When you think of the Brazilian Grand Prix you think of drama. Of crashes, clashes and intense on track (and off track - Verstappen and Ocon circa 2018) battles. It really is one of the highlights of the Formula One season. And, with the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix just around the corner, let's rewind ten years ago to 2012 and remind ourselves of one of the greatest Brazilian Grand Prixs in motorsport history.
Going into this particular race weekend, there was one talking point and that was of the championship battle between then Red Bull driver ; Sebastian Vettel, and then Ferrari driver; Fernando Alonso. Vettel led Alonso by thirteen points and with the race being the last in the season, only one would come away victorious. Things were about to get interesting.
Moments before the race start, the rain began to fall. These were the conditions Alonso and Ferrari were hoping for. Despite that, everyone started on slicks. The day before, Alonso had qualified in 8th, Vettel in 4th. Lewis Hamilton was on pole. His last driving for McLaren.
The first few laps were, somewhat, dramatic thanks to the light rain that had fallen. Vettel had a poor start, whereas Alonso fared better. But things went from bad to worse for Vettel relatively quickly when he clashed with Bruno Senna at turn four, damaging his left side pod in the process. Luckily, he managed to carry on, albeit in 22nd place.
Further up the field, on lap two, Williams driver, Pastor Maldonado, hit the tyre barrier at the exit of turn three resulting in his retirement, making it a double DNF for the team after Senna's contact with Vettel the lap before.
After the drama of the opening laps, the rain began to fall once again, with the majority of drivers pitting for intermediate tyres. Two drivers, Jenson Button and Nico Hulkenberg, stayed out on slicks, a decision that proved to be the correct one after the rain lifted almost immediately and those who boxed for inters were back in the pits switching to slicks.
However, after a couple of safety car periods, including one to retrieve pole sitter Hamilton's car due a clash with Hulkenberg, the rain returned for a Vettel, who despite damage from lap one, was making progress after spending time at the back of the field. He was the first to dive into the pits with his Red Bull team unaware of his impending arrival. A problem with the radio was the cause of this and resulted in a long delay for the German as he got his intermediates refitted to the car.
Elsewhere, other championship contender; Alonso, was also making progress thanks to the help from his teammate; Felipe Massa and a well timed pit stop from the Ferrari team which moved the Spaniard into second place. But, after his own atrocious pit stop, Vettel was on the charge once again. A move on Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher, who was about to retire from Formula One for a second time, would move Vettel into sixth. A position which would be sufficient enough to win the championship.
With just a few laps to go, Paul di Resta crashed on the start/finish straight bringing out yet another safety car which eventually ended the race. Jenson Button won for McLaren with both Ferrari drivers, Alonso and Massa, completing the podium. This was to be Button's last win in Formula One and McLaren's until 2021 when Daniel Ricciardo won the Italian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel was the one who took the championship win by three points ahead of Fernando Alonso.
But that wasn't all. Down at the back of the grid, Vitaly Petrov got Caterham ahead of Marussia in the championship standings with an 11th place finish. A move that was extremely important for a small team like theirs. Kimi Raikkonen's race was also, somewhat, interesting after trying to use an escape road that happened to be a dead end. And, then there was Schumacher who later admitted that he gave up his sixth position purposely in order to help Vettel reclaim the championship crown.
It should also be noted that this race marked the final Formula One races for Bruno Senna, Vitaly Petrov, Timo Glock, Pedro De la Rosa and Narain Karthikeyan. The HRT Formula One team also folded after this race due to financial issues. They never scored a single point in F1.
Afterwards, the "rollercoaster" race that was the 2012 Brazil GP became infamous in the world of motorsport. Ex-F1 champions; Niki Lauda and Nelson Piquet commentated saying they'd never seen a race quite like it. And, thanks to over 145 overtakes, it was breaking records.
Vettel, who had just become the youngest triple World Champion, noted that the race was his "toughest race ever." Whereas, Alonso was adamant that he lost the championship before Brazil in what was, in his own words, "the best season of my career." Contrast was also made between both drivers with the media commenting on Alonso's "grace" and Vettel's accusation of his competition's "dirty tricks."
However, the controversy didn't end there. Ferrari were under the impression that Vettel didn't slow for yellow flags. They never appealed the result.
Charles Pic, in his last race for the Marussia team, was accused by his own team of helping Caterham overtake them in the championship standings. Pic would be racing for Caterham in 2013.
Also, six years later in 2018, Red Bull team principle; Christian Horner, revealed that he felt that Mark Webber, who was driving for the team at the time and was Vettel's teammate, was responsible for Vettel's poor start in that race after he "pushed" the German towards the wall at the first corner. Webber left the team and retired from Formula One at the end of the 2013 season.
So, there we have it. Thanks to the drama, inconsistent weather and controversy, I am convinced that not only was this the best Brazilian GP ever, but it was retrospectively one of the best Formula One races ever. If you've yet to see it, I suggest that you take some time out and do so. This race is the complete definition of motorsport and is a subtle reminder as to why we love this sport as much as we do.
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