Belgian Grand Prix 2012

 Belgian Grand Prix 2012

Racing data
12th of 20 races in the 2012 Formula 1 World Championship
Surname:	2012 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix
Date:	2nd September 2012
Place:	spa
Course:	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Length:	308.052 km in 44 laps of 7.004 km
Weather:	sunny
Pole position
Driver:	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes
Time:	1: 47.573 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault
Time:	1: 52.822 min (lap 43)
Podium
First:	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes
Second:	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault
Third:	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus Renault

The 2012 Belgian Grand Prix took place on September 2nd at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Spa and was the twelfth race of the 2012 Formula 1 World Championship .

Reports

background

After the Hungarian Grand Prix , Fernando Alonso led the drivers' standings with 40 points ahead of Mark Webber and 42 points ahead of Sebastian Vettel . In the constructors' championship, Red Bull-Renault led with 53 points ahead of McLaren-Mercedes and with 54 points ahead of Lotus-Renault .

At the Belgian Grand Prix, Pirelli provided the drivers with the tire compounds P Zero Hard (silver) and P Zero Medium (white), as well as Cinturato Intermediates (green) and Cinturato Full Wets (blue) for wet conditions .

Michael Schumacher took part in his 300th Grand Prix this weekend. Since he hadn't started a race he qualified for, it was only his 299th start.

With Schumacher (six times), Kimi Räikkönen (four times), Felipe Massa , Lewis Hamilton and Vettel (once each), five former winners competed in this Grand Prix.

Yves Bacquelaine (BEL), Steven Chopping (AUS), Garry Connelly (AUS) and Eliseo Salazar (CHL) acted as race stewards .

training

The first free practice took place under rainy conditions. Kamui Kobayashi posted the fastest lap ahead of Pastor Maldonado and Daniel Ricciardo . Shortly before the end of the training, Massa suffered an engine failure. In this training Valtteri Bottas took over the Williams from Bruno Senna and Dani Clos the HRT from Narain Karthikeyan . In the second free practice session, the conditions remained wet. Only 18 drivers took to the track at all. Ten pilots set a time. The times only came about because the pilots carried out starting exercises on the grid after completing the training. Charles Pic was the fastest ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Alonso. In the third free practice session the track was dry. Nico Rosberg rolled out after twelve minutes with technical problems. Alonso set the fastest time ahead of Raikkonen and Sergio Pérez .

Qualifying

In the first part of qualifying, Maldonado achieved the fastest lap. The HRT, Marussia and Caterham pilots as well as Rosberg were eliminated. Jenson Button was the fastest in the second section . The Toro Rosso pilots as well as Senna, Massa, Schumacher, Nico Hülkenberg and Vettel were eliminated. In the last section, Button retained the lead. Kobayashi finished second ahead of Maldonado.

On the starting grid, Rosberg and Webber were moved five positions down due to premature gear changes, and Maldonado three positions down due to Hülkenberg's handicap.

run

The Belgian Grand Prix started with a mass collision in front of corner one that eliminated Hamilton, Alonso, Pérez and Romain Grosjean . Hamilton was pushed away by Grosjean and lost control of his vehicle. This maneuver triggered a chain reaction in which these four pilots were eliminated. Grosjean took off and flew his vehicle through the air. He just missed Alonso's helmet. All drivers were uninjured. It was Alonso's first retirement after the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix . He scored points throughout the 23 races in between. The race stewards blocked Grosjean, who caused the collision, for the next race.

The starting accident triggered a safety car phase. Button led the race ahead of Raikkonen and Hulkenberg. In the safety car phase, Pedro de la Rosa , Kobayashi and Maldonado pitted to make repairs. Maldonado had also become noticeable with an early start.

While Button pulled away from the front, Hulkenberg passed Raikkonen into second position. Maldonado had an accident further back and was eliminated. There were a few overtaking maneuvers in midfield. Among other things, Vettel improved from twelfth to ninth place through overtaking maneuvers on the route. The first pit stops began on lap 10. Button, Schumacher and Vettel stayed the longest of the front group, so Button kept his lead throughout this phase. Before Schumacher's pit stop, there was almost a collision between Schumacher and Vettel in front of the pit entrance, when Schumacher almost cut off Vettel's path.

At halftime of the race, Button was leading by about eight seconds ahead of Raikkonen, Hülkenberg, Webber, Massa, Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo , Schumacher, Jean-Éric Vergne and Paul di Resta . Shortly after halfway through the race, the second pit stop phase began for the drivers on a two-stop strategy.

Shortly after Karthikeyan was eliminated in an accident, there were duels between Schumacher and Raikkonen for third place. Schumacher, who had not yet pitted for the second time, was first overtaken by Raikkonen in front of the bus stop chicane. In the next lap, Schumacher made up his position on the Kemmel straight with the help of the Drag Reduction System (DRS) and passed Raikkonen. Two laps later, Raikkonen dared to attack Schumacher in front of the Eau Rouge , which was successful. Hulkenberg, who was in fifth place behind the two opponents, tried to overtake Schumacher on the Kemmel straight, but failed. One lap later, Hülkenberg passed Schumacher before La Source , but was overtaken back on the Kemmel Straight with the help of the DRS. Shortly afterwards, Schumacher gave up his original one-stop strategy and changed tires a second time.

While there were still some fights for positions in midfield, Button won the race by 13.624 seconds over Vettel. It was a start-to-finish victory. Only the fastest lap was missing from a Grand Slam , which went to the twelfth Senna. In addition to Button and Vettel, only Pic (16th place) was on a one-stop strategy.

Räikkönen, Hülkenberg, Massa, Webber, Schumacher, Vergne, Ricciardo and di Resta completed the points. While the positions in the constructors' championship on the first three positions remained unchanged. Alonso kept the lead in the drivers' championship, but lost the lead due to his first failure of the season. Vettel and Webber swapped positions, which meant that Vettel came in second.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Red Bull Racing	01	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull RB8	Renault 2.4 V8	P
	02	Mark Webber
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	03	Jenson Button	McLaren MP4-27	Mercedes-Benz 2.4 V8	P
	04th	Lewis Hamilton
Scuderia Ferrari	05	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari F2012	Ferrari 2.4 V8	P
	06th	Felipe Massa
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	07th	Michael sSchumacher	Mercedes F1 W03	Mercedes-Benz 2.4 V8	P
	08th	Nico Rosberg
Lotus F1 Team	09	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus E20	Renault 2.4 V8	P
	10	Romain Grosjean
Sahara Force India F1 Team	11	Paul di Resta	Force India VJM05	Mercedes-Benz 2.4 V8	P
	12	Nico Hulkenberg
Sauber F1 Team	14th	Kamui Kobayashi	Clean C31	Ferrari 2.4 V8	P
	15th	Sergio Perez
Scuderia Toro Rosso	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso STR7	Ferrari 2.4 V8	P
	17th	Jean-Éric Vergne
Williams F1 team	18th	Pastor Maldonado	Williams FW34	Renault 2.4 V8	P
	19th	Valtteri Bottas
		Bruno Senna
Caterham F1 team	20th	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham CT01	Renault 2.4 V8	P
	21st	Vitaly Petrov
HRT F1 team	22nd	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT F112	Cosworth 2.4 V8	P
	23	Dani Clos
		Narain Karthikeyan
Marussia F1 Team	24	Timo Glock	Marussia MR01	Cosworth 2.4 V8	P
	25th	Charles Pic

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} Bottas drove the Williams with the number 19 in the first free practice. Senna then took over the vehicle for the rest of the race weekend.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Clos drove the HRT with the number 23 in the first free practice. Karthikeyan then took over the vehicle for the rest of the race weekend.

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	constructor	Q1	Q2	Q3	begin
01	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1: 49.250	1: 47.654	1: 47.573	01
02	Kamui Kobayashi	Clean Ferrari	1: 49.686	1: 48.569	1: 47.871	02
03	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	1: 48.993	1: 48.780	1: 47.893	06th
04th	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus Renault	1: 49.546	1: 48.414	1: 48.205	03
05	Sergio Perez	Clean Ferrari	1: 49.642	1: 47.980	1: 48.219	04th
06th	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1: 49.401	1: 48.598	1: 48.313	05
07th	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1: 49.859	1: 48.546	1: 48.392	12
08th	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1: 49.605	1: 48.563	1: 48.394	07th
09	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	1: 50.126	1: 48.714	1: 48.538	08th
10	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1: 50.033	1: 48.729	1: 48.890	09
11	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1: 49.722	1: 48.792	-	10
12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1: 49.362	1: 48.855	-	11
13	Michael sSchumacher	Mercedes	1: 49.742	1: 49.081	-	13
14th	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1: 49.588	1: 49.147	-	14th
15th	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1: 49.763	1: 49.354	-	15th
16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1: 49.572	1: 49.543	-	16
17th	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	1: 49.958	1: 50.088	-	17th
18th	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1: 50.181	-	-	23
19th	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	1: 51.739	-	-	18th
20th	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	1: 51.967	-	-	19th
21st	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	1: 52.336	-	-	20th
22nd	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	1: 53.030	-	-	21st
23	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	1: 53.493	-	-	22nd
24	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	1: 54.989	-	-	24
107 percent time : 1: 56.622 min (based on Q1 best time of 1: 48.993 min)

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t} racing cars with KERS
2. ↑ Pastor Maldonado was moved three positions back because of Nico Hülkenberg's handicap in qualifying.
3. ↑ Mark Webber was moved five positions back due to a gear change.
4. ↑ Nico Rosberg was moved five positions back due to a gear change.

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap
01	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	44	1	1: 29: 08,530	01	1: 54.293 (40.)
02	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	44	1	+ 13.624	10	1: 54.198 (39.)
03	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus Renault	44	2	+ 25.334	03	1: 53.640 (34th)
04th	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	44	2	+ 27.843	11	1: 53,760 (40th)
05	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	44	2	+ 29.845	14th	1: 53.464 (30.)
06th	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	44	2	+ 31.244	12	1: 53.768 (42nd)
07th	Michael sSchumacher	Mercedes	44	2	+ 53.374	13	1: 53.507 (37th)
08th	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	44	2	+ 58.865	15th	1: 53.995 (31.)
09	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	44	2	+1: 02.982	16	1: 54.605 (42nd)
10	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	44	2	+1: 03.783	09	1: 54.562 (28th)
11	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	44	2	+1: 05.111	23	1: 53.073 (39.)
12	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	44	2	+1: 11.529	17th	1: 52.822 (43.)
13	Kamui Kobayashi	Clean Ferrari	44	3	+1: 56.119	02	1: 55,598 (26.)
14th	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	43	2	+ 1 lap	19th	1: 56.741 (28th)
15th	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	43	2	+ 1 lap	20th	1: 56.956 (30.)
16	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	43	1	+ 1 lap	22nd	1: 57.939 (27.)
17th	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	43	2	+ 1 lap	18th	1: 56.475 (33rd)
18th	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	43	3	+ 1 lap	21st	1: 57.315 (30.)
-	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	29	2	DNF	24	1: 59.113 (16.)
-	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	04th	1	DNF	06th	2: 56.181 ( 04th)
-	Sergio Perez	Clean Ferrari	00	0	DNF	04th	-
-	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	00	0	DNF	05	-
-	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	00	0	DNF	07th	-
-	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	00	0	DNF	08th	-

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t} racing cars with KERS

World Cup stands after the race

The first ten of the race got 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Fernando Alonso Ferrari 164 02  Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 140 03  Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 132 04th  Kimi Raikkonen Lotus Renault 131 05  Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 117 06th  Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 101 07th  Nico Rosberg Mercedes 77 08th  Romain Grosjean Lotus Renault 76 09  Sergio Perez Clean Ferrari 47 10  Michael sSchumacher Mercedes 35 11  Felipe Massa Ferrari 35 12  Kamui Kobayashi Clean Ferrari 33

Item driver constructor Points 13  Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 31 14th  Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 29 15th  Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 28 16  Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 24 17th  Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8th 18th  Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 4th 19th  Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 0 20th  Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 0 21st  Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 0 22nd  Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 0 23  Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 0 24  Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 0

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  Red Bull-Renault 272 02  McLaren-Mercedes 218 03  Lotus Renault 207 04th  Ferrari 199 05  Mercedes 112 06th  Clean Ferrari 80

Item constructor Points 07th  Force India-Mercedes 59 08th  Williams-Renault 53 09  Toro Rosso-Ferrari 12 10  Caterham-Renault 0 11  Marussia-Cosworth 0 12  HRT-Cosworth 0

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mario Fritzsche: "Pirelli: Mixtures for Belgium, Italy, Singapore are fixed". Motorsport-Total.com, July 31, 2012, accessed August 7, 2012 . 
2. ^ "GP Belgium in Spa-Francorchamps / 1st free practice". Motorsport-Total.com, August 31, 2012, accessed September 1, 2012 . 
3. ↑ Christian Nimmervoll: "Typical spa start in pouring rain". Motorsport-Total.com, August 31, 2012, accessed September 1, 2012 . 
4. ↑ Christian Nimmervoll: "Only 'swimming exercises' in Spa-Francorchamps". Motorsport-Total.com, August 31, 2012, accessed September 1, 2012 . 
5. ^ "GP Belgium in Spa-Francorchamps / 2nd free practice". Motorsport-Total.com, August 31, 2012, accessed September 1, 2012 . 
6. ↑ Stephan Mayerbacher: "Alonso still in good shape: best time in final training". Motorsport-Total.com, September 1, 2012, accessed September 1, 2012 . 
7. ^ "GP Belgium in Spa-Francorchamps / 3rd free practice". Motorsport-Total.com, September 1, 2012, accessed September 1, 2012 . 
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} "Belgian GP in Spa-Francorchamps / race". Motorsport-Total.com, September 2, 2012, accessed December 31, 2012 . 
9. ^ ^{A b c d} Christian Nimmervoll: "Alonso knocked out for the first time: Button wins in Belgium". Motorsport-Total.com, September 2, 2012, accessed December 31, 2012 . 
10. ^ Sven Haidinger, Christian Nimmervoll, Dieter Rencken: "FIA takes tough action : Grosjean blocked for Monza". Motorsport-Total.com, September 2, 2012, accessed September 2, 2012 .