2012 F1 Season
20 races · Red Bull RB8
The 2012 season is remembered as one of the most unpredictable and exciting of the modern era. Seven different drivers won the first seven races, something never seen before, in a year of huge parity at the front.
Fernando Alonso produced one of the finest campaigns of his life: with a clearly inferior Ferrari, he led the championship for much of the year through podiums, wet-weather wins and extraordinary consistency. Sebastian Vettel, by contrast, found his rhythm in the closing stretch and strung together wins to climb the standings.
It all came down to a chaotic, rain-soaked Brazilian Grand Prix: Alonso recovered after a first-corner clash, but Vettel, also hit on the opening lap, regrouped just enough to seal his third consecutive title by only three points.
Drivers’ Champion
Sebastian Vettel
Red Bull RB8
Constructors’ Champion
Red Bull Racing
20 races
Ver en españolKey moment
«Brazil 2012: Alonso is hit on the first corner and recovers to 8th, not enough for the title.»
The 2012 grid, car by car
The 12 teams that raced in 2012, ordered by how good we rate the car. It is our own judgement, not an official figure: what it is worth is that the same yardstick is applied to every season since 1988, so you can compare eras.
| # | Team | Our rating | Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red Bull | 96 | Sebastian Vettel · Mark Webber |
| 2 | McLaren | 94 | Lewis Hamilton · Jenson Button |
| 3 | Ferrari | 91 | Fernando Alonso · Felipe Massa |
| 4 | Lotus | 87 | Kimi Räikkönen · Romain Grosjean |
| 5 | Mercedes | 83 | Michael Schumacher · Nico Rosberg |
| 6 | Sauber | 80 | Sergio Perez · Kamui Kobayashi |
| 7 | Force India | 78 | Nico Hulkenberg · Paul di Resta |
| 8 | Williams | 77 | Pastor Maldonado · Bruno Senna |
| 9 | Toro Rosso | 73 | Daniel Ricciardo · Jean-Eric Vergne |
| 10 | Caterham | 65 | Heikki Kovalainen · Vitaly Petrov |
| 11 | Marussia | 62 | Timo Glock · Charles Pic |
| 12 | HRT | 60 | Pedro de la Rosa · Narain Karthikeyan |
How 2012 actually ended
The official final standings, from the Australian Grand Prix to the Brazilian Grand Prix. This is the real result; the simulation is further down.
| Driver | Points | Wins | Podiums | Poles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Sebastian VettelRed Bull | 281 | 5 | 10 | 6 |
| 2Fernando AlonsoFerrari | 278 | 3 | 13 | 2 |
| 3Kimi RäikkönenLotus F1 | 207 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 4Lewis HamiltonMcLaren | 190 | 4 | 7 | 7 |
| 5Jenson ButtonMcLaren | 188 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| 6Mark WebberRed Bull | 179 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 7Felipe MassaFerrari | 122 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 8Romain GrosjeanLotus F1 | 96 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
It came down to 3 points: Vettel and Alonso finished closer than a fourth place is worth. 8 different drivers won that year, and the final Grand Prix went to Jenson Button.
Official FIA standings via Jolpica (formerly Ergast).
2012, race by race
All 20 races: who started first, who won and from where, and how many cars reached the flag.
8different drivers won: Vettel 5 · Hamilton 4 · Alonso 3 · Button 3 · Webber 2 · Maldonado 1 · Räikkönen 1 · Rosberg 1.
6different teams won: McLaren 7 · Red Bull 7 · Ferrari 3 · Lotus F1 1 · Mercedes 1 · Williams 1.
7different drivers took pole: Hamilton 7 · Vettel 6 · Alonso 2 · Webber 2 · Button 1 · Maldonado 1 · Rosberg 1.
13different drivers stood on the podium.
1one-two for a single team: Red Bull 1.
10 of 20races were won from pole position.
2first-ever wins: Nico Rosberg (Chinese Grand Prix), Pastor Maldonado (Spanish Grand Prix).
From 11ththe win from furthest back: Fernando Alonso, European Grand Prix.
24 years, 294 daysthe youngest winner of the year: Sebastian Vettel, Bahrain Grand Prix.
82%of starts reached the flag (388 of 476).
15 of 24cars finished the Monaco Grand Prix, the race with fewest survivors.
2hat tricks (pole, win and fastest lap). Most fastest laps: Vettel 6 · Button 2 · Räikkönen 2.
| # | Grand Prix | Winner | Started |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australian Grand Prix | Jenson ButtonMcLaren | 2nd |
| 2 | Malaysian Grand Prix | Fernando AlonsoFerrari | 8th |
| 3 | Chinese Grand Prix | Nico RosbergMercedes | 1st |
| 4 | Bahrain Grand Prix | Sebastian VettelRed Bull | 1st |
| 5 | Spanish Grand Prix | Pastor MaldonadoWilliams | 1st |
| 6 | Monaco Grand Prix | Mark WebberRed Bull | 1st |
| 7 | Canadian Grand Prix | Lewis HamiltonMcLaren | 2nd |
| 8 | European Grand Prix | Fernando AlonsoFerrari | 11th |
| 9 | British Grand Prix | Mark WebberRed Bull | 2nd |
| 10 | German Grand Prix | Fernando AlonsoFerrari | 1st |
| 11 | Hungarian Grand Prix | Lewis HamiltonMcLaren | 1st |
| 12 | Belgian Grand Prix | Jenson ButtonMcLaren | 1st |
| 13 | Italian Grand Prix | Lewis HamiltonMcLaren | 1st |
| 14 | Singapore Grand Prix | Sebastian VettelRed Bull | 3rd |
| 15 | Japanese Grand Prix | Sebastian VettelRed Bull | 1st |
| 16 | Korean Grand Prix | Sebastian VettelRed Bull | 2nd |
| 17 | Indian Grand Prix | Sebastian VettelRed Bull | 1st |
| 18 | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Kimi RäikkönenLotus F1 | 4th |
| 19 | United States Grand Prix | Lewis HamiltonMcLaren | 2nd |
| 20 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Jenson ButtonMcLaren | 2nd |
Pole goes to whoever started first, after penalties. «Finished» counts classified cars that took the flag. Fastest lap is the race fastest lap.
What if 2012 had been raced 100 times?
We took the real 2012 grid (every car with its performance and reliability, every driver with his rating) and re-ran the full 19-race championship 100 times.
| Driver | Avg. finish | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Sebastian Vettelreal championRed Bull | P1.3 | 77% |
| Lewis HamiltonMcLaren | P2.1 | 19% |
| Fernando AlonsoFerrari | P2.8 | 4% |
| Mark WebberRed Bull | P3.9 | 0% |
| Jenson ButtonMcLaren | P4.9 | 0% |
| Kimi RäikkönenLotus | P6.1 | 0% |
Sebastian Vettel takes the title 77% of the time: one in every 4 simulated championships goes to somebody else, almost always Lewis Hamilton. It was not a dominated year, it was a won one.
What if Senna, Hamilton or Alonso had driven the 2012 championship-winning car?
Build your own hypothesisHypotheses from 2012
Drivers of 2012
Keep reading
What we have measured about 2012 and about what decided it, with our own numbers.
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