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The 2012 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix was the 14th race of the 2012 Formula One Season. The calendar's only full night-race, it was held on the streets of Singapore's Marina Bay on September 23. It was the 5th running of the Singapore Grand Prix on the Marina Bay circuit.

Due to two lengthy Safety Car periods, the race was cut 2 laps short of its scheduled 61 laps as the two-hour race time-limit was enforced after 59 laps. As the race distance exceeded 75% of the scheduled race distance, full points were awarded.

The race was won by Red Bull-Renault driver and reigning World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, who took over the lead on lap 23 from Lewis Hamilton, after Hamilton's car developed a gearbox failure. Second place was taken by Jenson Button of McLaren-Mercedes and third was championship leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.

The results left Alonso leading the Drivers' World Championship standings by a 29 points over Vettel. Kimi Räikkönen remains third. In the constructors' championship, Red Bull-Renault extended their lead over McLaren-Mercedes to 37 points.

Background[]

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After a two-week break, Fernando Alonso went into the event leading the Drivers' World Championship by a slightly extended margin of 37 points from McLaren-Mercedes driver and Italian Grand Prix winner, Lewis Hamilton. Despite a double retirement in Italy, Red Bull-Renault would continue to lead the Constructors' championship by 29 points from McLaren-Mercedes.

The alterations made to the Marina Bay circuit last year remained for the 2012 event, including the removal of kerbs from the inside of turn 13, which were replaced by a flat painted boundary. The DRS zone, as last year, was down the long straight from turn 4 to turn 6. This caused problems due to a fast kink in the middle of the straight which caused major slides for numerous drivers.

Allan McNish would serve as the drivers representative on the race steward's panel for the Singapore Grand Prix in 2012. McNish competed in a single season in Formula One for the Toyota team during the 2002 Formula One Season.

Entry list[]

The full entry list for the 2012 Singapore 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 Williams FW34 Renault RS27-2012 P
19 Brazil Bruno Senna United Kingdom Williams F1 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 F1 Team HRT F112 Cosworth CA2012 P
23 India Narain Karthikeyan Spain HRT F1 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 1 only
23 China Ma Qinghua Spain HRT F1 Team HRT F112 Cosworth CA2012 P

Practice Overview[]

FP1[]

The first practice session got off to a slow start, the first 10 minutes of the session saw little action on track after a major storm had blown over the Singapore Circuit in the afternoon. The session started with much debris from the storm stricken across the track, this mainly consisted of a large degree of leaves from the nearby trees around the circuit.

The session saw both Red Bull and McLaren perform significantly stronger than their rivals, settting the stage for a strong rivalry throughout the weekend. McLaren held advantage over Red Bull in the first sector whilst Red Bull appeared stronger in the second sector. The final sector saw a stalemate between the two teams.

By the end of the session it was the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel that had topped the timesheets followed by the two McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button just behind him in the timesheets. Vettel's teammate Mark Webber could not match his younger teammate and finished the standings in 6th. Championship leader Fernando Alonso finished best of the rest in his Ferrari behind the McLarens and Vettel. Pastor Maldonado demonstrated strong pace for Williams to finish the session 5th.

Further down the field, Lotus and Mercedes struggled throughout the session and did not display any signs of pace at the Marina Bay circuit. Kimi Raikkonen finished the session 12th in his Lotus whilst teammate Romain Grosjean, who had made his return to F1 in Singapore after his suspension from the Italian Grand Prix finished the session 15th. Mercedes faired little better with Michael Schumacher finishing 14th with Nico Rosberg finishing a distant 18th.

The Singapore Grand Prix saw the appearance of only one Third Driver in the first practice session with Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua making his second appearance in an F1 practice session where he stood in for Narain Karthikeyan at HRT. Ma Qing Hua put in a strong performance to finish the session only a few tenths behind teammate Pedro de la Rosa in last place.

FP2[]

The second practice session continued to see the Red Bull's and McLaren's battling for supremacy. Sebastian Vettel once again topped the timing sheets in his Red Bull whilst the McLaren of Jenson Button finished the timing sheets just behind. Their teammates Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton finished just behind in 4th and 5th place. Fernando Alonso managed to break the Red Bull and McLaren lockout by finishing 3rd in the session in his Ferrari.

Alonso's teammate Felipe Massa had struggled in the first practice session where he finished 16th yet was able to improve his game to finish 9th in the second session. Mercedes had struggled in the first practice session however were able to make improvements by Practice 2 which saw Nico Rosberg finish 8th and Michael Schumacher finish 11th. Lotus, the other big name to struggle in FP1 was able to make improvements to a lesser degree for FP2 which saw Romain Grosjean finish the session 10th and Kimi Raikkonen finish 12th.

The Practice session was brought to an ubrupt halt midway through the session when the Williams of Bruno Senna hit the wall causing him to spin out which left his car severely damaged. Senna finished the session 17th. Four places behind teammate Pastor Maldonado.

FP3[]

Sebastian Vettel completed his domination of the practice sessions after topping the timesheets in the third and final practice session for Red Bull. His main rivals being McLaren and Ferrari were only just behind with Lewis Hamilton in 2nd and Fernando Alonso in 3rd. The second Red Bull of Mark Webber did not fair as well as his teammate in which he grazed the wall at the exit of turn 13. This left Webber to finish a disappointing 11th in the final standings.

Other drivers who notably fell victim of the turn 13 barrier was the Sauber of Sergio Perez who like Webber sustained minor damage to his car. In a more serious incident, the Caterham of Vitaly Petrov slammed into the barrier sustaining terminal damage to the rear end of his car. The car was forced to stop out on track and brought out the red flags for the session, ending the final practice session earlier than intended.

Kimi Raikkonen was able to improve his Lotus to finish a strong 5th in the standings just behind the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg and ahead of the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa. Jenson Button notably had mechanical problems which saw him finish a disappointing 12th in the standings. Another driver to suffer from mechancial problems was Timo Glock who stopped his Marussia out on track with throttle failure.

Practice Results[]

No. Driver Team FP1 FP2 FP3
Pos Time Pos Time Pos Time
1 Germany Sebastian Vettel Austria Red Bull-Renault 1 1:50.566 1 1:48.340 1 1:47.947
2 Australia Mark Webber 6 1:51.655 4 1:48.964 11 1:50.117
3 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 3 1:51.451 2 1:48.651 12 1:50.524
4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 2 1:50.615 5 1:49.086 2 1:48.272
5 Spain Fernando Alonso Italy Ferrari 4 1:51.525 3 1:48.896 3 1:48.623
6 Brazil Felipe Massa 16 1:53.080 9 1:50.039 6 1:49.458
7 Germany Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes 14 1:52.986 11 1:50.263 10 1:49.981
8 Germany Nico Rosberg 18 1:53.277 8 1:49.790 8 1:49.699
9 Finland Kimi Räikkönen United Kingdom Lotus-Renault 12 1:52.716 12 1:50.345 5 1:48.865
10 France Romain Grosjean 15 1:53.028 10 1:50.161 15 1:50.840
11 United Kingdom Paul di Resta India Force India-Mercedes 8 1:51.943 6 1:49.300 7 1:49.689
12 Germany Nico Hülkenberg 7 1:51.658 7 1:49.339 4 1:48.859
14 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Switzerland Sauber-Ferrari 13 1:52.839 16 1:51.450 14 1:50.777
15 Mexico Sergio Pérez 10 1:52.296 15 1:51.122 18 1:51.272
16 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 9 1:52.275 14 1:50.791 13 1:50.664
17 France Jean-Éric Vergne 17 1:53.189 18 1:52.009 17 1:51.059
18 Venezuela Pastor Maldonado United Kingdom Williams-Renault 5 1:51.576 13 1:50.636 16 1:51.012
19 Brazil Bruno Senna 11 1:52.629 17 1:51.452 9 1:49.715
20 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Malaysia Caterham-Renault 20 1:55.091 20 1:52.576 21 1:54.326
21 Russia Vitaly Petrov 22 1:55.760 22 1:52.936 20 1:53.781
22 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Spain HRT-Cosworth 23 1:56.656 23 1:54.448 24 1:54.875
23 India Narain Karthikeyan DNP 24 1:54.514 22 1:54.421
China Ma Qinghua 24 1:58.053 DNP DNP
24 Germany Timo Glock Russia Marussia-Cosworth 19 1:54.908 19 1:52.218 23 1:54.630
25 France Charles Pic 21 1:55.335 21 1:52.863 19 1:52.290

Qualifying[]

Q1[]

As the first qualifying session got underway, the underwhelming pace of the Sauber's was evident. Both Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi struggled in the session and were fighting with the Toro Rosso's to continue on into Q2. Perez managed to put in a strong lap time towards the end of the session to finish the session 8th on the grid, however teammate Kobayashi did not make the cut and qualified a disappointing 18th. The usual band of Caterham's, Marussia's and HRT's followed at the rear end of the pack.

Up at the front, the Lotus's looked strong with Romain Grosjean finished the session in first place with teammate Kimi Raikkonen finishing in third. Paul di Resta split the two Lotus's by finishing in second place in his Force India. Sebastian Vettel finished the session fourth in his Red Bull with Lewis Hamilton in fifth and the second Red Bull of Mark Webber finishing 6th. Webber got in some slight trouble where he supposedly blocked one of the flying laps made by Marussia's Timo Glock, the stewards however opted to take no further action on the incident.

Current World Championship leader Fernando Alonso finished the session in a worrying 10th place.

Q2[]

Q3[]

Qualifying Results[]

Pos. No. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
Pos Time Pos Time Pos Time
1 4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 5 1:48.285 1 1:46.665 1 1:46.362 1
2 18 Venezuela Pastor Maldonado United Kingdom Williams-Renault 12 1:49.494 5 1:47.602 2 1:46.804 2
3 1 Germany Sebastian Vettel Austria Red Bull-Renault 4 1:48.240 8 1:46.791 3 1:46.905 3
4 3 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 9 1:49.381 6 1:47.661 4 1:46.939 4
5 5 Spain Fernando Alonso Italy Ferrari 10 1:49.391 4 1:47.567 5 1:47.216 5
6 11 United Kingdom Paul di Resta India Force India-Mercedes 2 1:48.028 7 1:47.667 6 1:47.241 6
7 2 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 6 1:48.717 2 1:47.513 7 1:47.475 7
8 10 France Romain Grosjean United Kingdom Lotus-Renault 1 1:47.688 3 1:47.529 8 1:47.788 8
9 7 Germany Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes 13 1:49.546 9 1:47.823 9 no time 9
10 8 Germany Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes 11 1:49.463 10 1:47.943 10 no time 10
11 12 Germany Nico Hulkenberg India Force India-Mercedes 14 1:49.547 11 1:47.975 11
12 9 Finland Kimi Raikkonen United Kingdom Lotus-Renault 3 1:48.169 12 1:48.261 12
13 6 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 16 1:49.767 13 1:48.344 13
14 15 Mexico Sergio Perez Switzerland Sauber-Ferrari 8 1:49.055 14 1:48.505 14
15 16 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 7 1:49.023 15 1:48.774 15
16 17 France Jean-Eric Vergne Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 15 1:49.564 16 1:48.849 16
17 19 Brazil Bruno Senna United Kingdom Williams-Renault 17 1:49.809 17 no time 22*
18 14 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Switzerland Sauber-Ferrari 18 1:49.933 17
19 21 Russia Vitaly Petrov Malaysia Caterham-Renault 19 1:50.846 18
20 20 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Malaysia Caterham-Renault 20 1:51.137 19
21 24 Germany Timo Glock Russia Marussia-Cosworth 21 1:51.370 20
22 25 France Charles Pic Russia Marussia-Cosworth 22 1:51.762 21
23 23 India Narain Karthikeyan Spain HRT-Cosworth 23 1:52.372 23
24 22 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Spain HRT-Cosworth 24 1:53.355 24*

Grid[]

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

*5-place grid penalty for gearbox change.

Race[]

Report[]

Before the race started, there was a minute silence was held for Sid Watkins, who passed away on September 12. A book of remembrance was also available for people to sign their condolences over the weekend.

Ole Schack Red Bull team joined on the podium to receive the winning manufacturer’s award.

Post-Race[]

Results[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 1 Germany Sebastian Vettel Austria Red Bull-Renault 59 2:00:36.144 3 25
2 3 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 59 +8.959 4 18
3 5 Spain Fernando Alonso Italy Ferrari 59 +15.277 5 15
4 11 United Kingdom Paul di Resta India Force India-Mercedes 59 +19.063 6 12
5 8 Germany Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes 59 +34.784 10 10
6 9 Finland Kimi Raikkonen United Kingdom Lotus-Renault 59 +35.759 12 8
7 10 France Romain Grosjean United Kingdom Lotus-Renault 59 +36.698 8 6
8 6 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 59 +42.829 13 4
9 16 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 59 +45.820 15 2
10 15 Mexico Sergio Perez Switzerland Sauber-Ferrari 59 +50.619 14 1
11 2 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 59 +1:07.175* 7
12 24 Germany Timo Glock Russia Marussia-Cosworth 59 +1:31.918 20
13 14 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Switzerland Sauber-Ferrari 59 +1:37.141 17
14 12 Germany Nico Hulkenberg India Force India-Mercedes 59 +1:49.413 11
15 20 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Malaysia Caterham-Renault 59 +1:47.467 19
16 25 France Charles Pic Russia Marussia-Cosworth 59 +2:12.925 21
17 22 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Spain HRT-Cosworth 58 +1 Lap 24
18 19 Brazil Bruno Senna United Kingdom Williams-Renault 57 Engine 22
19 21 Russia Vitaly Petrov Malaysia Caterham-Renault 57 + 2 Laps 18
Ret 17 France Jean-Eric Vergne Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 39 Collision 16
Ret 7 Germany Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes 39 Collision 9
Ret 18 Venezuela Pastor Maldonado United Kingdom Williams-Renault 36 Hydraulics 2
Ret 23 India Narain Karthikeyan Spain HRT-Cosworth 30 Accident 23
Ret 4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 22 Gearbox 1

Standings after the race[]

Drivers' World Championship
Pos. Driver Pts
1 Spain Fernando Alonso 194
2 Germany Sebastian Vettel 165
3 Finland Kimi Räikkönen 149
4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 142
5 Australia Mark Webber 133
6 United Kingdom Jenson Button 119
7 Germany Nico Rosberg 93
8 France Romain Grosjean 82
9 Mexico Sergio Pérez 66
10 Brazil Felipe Massa 51
11 United Kingdom Paul di Resta 44
12 Germany Michael Schumacher 43
13 Japan Kamui Kobayashi 35
14 Germany Nico Hülkenberg 31
15 Venezuela Pastor Maldonado 29
16 Brazil Bruno Senna 25
17 France Jean-Éric Vergne 8
18 Australia Daniel Ricciardo 6
19 Finland Heikki Kovalainen 0
20 Russia Vitaly Petrov 0
21 Germany Timo Glock 0
22 France Charles Pic 0
23 India Narain Karthikeyan 0
24 Spain Pedro de la Rosa 0
25 Belgium Jérôme d'Ambrosio 0
Constructors' World Championship
Pos. Team Pts
1 Austria Red Bull-Renault 298
2 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 261
3 Italy Ferrari 245
4 United Kingdom Lotus-Renault 231
5 Germany Mercedes 136
6 Switzerland Sauber-Ferrari 99
7 India Force India-Mercedes 75
8 United Kingdom Williams-Renault 54
9 Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 13
10 Malaysia Caterham-Renault 0
11 Russia Marussia-Cosworth 0
12 Spain HRT-Cosworth 0

Notes[]

  1. Race shortened due to two-hour time-limit
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 Singapore Singapore Grand Prix
Circuits Marina Bay Street Circuit (2008–present)
Singapore street circuit v5
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