Scuderia Ferrari has finished the Constructors Championship in second place, Fernando Alonso is second in the Drivers classification and Felipe Massa is seventh. That is how the 2012 season will be archived but it does not even scratch the surface of explaining the drama of this final race weekend of the year. Fernando Alonso said a chaotic race would be his best chance of getting his hands on the title crown and he got just that with intermittent rain falling throughout the afternoon. The Ferrari man also admitted that unless Sebastian Vettel retired, being champion was very unlikely. He was proved right, because, while the Spaniard delivered yet another superb performance to finish the race second behind the winner, McLarens Jenson Button, however with the German bringing home his Red Bull in sixth place, it was enough to give him his third consecutive Drivers title. There was plenty of red on the Interlagos podium because Felipe Massa also delivered a beautiful performance to come home third, in a race where just staying on track was an achievement.
As the cars formed up, the skies were grey but just a few tiny drops fell on the grid. However, about three minutes before the warm up lap, it could be described as very light rain, although all 24 cars were resolutely on slicks. As the lights went out, Felipe immediately got the better of Button to lie second behind pole man Hamilton and at the end of the first lap, the McLaren retook second place as Alonso got by his team mate and Webber at the Senna S to chase the two McLarens, with Felipe now sixth as Hulkenberg and Webber got past him. Vettel, was caught up as others braked early and he spun colliding with Senna, which dropped him to 20th.
On lap 5 Fernando ran very wide which allowed Hulkenberg to get ahead of him and Webber to close right up to the Ferrari. Felipe got ahead of the Australian which thus protected Fernando as the Spaniard re-established his pace. Webber then spun on lap 7 one lap after Button swept past his team-mate to take the lead. Vettel? He was back up to eleventh by lap 7, as the two McLarens continued to fight, swapping places at the front of the field, with Hamilton back in front on lap 8. Behind them, Hulkenberg was third in the Force India 2.2 behind, with Fernando 5.5 further back in fourth, and Felipe fifth, 3.4 behind his team-mate. Vettel was up to sixth trailing the Brazilian by 3.0.
Lap 10 saw Hamilton and Alonso both pit for intermediate rain tyres, followed by Vettel and Di Resta. Two laps later, the rain began to ease as Button led Hulkenberg with Hamilton third ahead of Felipe, who had Vergne in the Toro Rosso behind him. Kovalainen in the Caterham had gone from twentieth to sixth behind Fernando. The Spaniard passed his team mate to take fourth on lap 14. He was 17 seconds behind Hamilton, with Button and Hulkenberg at the front yet to pit. Felipe and Vergne came in for intermediates on lap 15 the Brazilian dropping to 14th when he rejoined.
By lap 17, Hulkenberg was right up on leader Buttons tail, as they were the only men to have managed to stay out on slick tyres since the start. Lap 18 and there was a rush to return to slicks, with Alonso, Kobayashi, Rosberg and Di Resta all doing it, as Hulkenberg got ahead of Button to lead the Grand Prix on lap 19. Vettel pitted next time round, Red Bull doing a double stop as Webber followed, as did Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Felipe, Glock, Petrov and Kovalainen.
Lap 21 and Hulkenberg set a fastest lap while Fernando was fourth ahead of Vettel, with Felipe eleventh as the Safety Car came out on lap 22 so that debris could be cleared from the track, after Rosberg punctured. Hulkenberg and Button finally came in for a tyre change, which meant they maintained their places at the head of the field. On lap 26 as the lapped cars were allowed to pass the SC it seemed there was rain again at Turn 4. Lap 29 and the SC finally pulled in so the race was on again with the top eleven cars all nose to tail on slicks on a damp track! Vettel was caught out and dropped to sixth, while in front on lap 30, as Hulkenberg pulled away, Hamilton again got past his team-mate. Fernando was fourth, but behind the Ferrari, Kobayashi had got ahead of Vettel. Then the Sauber man also managed to get in front of the Spaniard, who regained the position at the start of lap 33. Felipe meanwhile had moved up to seventh and then passed Vettel for sixth on lap 34. Felipe, having stayed out a long time on slicks which cost him time, was charging now and on lap 37 he took fifth place off Kobayashi and the Brazilian was three seconds behind his team-mate. More light rain came around lap 43, mainly in Sector 1. The two Ferraris were having a lonely race at this point, with Fernando 5.6 behind third placed Button and Felipe a further 4.9 behind. Meanwhile Hamilton had relegated Hulkenberg to second when the Force India half spun on lap 49.
Vettel pitted from seventh on lap 52, which dropped him to tenth. Lap 55 and Hulkenberg tried to attack Hamilton which resulted in them colliding at turn 1. As conditions worsened, Kobayashi, Schumacher and Vettel returned to the pits to fit intermediates. Felipe did the same on lap 55, as did Webber. Vettels crew had not been ready and he had a long stop. Fernando, now third came in for Inters on 56, rejoining fourth. Button had been leading and he made the change to Inters on lap 57 followed by Hulkenberg, who unlike Hamilton was able to continue after their collision. At this point, Felipe was third ahead of Fernando thanks to a well timed switch to intermediates for the Brazilian, with Vettel going seventh as Di Resta ahead of him pitted. Hulkenberg lost his position when he had to take a drive through penalty on lap 58, for his collision with the McLaren. The Ferrari were now second and third, the Brazilian ahead of the Spaniard, as the rain intensified.
On lap 62 of 71, Fernando passed his team-mate to lie 21 seconds behind leader Button. The Englishman had an unassailable lead by now and Fernandos title hopes could only depend on a misfortune for Vettel. Nothing happened, except that a late crash for Di Resta in the Force India meant the last race of the year actually ended behind the Safety Car.
The final figures tell the story: Vettel 281, Alonso 278: just three little points at the end of 20 Grands Prix. In the Constructors, another second place: Red Bull Racing 460, Scuderia Ferrari 400.
1. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h45:22.6562. Alonso Ferrari + 2.7543. Massa Ferrari + 3.6154. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 4.9365. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes + 5.7086. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 9.4537. Schumacher Mercedes + 11.9008. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 28.6009. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 31.20010 Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap11 Petrov Caterham-Renault + 1 lap12 Pic Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap13 Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap14 Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 1 lap15 Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap16 Glock Marussia-Cosworth + 2 laps17 De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps18 Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps19 Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 3 laps
Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1:18.069
DNF
Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes Grosjean Lotus-Renault Maldonado Williams-Renault Senna Williams-Renault Perez Sauber-Ferrari
World Championship standings
Drivers 1. Vettel 281 2. Alonso 278 3. Raikkonen 207 4. Hamilton 190 5. Button 188 6. Webber 179 7. Massa 122 8. Grosjean 96 9. Rosberg 93 10 Perez 66 11 Hulkenberg 63 12 Kobayashi 60 13 Schumacher 49 14. Di Resta 46 15 Maldonado 45 16 Senna 31 17 Vergne 16 18 Ricciardo 10
Constructors 1. Red Bull-Renault 4602. Ferrari 4003. McLaren-Mercedes 3784. Lotus-Renault 3035. Mercedes 1426. Sauber-Ferrari 1267. Force India-Mercedes 1098. Williams-Renault 769. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 26
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