles)
Weather

Fine and Dry[2] Air Temp 22 °C (72 °F)[2]


Track Temp 30 °C (86 °F)[2]
Pole position
Driver
Ferrari
Time 1:40.621
Fastest lap
Driver Germany Michael Schumacher Mercedes
Time 1:18.725 on lap 58
Podium
First
Ferrari
Second
McLaren-Mercedes
Third
Lotus-Renault
Lap leaders

The 2012 German Grand Prix, formally the Formula 1 Grosser Preis Santander von Deutschland 2012,[1] was a Formula One motor race that took place on 22 July 2012 as the tenth round of the 2012 season.[3] After being held at the Nürburgring in 2011,[4] the race returned to the Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg, making the 2012 race the thirty-third time the circuit hosted the German Grand Prix, and the eighth time the shortened circuit hosted the race since its 2002 redesign.

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso got his 22nd pole position before going on to win the race.[5] This race would see Michael Schumacher set his 77th and final fastest lap in Formula One, a record he still holds as of 2023.

Report

Background

As there was no race at Hockenheim in 2011, 2012 was the first year that the drag reduction system (DRS) and Pirelli tyres featured at the circuit. The DRS detection zone for the race was located at turn four, with the activation zone located 260 metres (850 ft) further down the road, so that it could be used on the approach to the hairpin.[6]

Tyre supplier Pirelli chose to run with the most commonly run tyre combination of the year to date, and brought its white-banded medium compound tyre as the harder "prime" tyre and the yellow-banded soft compound tyre as the softer "option" tyre to the Hockenheim circuit.[7]

Driver penalties

Romain Grosjean took a five-place grid penalty after his team discovered a terminal issue in his gearbox.[8] Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber were also given five-place penalties for gearbox changes.[9][10] Sergio Pérez was given a five-place grid penalty for impeding Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen in the second qualifying session.[11]

Drivers

Dani Clos took over Narain Karthikeyan's HRT during the first free practice session.[12] Jules Bianchi replaced Paul di Resta at Force India,[13] while Valtteri Bottas once again drove Bruno Senna's Williams for the same session. This race marked Lewis Hamilton's 100th race and Kamui Kobayashi's 50th race.[14]

Race

The conditions on the grid were dry and sunny before the race; the air temperature ranged between 20–21 °C (68–70 °F) and the track temperature was between 30–32 °C (86–90 °F).[15][16] Fernando Alonso won the race, his 30th in Formula One to become the only driver to win three races at this point in the season, Jenson Button was 2nd after Sebastian Vettel was given a 20 second time penalty for passing the former by going off the track, the penalty dropped the German down to 5th.[17] Michael Schumacher got the 77th and final fastest lap of his Formula One career.[18]

Classification

Michael Schumacher qualified fourth

Qualifying

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Grid
1 5 Spain Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:16.073 1:38.521 1:40.621 1
2 1 Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:16.393 1:38.309 1:41.026 2
3 2 Australia Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:16.500 1:39.382 1:41.496 81
4 7 Germany Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:16.686 1:38.010 1:42.459 3
5 12 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:16.271 1:39.467 1:43.501 4
6 18 Venezuela Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:16.181 1:38.731 1:43.950 5
7 3 United Kingdom Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.507 1:38.659 1:44.113 6
8 4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.221 1:37.365 1:44.186 7
9 11 United Kingdom Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:16.352 1:39.703 1:44.889 9
10 9 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 1:15.693 1:39.729 1:45.811 10
11 16 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.516 1:39.789 11
12 15 Mexico Sergio Pérez Sauber-Ferrari 1:15.726 1:39.933 172
13 14 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:16.481 1:39.985 12
14 6 Brazil Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:16.265 1:40.212 13
15 10 France Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:16.685 1:40.574 191
16 19 Brazil Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1:16.426 1:40.752 14
17 8 Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:15.988 1:41.551 211
18 17 France Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.741 15
19 20 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1:17.620 16
20 21 Russia Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1:18.531 18
21 25 France Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1:19.220 20
22 24 Germany Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1:19.291 22
23 22 Spain Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1:19.912 23
24 23 India Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:20.230 24
107% time: 1:20.991
Source:[5]

Notes:

^1 — Romain Grosjean, Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber were each demoted five places as a penalty for changing their gearboxes before the race.[8][9][10]
^2 — Sergio Pérez was demoted five places as a penalty for impeding Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen in the second qualifying session.[11]

Race

Fernando Alonso started the race from pole position and won.
Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Spain Fernando Alonso Ferrari 67 1:31:05.862 1 25
2 3 United Kingdom Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 67 +6.931 6 18
3 9 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 67 +16.409 10 15
4 14 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 67 +21.925 12 12
5 1 Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 67 +23.7321 2 10
6 15 Mexico Sergio Pérez Sauber-Ferrari 67 +27.896 17 8
7 7 Germany Michael Schumacher Mercedes 67 +28.970 3 6
8 2 Australia Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 67 +46.941 8 4
9 12 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes 67 +48.162 4 2
10 8 Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes 67 +48.889 21 1
11 11 United Kingdom Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 67 +59.227 9
12 6 Brazil Felipe Massa Ferrari 67 +1:11.428 13
13 16 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 67 +1:16.829 11
14 17 France Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 67 +1:16.965 15
15 18 Venezuela Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 66 +1 Lap 5
16 21 Russia Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 66 +1 Lap 18
17 19 Brazil Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 66 +1 Lap 14
18 10 France Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 66 +1 Lap 19
19 20 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 65 +2 Laps 16
20 25 France Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 65 +2 Laps 20
21 22 Spain Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 64 +3 Laps 23
22 24 Germany Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 64 +3 Laps 22
23 23 India Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 64 +3 Laps 24
Ret 4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 56 Puncture damage 7
Source:[19]

Notes:

^1 — Sebastian Vettel was given a 20 second post-race drive-through penalty for an illegal overtaking manoeuvre on Jenson Button on lap 66, dropping him from second to fifth.[20]

Championship standings after the race

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Formula 1 Großer Preis Santander von Deutschland 2012". Formula1.com. Formula One Management. Archived from the original on June 20, 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "FORMULA 1 GROSSER PREIS SANTANDER VON DEUTSCHLAND 2012 (Race)". Formula One. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2013.[dead link]
  3. ^ Collantine, Keith (7 December 2011). "United States Grand Prix remains on unchanged 2012 F1 calendar". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  4. ^ "World Motor Sport Council: 03/11/2010". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 3 November 2010. Archived from the original on 5 November 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  5. ^ a b "Formula 1 Großer Preis Santander von Deutschland — Provisional Results". Formula1.com. Formula One Management. 21 July 2012. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  6. ^ Vermeeren, Frances (17 July 2012). "One DRS zone for Hockenheim GP". GPnow.com. GPNow. Archived from the original on 2013-01-25. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  7. ^ "Pirelli reveal tyre choices for final three rounds". Formula One. 16 October 2012. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  8. ^ a b Noble, Jonathan (13 July 2012). "Grosjean to take five-place grid penalty at Hockenheim after team discovers gearbox issue". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  9. ^ a b Straw, Edd; Strang, Simon (20 July 2012). "Rosberg to get five-place grid penalty after gearbox change ahead of German GP". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  10. ^ a b Straw, Edd (21 July 2012). "Red Bull's Mark Webber gets gearbox change penalty for German Grand Prix". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  11. ^ a b Beer, Matt (21 July 2012). "Sergio Perez handed penalty for impeding during qualifying for the German Grand Prix". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  12. ^ Elizalde, Pablo (16 July 2012). "Clos to replace Karthikeyan at HRT for opening session of the German Grand Prix". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  13. ^ Elizalde, Pablo (17 July 2012). "Bianchi gets another practice outing with Force India in Germany". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  14. ^ "Germany 2012 • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
  15. ^ Creighton, Geoff; Hughes, Emlyn (22 July 2012). "As it happened: The German Grand Prix". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  16. ^ Symonds, Pat (August 2012). "Race Debrief". F1 Racing. Haymarket Publications: 106–109. ISSN 1361-4487.
  17. ^ "Vettel penalised for Button pass". BBC Sport.
  18. ^ "Germany 2012 • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
  19. ^ "FORMULA 1 GROSSER PREIS SANTANDER VON DEUTSCHLAND 2012". Formula One World Championship Limited. 22 July 2012. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  20. ^ "Vettel penalised for Button pass, drops from second to fifth in the German Grand Prix". Autosport. 22 July 2012.
  21. ^ a b "Germany 2012 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
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