Jenson Button was the eventual winner of the chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix, but it was Sebastian Vettel who secured his third drivers’ championship to join the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher as three-time consecutive winners.
Fernando Alonso couldn’t do enough to grab the necessary points to steal the crown, but finished a brilliant second after fighting through the field.
The race will be remembered as a classic thanks to what was one of the most eventful opening few laps in Formula One history.
Vettel had a disastrous start to drop to last after a turn four spin following contact with Bruno Senna. However the German mastered the mixed conditions to climb to sixth – which was just enough to guarantee him the title.
Button, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg all led the race at times, but a clash between the latter two left Hamilton with broken front suspension and left the German down in P5.
The weather certainly played its part in the race with on/off showers throughout resulting in most drivers having to stop numerous times.
The chaos helped Vitaly Petrov to finish 11th for Caterham which was enough to secure them 10th in the Constructors’ Championship.
For a full race report, check out our live commentary here.
2012 Brazilian GP Results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Gap | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | J. Button | McLaren | 25 | |
| 02. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +2.7 | 18 |
| 03. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +3.6 | 15 |
| 04. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +3.9 | 12 |
| 05. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | +4.9 | 10 |
| 06. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +5.7 | 8 |
| 07. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | +9.4 | 6 |
| 08. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | +11.9 | 4 |
| 09. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | +28.6 | 2 |
| 10. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | +31.2 | 1 |
| 11. | V. Petrov | Caterham | +1 lap | |
| 12. | C. Pic | Marussia | +1 lap | |
| 13. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | +1 lap | |
| 14. | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | +1 lap | |
| 15. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +1 lap | |
| 16. | T. Glock | Marussia | +1 lap | |
| 17. | P. de la Rosa | HRT | +2 laps | |
| 18. | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | +2 laps | |
| 19. | P. di Resta | Force India | +3 laps | |
| 20. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +17 laps | |
| 21. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | +66 laps | |
| 22. | P. Maldonado | Williams | +70 laps | |
| 23. | B. Senna | Williams | ||
| 24. | S. Perez | Sauber |
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