Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

2012 German Grand Prix

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Date
  
22 July 2012

Course length
  
4.574 km (2.842 mi)

2012 German Grand Prix

Official name
  
Formula 1 Großer Preis Santander von Deutschland 2012

Location
  
Hockenheimring, Hockenheim, Germany

Course
  
Permanent racing facility

Distance
  
67 laps, 306.458 km (190.433 mi)

The 2012 German Grand Prix, formally the Formula 1 Großer Preis Santander von Deutschland, was a Formula One motor race that took place on 22 July 2012 as the tenth round of the 2012 season. After being held at the Nürburgring in 2011, the race returned to the Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg, making the 2012 race the thirty-third time the circuit hosted the German Grand Prix, and the eighth time the shortened circuit hosted the race since its 2002 redesign.

Contents

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso started the 67-lap race from pole position and won the race.

This race marks Lewis Hamilton's 100th race.

Background

As there was no race at Hockenheim in 2011, 2012 is the first year that the drag reduction system (DRS) and Pirelli tyres featured at the circuit. The DRS detection zone for the race was located at turn four, with the activation zone located 260 metres (850 ft) further down the road, so that it could be used on the approach to the hairpin.

Tyre supplier Pirelli chose to run with the most commonly run tyre combination of the year to date, and brought its white-banded medium compound tyre as the harder "prime" tyre and the yellow-banded soft compound tyre as the softer "option" tyre to the Hockenheim circuit.

Driver penalties

Romain Grosjean took a five-place grid penalty after his team discovered a terminal issue in his gearbox. Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber were also given five-place penalties for gearbox changes. Sergio Pérez was given a five-place grid penalty for impeding Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen in the second qualifying session.

Driver changes

Dani Clos took over Narain Karthikeyan's HRT during the first free practice session. Jules Bianchi replaced Paul di Resta at Force India, while Valtteri Bottas once again drove Bruno Senna's Williams for the same session.

Race

The conditions on the grid were dry and sunny before the race; the air temperature ranged between 20–21 °C (68–70 °F) and the track temperature was between 30–32 °C (86–90 °F).

Qualifying

Notes:

^1 — Romain Grosjean, Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber were each demoted five places as a penalty for changing their gearboxes before the race. ^2 — Sergio Pérez was demoted five places as a penalty for impeding Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen in the second qualifying session.

Race

Notes:

^1 — Sebastian Vettel was given a 20 second post-race drive-through penalty for an illegal overtaking manoeuvre on Jenson Button on lap 66, dropping him from second to fifth.

Championship standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
  • References

    2012 German Grand Prix Wikipedia