2012 USA Grand Prix F1 Race Results

Lewis Hamilton wins the first US F1 GP in Austin

Event: United States Grand Prix
Track: Circuit of The Americas

Weather: Dry
Track temperature: 32°C
Air temperature: 24°C
Wind speed: 4.2 mps
Wind direction: South
Humidity: 26%
Air Pressure: 1004.5 mBar

Weather: dry, warm, sunny

Lewis HAMILTON won his 21st F1 World Championship race at the inaugural 2012 United States F1 GP, F1s first race at the new Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. The McLaren driver started second and won by 0.675 seconds from Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull. It was McLarens 177th F1 win.

Vettel pole, F1s return to America at COTA

Circuit of the Americas on 18 November 2012 hosted F1s return to the United States after a five-year absence, on a new Hermann Tilke design inspired by classic circuits with a first-corner uphill braking zone, an S-sequence modelled on Silverstones Maggots-Becketts and a long back straight. Vettel took pole with a 1:35.657 lap, Hamilton second by 0.109 for McLaren, Webber third for Red Bull, Grosjean fourth for Lotus.

Race day: Hamilton hunts down Vettel with 14 laps to go

Vettel led early over 56 laps, but Hamilton stalked him throughout on the McLaren MP4-27s superior long-run pace. On lap 42, Hamilton drew alongside on the DRS zone from Turn 12 and, after Vettel was baulked by lapping Karthikeyan, Hamilton was through and away. Alonso third for Ferrari after another solid recovery drive, Massa fourth, Button fifth for McLaren, Raikkonen sixth for Lotus, Grosjean seventh, Hulkenberg eighth for Force India. Vettel set the fastest lap on lap 56 at 1:39.347.

Championship: Vettel 273, Alonso 260, Raikkonen 207

Vettels lead was 13 points going into the finale. Brazil at Interlagos in a week would decide the championship.

F1 classification 2012 USA GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	4	LewisHamilton	McLaren	McLaren MP4/27Mercedes FO 108	2	56	15	1:35:55.269	25
2	1	SebastianVettel	Red Bull	Red Bull RB8Renault RS27	1	56	41	1:35:55.944+0.675s	18
3	5	FernandoAlonso	Ferrari	Ferrari F2012Ferrari 056	7	56		1:36:34.498+39.229s	15
4	6	FelipeMassa	Ferrari	Ferrari F2012Ferrari 056	11	56		1:36:41.282+46.013s	12
5	3	JensonButton	McLaren	McLaren MP4/27Mercedes FO 108	12	56		1:36:51.701+56.432s	10
6	9	KimiRäikkönen	Lotus F1	Lotus E20Renault RS27	4	56		1:36:59.694+1:04.425	8
7	10	RomainGrosjean	Lotus F1	Lotus E20Renault RS27	8	56		1:37:05.582+1:10.313	6
8	12	NicoHülkenberg	Force India	Force India VJM05Mercedes FO 108	6	56		1:37:09.061+1:13.792	4
9	18	PastorMaldonado	Williams	Williams FW34Renault RS27	9	56		1:37:09.794+1:14.525	2
10	19	BrunoSenna	Williams	Williams FW34Renault RS27	10	56		1:37:10.402+1:15.133	1
11	15	SergioPérez	Sauber	Sauber C31Ferrari 056	15	56		1:37:19.610+1:24.341
12	16	DanielRicciardo	Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR7Ferrari 056	18	56		1:37:20.140+1:24.871
13	8	NicoRosberg	Mercedes	Mercedes W03Mercedes FO 108	17	56		1:37:20.779+1:25.510
14	14	KamuiKobayashi	Sauber	Sauber C31Ferrari 056	16	55		1:36:07.729+12.460s
15	11	Pauldi Resta	Force India	Force India VJM05Mercedes FO 108	13	55		1:36:17.429+22.160s
16	7	MichaelSchumacher	Mercedes	Mercedes W03Mercedes FO 108	5	55		1:36:18.617+23.348s
17	21	VitalyPetrov	Caterham	Caterham CT01Renault RS27	21	55		1:37:22.425+1:27.156
18	20	HeikkiKovalainen	Caterham	Caterham CT01Renault RS27	22	55		1:37:22.425+1:27.156
19	24	TimoGlock	Manor	Marussia MR01Cosworth CA2010	19	55		1:37:23.443+1:28.174
20	25	CharlesPic	Manor	Marussia MR01Cosworth CA2010	20	54		1:36:11.626+16.357s
21	22	Pedrode la Rosa	HRT	HRT F112 Cosworth CA2010	23	54		1:37:07.564+1:12.295
22	23	NarainKarthikeyan	HRT	HRT F112 Cosworth CA2010	24	54		1:37:19.443+1:24.174
DNF	2	MarkWebber	Red Bull	Red Bull RB8Renault RS27	3	16		Alternator
DNF	17	Jean-EricVergne	Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR7Ferrari 056	14	14		Suspension

Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB8 Renault, 1:39.347 min on lap 56
Highest speed: 320 km/h by Jean-Eric Vergne in his Toro Rosso STR7 Ferrari

✅ Check out 2012 F1 Championship Standings
✅ Check out 2012 F1 Teams & Drivers

✅ Check out All Time F1 Drivers Rankings
✅ Check out All Time F1 Driver Records
✅ Check out All Time F1 Teams Rankings

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

Related topics