2012 Korean Grand Prix

 2012 Korean Grand Prix

Racing data
16th of 20 races in the 2012 Formula 1 World Championship
Surname:	2012 Formula 1 Korean Grand Prix
Date:	October 14, 2012
Place:	Yeongam
Course:	Korean International Circuit
Length:	308.63 km in 55 laps of 5.615 km
Pole position
Driver:	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault
Time:	1: 37.242 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault
Time:	1: 42.037 min (lap 54)
Podium
First:	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault
Second:	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault
Third:	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari

The 2012 Korean Grand Prix took place on October 14th at the Korean International Circuit in Yeongam and was the 16th race of the 2012 Formula 1 World Championship .

Reports

background

After the Japanese Grand Prix , Fernando Alonso led the drivers' standings with 4 points ahead of Sebastian Vettel and 37 points over Kimi Räikkönen . In the constructors' championship, Red Bull-Renault led by 41 points over McLaren-Mercedes and 61 points over Ferrari .

At the Korean Grand Prix, Pirelli provided the drivers with the tire compounds P Zero Soft (yellow) and P Zero Supersoft (red) as well as Cinturato Intermediates (green) and Cinturato Full Wets (blue) for wet conditions .

With Alonso and Vettel, all former winners competed in this Grand Prix.

Martin Donnelly (GBR), Paul Gutjahr (SUI), Jang Sung Kuk (KOR) and Vincenzo Spano (VEN) acted as race commissioners .

training

In the first free practice session, Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap ahead of Alonso and Mark Webber . This training took Jules Bianchi the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg , Valtteri Bottas the Williams of Bruno Senna , Giedo van der Garde the Caterham of Vitaly Petrov and Dani Clos the HRT of Narain Karthikeyan . In the second free practice session, Vettel was the fastest pilot ahead of his teammates Webber and Alonso. In the third free practice session, Vettel stayed ahead. Hamilton finished second ahead of his teammate Jenson Button .

Qualifying

In the first section of qualifying, Vettel achieved the fastest lap. The HRT, Marussia and Caterham pilots and Senna were eliminated. In the second segment, Vettel stayed ahead. The Toro Rosso and Sauber pilots as well as Pastor Maldonado , Paul di Resta and Button were eliminated. In the third section Webber secured pole position from Vettel and Hamilton.

run

Even before the first corner, Vettel passed his team-mate Webber from second place. Webber attempted a counterattack on the next straight, but he was on the wrong side and remained in second position. Hamilton, who had started well, was hampered by the duel between the Red Bull drivers, so that Alonso took third position. In midfield, Kamui Kobayashi was caught between Button and Nico Rosberg before the third corner , misjudged the braking point and collided with both of them. Button retired with a defective suspension, Rosberg suffered a radiator damage one lap later and retired, Kobayashi gave up after driving 16 laps in the pits. Kobayashi was previously given a drive-through penalty.

Vettel took a step away from Webber at the top, behind which there was a slightly larger gap to third-placed Alonso. The phase of the first pit stops did not change anything in the front positions, with Vettel gradually expanding his lead over Webber. Sergio Pérez , who had not yet changed tires and was overtaken by several drivers on new tires by the time he made his pit stop, was also in the top group . While Pedro de la Rosa gave up the race for safety reasons - his DRS no longer closed - Felipe Massa prevailed against Hamilton in the front part of the field and took fourth position. Shortly thereafter, Hamilton also fell behind Raikkonen, but managed to counter and regain the position. A little later, Hamilton pitted and preferred his pit stop.

About eight laps after Hamilton, the leading group made their second pit stops. Vettel stayed out the longest and kept the lead. Vettel was almost nine seconds ahead of Webber. A larger gap formed behind the first four pilots. Massa, who was fourth behind Alonso, showed fast laps, but his race engineer Rob Smedley asked him indirectly not to get too close to Alonso. Alonso was graining and drove a little slower to protect the tires. In the meantime, Hulkenberg managed to overtake Romain Grosjean and Hamilton at the same time with an overtaking maneuver . Hamilton made another pit stop shortly afterwards.

In the final stages of the race, the Toro Rosso drivers work together. Daniel Ricciardo was eighth ahead of Jean-Éric Vergne and Hamilton. Since Ricciardo lost something, he let Vergne go without any problems to give his team the eighth position. Since Hamilton took a piece of the lawn carpet with the side box shortly afterwards, which had a negative effect on his performance, the Toro-Rosso drivers would not have had to swap places. While in the lead, Vettel was warned several times by his team not to drive as fast any more so as not to provoke a puncture.

Vettel finally scored a start-to-finish victory ahead of Webber, Alonso and Massa. Räikkönen, Hülkenberg, Grosjean, Vergne, Ricciardo and Hamilton followed at a greater distance in the points. It was Vettel's 25th victory in Formula 1.

With the victory, Vettel took the lead in the world championship from Alonso, who fell back to second place. Raikkonen remained unchanged in third position. Red Bull-Renault stayed in the lead among the designers. Ferrari passed McLaren-Mercedes into second position.

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	Jules Bianchi
		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	Giedo van der Garde
		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} Bianchi drove the Force India with the number 12 in the first free practice. Hülkenberg then took over the vehicle for the rest of the race weekend.
2. ↑ ^{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.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Van der Garde drove the Caterham with the number 21 in the first free practice. Petrow then took over the vehicle for the rest of the race weekend.
4. ↑ ^{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	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1: 38.397	1: 38.220	1: 37.242	01
02	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1: 38.208	1: 37.767	1: 37.316	02
03	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1: 39.180	1: 38,000	1: 37.469	03
04th	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1: 39.144	1: 37.987	1: 37.534	04th
05	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus Renault	1: 38.887	1: 38.227	1: 37.625	05
06th	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1: 38.937	1: 38.253	1: 37.884	06th
07th	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	1: 38.863	1: 38.275	1: 37.934	07th
08th	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1: 38.981	1: 38.428	1: 38.266	08th
09	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1: 38.999	1: 38.417	1: 38.361	09
10	Michael sSchumacher	Mercedes	1: 38.808	1: 38.436	1: 38.513	10
11	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1: 38.615	1: 38.441	-	11
12	Sergio Perez	Clean Ferrari	1: 38.630	1: 38.460	-	12
13	Kamui Kobayashi	Clean Ferrari	1: 38.719	1: 38.594	-	13
14th	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1: 38.942	1: 38.643	-	14th
15th	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	1: 39.024	1: 38.725	-	15th
16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1: 38.784	1: 39.084	-	21st
17th	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1: 38.744	1: 39.340	-	16
18th	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	1: 39.443	-	-	17th
19th	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	1: 40.207	-	-	18th
20th	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	1: 40.333	-	-	19th
21st	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	1: 41.317	-	-	24
22nd	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	1: 41.371	-	-	20th
23	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	1: 42.881	-	-	22nd
107 percent time : 1: 45.082 min (based on Q1 best time of 1: 38.208 min)
DNQ	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	no time	-	-	23

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. ↑ Daniel Ricciardo was moved five positions back due to a gear change.
3. ↑ Charles Pic was moved ten positions back due to the use of the ninth engine this season.

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap
01	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	55	2	1: 36: 28.651	02	1: 42,499 (55th)
02	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	55	2	+ 8.231	01	1: 42.037 (54th)
03	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	55	2	+ 13.944	04th	1: 42,442 (52nd)
04th	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	55	2	+ 20.168	06th	1: 42.242 (48th)
05	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus Renault	55	2	+ 36.739	05	1: 42.822 (51.)
06th	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	55	2	+ 45,301	08th	1: 42.645 (54th)
07th	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	55	2	+ 54.812	07th	1: 42.783 (44th)
08th	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	55	2	+1: 09.589	16	1: 42.721 (48th)
09	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	55	2	+1: 11.787	21st	1: 43,148 (45th)
10	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	55	3	+1: 19.692	03	1: 42.721 (49.)
11	Sergio Perez	Clean Ferrari	55	2	+1: 20.062	12	1: 42.495 (49.)
12	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	55	2	+1: 24.448	14th	1: 43,517 (48th)
13	Michael sSchumacher	Mercedes	55	2	+1: 29.241	10	1: 43.184 (49.)
14th	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	55	1	+1: 34.924	15th	1: 42.679 (55.)
15th	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	55	2	+1: 36.902	17th	1: 43.411 (49.)
16	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	54	2	+ 1 lap	18th	1: 45.013 (50th)
17th	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	54	2	+ 1 lap	19th	1: 44.955 (43.)
18th	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	54	2	+ 1 lap	20th	1: 45.236 (42nd)
19th	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	53	2	+ 2 rounds	24	1: 44,462 (52nd)
20th	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	53	1	+ 2 rounds	23	1: 47.068 (39.)
-	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	16	0	DNF	22nd	1: 49.861 ( 09.)
-	Kamui Kobayashi	Clean Ferrari	16	2	DNF	13	1: 47.066 ( 03rd)
-	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	01	0	DNF	09	-
-	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	00	0	DNF	11	-

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  Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 215 02  Fernando Alonso Ferrari 209 03  Kimi Raikkonen Lotus Renault 167 04th  Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 153 05  Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 152 06th  Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 131 07th  Nico Rosberg Mercedes 93 08th  Romain Grosjean Lotus Renault 88 09  Felipe Massa Ferrari 81 10  Sergio Perez Clean Ferrari 66 11  Kamui Kobayashi Clean Ferrari 50 12  Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 45 13  Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 44

Item driver constructor Points 14th  Michael sSchumacher Mercedes 43 15th  Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 33 16  Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 25th 17th  Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 12 18th  Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 9 19th  Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 0 20th  Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 0 21st  Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 0 22nd  Jérôme D'Ambrosio Lotus Renault 0 23  Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 0 24  Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 0 25th  Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 0

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  Red Bull-Renault 367 02  Ferrari 290 03  McLaren-Mercedes 284 04th  Lotus Renault 255 05  Mercedes 136 06th  Clean Ferrari 116

Item constructor Points 07th  Force India-Mercedes 89 08th  Williams-Renault 58 09  Toro Rosso-Ferrari 21st 10  Marussia-Cosworth 0 11  Caterham-Renault 0 12  HRT-Cosworth 0

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Pirelli brings the softest blends to South Korea". Motorsport-Total.com, October 9, 2012, accessed October 12, 2012 . 
2. ^ "GP South Korea in Yeongam / 1st free practice". Motorsport-Total.com, October 12, 2012, accessed October 12, 2012 . 
3. ↑ Christian Nimmervoll: "Start in South Korea: Hamilton just before Alonso". Motorsport-Total.com, October 12, 2012, accessed October 12, 2012 . 
4. ^ "GP South Korea in Yeongam / 2nd free practice". Motorsport-Total.com, October 12, 2012, accessed October 12, 2012 . 
5. ↑ Christian Nimmervoll: "Best time for Vettel: Red Bull sets the pace". Motorsport-Total.com, October 12, 2012, accessed October 12, 2012 . 
6. ^ "GP South Korea in Yeongam / 3rd free practice". Motorsport-Total.com, October 13, 2012, accessed October 13, 2012 . 
7. ↑ Christian Nimmervoll: "Pole favorite: Vettel dominates final training". Motorsport-Total.com, October 13, 2012, accessed October 13, 2012 . 
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e} "GP South Korea in Yeongam / race". Motorsport-Total.com, October 14, 2012, accessed March 10, 2013 . 
9. ↑ ^{a b c d} Christian Nimmervoll: "World Cup leadership: Vettel wins in 'Gangnam-Style'". Motorsport-Total.com, October 14, 2012, accessed March 10, 2013 .