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The 2012 Australian Grand Prix (formally the 2012 Formula 1 Qantas Australian Grand Prix) is a Formula One race that took place on the 18th of March 2012 at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne. It was the first race of the 2012 season.

Lewis Hamilton set pole position for McLaren-Mercedes, with team-mate Jenson Button second on the grid. World Champion Sebastian Vettel qualified in sixth place, behind his Red Bull-Renault team-mate Mark Webber. Both Ferrari drivers were knocked out in the second qualifying session. On his return, Kimi Räikkönen was knocked out of qualifying in the first session, and the HRTs did not qualify.

In the race, Jenson Button took the lead at the first corner, and he went on the win the race, setting the fastest lap in the process, a few seconds ahead of second-placed Sebastian Vettel. Polesitter Lewis Hamilton completed the podium positions. Mark Webber finished fourth. Fernando Alonso had a strong race to finish fifth, having a battle with Pastor Maldonado, who crashed on the final lap. Nico Rosberg's car suffered a puncture on the last lap, robbing him of what could have been sixth, and Kamui Kobayashi came sixth as a result. It also rescued Kimi Räikkönen's race, who was heading for tenth, but came seventh. Sergio Pérez, Daniel Ricciardo, Paul di Resta and Jean-Éric Vergne came in from eighth to eleventh, separated by less than four tenths of a second.

Background[]


Entry list[]

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

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

Free Practice Overview[]

FP1[]

FP2[]

FP3[]

Free Practice Times[]

No. Driver Constructor Fri 1 Fri 2 Sat
Pos Time Pos Time Pos Time
1 GermanySebastian Vettel AustriaRed Bull-Renault 11 1'29.790 10 1'32.194 7 1'26.211
2 AustraliaMark Webber 5 1'28.467 11 1'32.296 3 1'25.900
3 United KingdomJenson Button United KingdomMcLaren-Mercedes 1 1'27.560 15 1'33.039 4 1'25.906
4 United KingdomLewis Hamilton 2 1'27.805 16 1'33.252 1 1'25.681
5 SpainFernando Alonso ItalyFerrari 4 1'28.360 4 1'30.341 16 1'27.323
6 BrazilFelipe Massa 18 1'30.743 7 1'31.505 18 1'28.023
7 GermanyMichael Schumacher GermanyMercedes 3 1'28.235 1 1'29.183 6 1'26.078
8 GermanyNico Rosberg 6 1'28.683 9 1'32.184 5 1'25.929
9 FinlandKimi Räikkönen United KingdomLotus-Renault 9 1'29.565 18 1'34.275 12 1'26.737
10 FranceRomain Grosjean 16 1'30.515 14 1'32.822 2 1'25.758
11 United KingdomPaul di Resta IndiaForce India-Mercedes 13 1'29.881 6 1'31.466 17 1'27.428
12 GermanyNico Hülkenberg 12 1'29.865 2 1'29.292 14 1'27.029
14 JapanKamui Kobayashi SwitzerlandSauber-Ferrari 10 1'29.722 5 1'30.709 13 1'26.755
15 MexicoSergio Pérez 15 1'30.124 3 1'30.199 9 1'26.632
16 AustraliaDaniel Ricciardo ItalyToro Rosso-Ferrari 7 1'28.908 21 1'34.604 10 1'26.723
17 FranceJean-Éric Vergne 19 1'31.178 20 1'34.485 11 1'26.733
18 VenezuelaPastor Maldonado United KingdomWilliams-Renault 8 1'29.415 17 1'34.108 8 1'26.470
19 BrazilBruno Senna 14 1'29.953 19 1'34.312 15 1'27.119
20 FinlandHeikki Kovalainen MalaysiaCaterham-Renault 17 1'30.586 8 1'31.932 19 1'28.341
21 RussiaVitaly Petrov 20 1'31.983 13 1'32.767 20 1'28.702
22 SpainPedro de la Rosa SpainHRT-Cosworth 23= no time 24 no time 23 1'33.114
23 IndiaNarain Karthikeyan 23= no time 23 1'42.627 24 1'33.261
24 GermanyTimo Glock RussiaMarussia-Cosworth 21 1'34.730 12 1'32.632 21 1'30.728
25 FranceCharles Pic 22 1'40.256 22 1'34.770 22 1'31.225

Qualifying Overview[]

Qualifying Times[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Q3
1 4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.800 1:25.626 1:24.922
2 3 United Kingdom Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.832 1:25.663 1:25.074
3 10 France Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:26.498 1:25.845 1:25.302
4 7 Germany Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:26.586 1:25.571 1:25.336
5 2 Australia Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:27.117 1:26.297 1:25.651
6 1 Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:26.773 1:25.982 1:25.668
7 8 Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:26.763 1:25.469 1:25.686
8 18 Venezuela Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:26.803 1:26.206 1:25.908
9 12 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:27.464 1:26.314 1:26.451
10 16 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:27.024 1:26.319 no time
11 17 France Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.493 1:26.429
12 5 Spain Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:26.688 1:26.494
13 14 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:26.182 1:26.590
14 19 Brazil Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1:27.004 1:26.663
15 11 United Kingdom Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:27.469 1:27.086
16 6 Brazil Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:27.633 1:27.497
17 15 Mexico Sergio Pérez Sauber-Ferrari 1:26.596 no time
18 9 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 1:27.758
19 20 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1:28.679
20 21 Russia Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1:29.018
21 24 Germany Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1:30.923
22 25 France Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1:31.670
107% time: 1:32.214
DNQ 22 Spain Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1:33.495
DNQ 23 India Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:33.643

Grid[]

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

* Sergio Pérez was relegated five places for a gearbox change.

Pedro de la Rosa (23rd) and Narain Karthikeyan (24th) did not qualify.

Race Overview[]

Results[]

Pos No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Avg Speed Grid Pts
1 3 United Kingdom Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 58 1:34:09.565 195.991 2 25
2 1 Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 58 + 2.139 secs 195.917 6 18
3 4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 58 + 4.075 secs 195.850 1 15
4 2 Australia Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 58 + 4.547 secs 195.834 5 12
5 5 Spain Fernando Alonso Ferrari 58 + 21.565 secs 195.246 12 10
6 14 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 58 + 36.766 secs 194.724 13 8
7 9 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 58 + 38.014 secs 194.681 17 6
8 15 Mexico Sergio Pérez Sauber-Ferrari 58 + 39.458 secs 194.632 22 4
9 16 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 58 + 39.556 secs 194.629 10 2
10 11 United Kingdom Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 58 + 39.737 secs 194.623 15 1
11 17 France Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 58 + 39.848 secs 194.619 11
12 8 Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes 58 + 57.642 secs 194.012 7
13 18 Venezuela Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 57 Accident 195.088 8
14 24 Germany Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 57 + 1 lap 191.082 20
15 25 France Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 53 Tyres 186.317 21
16 19 Brazil Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 52 Collision/Puncture 189.852 14
Ret 6 Brazil Felipe Massa Ferrari 46 Collision damage 191.374 16
Ret 20 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 38 Mechanical 189.478 18
Ret 21 Russia Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 34 Steering 197.958 19
Ret 7 Germany Michael Schumacher Mercedes 10 Handling 200.498 4
Ret 10 France Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1 Collision 184.043 3
Ret 12 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes 0 Collision 9
DNQ 22 Spain Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth
DNQ 23 India Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth

Fastest Laps[]

Lap Leaders[]

Lap-by-Lap[]

Stint Driver Laps Lap Count Distance (km)
1 Jenson Button 1 - 15 15 79.545
2 Lewis Hamilton 16 1 5.303
3 Jenson Button 17 - 35 19 100.757
4 Sebastian Vettel 36 1 5.303
5 Jenson Button 37 - 58 22 116.666

Totals[]

Pos. Driver Total Distance (km)
1 Jenson Button 56 296.968
2 Sebastian Vettel 1 5.303
3 Lewis Hamilton 1 5.303

Milestones[]

Standings[]

Pos. Drivers Pts Constructors Pts
1 Jenson Button 25 McLaren-Mercedes 40
2 Sebastian Vettel 18 Red Bull-Renault 30
3 Lewis Hamilton 15 Sauber-Ferrari 12
4 Mark Webber 12 Ferrari 10
5 Fernando Alonso 10 Lotus-Renault 6
6 Kamui Kobayashi 8 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2
7 Kimi Räikkönen 6 Force India-Mercedes 1
8 Sergio Pérez 4 Mercedes 0
9 Daniel Ricciardo 2 Williams-Renault 0
10 Paul di Resta 1 Marussia-Cosworth 0
11 Jean-Éric Vergne 0 Caterham-Renault 0
12 Nico Rosberg 0 HRT-Cosworth 0
13 Pastor Maldonado 0
14 Timo Glock 0
15 Charles Pic 0
16 Bruno Senna 0
17 Felipe Massa 0
18 Heikki Kovalainen 0
19 Vitaly Petrov 0
20 Michael Schumacher 0
21 Romain Grosjean 0
22 Nico Hülkenberg 0
23 Pedro de la Rosa 0
24 Narain Karthikeyan 0
V T E 2012 Formula One Season
Teams Red Bull | McLaren | Ferrari | Mercedes | Lotus | Force India | Sauber | Toro Rosso | Williams | Caterham | HRT | Marussia
Engines Renault | Mercedes | Ferrari | Cosworth
Race Drivers Vettel | 2 Webber | 3 Button | 4 Hamilton | 5 Alonso | 6 Massa | 7 Schumacher | 8 Rosberg | 9 Räikkönen | 10 Grosjean | 10 D'Ambrosio | 11 Di Resta | 12 Hülkenberg | 14 Kobayashi | 15 Pérez | 16 Ricciardo | 17 Vergne | 18 Maldonado | 19 Senna | 20 Kovalainen | 21 Petrov | 22 De la Rosa | 23 Karthikeyan | 24 Glock | 25 Pic
Other Drivers Buemi | Paffett | Turvey | Rigon | Bird | Bianchi | Daly | Gutiérrez | Bottas | Wolff | Van der Garde | Rossi | González | Clos | Luizzi | de Villota | Chilton
Cars RB8 | MP4-27 | F2012 | F1 W03 | E20 | VJM05 | C31 | STR7 | FW34 | CT01 | F112 | MR01
Tyres Pirelli
Races Australia | Malaysia | China | Bahrain | Spain | Monaco | Canada | Europe | Britain | Germany | Hungary | Belgium | Italy | Singapore | Japan | Korea | India | Abu Dhabi | United States | Brazil
Team Reports Red Bull | McLaren | Ferrari | Mercedes | Lotus | Force India | Sauber | Toro Rosso | Williams | Caterham | HRT | Marussia
Driver Reports Vettel | Webber | Button | Hamilton | Alonso | Massa | Schumacher | Rosberg | Räikkönen | Grosjean | di Resta | Hülkenberg | Kobayashi | Pérez | Ricciardo | Vergne | Maldonado | Senna | Kovalainen | Petrov | de la Rosa | Karthikeyan | Karthikeyan | Glock | Pic
Tests Jerez | Barcelona 1 | Barcelona 2 | Mugello | Young Driver
See also 2011 Formula One Season | 2013 Formula One Season | Bahrain GP protests | Category
V T E Australia Australian Grand Prix
Circuits Adelaide Street Circuit (1985–1995) • Albert Park Circuit (1996–present)
Albert Park
Races 198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
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