The 2012 Brazilian GP: A season finale full of twists and turns
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The Fernando Alonso 'stare' following the Brazilian GP (L) | Sebastian Vettel celebrates his third world championship (Image through IMAGO / Motorsport Images)
The Brazilian GP always delivers. It’s served as home to many thrilling season finales – 2007, where Kimi Raikkonen triumphed over Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton by one point. 2008, where Lewis Hamilton was this time on the right side of a one-point gap over Felipe Massa. And 2012 – where Alonso and Sebastian Vettel duked it out once again, as it was in Abu Dhabi in 2010.
The Ferrari car that year, which was dubbed the Ferrari F2012 – was not all that great, especially in qualifying. But it was certainly very reliable, and Fernando Alonso extracted the best from it. Even Mark Webber, Vettel’s then-teammate, thinks that Alonso did not put a ‘wheel wrong’ in 2012. But unfortunately, it was not enough.
The last race Alonso won in 2012 was the German Grand Prix, which was held before the summer break. At that point in time, he had 154 points and led the championship with a 34-point gap to Webber. Vettel, who eventually won the championship, was 44 points behind Alonso. After the summer break, Alonso stood on the podium for every race that he finished, but Vettel won four races from Singapore to India.
Going into the last race of the season, Vettel held a 13-point lead over Alonso. The two championship protagonists started the Brazilian GP fourth and seventh respectively. Alonso had originally qualified 8th but a penalty for Pastor Maldonado promoted him up one place. And so, the gauntlet was set for the Brazilian GP – which threw a spanner into the works in the first lap itself.
At the start of the race, Vettel did not get away all that well, dropping down to 7th, while Alonso moved up two places to fifth. Then on turn four, disaster struck for the German driver.
Niki Lauda had never seen a race like the 2012 Brazilian GP
Going into the ‘Descida da Lago’ Sebastian Vettel collided with Bruno Senna, who subsequently retired from the race, along with Sergio Perez. Vettel was able to carry on – but he was dead last. By the end of the first lap, Fernando Alonso had slipped up into P3 – which was at a minimum what he needed to do in the race. If Vettel had not been able to continue or did not score points, Alonso would have won.
But then the German went on a charge. By lap 8, he was already in P8, which would be enough to seal the championship if Alonso finished third. But Alonso had also locked up into turn 1 on lap 5, which meant he had conceded third to Nico Hulkenberg. There was some rain, and so the championship contenders dived into the pits on lap 19 (Alonso) and 20 (Vettel) when they were fourth and fifth respectively.
But the rain got lighter. Hulkenberg and Jenson Button did not pit, and then Hulk went even further and overtook Button to lead a Grand Prix for the first time in his career. By lap 23, they were quite a way clear of the rest of the field. Meanwhile, Alonso and Vettel were running fourth and fifth again, when the safety car came out because of debris on the track.
On lap 55, Vettel was in P10, and with the rain getting heavier (again), he dove into the pits again, but there was one final curveball. There was a problem with his radio, and his team were not ready to receive him, which resulted in a long delay, and he was back down to P12. By lap 64, he recovered to P6, where he finished. The race itself finished under a safety car, with Jenson Button taking his final victory in F1.
Fernando Alonso finished second, with his teammate Felipe Massa on the podium in his home race. Unfortunately for him, this was not enough to take the championship, and so, Sebastian Vettel became the world champion for the third time in a row. The race was widely acclaimed, with Niki Lauda even saying that he’s ‘never experienced a race’ like this before.
The ‘Alonso stare’ following the Brazilian GP explained
The ‘Alonso stare’ following the race is a widely circulated image, but contrary to what is often assumed, it wasn’t from disappointment. Instead, as the Spaniard told F1 Racing Magazine: “I got out of my car and I was looking at Felipe [Massa], who for some reason could not stop crying.”
Fernando Alonso just wanted to give Massa a hug: “He was with his mechanics and wife, so I was standing there waiting for him, seeing if he was okay. The story was that I was in shock or sad – no I didn’t care that much. I wanted to give Felipe a hug.”
This was the final time that Alonso ever competed for the championship – after 2012, he simply never had the package. Will he finally win the long-awaited third world championship with Aston Martin? He still has the fire, and as can be seen this year, the skill is definitely still there. It all depends on whether the package will be good enough.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)