2012 Indian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Sebastian Vettel made it four victories in succession with another commanding Indian Grand Prix performance. Fernando Alonso fought through to second, while Mark Webber held off Lewis Hamilton for the final podium place.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing
Pole time	1:25.283
Fastest lap	Jenson Button	McLaren
Fastest-lap time	1:28.203 on lap 60
First	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing
Second	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari
Third	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
26 October 2012	Practice 1	10:00 – 11:30
26 October 2012	Practice 2	14:00 – 15:30
27 October 2012	Practice 3	11:00 – 12:00
27 October 2012	Qualifying	14:00
28 October 2012	Race	15:00

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Sebastian Vettel arrived at round 17 leading the 2012 F1 World Championship on 215 points, with Fernando Alonso on 209. Red Bull Racing headed the constructors’ standings with 367 points.

Race entries

The 12 teams kept the same race line-ups for the Indian Grand Prix. Esteban Gutierrez, Giedo van der Garde, Valtteri Bottas also took part in practice.

Free Practice

Sebastian Vettel led FP1 while Ferrari compared front and rear wings in its search for more aerodynamic performance. Sergio Pérez sat out with illness, giving Esteban Esteban Gutierrez his first official Sauber practice session. Lewis Hamilton abandoned a potentially competitive lap, so McLaren’s position did not fully reveal its opening pace.

Red Bull led FP2 over a lap, while Ferrari and Lotus showed more encouraging pace on longer runs. The lightly used surface still caught drivers out: Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean and Bruno Senna all spun but continued without stopping the session. That balance between outright speed and race pace became a central weekend question.

Sebastian Vettel completed another practice clean sweep, while Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton both had moments at the final corner. Ferrari’s cars ran together for part of FP3, suggesting an assessment of towing opportunities for qualifying. Jenson Button recovered from Friday’s gearbox interruption, and Bruno Senna again showed competitive pace in the Williams.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2012 Indian Grand Prix FP1, 26 October 2012

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:27.619	22
2	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	+0.310s	22
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.425s	24
4	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.427s	25
5	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.556s	22
6	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.828s	25
7	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.923s	24
8	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+1.374s	23
9	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+1.585s	24
10	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	+1.672s	24
11	19	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+2.072s	26
12	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	+2.141s	23
13	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+2.183s	18
14	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+2.231s	19
15	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+2.276s	19
16	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+2.422s	26
17	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+2.782s	23
18	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	+3.011s	24
19	20	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	+3.277s	20
20	15	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	+3.593s	29
21	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	+4.284s	22
22	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	+4.506s	24
23	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	+4.750s	19
24	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	+5.240s	13

Free Practice 2 Classification

2012 Indian Grand Prix FP2, 26 October 2012

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:26.221	35
2	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.118s	33
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.599s	34
4	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.801s	38
5	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	+0.809s	40
6	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.910s	38
7	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	+0.961s	24
8	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+1.012s	37
9	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+1.176s	36
10	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	+1.517s	36
11	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	+1.783s	32
12	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber	+1.957s	39
13	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+2.001s	37
14	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+2.018s	37
15	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+2.075s	23
16	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+2.234s	40
17	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+2.375s	38
18	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+2.946s	35
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	+3.099s	43
20	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	+3.385s	22
21	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	+4.729s	37
22	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	+4.892s	35
23	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	+5.151s	20
24	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	+5.272s	31

Free Practice 3 Classification

2012 Indian Grand Prix FP3, 27 October 2012

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:25.842	20
2	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	+0.192s	17
3	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.266s	18
4	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.309s	21
5	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	+0.367s	22
6	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	+0.372s	24
7	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.679s	15
8	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+0.689s	21
9	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+0.810s	21
10	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+0.822s	21
11	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.849s	13
12	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+1.298s	18
13	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber	+1.320s	21
14	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	+1.351s	22
15	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+1.387s	21
16	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+1.532s	21
17	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+1.869s	20
18	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+2.141s	19
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	+3.193s	20
20	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	+3.395s	20
21	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	+3.775s	20
22	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	+4.456s	20
23	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	+4.982s	22
24	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	+5.031s	22

Qualifying

Sebastian Vettel headed qualifying for Red Bull Racing, with Mark Webber second and Lewis Hamilton third.

Red Bull locked out the front row with Sebastian Vettel ahead of Mark Webber. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button formed the second row, with Fernando Alonso fifth and Felipe Massa sixth.

Qualifying Classification

2012 Indian Grand Prix Qualifying, 27 October 2012

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:26.387	1:25.435	1:25.283	13
2	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	1:26.744	1:25.610	1:25.327	17
3	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:26.516	1:25.816	1:25.544	23
4	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:26.564	1:25.467	1:25.659	21
5	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:26.829	1:25.834	1:25.773	21
6	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:26.939	1:26.111	1:25.857	18
7	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	1:26.740	1:26.101	1:26.236	25
8	15	Sergio Pérez	Sauber	1:27.179	1:26.076	1:26.360	23
9	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	1:26.048	1:25.983	1:26.713	24
10	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:26.458	1:25.976	No time	23
11	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	1:26.897	1:26.136	—	16
12	12	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India	1:27.185	1:26.241	—	20
13	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	1:26.851	1:26.331	—	19
14	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:27.482	1:26.574	—	19
15	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	1:27.006	1:26.777	—	19
16	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	1:27.462	1:26.989	—	19
17	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	1:27.517	1:27.219	—	17
18	17	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso	1:27.525	—	—	11
19	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	1:28.756	—	—	10
20	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	1:29.500	—	—	10
21	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	1:29.613	—	—	11
22	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	1:30.592	—	—	8
23	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	1:30.593	—	—	10
24	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	1:30.662	—	—	11

What happened in the 2012 Indian Grand Prix?

Vettel retained the lead and began building an advantage over Webber. Alonso advanced past the McLarens, keeping Ferrari involved in the podium battle despite starting behind both Red Bulls and both McLarens.

Vettel’s pace and tyre management allowed him to remain in front throughout. Webber developed a KERS problem, giving Alonso the opportunity to close and pass for second.

Hamilton also caught Webber in the closing stages but could not complete a pass. The Red Bull retained third, while Vettel remained comfortably ahead on his way to another win at the Buddh International Circuit.

Button finished fifth and set the fastest lap, denying Vettel a grand slam. Massa took sixth ahead of Räikkönen, with Hülkenberg eighth. Vettel’s championship lead over Alonso increased to thirteen points.

Further down the points places, Kimi Räikkönen, Nico Hülkenberg, Romain Grosjean and Bruno Senna completed the scoring positions. Jenson Button set the fastest lap, but no bonus point was awarded under the 2012 rules.

After the race, Sebastian Vettel headed the drivers’ standings with 240 points, followed by Fernando Alonso on 227. Red Bull Racing led the constructors’ table on 407, with Ferrari on 316.

2012 Indian Grand Prix race results

The 2012 Indian Grand Prix was held on 28 October 2012, with a scheduled start of 15:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	60	1:31:10.744	25
2	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	60	+9.437	18
3	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	60	+13.217	15
4	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	60	+13.909	12
5	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	60	+26.266	10
6	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	60	+44.674	8
7	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	60	+45.227	6
8	12	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India	60	+54.998	4
9	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	60	+56.103	2
10	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	60	+1:14.975	1
11	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	60	+1:21.694	0
12	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	60	+1:22.815	0
13	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	60	+1:26.064	0
14	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	60	+1:26.495	0
15	17	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso	59	+1 Lap	0
16	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	59	+1 Lap	0
17	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	59	+1 Lap	0
18	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	59	+1 Lap	0
19	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	59	+1 Lap	0
20	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	58	+2 Laps	0
21	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	58	+2 Laps	0
22	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	55	Gearbox	0
Ret	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	42	Brakes	0
Ret	15	Sergio Pérez	Sauber	20	Collision damage	0

2012 Indian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time	Avg. Speed
1	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	60	1:28.203	209.176
2	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	60	1:28.431	208.637
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	60	1:28.630	208.168
4	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	60	1:28.723	207.950
5	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	58	1:28.944	207.433
6	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	59	1:29.029	207.235
7	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	59	1:29.086	207.103
8	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	51	1:29.204	206.829
9	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	53	1:29.230	206.769
10	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	60	1:29.230	206.769
11	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	59	1:29.283	206.646
12	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	54	1:29.354	206.482
13	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	57	1:29.440	206.283
14	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	59	1:29.492	206.163
15	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	57	1:29.522	206.094
16	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	50	1:30.067	204.847
17	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	59	1:30.091	204.792
18	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	57	1:30.786	203.225
19	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	58	1:31.163	202.384
20	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	55	1:31.366	201.935
21	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	56	1:31.721	201.153
22	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	53	1:32.161	200.193
23	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber	17	1:32.208	200.091
24	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	39	1:32.864	198.677

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. Average speeds are in km/h. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

2012 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 2012 Indian Grand Prix.

2012 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Sebastian Vettel	German	Red Bull Racing	240
2	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Ferrari	227
3	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Lotus F1	173
4	Mark Webber	Australian	Red Bull Racing	167
5	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren	165
6	Jenson Button	British	McLaren	141
7	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes	93
8	Romain Grosjean	French	Lotus F1	90
9	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	89
10	Sergio Pérez	Mexican	Sauber	66
11	Kamui Kobayashi	Japanese	Sauber	50
12	Nico Hülkenberg	German	Force India	49
13	Paul di Resta	British	Force India	44
14	Michael Schumacher	German	Mercedes	43
15	Pastor Maldonado	Venezuelan	Williams	33
16	Bruno Senna	Brazilian	Williams	26
17	Jean-Éric Vergne	French	Toro Rosso	12
18	Daniel Ricciardo	Australian	Toro Rosso	9
19	Timo Glock	German	Marussia	0
20	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	Caterham	0
21	Vitaly Petrov	Russian	Caterham	0
22	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Belgian	Lotus F1	0
23	Charles Pic	French	Marussia	0
24	Narain Karthikeyan	Indian	HRT	0
25	Pedro de la Rosa	Spanish	HRT	0

2012 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Red Bull Racing	407
2	Ferrari	316
3	McLaren	306
4	Lotus F1	263
5	Mercedes	136
6	Sauber	116
7	Force India	93
8	Williams	59
9	Toro Rosso	21
10	Marussia	0
11	Caterham	0
12	HRT	0

2012 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2012 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	18 March
2	2012 Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	25 March
3	2012 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	15 April
4	2012 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	22 April
5	2012 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló	13 May
6	2012 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	27 May
7	2012 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	10 June
8	2012 European Grand Prix	Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia	24 June
9	2012 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	8 July
10	2012 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	22 July
11	2012 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	29 July
12	2012 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	2 September
13	2012 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	9 September
14	2012 Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	23 September
15	2012 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	7 October
16	2012 Korean Grand Prix	Korea International Circuit, Yeongam	14 October
17	2012 Indian Grand Prix	Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida	28 October
18	2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	4 November
19	2012 United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas	18 November
20	2012 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	25 November