F1 2012 - A Retrospective Part 20: The United States
Qualifying
Formula One returned to the United States for the first time since 2007. The event took place in the brand new track in Austin, Texas. The venue known as COTA (Circuit of the Americas) was officially opened only four weeks prior to F1’s arrival.
Sebastian Vettel took the first pole position in the track’s F1 history, with Lewis Hamilton second by .109s.
Vettel had the chance to seal the Driver’s Championship at the penultimate race of the season. He needed to beat Fernando Alonso by 15 points to secure a third world title in a row.
Alonso could only manage ninth place in Q3 in his Ferrari. Teammate Felipe Massa out-qualified him for only the second time all season as he finished Q3 in sixth.
However, Ferrari ripped the seal on the Brazilian’s gearbox which handed him a five place grid penalty.
This was a strategic decision based purely on maximising Alonso’s race chances. The Spaniard was moved up to seventh as a result of the move, plus penalties elsewhere.
Although, now both drivers were on the cleaner side of the grid, which pundits believed could offer an advantage worth a whole position off the line. Massa started the race in 11th.
Mark Webber took third place in the other Red Bull. The Australian finished alongside Romain Grosjean in fourth. But the Frenchman also took a five place grid penalty, for a change of gearbox, which moved him down to ninth.
This promoted Kimi Raikkonen up from fifth. Michael Schumacher and Nico Hulkenberg completed the third row of the grid in fifth and sixth respectively.
This was Schumacher’s best Saturday performance since earning ninth in Singapore. For Hulkenberg, this was his highest starting position since his fourth place in Germany.
Pastor Maldonado completed the top 10, ahead of Bruno Senna who just missed out on Q3 but was moved up to 10th after penalties were applied. Maldonado started the race in eighth.
Jenson Button suffered from a “throttle problem,” which caused him to only finish in 12th. Nico Rosberg, meanwhile, was down in 17th in the other Mercedes.
Pre-Race
If the drivers finished the race where they started, then Vettel would be champion by the chequered flag. In the scenario that Vettel converted pole into victory, Alonso needed to secure a top five finish to bring the title fight to the last race of the season in Brazil.
For Red Bull, they only needed four points to secure a third Constructors Championship in a row.
This race took place in the United States, but 40% of tickets were reportedly sold to Mexicans, who were out in full force in support of Sergio Perez. However, the Sauber driver started from 15th place.
Strategy wasn’t expected to be too complicated for this race. “Could be, or should be, a one-stop race,” said David Croft.
The two tyre choices were between the Medium and Hard compounds. Only Button and Rosberg opted to start on the Hard tyres, with everyone else on the Mediums.
“Pirelli came here with a cautious tyre choice, because they didn’t want to affect the world championship by going too racy. Ironically, they might do exactly that by being too conservative,” said Martin Brundle.
McLaren changed the Vodafone sponsor to a Verizon logo for this race, in order to cater for their American audience.
A lot was made of Ferrari’s decision to strategically move Alonso up one space by taking a grid penalty for Massa’s gearbox.
The team had struggled for qualifying pace ever since the Summer break, but the Spaniard had been finding the race pace to keep them in the title picture despite Vettel’s recent dominance.
Alonso had earned Ferrari’s backing. Massa was simply not close enough to ever challenge for the title so had to play his role as a steady number two instead.
Race
Webber curbed his recent trend of poor starts. He took advantage of being on the cleaner side of the grid to overtake Hamilton around the outside of Turn One to take second place.
Alonso, too, vindicated Ferrari’s decision to move him onto the cleaner side of the track. He immediately overtook Hulkenberg and Raikkonen, who were on the left side, before then passing Schumacher around the outside of Turn One.
The two time World Champion was up to fourth as they went down the hill into Turn Two. That was a great, and much needed, start from Alonso.
Raikkonen fell further down the grid as he ran wide at Turn Three while fighting Hulkenberg for position. The winner last time out in Abu Dhabi was now down in seventh.
Button suffered the worst start of anyone. He was down in 16th as the cars reached Turn Seven. His Hard tyres weren’t warmed up yet and he was struggling for grip.
Perez moved up to 11th by overtaking Senna by diving down the inside of Turn 15. It was difficult to make passing moves at that section of the track, but the Mexican was showing it could be done.
Vettel led by only seven tenths as he crossed the line to start lap two. Alonso was 2.7s behind the race leader, but he was comfortable in fourth. The gap to fifth placed Schumacher was another 2.7s.
Schumacher was overtaken by Hulkenberg at Turn One, the Mercedes didn’t look to have the race pace to compete at the front whatsoever.
Raikkonen passed the German at Turn 11. This time, Schumacher was able to fight back on the long straight before Turn 12. But, despite getting back in front of the Finn, Grosjean overtook both of them by diving down the inside of the corner.
Schumacher tried to get back through Turns 13 and 14, but the Lotus driver kept sixth place.
Vettel was 2.6s quicker than Alonso on that lap as the Ferrari started to drop back from the top three.
On lap three, Hamilton got back ahead of Webber at Turn 12, but he ran wide which allowed the Australian back into second. On lap four, Hamilton came back for a second bite at the cherry. This time, Hamilton was successful in overtaking the Red Bull. He now had his sights set firmly on the race leader.
“We have got a race on our hands, without doubt. Hamilton is absolutely flying,” said Brundle.
He went fastest on that lap, despite losing time overtaking Webber. The gap between Hamilton and Vettel was 2.5s by lap five. Button was struggling in the other McLaren. His Hard tyres just weren’t getting up to temperature yet, he was down in 14th place.
By lap six, Button’s pace was improving. He overtook Maldonado at Turn One to move into 13th. A replay showed that, further ahead, Grosjean had moved ahead of Hulkenberg at the same corner. However, the Frenchman overshot the mark and Hulkenberg retook the place at Turn Two.
Di Resta also moved ahead of Schumacher in the other Force India. The German was stuck going backwards. The Mercedes was simply unable to control the tyres effectively. There was a massive queue of cars behind Schumacher, all waiting to get ahead.
Grosjean joined the queue after he spun going into Turn 19. It was a most unusual way to end up backwards. The exasperation in Brundle’s voice was clear as he watched the replays of the incident.
Grosjean rejoined alongside Massa and Schumacher. Massa dived down the inside of Turn 20 to take eighth place, with Schumacher still ninth and Grosjean now 10th.
On lap seven, Perez overtook Grosjean at Turn Two. The Lotus was struggling with the tyres, which were damaged in the spin. Senna was next to overtake Grosjean, this time under DRS before Turn 12.
Meanwhile, up front, Hamilton now split the Red Bulls by 2.3s either side. The Briton was setting fastest laps in his pursuit of the German ahead.
“This is excellent,” was the message back to the 2008 World Champion.
Grosjean was passed by Button at Turn One for 13th, as Button ended up back behind Maldonado amidst all the on-track action. Schumacher was also now down to 11th.
On lap nine, Grosjean was once again overtaken by Daniel Ricciardo. However, this time the Lotus driver was able to get back at the Australian at the run into Turn Two. Raikkonen, in the other Lotus, was now right up behind Hulkenberg.
Senna passed Schumacher under DRS. Grosjean finally gave up on his set of tyres and pitted at the end of that lap. But Schumacher persisted.
That led to Button overtaking the German at Turn One to move up to 11th. Schumacher defended hard for the position, but he simply lacked the grip to compete.
Hamilton was .571s quicker than Vettel on the previous lap and that closed the gap down to only 1.5s between the pair.
“The tension down here at Red Bull is really palpable. I mean, the gap from Vettel to Hamilton has gone from two to three seconds now down to one point six seconds, now down to one point five seconds,” said Ted Kravitz.
“Christian Horner’s foot isn’t jiggling yet but Lewis Hamilton has really got the bit between his teeth,” he added.
Massa was now up to seventh. He passed di Resta at Turn 12 on lap 11.
By lap 12, the lead was down to 1.2s. Hamilton was really pushing Vettel now, the pressure on the championship leader was immense.
Raikkonen, too, was pushing the car ahead. He was right up the back of Hulkenberg in the battle for fifth. Massa was now right behind both of them as they fought over several corners.
The Finn eventually moved into fifth with a lovely pass round Turn Two and Three.
Button was now setting purple sector times. His Hard tyres were starting to come alive, while Hamilton was told the pit window was now open. Kravitz was expecting cars in from between laps 20–35.
Schumacher’s race kept going backwards. Maldonado passed the Mercedes for 13th on lap 13. He finally pitted at the end of lap 14, one lap after Kobayashi came in for his pit stop.
By lap 15, Hamilton was within DRS range of Vettel. The pressure on the Red Bull driver was growing with every corner of every lap.
Jean-Eric Vergne became the first driver to retire from the race. He went off at Turn Seven with a mechanical problem. Brundle believed he suffered from a “steering problem.”
Massa moved up to sixth, passing Hulkenberg under DRS. The long straight was proving an effective place to get moves done, but Hamilton was unable to get close enough to Vettel on that lap.
On lap 17, Webber became the second driver to retire from the race! He reported a KERS failure but this time it proved terminal and he pulled the car over around Turn 15. This promoted Alonso onto the final podium place and closed the live championship standings down to 20 points.
That ended a 59 race run for Webber without a mechanical failure. That streak ran back to the 2009 season. Brundle had more worrying news for Red Bull. “If that car can fail they know all too well that so can the other.”
Hulkenberg was next into the pit lane at the end of that lap. Meanwhile, Hamilton had fallen back on Vettel by 1.5s over the last three laps.
Massa and Raikkonen were now the quickest cars on track. Grosjean, now on the Hard tyres, was also pumping in quickest sector times.
Hamilton pitted on lap 20. His tyre life expired, which explained the drop off from the race leader. Alonso, too, came in for his pit stop. It was uncharacteristically slow! A 6.3s stop from Ferrari, who were otherwise spotless so far in 2012. The right rear just wasn’t willing to come off in time.
Alonso was down to fifth when Vettel also stopped on the next lap. Red Bull’s stop was much quicker, at 2.4s, and he rejoined just ahead of Raikkonen who split the two racing for the lead. The Finn was, of course, yet to stop.
Button moved up to sixth on lap 21. He passed Perez at Turn 12. He was much more comfortable on those Hard tyres by this stage of the race. Perez was next to make his stop at the end of lap 22.
Button was now pushing Alonso. He attempted a move down the inside of Turn 15, but stayed behind. The reward for passing the Spaniard was fresh clean air, and Alonso was struggling to heat up the Hard tyres, just as happened to Button.
On lap 23, Button got ahead of Alonso at Turn 12. He was now up to fifth place, but yet to stop. He was going longer on this stint than everyone else and was now free to push with a clear gap to the car in fourth.
Hamilton, too, completed an overtaking move at Turn 12 in the primary McLaren car of this race. He passed Raikkonen, who was yet to stop. However, Raikkonen’s pace meant that he opened a gap up to Alonso that meant he could pull off an overcut on the Ferrari.
Lotus pitted their driver on lap 24, but it was a slow stop! It took 6.4s for Raikkonen to get away from his pit box and that was just long enough to allow Alonso the time to catch up and pass the Finn before Turn One.
Ricciardo then passed Raikkonen for sixth place. The Australian was yet to pit, but Raikkonen was now going through his struggles heating up the Hard tyre.
Button, now in the free air, set the fastest lap of the race so far.
Hamilton then went even quicker as he renewed his pursuit of the race leader. He was constantly being encouraged over the radio to attack Vettel, which the Briton was more than happy to do. By lap 26, the lead was back down to 1.7s.
Webber confirmed to Sky that it was an alternator failure on his car. That issue plagued Vettel’s race in Valencia and Italy and now it had come for the Australian.
That confirmation was not going to ease the minds of the Red Bull pit wall. It was entirely possible that the German could run into the same issue, as pointed out by Brundle earlier.
Massa pitted at the end of that lap. He came out ahead of Raikkonen, into fifth place behind Button. However, Ricciardo took advantage of that Hard tyre issue and he passed the Brazilian under DRS. Raikkonen followed suit and passed Massa at Turn One of the next lap.
By this stage, the lead was back to only 1.5s. However, on the next lap, Hamilton lost nine tenths to the leader while stuck behind traffic.
Further behind, Grosjean moved up to eighth. He passed Rosberg at Turn One but the German was yet to stop having started on the Hard tyre. Hulkenberg and Senna were also fighting, over 10th place.
Button was starting to pull away from Massa, who was still trying to warm up his tyres. He was 2.3s quicker on the previous lap. Alonso was starting to set personal best times in the other Ferrari.
Ricciardo finally made his pit stop on lap 30. He moved back down to 13th. Di Resta joined him in the pits, but this was the Scot’s second stop of the race. He went off track the lap before and his tyres were simply unable to last the rest of the race.
On lap 31, Hamilton was once again encouraged to keep pushing. The lead was 2.3s. No matter what Vettel did, Hamilton was always able to stay within close range, keeping the German constantly under pressure. The tension was mounting.
Hamilton was back setting fastest laps of the race as he continued to pile on the mounting pressure. Vettel lost time behind Timo Glock in the Marussia, but Hamilton was unable to capitalise as he also lost time around Turn 13 to the backmarker.
Hamilton went fastest again on lap 33 and by lap 34, the gap was down to 1.2s. This was getting more and more intense with each passing lap.
“I can’t believe Vettel will do anything other than yield if it comes to close combat. He cannot afford to trip over,” said Brundle. He believed there was too much at stake for in terms of the championship for Vettel to risk getting into an incident.
However, Brundle also believed Hamilton had nothing to lose by being out of the title picture so expected the McLaren driver to keep pushing all the way.
“But he can’t afford to give away seven points either,” remarked Brundle, who debated the pros and cons of close wheel racing by himself as Hamilton continued to get ever closer.
Hamilton was now within DRS range of Vettel, but was unable to get close enough before Turn 12 to make a move for the lead.
Button finally pitted on lap 35. He changed for a set of Medium tyres, making him the last of anyone to make a stop.
The Briton came out right ahead of Grosjean, but he ran wide at the tricky exit of the pit lane into Turn One, which gave the Frenchman an easy route ahead. Button was now seventh. However, he was encouraged to push and was told he was battling for fourth place.
On lap 38, Button dove down the inside of Grosjean at Turn 15 and took sixth place. Grosjean did well to avoid contact with Button, he was most certainly not expecting the McLaren to move down the inside like it did, but reacted well.
On lap 39, Massa moved ahead of Raikkonen at Turn Two. The Brazilian was now up to fourth place, with Button only 1s further behind.
On lap 41, Hamilton had his first real look at Vettel down the inside of Turn 12. He used up all of his KERS on that main straight, but he was just about not close enough to make a move.
But on lap 42, he was more than close enough on that straight to take a look at Vettel. He closed up extremely tight to the Red Bull and pulled to the outside at the very last second. He was far quicker on the straight and moved into the race lead!
The live championship table was down to 13 points, from the 23 points it once was at the opening stages of the race. Just how crucial could that be for either driver?
Vettel was unhappy with the move, complaining to his team over the radio. Hamilton left it very late to pull to the side for the overtaking move, but all was fair in motor racing and both cars survived with no contact or damage. “What a stupid overtake,” he yelled.
Hamilton set the fastest lap of the race now that he was ahead of Vettel. The gap between them was already up to 1.4s. Meanwhile, Button was pressuring Raikkonen in the other McLaren. He wasn’t quite close enough to make a move on lap 43.
On lap 44, Button was all over the back of the Lotus through Turns 12 to 15, but still he was behind Raikkonen.
It was on lap 45 that Button finally made a move on the Finn. He went around the outside of Turn 12, with the cars being so close to each other without ever touching. Button was now up to fifth, having started in 12th and fallen as far as 16th on the opening lap.
On lap 47, Vettel closed the gap to the leader down to 1.2s. Hamilton was unable to make use of the free air to stretch a gap out to the German. Vettel was refusing to fall away. Brundle believed that Hamilton could have been conserving fuel, but he said “it’s like they’ve swapped cars!”
At the back of the points scoring places, Hulkenberg was still fending off Senna for eighth. Maldonado was right behind the both of them in 10th. The Venezuelan passed Senna rather aggressively at Turn One on lap 52. They banged wheels but both cars were okay, much to the relief of the Williams pit wall.
Now that Button was ahead of Raikkonen, he set his sights on Massa in the battle for fourth. But the Ferrari was 5s ahead with only a few laps remaining. It was looking like he was going to have to settle for fifth place instead. Massa then went quickest on the antepenultimate lap to all but confirm the position for Ferrari.
Croft then turned weatherman, as F1 started to look ahead to the season finale in Brazil. He reported that rain was forecast for Sao Paulo the next weekend. That was the destination for the title decider.
Hamilton eased his McLaren home to take victory in America for the second consecutive time — the first coming in Indianapolis in 2007.
Vettel came home in second, with Alonso taking third from roughly 35s behind. The Spaniard was simply in a race of his own out there, but he only managed to drop three points to the much quicker Red Bull.
Hulkenberg held on to eighth ahead of the two Williams drivers. Senna took 10th place in what was the final points scoring finish of his F1 career.
The final standings were as follows
Drivers Championship Round 19 (Top Five)
The second place finish for Vettel meant his championship lead was now back to 13 points.
But it also meant that Red Bull were crowned Constructors champions for the third consecutive time. Red Bull became the first team to ever win their first three titles all in a row.
With only one race to go, Vettel needed a fourth place finish in Brazil to secure a third Drivers championship, regardless of what Alonso achieved.
Raikkonen’s result also ensured he finished the season in third place. Nobody tends to remember the guy in third, but that was a great achievement for someone who took two years away from the sport, and in a car that finished fourth in the Constructors championship.
All eyes were firmly on Brazil. Vettel had the obvious advantage, but Interlagos’ history of chaotic title deciders indicated it wasn’t going to be easy for the German.
Post-Race
“That was amazing guys, that was wicked. Thank you so much. Fantastic pit stop, great job all weekend. We definitely deserved that one guys, thank you,” said a jubilant Hamilton over the radio.
He retired from the lead in both Singapore and Abu Dhabi, but this time there were no issues. He fought hard for the win, but he took it in style.
Vettel refused to give up on the pursuit of the McLaren. He set the fastest lap of the race and closed the gap between them to only .675s at the chequered flag.
“They’ve just become the Constructors champions for the third consecutive time — an immense achievement — and they’re not jumping up and down, are they?” said Brundle.
The job wasn’t finished there, though. There was still the fight for the Drivers crown and the team remained focused on that task before they could truly celebrate their team effort.
“I wasn’t too happy to send a nice big invitation to Lewis [Hamilton] when I had to go through [Narain] Karthikeyan [of HRT],” said Vettel.
“He was right behind in the DRS zone. He took that opportunity, fair enough, down the straight and he passed me. I tried to defend but I knew he would have so much more speed. I was obviously not too happy.
“Lewis had one chance and he took it. After that I tried to stay with him but there wasn’t much between us.”
For Alonso, this was his 12th podium of the season. He hadn’t won since Germany, but he was on the podium for seven of the last 10 Grands Prix, with only one non-top three finish in a race he completed. His consistency was king.
“We know that our championship [hopes stay] alive maybe thanks to the first laps,” said the Ferrari driver
“We are always qualifying around seventh or eighth and we finish the first lap in first three or four positions, and after that the race becomes easier.
“Today we knew there was a good chance [to] try to overtake people in the first corner. If we are in the leading group we can always keep the pace. Today [it] was not possible to keep the pace with these two guys. This podium is like a victory for us.”
Driver in Focus
This was the 21st and final race victory of Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren career. As of the time of writing, the Briton currently sits on 95 race wins and he will no doubt go on to add to that total in 2021 and beyond.
The switch to Mercedes was controversial at the time. Jake Humphrey asked the, now seven time, World Champion at Abu Dhabi whether he regretted the decision. He had just earned pole, while his new team were toiling away outside of the points.
However, Hamilton was firm that he believed he made the right decision.
Obviously now we can look back on that and know he was vindicated several times over, but it also shows how quickly things can change in F1.
McLaren were never really the same without Hamilton.
They come into the 2021 season with a strong lineup and a promising future, but the road to that point was long and arduous.
Meanwhile, Hamilton goes into the new season the heavy favourite for an eighth world championship.
Hamilton will no doubt be most remembered for his record breaking stint at Mercedes, but his time with McLaren was just as important.
He broke onto the scene in 2007 and immediately made a name for himself. He was up against the two time World Champion in Alonso and he refused to play second fiddle to the Spaniard.
Everything went sour that season, with controversy surrounding the team from all angles. Hamilton lost the championship by a single point, but he came back in 2008 and claimed his first title.
The expectation was that it was going to be the first of many for the Briton with McLaren. And while they earned wins, poles and podiums, they never put it all together for another championship car.
The 2012 season was frustrating for Hamilton. The McLaren was clearly quick and very competitive.
But two race wins were snatched from him thanks to reliability issues. A fuel problem cost him a pole position in Spain and tyre wear cost him a podium in Valencia. Pit stop problems also plagued the opening number of races of the season.
McLaren promised so much but never quite delivered. That frustration made the desire to switch teams more obvious. While Mercedes struggled for the second half of the 2012 season, there were still signs of progress.
The risk was worth it, and ultimately it paid off in spades.
Race Verdict
This was a fantastic first edition of the new US Grand Prix. The on-track action was all over the place in the most entertaining sense.
The battle for the lead was perhaps the most thrilling of the season. Hamilton’s pursuit of Vettel was intense, dramatic and had big repercussions going into the final race of the season.
Alonso’s race was the only quiet one of the entire top 10. He vindicated Ferrari’s controversial decision to give Massa a five place grid penalty by launching off the line superbly.
He then positioned the car at Turn One so intelligently to take fourth from Schumacher. Once Webber’s race ended prematurely, Alonso had very little else to do.
The fight for places fourth through 10th were also great. This was a highly entertaining debut for the track. The sport had been away from the United States since 2007, but this was a welcome return.
Result: 5/5
Next up: BRAZIL — THE TITLE DECIDER
Previous entries in the series can be found here
Part 18: India
Part 19: Abu Dhabi
Next week sees the finale to the 2012 Retrospective series. The final two parts will conclude with a look back on the last race of the season in Brazil, as well as an overall review of the season, which will also look at what happened in the immediate aftermath of the season.
Until then, thank you for reading and I hope you’ve enjoyed the series so far. Have a great weekend!