| 2012 Belgian Grand Prix | |||||
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Race 12 of 20 in the2012 Formula One World Championship
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 Layout of the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps | |||||
| Race details[1] | |||||
| Date | 2 September 2012 | ||||
| Official name | 2012 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix[2] | ||||
| Location | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps,Francorchamps,Wallonia,Belgium[3] | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 7.004 km (4.352 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 44 laps, 308.052 km (191.415 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Fine and Dry[4]Air Temp 23 °C (73 °F)[4] Track Temp 33 °C (91 °F)[4] | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
| Time | 1:47.573 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | |||
| Time | 1:52.822 on lap 43 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
| Second | Red Bull-Renault | ||||
| Third | Lotus-Renault | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2012 Belgian Grand Prix (formally the2012 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix)[2] was aFormula One motor race that took place, at theCircuit de Spa-Francorchamps near the village ofFrancorchamps,Wallonia,Belgium on 2 September 2012, the first event after a five-week summer break.[5] It was the twelfth race of the2012 Formula One World Championship, and the seventy-seventh running of theBelgian Grand Prix.
Jenson Button started from pole position, his first pole position since the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix,[6] and won the race.Sebastian Vettel finished second andKimi Räikkönen third.[7] The race featured a five-car collision atLa Source with championship leaderFernando Alonso andLewis Hamilton amongst the involved drivers, for whichRomain Grosjean received a race ban. This was also the 300th race forMichael Schumacher.
Ferrari driverFernando Alonso led the championship by forty points fromRed Bull Racing'sMark Webber andSebastian Vettel, with fourth-placedLewis Hamilton a further seven points behind.[8]
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought its silver-banded hard compound tyre as the harder "prime" tyre and the white-banded medium compound tyre as the softer "option" tyre.[9]
Dani Clos replacedNarain Karthikeyan atHRT in the first practice session, whileValtteri Bottas droveBruno Senna'sWilliams once again.
The first free practice session began in wet conditions.Kamui Kobayashi ended the session fastest, having chosen to stay out early while other drivers pitted to begin work on their car setup.Ferrari'sFelipe Massa failed to set a lap time when his car ground to a halt as he was about to enter the pits at the end of the installation lap. The second practice session saw even more rain fall, and large puddles of standing water on the circuit made running impractical. Only a handful of drivers set lap times, withMarussia'sCharles Pic finishing the session fastest. The third and final session on Saturday morning was dry, allowing teams just one hour to complete as much of their testing programmes as possible ahead of qualifying and the race.Fernando Alonso went on to finish the session fastest.
Pastor Maldonado let his clutch slip a fraction of a second too soon and started his race before the lights had gone out, passing the Saubers. Grosjean made a good start and moved up to the inside ofLa Source, but in doing so, squeezed Hamilton between himself and the pitwall. The two touched wheels, both drivers losing control. Grosjean then speared into the back of Pérez and became airborne, crashing heavily into Alonso, missing Alonso's head by a few inches. Grosjean came to rest at the outside wall. Hamilton crashed into Kobayashi as well as Alonso after Grosjean's heavy impact. Pérez lost his rear wing from Grosjean's hit and touched Maldonado when the accident happened, making Maldonado spin. Only Kobayashi and Maldonado emerged from the crash, Kobayashi with a substantial hole in the side of his car. Kobayashi, who had started on the front row for Sauber, pitted after the accident and resumed in last place.
Once Maldonado recovered from his spin he hitTimo Glock after the safety car restart.Narain Karthikeyan's HRT spun off backwards and hit the tyre wall late in the race after a wheel came loose. After starting the race in 14th, Felipe Massa fought hard to get the fifth place, ahead of Red Bull’s Mark Webber. Bruno Senna had eighth position secured but due to a slow puncture he had to make a pitstop with only four laps left in the race, dropping him to 12th.
Button, who started on pole, was never under threat as Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel fought from 10th to 2nd, ahead of Lotus's Kimi Räikkönen.
Romain Grosjean was fined €50,000 and was given a one-race ban at theItalian Grand Prix for his role in the crash at the start.
Pastor Maldonado was given two five-place grid penalties at the Italian Grand Prix, the first of which was for his jump start and the second for causing an avoidable collision with Glock.
Caterham was fined €10,000 for the unsafe release of Kovalainen, running into Karthikeyan.[10]
Notes:
Defending double champion Vettel took benefit of Alonso's early retirement by reducing his deficit to the championship leader to 24 points; he simultaneously advanced to second in the standings ahead of Webber who dropped down to third after missing out on the podium. Webber moved to 132 points, eight behind Vettel. Räikkönen reclaimed fourth spot from Hamilton with 131 points, only one point behind Webber and fourteen clear from Hamilton. Meanwhile, the top five in the Constructors' Championship remained unchanged, with Red Bull maintaining their lead with 272 points, slightly increasing their lead towards second-placed McLaren by a single point.
Drivers' Championship standings
| Constructors' Championship standings
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| Previous race: 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 2012 season | Next race: 2012 Italian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2011 Belgian Grand Prix | Belgian Grand Prix | Next race: 2013 Belgian Grand Prix |
