The 2012 United States Grand Prix was the 19th and penultimate race of the 2012 Formula One Season. It was the inaugural event held at the newly built Circuit of the Americas, and the first United States Grand Prix since 2007. It was the 34th Formula One event run under the title of United States Grand Prix, and the 63rd race in the United States altogether.
Sebastian Vettel took pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton, with Fernando Alonso qualifying ninth. Alonso started seventh, as Romain Grosjean and, in a tactical move, Felipe Massa, both received five-place gearbox penalties.
Hamilton won the race, taking the lead from Vettel with fourteen laps remaining. Vettel finished second, with Alonso driving another strong race to achieve another podium, albeit nearly 40 seconds down on the leading pair, with teammate Massa also recovering strongly to finish fourth.
As a result, Vettel managed to extend his championship lead over Alonso by three points to thirteen. Red Bull-Renault required only four points from the race to win their third constructors' title, and with Vettel coming second they achieved the feat.
The event was Sebastian Vettel's 100th race.
Background[]
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Formula One returned to the United States for the first since since 2007, where the race was held at Indianapolis. The idea of a race in Austin, Texas was first proposed in 2010, and the Circuit of the Americas broke ground on January 2, 2011. It was completed on September 21, 2012, and officially opened a month later, with American motor racing legend and the country's only living F1 championship winner, Mario Andretti, driving the circuit in a Lotus 79.
As for the championship battle, Sebastian Vettel, who was competing in his 100th race, led Fernando Alonso by ten points after the former's impressive comeback up the field at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Vettel's team, Red Bull-Renault, required just four points take their third consecutive constructors' title.
The DRS zone was the long back straight between turns 11 and 12.
Entry list[]
The full entry list for the 2012 United States Grand Prix is shown below:
Practice Overview[]
FP1[]
FP2[]
FP3[]
Practice Times[]
Qualifying[]
Q1[]
Q2[]
Q3[]
Qualifying Results[]
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Grid | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Time | Pos | Time | Pos | Time | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 |  Sebastian Vettel
|
 Red Bull-Renault
|
1 | 1:36.558 | 1 | 1:35.796 | 1 | 1:35.657 | 1 | |||
| 2 | 4 |  Lewis Hamilton
|
McLaren-Mercedes
|
2 | 1:37.058 | 4 | 1:36.795 | 2 | 1:35.766 | 2 | |||
| 3 | 2 |  Mark Webber
|
Red Bull-Renault
|
3 | 1:37.215 | 2 | 1:36.298 | 3 | 1:36.174 | 3 | |||
| 4 | 10 |  Romain Grosjean
|
Lotus-Renault
|
4 | 1:37.486 | 5 | 1:36.906 | 4 | 1:36.587 | 8* | |||
| 5 | 9 |  Kimi Räikkönen
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Lotus-Renault
|
12 | 1:38.051 | 10 | 1:37.404 | 5 | 1:36.708 | 4 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Michael Schumacher
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Mercedes
|
10 | 1:37.927 | 8 | 1:37.102 | 6 | 1:36.794 | 5 | |||
| 7 | 6 |  Felipe Massa
|
 Ferrari
|
8 | 1:37.667 | 3 | 1:36.549 | 7 | 1:36.937 | 11* | |||
| 8 | 12 | Nico Hülkenberg
|
 Force India-Mercedes
|
9 | 1:37.756 | 6 | 1:37.066 | 8 | 1:37.141 | 6 | |||
| 9 | 5 |  Fernando Alonso
|
Ferrari
|
11 | 1:37.968 | 9 | 1:37.123 | 9 | 1:37.300 | 7 | |||
| 10 | 18 |  Pastor Maldonado
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Williams-Renault
|
6 | 1:37.537 | 7 | 1:37.011 | 10 | 1:37.842 | 9 | |||
| 11 | 19 | Bruno Senna
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Williams-Renault
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5 | 1:37.520 | 11 | 1:37.604 | 10 | |||||
| 12 | 3 | Jenson Button
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McLaren-Mercedes
|
7 | 1:37.565 | 12 | 1:37.616 | 12 | |||||
| 13 | 11 | Paul di Resta
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Force India-Mercedes
|
13 | 1:38.104 | 13 | 1:37.665 | 13 | |||||
| 14 | 17 | Jean-Éric Vergne
|
Toro Rosso-Ferrari
|
15 | 1:38.434 | 14 | 1:37.879 | 14 | |||||
| 15 | 15 |  Sergio Pérez
|
 Sauber-Ferrari
|
16 | 1:38.500 | 15 | 1:38.206 | 15 | |||||
| 16 | 14 |  Kamui Kobayashi
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Sauber-Ferrari
|
14 | 1:38.418 | 16 | 1:38.437 | 16 | |||||
| 17 | 8 | Nico Rosberg
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Mercedes
|
17 | 1:38.862 | 17 | 1:38.501 | 17 | |||||
| 18 | 16 | Daniel Ricciardo
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Toro Rosso-Ferrari
|
18 | 1:39.114 | 18 | |||||||
| 19 | 24 | Timo Glock
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 Marussia-Cosworth
|
19 | 1:40.056 | 19 | |||||||
| 20 | 25 | Charles Pic
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Marussia-Cosworth
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20 | 1:40.664 | 20 | |||||||
| 21 | 21 | Vitaly Petrov
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 Caterham-Renault
|
21 | 1:40.809 | 21 | |||||||
| 22 | 20 | Heikki Kovalainen
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Caterham-Renault
|
22 | 1:41.166 | 22 | |||||||
| 23 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa
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HRT-Cosworth
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23 | 1:42.011 | 23 | |||||||
| 24 | 23 | Narain Karthikeyan
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HRT-Cosworth
|
24 | 1:42.740 | 24 | |||||||
| 107% time: 1:43.317 | |||||||||||||
| Source: [1] | |||||||||||||
- Notes
- * — Romain Grosjean received a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change,[2] and Felipe Massa received the same penalty when Ferrari broke the FIA seal on his gearbox in order to maximise Fernando Alonso's grid position.[3]
Grid[]
| Pos. | Pos. | |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | Driver | |
| ______________ | ||
| Row 1 | ______________ | 1 |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | |
| Lewis Hamilton | ______________ | |
| Row 2 | ______________ | 3 |
| 4 | Mark Webber | |
| Kimi Räikkönen | ______________ | |
| Row 3 | ______________ | 5 |
| 6 | Michael Schumacher | |
| Nico Hülkenberg | ______________ | |
| Row 4 | ______________ | 7 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | |
| Romain Grosjean* | ______________ | |
| Row 5 | ______________ | 9 |
| 10 | Pastor Maldonado | |
| Bruno Senna | ______________ | |
| Row 6 | ______________ | 11 |
| 12 | Felipe Massa† | |
| Jenson Button | ______________ | |
| Row 7 | ______________ | 13 |
| 14 | Paul di Resta | |
| Jean-Éric Vergne | ______________ | |
| Row 8 | ______________ | 15 |
| 16 | Sergio Pérez | |
| Kamui Kobayashi | ______________ | |
| Row 9 | ______________ | 17 |
| 18 | Nico Rosberg | |
| Daniel Ricciardo | ______________ | |
| Row 10 | ______________ | 19 |
| 20 | Timo Glock | |
| Charles Pic | ______________ | |
| Row 11 | ______________ | 21 |
| 22 | Vitaly Petrov | |
| Heikki Kovalainen | ______________ | |
| Row 12 | ______________ | 23 |
| 24 | Pedro de la Rosa | |
| Narain Karthikeyan | ______________ |
Notes:
* Romain Grosjean received a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change (qualified fourth).
† Ferrari tactically removed the seal on Felipe Massa's gearbox, incurring a five-place grid penalty for the Brazilian (qualified seventh). This moved Fernando Alonso up to seventh and onto the clean side of the grid.
Race[]
Report[]
2012 USGP at Circuit of the Americas, looking west from above turn 9.
Results[]
Milestones[]
- Sebastian Vettel's 100th race.
- Romain Grosjean's 25th race.
- Red Bull's third Constructors' title.
- Also their third consecutive title.
- In doing so, they became the first team to win their first three titles in consecutive seasons.
Standings after the race[]
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Notes[]
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedVET pole - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedGRO 5 place - ↑ "Felipe Massa grid penalty elevates Fernando Alonso". BBC Sport. November 18, 2012. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/20386671. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
| V T E |  United States Grand Prix
|
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|---|---|---|
| Circuits | Sebring (1959), Riverside (1960), Watkins Glen (1961–1980), Phoenix (1989–1991), Indianapolis (2000–2007), Austin (2012–present) |  |
| Formula One Races | 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981–1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992–1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008–2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019 • | |
| Non-F1 races | 1908 • 1909 • 1910 • 1911 • 1912 • 1913 • 1914 • 1915 • 1916 • 1917–1957 • 1958 | |
| See also | Miami Grand Prix • Las Vegas Grand Prix • United States Grand Prix West • Indianapolis 500 • Detroit Grand Prix • Caesars Palace Grand Prix • Dallas Grand Prix • Questor Grand Prix |