The season so far
If you’ve been living on Mars or perhaps the Outer Hebrides since March, here is my handy guide to how the 2012 season has panned out so far.
Australia
Mclaren dominant, Button led from the front, drive of the day from Pastor Maldonado who was 5th until a last lap crash.
Malaysia
Alonso wins in a rain soaked Sepang, 21 year old Mexican Sergio Perez an impressive second, Button crashed into a HRT , Hamilton gets his second pole position of the season and finishes 3rd.
China
Rosberg wins an entertaining GP by 22 seconds, his Mercedes team mate, Michael Schumacher was also on the pace but had to retire after an error from his pit crew. Vettel qualified 11th and worked his way up to 5th , Button and Hamilton were 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Bahrain
There was doubt that this race would even go ahead due to the unstable political position of the country, these doubts were compounded when the Force India team were attacked by petrol bombs. The Red Bulls of Vettel and Webber looked strong while the McLaren’s were way off the pace ; tyre strategy looks to be even more crucial than ever this season. Vettel wins and Lotus gain a double podium with Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean coming 2nd and 3rd . Schumacher hauled himself up from 10th to 22nd and the Williams team see a double retirement after a double points finish in China.
Spain
Lewis Hamilton was at the centre of yet more controversy as his pole sitting car was moved to the back of the grid after it was found to not have enough fuel in . Pastor Maldanardo wins on Frank Williams 70th Birthday. Alonso 2nd at his home Grand Prix, the Lotus’s of Raikkonen and Grosjean finished 3rd and 4th. So far ,5 races 5 different winners.
Monaco
Michael Schumacher grabs pole but gets a 5 place grid penalty . Webber wins, being pushed all the way by Rosberg ,Mark Webber backgflips into the Red Bull pool in celebration – a 3rd victory here in 3 years for Red Bull.
Canada
Hamilton makes it 7 winners in 7 in what is becoming the best start to an F1 season in living memory. Grosjean takes 2nd with Perez climbing from 15th to clinch 3rd and the drive of the day .3 points separate the top 3 drivers .
Lewis Hamilton 88 Fernando Alonso 86 Sebastian Vettel 85
Valencia
Alonso wins from 11th after a cut and thrust Grand Prix in the Mediterranean , multiple crashes and punctures provided the afternoons drama , Pastor Maldanardo ended up T boning Lewis Hamilton in the penultimate lap after being forced almost of the track by the McLaren driver. Kimi Raikkonen 2nd and Schumacher 3rd after starting 12th.
Fernando Alonso 111 Mark Webber 91 Lewis Hamilton 88
Silverstone
It was a rain addled weekend as Ferrari and Red Bull shared the spoils on the podium ( Webber , Alonso , Vettel) . with the Lotus Renault of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean scoring a solid 5th and 6th position, Mclaren’s lack of pace was evident as Button and Hamilton sunk to 8th and 10th respectively.
Fernando Alonso 129 Mark Webber 116 Sebastian Vettel 100
German Grand Prix
Alonso takes his 3rd victory of the season with Vettel coming second and a rejuvenated Jensen Button taking 3rd ( later promoted to 2nd ) after Sebastian Vettel was penalised for being off the Circuit during an overtaking manoeuvre while passing Jenson Button . Lewis Hamilton was forced to retire after gearbox damage and veteran Michael Schumacher grabbed the fastest lap of the day completing a 1.18 725 lap on his home circuit.
Fernando Alonso 154 Mark Webber 120 Sebastian Vettel 110
Hungarian Grand prix
Hamilton gains his second victory of the season after retiring from his 100th race in Germany, the Brit held of challenges from both Lotus drivers to take victory at the Hungororing . Alonso finished 5th but stretched his championship lead to 40 points after vettel could only manage 8th
Fernando Alonso- 164 MarkWebber 124 Sebastian Vettel -110
Belgian Grand Prix
The first race back after the mid season break went off with a bang as Romain Grosjean caused a huge shunt at the first corner of the Spa circuit leaving Hamilton and Alonso both out of the race ( the Frenchman was later banned for one race and fined €50,000 after being found to have caused 7 first lap collisions in 12 races .) There was also a memorable 4 way duel for the final podium position between Schumacher, Raikkonen , Hulkenburg and Webber. Jenson Button qualified on pole for the first time in 5o races and led from the front, while World Champion Sebastian Vettel made his way from 10th on the grid to 2nd .
Fernando Alonso-164 Sebastian Vettel -140 Mark Webber 132
Italian Grand Prix
Hamilton led from the front in an exciting affair in Monza, moving into second in the Championship in the process, Sergio Perez was an impressive 2nd after qualifying 12th for Sauber team that have come a long way this year . Sebastian’ Vettels 2nd alternator failure of the weekend put him out of contention and dropped him out of the Championships top 3. Tyre choices were the words on everyones lips this weekend, as smart tactics from Perez enabled him to switch to the faster medium tyres in the last six laps of the race.
Fernando Alonso 179 Lewis Hamilton 121 Kimi Raikkonen 141
Singapore grand prix
World champion Sebastian Vettel dominated the season’s only night race from start to finish in what is was also the final street race of the season. Lewis Hamilton’s gearbox failure realistically ended his chances of a second world title, Button was second and Alonso third, followed by a very impressive 4th position by scot Paul Di Resta , who is tipped to move to McLaren next season . It was another consistent performance from the Lotus team claiming 6th and 7th positions and cementing themselves as the fourth team in Formula 1.
Fernando Alonso- 194 Sebastian Vettel -165 Kimi Raikkonen- 149
Japanese Grand Prix
Michael Schumacher announced his retirement for the second time at the beginning of the weekend, the 43 year who has won two world titles at Suzuka could only finish 11th. It was a dream day for Red Bull as Vettel romped to victory from pole closing the gap on Alonso to just 4 points. The Ferrari driver was forced to retire after the first lap due to a puncture, his teammate Felipe Massa finished 2nd. Suaber’s Kamui Kobayahsi became the only the third Japanese driver to achieve a podium place, his victory was even sweeter as it came in front of his home fans.
Front of the Grid was created by Freelance Journalist Chris Allen. it aims to provide cutting edge news and opinion on the latest and greats issues in Formula 1 