2012 Malaysian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Fernando Alonso won a rain-interrupted Malaysian Grand Prix after resisting a remarkable challenge from Sergio Pérez. The Sauber driver claimed his first podium in second, with Lewis Hamilton completing the top three.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren
Pole time	1:36.219
Fastest lap	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1
Fastest-lap time	1:40.722 on lap 53
First	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari
Second	Sergio Pérez	Sauber
Third	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
23 March 2012	Practice 1	10:00 – 11:30
23 March 2012	Practice 2	14:00 – 15:30
24 March 2012	Practice 3	13:00 – 14:00
24 March 2012	Qualifying	16:00
25 March 2012	Race	16:00

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

Championship background

Jenson Button arrived at round 2 leading the 2012 F1 World Championship on 25 points, with Sebastian Vettel on 18. McLaren headed the constructors’ standings with 40 points.

Race entries

The 12 teams kept the same race line-ups for the Malaysian Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas also took part in practice.

Free Practice

Lewis Hamilton led FP1 while Jenson Button stopped early with an oil leak. Romain Grosjean still finished strongly despite his Lotus becoming stuck in seventh gear. HRT faced further transmission problems on Narain Karthikeyan’s car, and Ferrari remained well down the order as it tried to improve its difficult start to the season.

Lewis Hamilton remained ahead in FP2 as Jenson Button returned to useful running after the morning’s leak. Bruno Senna reclaimed his Williams from practice driver Valtteri Bottas. HRT made a sizeable improvement on its opening times, although a substantial gap remained, while Ferrari’s two drivers continued to experience contrasting levels of performance.

Light rain before FP3 left a damp circuit, catching Lewis Hamilton and others out before a dry line formed. Nico Rosberg went quickest without any red-flag interruption. Ferrari again struggled for pace, while HRT moved closer to Marussia as it continued working towards a successful qualifying attempt after missing the Melbourne race.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2012 Malaysian Grand Prix FP1, 23 March 2012

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:38.021	19
2	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+0.514s	21
3	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.792s	21
4	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+0.805s	19
5	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+0.898s	17
6	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+1.071s	20
7	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	+1.107s	22
8	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	+1.277s	23
9	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	+1.302s	15
10	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+1.419s	19
11	19	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+1.703s	23
12	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+1.762s	23
13	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+1.875s	16
14	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+1.889s	21
15	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+1.959s	23
16	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+2.078s	23
17	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	+2.226s	19
18	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+2.448s	23
19	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	+2.836s	25
20	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber	+3.064s	23
21	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	+5.149s	18
22	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	+6.559s	14
23	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	+7.339s	8
24	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	+7.507s	18

Free Practice 2 Classification

2012 Malaysian Grand Prix FP2, 23 March 2012

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:38.172	28
2	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+0.361s	34
3	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	+0.363s	30
4	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.524s	34
5	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+0.681s	33
6	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.719s	27
7	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.961s	29
8	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+1.125s	33
9	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+1.139s	22
10	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+1.230s	25
11	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+1.272s	35
12	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+1.292s	26
13	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	+1.453s	20
14	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+1.515s	16
15	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	+1.524s	29
16	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+2.099s	28
17	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	+2.506s	34
18	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber	+2.775s	33
19	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	+3.292s	25
20	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	+3.509s	20
21	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	+4.422s	18
22	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	+4.702s	24
23	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	+5.486s	18
24	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	+5.651s	22

Free Practice 3 Classification

2012 Malaysian Grand Prix FP3, 24 March 2012

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:36.877	16
2	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+0.443s	15
3	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.461s	12
4	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	+0.479s	13
5	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+0.505s	13
6	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	+0.527s	12
7	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+0.578s	13
8	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+0.786s	15
9	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.899s	8
10	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+1.100s	17
11	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	+1.214s	20
12	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber	+1.301s	15
13	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+1.369s	17
14	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+1.408s	16
15	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+1.546s	13
16	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+1.763s	11
17	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	+1.917s	18
18	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+2.332s	16
19	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	+2.827s	15
20	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	+3.312s	14
21	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	+5.024s	14
22	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	+5.130s	14
23	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	+5.587s	14
24	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	+6.501s	17

Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton headed qualifying for McLaren, with Jenson Button second and Michael Schumacher third.

Lewis Hamilton took pole ahead of Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher. Both HRT drivers qualified within the required limit after failing to make the Australian grid, allowing all 24 cars to take part.

Qualifying Classification

2012 Malaysian Grand Prix Qualifying, 24 March 2012

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:37.813	1:37.106	1:36.219	14
2	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:37.575	1:36.928	1:36.368	14
3	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:37.517	1:37.017	1:36.391	14
4	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	1:37.172	1:37.375	1:36.461	19
5	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	1:37.961	1:36.715	1:36.461	13
6	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:38.102	1:37.419	1:36.634	14
7	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	1:38.058	1:37.338	1:36.658	14
8	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:37.696	1:36.996	1:36.664	14
9	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:38.151	1:37.379	1:37.566	16
10	15	Sergio Pérez	Sauber	1:37.933	1:37.477	1:37.698	17
11	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	1:37.789	1:37.589	—	14
12	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:38.381	1:37.731	—	15
13	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	1:38.437	1:37.841	—	13
14	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	1:38.325	1:37.877	—	15
15	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	1:38.419	1:37.883	—	14
16	12	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India	1:38.303	1:37.890	—	13
17	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	1:38.372	1:38.069	—	12
18	17	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso	1:39.077	—	—	7
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	1:39.306	—	—	9
20	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	1:39.567	—	—	6
21	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	1:40.903	—	—	8
22	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	1:41.250	—	—	8
23	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	1:42.914	—	—	4
24	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	1:43.655	—	—	6

What happened in the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix?

Rain forced the field from intermediates to wet tyres before the safety car and a red flag halted the race. Pérez’s early switch helped him gain ground, while Romain Grosjean spun out after earlier contact with Schumacher.

After the restart, the circuit gradually dried and Alonso emerged in the lead. Button damaged his front wing in contact with Narain Karthikeyan, removing the Australian winner from the podium contest.

Pérez closed rapidly on Alonso both before and after the switch to slick tyres. A late mistake took the Sauber off the racing line and cost enough time to end the immediate challenge, leaving Alonso to secure an unexpected Ferrari victory.

Hamilton finished third ahead of Webber and Räikkönen. Bruno Senna took sixth for Williams, while Vettel finished outside the points after contact with Karthikeyan caused a puncture. Alonso left Sepang leading the championship.

Further down the points places, Paul di Resta, Jean-Éric Vergne, Nico Hülkenberg and Michael Schumacher completed the scoring positions. Kimi Räikkönen set the fastest lap, but no bonus point was awarded under the 2012 rules.

After the race, Fernando Alonso headed the drivers’ standings with 35 points, followed by Lewis Hamilton on 30. McLaren led the constructors’ table on 55, with Red Bull Racing on 42.

2012 Malaysian Grand Prix race results

The 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix was held on 25 March 2012, with a scheduled start of 16:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	56	2:44:51.812	25
2	15	Sergio Pérez	Sauber	56	+2.263	18
3	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	56	+14.591	15
4	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	56	+17.688	12
5	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	56	+29.456	10
6	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	56	+37.667	8
7	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	56	+44.412	6
8	17	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso	56	+46.985	4
9	12	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India	56	+47.892	2
10	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	56	+49.996	1
11	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	56	+1:15.527	0
12	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	56	+1:16.828	0
13	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	56	+1:18.593	0
14	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	56	+1:19.719	0
15	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	56	+1:37.319	0
16	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	55	+1 Lap	0
17	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	55	+1 Lap	0
18	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	55	+1 Lap	0
19	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	54	Engine	0
20	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	54	+2 Laps	0
21	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	54	+2 Laps	0
22	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	54	+2 Laps	0
Ret	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	46	Brakes	0
Ret	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	3	Spun off	0

Karthikeyan finished 21st but was given a post-race 20 second penalty for causing a collision with Sebastian Vettel.

2012 Malaysian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time	Avg. Speed
1	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	53	1:40.722	198.117
2	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	52	1:41.017	197.539
3	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber	54	1:41.021	197.531
4	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	50	1:41.342	196.905
5	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	55	1:41.404	196.785
6	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	50	1:41.539	196.523
7	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	53	1:41.680	196.250
8	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	54	1:41.756	196.104
9	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	53	1:41.760	196.096
10	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	55	1:41.819	195.983
11	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	51	1:41.863	195.898
12	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	55	1:41.922	195.785
13	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	56	1:42.051	195.537
14	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	50	1:42.100	195.443
15	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	51	1:42.173	195.304
16	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	51	1:42.237	195.181
17	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	52	1:43.513	192.775
18	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	54	1:43.803	192.237
19	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	44	1:44.202	191.501
20	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	50	1:44.757	190.486
21	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	50	1:44.813	190.384
22	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	52	1:45.909	188.414
23	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	54	1:46.244	187.820
24	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	2	2:08.464	155.333

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 Malaysian Grand Prix.

2012 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Ferrari	35
2	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren	30
3	Jenson Button	British	McLaren	25
4	Mark Webber	Australian	Red Bull Racing	24
5	Sergio Pérez	Mexican	Sauber	22
6	Sebastian Vettel	German	Red Bull Racing	18
7	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Lotus F1	16
8	Bruno Senna	Brazilian	Williams	8
9	Kamui Kobayashi	Japanese	Sauber	8
10	Paul di Resta	British	Force India	7
11	Jean-Éric Vergne	French	Toro Rosso	4
12	Daniel Ricciardo	Australian	Toro Rosso	2
13	Nico Hülkenberg	German	Force India	2
14	Michael Schumacher	German	Mercedes	1
15	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes	0
16	Pastor Maldonado	Venezuelan	Williams	0
17	Timo Glock	German	Marussia	0
18	Charles Pic	French	Marussia	0
19	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	0
20	Vitaly Petrov	Russian	Caterham	0
21	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	Caterham	0
22	Pedro de la Rosa	Spanish	HRT	0
23	Narain Karthikeyan	Indian	HRT	0
–	Romain Grosjean	French	Lotus F1	0

2012 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	McLaren	55
2	Red Bull Racing	42
3	Ferrari	35
4	Sauber	30
5	Lotus F1	16
6	Force India	9
7	Williams	8
8	Toro Rosso	6
9	Mercedes	1
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