2012 Italian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Lewis Hamilton won at Monza, but Sergio Pérez stole much of the attention with a charge from twelfth to second. Fernando Alonso recovered to third in front of Ferrari‘s home fans as both Red Bulls failed to finish.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren
Pole time	1:24.010
Fastest lap	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Fastest-lap time	1:27.239 on lap 53
First	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren
Second	Sergio Pérez	Sauber
Third	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
7 September 2012	Practice 1	10:00 – 11:30
7 September 2012	Practice 2	14:00 – 15:30
8 September 2012	Practice 3	11:00 – 12:00
8 September 2012	Qualifying	14:00
9 September 2012	Race	14:00

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

Championship background

Fernando Alonso arrived at round 13 leading the 2012 F1 World Championship on 164 points, with Sebastian Vettel on 140. Red Bull Racing headed the constructors’ standings with 272 points.

Race entries

Jérôme d'Ambrosio replaced the suspended Romain Grosjean at Lotus. Ma Qinghua drove for HRT in first practice, becoming the first Chinese driver to participate in a Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend session.

Free Practice

Michael Schumacher led FP1 while Jérôme d’Ambrosio acclimatised to the Lotus in place of the suspended Romain Grosjean. Ma Qinghua also gained experience in HRT’s opening session. Fernando Alonso and Pastor Maldonado both stopped with technical problems near the finish, leaving their teams with work to complete before the afternoon.

Lewis Hamilton narrowly led FP2, but Fernando Alonso’s competitive time masked another disrupted session involving gearbox and brake problems. Michael Schumacher suffered excursions and DRS trouble after his strong morning. The close leading times suggested a tight qualifying contest, although Red Bull remained relatively weak through Monza’s speed trap.

Lewis Hamilton edged Fernando Alonso by just a thousandth in FP3, with the Ferrari driver recovering a moment at Parabolica on his quick lap. Sebastian Vettel stopped after losing power near the end, adding reliability concerns to Red Bull’s pace deficit. Sauber showed improvement after working overnight on problems with the car’s behaviour.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2012 Italian Grand Prix FP1, 7 September 2012

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:25.422	26
2	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	+0.301s	29
3	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.340s	26
4	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.378s	22
5	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.439s	27
6	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.522s	30
7	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	+0.624s	25
8	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber	+0.901s	26
9	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.968s	24
10	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+1.082s	19
11	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+1.086s	18
12	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+1.096s	21
13	19	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+1.219s	26
14	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+1.324s	23
15	10	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Lotus F1	+1.758s	29
16	11	Jules Bianchi	Force India	+1.770s	22
17	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+1.951s	25
18	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+2.367s	24
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	+2.433s	27
20	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	+3.156s	20
21	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	+3.329s	26
22	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	+3.785s	21
23	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	+3.909s	21
24	23	Ma Qing Hua	HRT	+5.817s	26

Free Practice 2 Classification

2012 Italian Grand Prix FP2, 7 September 2012

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:25.290	32
2	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	+0.038s	35
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.058s	17
4	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.140s	43
5	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.156s	41
6	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	+0.214s	42
7	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	+0.256s	40
8	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+0.257s	36
9	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber	+0.778s	32
10	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+0.804s	38
11	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.814s	35
12	10	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Lotus F1	+0.867s	36
13	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+1.104s	31
14	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+1.114s	42
15	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+1.434s	33
16	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+1.440s	17
17	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	+1.493s	39
18	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	+1.551s	39
19	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+1.574s	36
20	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	+1.932s	36
21	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	+2.654s	36
22	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	+2.678s	36
23	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	+3.285s	34
24	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	+3.489s	21

Free Practice 3 Classification

2012 Italian Grand Prix FP3, 8 September 2012

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:24.578	18
2	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.001s	15
3	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	+0.271s	20
4	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.331s	16
5	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	+0.416s	17
6	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.458s	22
7	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber	+0.582s	23
8	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	+0.677s	19
9	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+0.711s	20
10	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+0.805s	18
11	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.811s	21
12	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+0.828s	17
13	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	+0.883s	21
14	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+0.985s	23
15	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+1.111s	22
16	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+1.128s	16
17	10	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Lotus F1	+1.395s	20
18	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+1.425s	19
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	+2.079s	18
20	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	+2.689s	16
21	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	+2.876s	20
22	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	+3.150s	19
23	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	+3.457s	23
24	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	+3.806s	17

Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton headed qualifying for McLaren, with Jenson Button second and Felipe Massa third.

McLaren locked out the front row with Lewis Hamilton ahead of Jenson Button. Alonso’s Q3 challenge was ruined by a mechanical problem, while Nico Hülkenberg failed to set a time and required permission to start.

Qualifying Classification

2012 Italian Grand Prix Qualifying, 8 September 2012

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:24.211	1:24.394	1:24.010	15
2	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:24.672	1:24.255	1:24.133	15
3	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:24.882	1:24.505	1:24.247	16
4	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	1:24.875	1:24.345	1:24.304	17
5	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:25.302	1:24.675	1:24.540	14
6	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:25.011	1:24.687	1:24.802	22
7	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:24.689	1:24.515	1:24.833	15
8	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	1:25.151	1:24.742	1:24.855	18
9	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	1:25.317	1:24.683	1:25.109	18
10	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:24.175	1:24.242	1:25.678	16
11	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	1:25.556	1:24.809	—	21
12	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	1:25.103	1:24.820	—	17
13	15	Sergio Pérez	Sauber	1:25.300	1:24.901	—	14
14	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	1:25.135	1:25.042	—	16
15	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	1:25.728	1:25.312	—	20
16	10	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Lotus F1	1:25.834	1:25.408	—	19
17	17	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso	1:25.649	1:25.441	—	18
18	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	1:26.382	—	—	11
19	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	1:26.887	—	—	11
20	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	1:27.039	—	—	10
21	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	1:27.073	—	—	9
22	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	1:27.441	—	—	9
23	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	1:27.629	—	—	10
DNQ	12	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India	no time	—	—	2

Paul di Resta was demoted five places for an unscheduled gearbox change.

Pastor Maldonado was given two five-place grid penalties for jumping the start and causing an avoidable accident during the previous race in Belgium.

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.

What happened in the 2012 Italian Grand Prix?

Hamilton held off Massa at the start, while Alonso immediately began recovering from tenth. Button later regained second from Massa, but his race ended with a fuel-pressure failure.

Alonso was forced onto the grass while trying to pass Vettel at Curva Grande. Vettel received a drive-through penalty, and Alonso continued his progress towards the podium.

Pérez extended his opening stint on the harder tyres, then attacked on the softer compound. He passed both Ferraris to reach second, but Hamilton had enough of an advantage to secure the win.

Alonso finished third ahead of Massa and Räikkönen. Vettel retired with an alternator failure, and Webber stopped after a late spin damaged his tyres. Hamilton moved into second in the championship, behind Alonso.

Further down the points places, Nico Rosberg, Paul di Resta, Kamui Kobayashi and Bruno Senna completed the scoring positions. Nico Rosberg set the fastest lap, but no bonus point was awarded under the 2012 rules.

After the race, Fernando Alonso headed the drivers’ standings with 179 points, followed by Lewis Hamilton on 142. Red Bull Racing led the constructors’ table on 272, with McLaren on 243.

2012 Italian Grand Prix race results

The 2012 Italian Grand Prix was held on 9 September 2012, with a scheduled start of 14:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	53	1:19:41.221	25
2	15	Sergio Pérez	Sauber	53	+4.356	18
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	53	+20.594	15
4	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	53	+29.667	12
5	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	53	+30.881	10
6	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	53	+31.259	8
7	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	53	+33.550	6
8	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	53	+41.057	4
9	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	53	+43.898	2
10	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	53	+48.144	1
11	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	53	+48.682	0
12	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	53	+50.316	0
13	10	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Lotus F1	53	+1:15.861	0
14	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	52	+1 Lap	0
15	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	52	+1 Lap	0
16	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	52	+1 Lap	0
17	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	52	+1 Lap	0
18	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	52	+1 Lap	0
19	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	52	+1 Lap	0
20	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	51	Spun off	0
21	12	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India	50	Brakes	0
22	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	47	Alternator	0
Ret	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	32	Fuel pressure	0
Ret	17	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso	8	Suspension	0

2012 Italian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time	Avg. Speed
1	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	53	1:27.239	239.053
2	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber	53	1:27.562	238.171
3	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	51	1:27.718	237.748
4	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	51	1:28.053	236.843
5	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	52	1:28.427	235.841
6	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	46	1:28.578	235.439
7	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	46	1:28.621	235.325
8	10	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Lotus F1	52	1:28.677	235.177
9	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	46	1:28.713	235.081
10	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	52	1:28.742	235.004
11	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	44	1:28.835	234.758
12	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	33	1:28.914	234.550
13	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	31	1:28.926	234.518
14	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	39	1:29.032	234.239
15	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	46	1:29.066	234.149
16	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	51	1:29.068	234.144
17	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	52	1:29.109	234.036
18	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	43	1:29.202	233.792
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	46	1:29.399	233.277
20	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	44	1:29.753	232.357
21	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	50	1:29.888	232.008
22	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	51	1:30.398	230.699
23	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	44	1:31.086	228.957
24	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	6	1:31.962	226.776

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 Italian Grand Prix.

2012 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Ferrari	179
2	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren	142
3	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Lotus F1	141
4	Sebastian Vettel	German	Red Bull Racing	140
5	Mark Webber	Australian	Red Bull Racing	132
6	Jenson Button	British	McLaren	101
7	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes	83
8	Romain Grosjean	French	Lotus F1	76
9	Sergio Pérez	Mexican	Sauber	65
10	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	47
11	Michael Schumacher	German	Mercedes	43
12	Kamui Kobayashi	Japanese	Sauber	35
13	Paul di Resta	British	Force India	32
14	Nico Hülkenberg	German	Force India	31
15	Pastor Maldonado	Venezuelan	Williams	29
16	Bruno Senna	Brazilian	Williams	25
17	Jean-Éric Vergne	French	Toro Rosso	8
18	Daniel Ricciardo	Australian	Toro Rosso	4
19	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	Caterham	0
20	Vitaly Petrov	Russian	Caterham	0
21	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	Belgian	Lotus F1	0
22	Timo Glock	German	Marussia	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	272
2	McLaren	243
3	Ferrari	226
4	Lotus F1	217
5	Mercedes	126
6	Sauber	100
7	Force India	63
8	Williams	54
9	Toro Rosso	12
10	Caterham	0
11	Marussia	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