Japan 2012 - Race results - An easy victory for Vettel and a DNF for Alonso closes the championship up
Published by Christine
It wasn't a race to write home about, but there were moments that added to the overall story of the 2012 season. There were at least three first lap incidents which mixed things up, but Sebastian Vettel cruised to victory, with Felipe Massa comfortably in second place behind him. The battle for the final spot on the podium was on until the last few laps, with Button and Kobayashi both desperate to finish third.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | Stops |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing | 1:35.774 | Lap 52 |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing | 1:28:56.242 | 2 |
| 2 | Felipe Massa | Scuderia Ferrari | +20.6 | 2 |
| 3 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber F1 Team | +24.5 | 2 |
| 4 | Jenson Button | Vodafone McLaren Mercedes | +25.0 | 2 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Vodafone McLaren Mercedes | +46.4 | 2 |
| 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus F1 Team | +50.4 | 2 |
| 7 | Nico Hülkenberg | Sahara Force India F1 Team | +51.1 | 2 |
| 8 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams F1 Team | +52.3 | 2 |
| 9 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing | +54.6 | 2 |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | Scuderia Toro Rosso | +66.9 | 2 |
| 11 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | +67.7 | 2 |
| 12 | Paul di Resta | Sahara Force India F1 Team | +83.4 | 2 |
| 13 | Jean-Éric Vergne | Scuderia Toro Rosso | +88.6 | 2 |
| 14 | Bruno Senna | Williams F1 Team | +88.7 | 4 |
| 15 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham F1 Team | +1 lap | 2 |
| 16 | Timo Glock | Marussia F1 Team | +1 lap | 2 |
| 17 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham F1 Team | +1 lap | 3 |
| 18 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT Formula 1 Team | +1 lap | 2 |
| 19 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus F1 Team | +2 laps | 4 |
| DNF | Charles Pic | Marussia F1 Team | Lap 39 | 3 |
| DNF | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT Formula 1 Team | Lap 34 | 2 |
| DNF | Sergio Pérez | Sauber F1 Team | Lap 19 | 1 |
| DNF | Fernando Alonso | Scuderia Ferrari | Lap 1 | 0 |
| DNF | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | Lap 1 | 0 |
