2012 Korean Grand Prix

2012 Korean Grand Prix
Previous←	2012 Japanese Grand Prix
Round	16 of 2012
Next→	2012 Indian Grand Prix
The 2010 Yeongam Circuit
Race Details
Date	October 14, 2012
Official Name	2012 Formula One Korean Grand Prix
Location	Korea International Circuit Yeongam, South Korea
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.615 km (3.489 mi)
Distance	55 laps, 308.825 km (191.895 mi)
Pole Position
Driver	Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault
Time	1:37.242
Fastest Lap
Driver	Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault
Time	1:42.037 on lap 54
Podium
First	Sebastian Vettel
Second	Mark Webber
Third	Fernando Alonso
Lap Leaders

The 2012 Korean Grand Prix was the 16th race of the 2012 Formula One Season. It was held at the Korea International Circuit near Yeongam, South Korea on October 14 2012.

Mark Webber started the race on pole position, ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel took the lead on the first lap and held it throughout the race, winning by over eight seconds ahead of Webber. Fernando Alonso finished in third place. As a result, Vettel took the lead in the Championship from Alonso, who had held it since June.

Background

Tyres Available
Option	Prime	Inter	Wet

Going into the race, Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso led the Drivers' World Championship, a lead which he had held since the European Grand Prix in June.

The Korea International Circuit was unchanged from the 2011 event, despite complaints by numerous teams about the dangerous pit-entry and pit-exit. The pit entry is on the racing line behind a high wall, so fast cars exiting the final corner cannot see cars ahead slowing down for the pit-entry. Also, the pit-exit leads directly into the braking zone for turn 1. This led to a collision in the second practice session in 2011, when Nico Rosberg hit Jaime Alguersuari as the Spaniard was emerging from the pit-lane. In the 2012 race, no major incidents were caused by the unconventional pit-lane.

Pedro de la Rosa made his 100th career start in this race. He started 22nd on the grid before retiring on lap 17 with a throttle malfunction.

Entry list

The full entry list for the 2012 Korean Grand Prix is shown below:

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB8	Renault	RS27-2012	P
2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB8	Renault	RS27-2012	P
3	Jenson Button	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-27	Mercedes	FO 108Z	P
4	Lewis Hamilton	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-27	Mercedes	FO 108Z	P
5	Fernando Alonso	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	F2012	Ferrari	056	P
6	Felipe Massa	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	F2012	Ferrari	056	P
7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes	W03	Mercedes	FO 108Z	P
8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes	W03	Mercedes	FO 108Z	P
9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1 Team	Lotus	E20	Renault	RS27-2012	P
10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1 Team	Lotus	E20	Renault	RS27-2012	P
11	Paul di Resta	Sahara Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM05	Mercedes	FO 108Z	P
12	Nico Hülkenberg	Sahara Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM05	Mercedes	FO 108Z	P
14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber F1 Team	Sauber	C31	Ferrari	056	P
15	Sergio Pérez	Sauber F1 Team	Sauber	C31	Ferrari	056	P
16	Daniel Ricciardo	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR7	Ferrari	056	P
17	Jean-Éric Vergne	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR7	Ferrari	056	P
18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams F1	Williams	FW34	Renault	RS27-2012	P
19	Bruno Senna	Williams F1	Williams	FW34	Renault	RS27-2012	P
20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham F1 Team	Caterham	CT01	Renault	RS27-2012	P
21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham F1 Team	Caterham	CT01	Renault	RS27-2012	P
22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT F1 Team	HRT	F112	Cosworth	CA2012	P
23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT F1 Team	HRT	F112	Cosworth	CA2012	P
24	Timo Glock	Marussia F1 Team	Marussia	MR01	Cosworth	CA2012	P
25	Charles Pic	Marussia F1 Team	Marussia	MR01	Cosworth	CA2012	P
Free Practice 1 only
12	Jules Bianchi	Sahara Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM05	Mercedes	FO 108Z	P
19	Valtteri Bottas	Williams F1	Williams	FW34	Renault	RS27-2012	P
20	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham F1 Team	Caterham	CT01	Renault	RS27-2012	P
23	Dani Clos	HRT F1 Team	HRT	F112	Cosworth	CA2012	P

Practice Overview

Practice results

No.	Driver	Team		FP1			FP2			FP3
				Pos	Time		Pos	Time		Pos	Time
1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault		5	1:40.088		1	1:38.832		1	1:37.642
2	Mark Webber			3	1:39.575		2	1:38.864		7	1:38.766
3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes		10	1:40.480		4	1:39.219		3	1:38.511
4	Lewis Hamilton			1	1:39.148		8	1:39.717		2	1:38.169
5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari		2	1:39.450		3	1:39.160		6	1:38.705
6	Felipe Massa			4	1:39.854		6	1:39.422		8	1:38.791
7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes		6	1:40.221		5	1:39.330		13	1:39.150
8	Nico Rosberg			7	1:40.396		7	1:39.584		12	1:39.010
9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault		11	1:40.929		10	1:39.839		5	1:38.666
10	Romain Grosjean			8	1:40.422		11	1:39.957		4	1:38.582
11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes		9	1:40.440		13	1:40.112		14	1:39.156
12	Nico Hülkenberg			DNP			9	1:39.739		10	1:38.932
	Jules Bianchi			13	1:41.140		DNP			DNP
14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari		14	1:41.220		14	1:40.445		15	1:39.345
15	Sergio Pérez			15	1:41.514		15	1:40.745		11	1:38.954
16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari		16	1:41.596		17	1:40.997		17	1:39.537
17	Jean-Éric Vergne			17	1:42.021		16	1:40.789		16	1:39.448
18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault		12	1:41.048		18	1:41.200		9	1:38.833
19	Bruno Senna			DNP			12	1:40.089		18	1:39.706
	Valtteri Bottas			18	1:42.027		DNP			DNP
20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault		19	1:42.104		19	1:41.602		20	1:41.437
21	Vitaly Petrov			DNP			22	1:43.067		19	1:41.114
	Giedo van der Garde			22	1:42.820		DNP			DNP
22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth		23	1:44.517		24	1:44.533		24	1:42.882
23	Narain Karthikeyan			DNP			23	1:43.869		23	1:42.845
	Dani Clos			24	1:45.735		DNP			DNP
24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth		20	1:42.175		20	1:42.596		22	1:42.062
25	Charles Pic			21	1:42.706		21	1:43.066		21	1:41.684

Qualifying

Qualifying Results

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team		Q1			Q2			Q3		Grid
					Pos	Time		Pos	Time		Pos	Time
1	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault		2	1:38.397		4	1:38.220		1	1:37.242	1
2	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault		1	1:38.208		1	1:37.767		2	1:37.316	2
3	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes		17	1:39.180		3	1:38.000		3	1:37.469	3
4	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari		16	1:39.144		2	1:37.987		4	1:37.534	4
5	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault		10	1:38.887		5	1:38.227		5	1:37.625	5
6	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari		11	1:38.937		6	1:38.253		6	1:37.884	6
7	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault		10	1:38.863		7	1:38.275		7	1:37.934	7
8	12	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India-Mercedes		13	1:38.981		9	1:38.428		8	1:38.266	8
9	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes		14	1:38.99		8	1:38.417		9	1:38.361	9
10	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes		8	1:38.808		10	1:38.436		10	1:38.513	10
11	3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes		3	1:38.615		11	1:38.441				11
12	15	Sergio Pérez	Sauber-Ferrari		4	1:38.630		12	1:38.460				12
13	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari		5	1:38.719		13	1:38.594				13
14	11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes		12	1:38.942		14	1:38.643				14
15	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault		15	1:39.024		15	1:38.725				15
16	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari		7	1:38.784		16	1:39.084				21
17	17	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso-Ferrari		6	1:38.744		17	1:39.340				16
18	19	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault		18	1:39.443							17
19	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault		19	1:40.207							18
20	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault		20	1:40.333							19
21	25	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth		21	1:41.317							24
22	24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth		22	1:41.371							20
23	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth		23	1:42.881							22
–	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth		No time set								23

Grid

	Pos.	Pos.
	Driver	Driver
		______________
Row 1	______________	1
	2	Mark Webber
	Sebastian Vettel	______________
Row 2	______________	3
	4	Lewis Hamilton
	Fernando Alonso	______________
Row 3	______________	5
	6	Kimi Räikkönen
	Felipe Massa	______________
Row 4	______________	7
	8	Romain Grosjean
	Nico Hülkenberg	______________
Row 5	______________	9
	10	Nico Rosberg
	Michael Schumacher	______________
Row 6	______________	11
	12	Jenson Button
	Sergio Pérez	______________
Row 7	______________	13
	14	Kamui Kobayashi
	Paul di Resta	______________
Row 8	______________	15
	16	Pastor Maldonado
	Jean-Éric Vergne	______________
Row 9	______________	17
	18	Bruno Senna
	Vitaly Petrov	______________
Row 10	______________	19
	20	Heikki Kovalainen
	Timo Glock	______________
Row 11	______________	21
	22	Daniel Ricciardo*
	Pedro de la Rosa	______________
Row 12	______________	23
	24	Narain Karthikeyan†
	Charles Pic‡	______________

* Daniel Ricciardo was given a five-place for an unscheduled gearbox change.

^† Narain Karthikeyan did not set a time due to a brake failure, but was allowed to race at the steward's discretion.

^‡ Charles Pic was given a ten-place grid penalty for using a ninth engine this season.

Race

Results

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time	Grid	Pts
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	55	1:36:28.651	2	25
2	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	55	+8.231s	2	18
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	55	+13.944	4	15
4	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	55	+20.168	6	12
5	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	55	+36.739	5	10
6	12	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	55	+45.301	8	8
7	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	55	+54.812	7	6
8	17	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	55	+1:09.589	16	4
9	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	55	+1:11.787	21	2
10	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	55	+1:19.692	12	1
11	15	Sergio Pérez	Sauber-Ferrari	55	+1:20.062	12
12	11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	55	+1:24.448	14
13	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	55	+1:29.241	10
14	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	55	+1:34.924	15
15	19	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	55	+1:36.902	17
16	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	54	+1 Lap	18
17	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	54	+1 Lap	19
18	24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	54	+1 Lap	20
19	25	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	53	+2 Laps	24
20	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	53	+2 Laps	23
Not classified
Ret	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	16	Throttle
Ret	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	16	Collision damage
Ret	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1	Collision/Puncture
Ret	3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	0	Collision

Milestones

• Pedro de la Rosa: 100th start (103 race entries)
• Renault's 200th pole position as an engine supplier.
• Sebastian Vettel's 25th race win.
• 75th and 76th podiums for Red Bull.
• Having taken the lead on the opening lap, Vettel has now led 145 consecutive laps.

Standings after the race

Drivers' World Championship Pos. Driver Pts 1 Sebastian Vettel 215 2 Fernando Alonso 209 3 Kimi Räikkönen 167 4 Lewis Hamilton 153 5 Mark Webber 152 6 Jenson Button 131 7 Nico Rosberg 93 8 Romain Grosjean 88 9 Felipe Massa 81 10 Sergio Pérez 66 11 Kamui Kobayashi 50 12 Nico Hülkenberg 45 13 Paul di Resta 44 14 Michael Schumacher 43 15 Pastor Maldonado 33 16 Bruno Senna 25 17 Jean-Éric Vergne 12 18 Daniel Ricciardo 9 19 Heikki Kovalainen 0 20 Vitaly Petrov 0 21 Timo Glock 0 22 Charles Pic 0 23 Narain Karthikeyan 0 24 Pedro de la Rosa 0 25 Jérôme d'Ambrosio 0

Constructors' World Championship Pos. Team Pts 1 Red Bull-Renault 367 2 Ferrari 290 3 McLaren-Mercedes 284 4 Lotus-Renault 239 5 Mercedes 136 6 Sauber-Ferrari 114 7 Force India-Mercedes 89 8 Williams-Renault 58 9 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 20 10 Caterham-Renault 0 11 Marussia-Cosworth 0 12 HRT-Cosworth 0

Notes

V T E	Korean Grand Prix
Circuits	Korea International Circuit (2010–2013)
Races	2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013

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