I would love to know how you would rank your most memorable 2012 moments, so please feel free to let me know in the comments box below.
20. London, Baby!
Bernie Ecclestone has made no secret of his desire for a London Grand Prix, and this June he unveiled provisional plans for a race which could take place as soon as the next few years.
He is even willing to inject £35million into the project, which would take a street circuit format around the centre of London, passing such iconic monuments as Nelson's Column the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. However, you may not be able to see much of these beautiful landmarks, as the race would likely take place at night.
It is difficult to say whether the plans will come to fruition, as Silverstone is currently in a long term contract to host the British Grand Prix, which would lead to two UK-based events per year.
19. Rosberg's 'Flying' Lap
Abu Dhabi played host to one of the most exhilarating races of the season, seeing plenty of action on its 55 laps, one of the first of which involved a spectacular crash, not completely dissimilar from that on the first lap of Spa this year. A steering failure in Narain Karthikeyan's HRT suddenly caused his car to slow on lap 9, leading to Nico Rosberg's Mercedes crashing into him and soaring across his head and into the barriers. Thankfully both drivers walked away from the terrifying crash unscathed.
18. Stetsons on the Podium
Its plans were announced in 2010, and this year the freshly constructed Circuit of the Americas was finally unveiled, with the Hermann Tilke designed track hosting the first United States Grand Prix in five years.
Sebastian Vettel led the race for its majority, but was eventually chased down and overtaken by Lewis Hamilton. The Red Bull driver stayed close to him for the rest of the race, but was unable to reclaim the position, leaving Hamilton the track's first ever winner. Fernando Alonso ensured the Drivers' Championship went to the wire as he kept his title hopes alive by finishing third, while Red Bull wrapped up the Constructors' Championship.
17. Typical British Weather
It is one of the most eagerly anticipated races on the F1 calendar, with thousands of fans camping out on Silverstone's surrounding fields, but this year's British Grand Prix soon turned into a soggy nightmare, to the point where spectators were advised to avoid driving to the track on the Saturday, prompting outrage from ticket holders.
By the time qualifying arrived, the circuit was flooded, with rain still beating down. Jenson Button was the first major casualty, failing to make it into Q2. However, this may have been a blessing in disguise, as the downpour increased during the second session. Havoc ensued, with cars constantly aquaplaning and sliding off-track, leading to a few near-crashes.
Standing water made it impossible to continue, and the session was red-flagged before the end. An hour and a half later, the rain began to subside and the water was cleared from the track, allowing qualifying to restart. Fernando Alonso took pole position in the closing moments, with Mark Webber in second. To the relief of the paddock, the rain was completely gone by race day, which remained dry, and was won by Webber.
16. Kobayashi Mows Down Mechanics
Kamui Kobayashi left viewers of the British Grand Prix stunned after entering his pit box too fast and hitting multiple Sauber mechanics with his car. Thankfully no-one was seriously injured, although three mechanics suffered minor cuts and bruises. An apologetic Kobayashi was later fined €25,000.
15. Potty-Mouth Podium
Kimi Raikkonen is no stranger to swearing on live TV (I'm thinking about his 2006 interview with Martin Brundle) so when he commented to David Coulthard that "last time you guys was giving me s**t because I didn't really smile enough" during an Abu Dhabi podium interview, nobody was overly surprised. However, a few minutes later, Sebastian Vettel surprisingly dropped the F-bomb, leaving an uncomfortable Coulthard to apologise to the viewers.
Teams were later warned about using such language in a note from the FIA, which told them "It is very much our collective responsibility to make sure drivers are aware such language has no place during media events".
14. Maria de Villota's Horror Crash
It was one of the saddest moments of the year when Maria de Villota's first test drive with Marussia took a disastrous turn at Duxford Airfield in July.
Following a straight-line test, mechanics approached the car to wheel it back to the garage, when she suddenly accelerated, crashing into a parked lorry, her helmet taking the brunt of the impact. After 15 motionless minutes, she finally moved her fingers, prompting relief. However, this relief was short lived, as the life-threatening extent of her injuries became clear.
Thankfully, her life was saved by hours of complicated surgery, but she sadly still lost her right eye in the process.
In October she bravely made her first public appearance since the accident, and revealed she could remember the entire incident.. She also told how she has lost much of her ability to smell or taste, as well as suffering frequent headaches, but said the crash had given her a whole new outlook on life.
It was removed in 2011 due to conflict in the country, but in 2012 the Bahrain Grand Prix was very much back on, despite concern from teams and drivers.
Protesters within the country fiercely opposed the race, informing Bernie Ecclestone that they would "do everything in [their] capacity to ensure the failure of the race". They tried their best to derail race plans, and in the weeks approaching the race numerous anti-F1 demonstrations were broken up police.
It was confirmed that the race was to go ahead regardless, with all teams willing to compete despite initial hesitation. However, the Porsche Supercup team MRS Racing chose to pull out of the Porsche Supercup support race over security concerns.
The weekend progressed fairly smoothly, apart from an incident in which a Force India hire car found itself in the middle of a petrol bombing attack. Thankfully nobody was injured, but two of the mechanics involved chose to fly home, shaken by the event and fearing for their safety.
12. Alternator Fail
Renault were left red faced after their engines suffered a total of four alternator failures during races across the 2012 season, as well as others during free practice, forcing them to run three different versions over the year in an attempt to fix the problem.
Following a safety car in Valencia, leader Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull slowed to a stop, ending his race. His frustration was evident, resulting in the now infamous glove-throw. Romain Grosjean's Lotus soon ground to a halt after suffering the same alternator failure. Vettel was once again affected when he was forced to pull over just five laps from the end of the Italian Grand Prix, while Red Bull were again hit by the same problem during the United States Grand Prix, this time affecting Mark Webber.
Going in to the last race, with a Drivers' Championship at stake, the team feared the unreliable alternator could be the end of Vettel's title hopes, and changed it to a third specification provided by Renault, able to breathe a sigh of relief when Vettel went on to with the Championship at Brazil without any nasty surprises from his car.
11. Auf Wiedersehen, Michael!
He retired once before, on the back of seven World Championship titles, but Michael Schumacher could not keep away from the world of Formula 1, returning to drive with Mercedes in 2010.
Unfortunately, the last three years have not been as successful as his previous years with Ferrari. With only one podium to his name since his return, the German decided once again to retire from the sport, announcing his intentions shortly after it was revealed that Lewis Hamilton will replace him in 2013.
10. Gearbox-gate
Let me set the scene: it is the penultimate race of the season. Sebastian Vettel leads Fernando Alonso by 10 points in the Championship, the freshly built Circuit of the Americas is hosting its first Grand Prix. The dirty, even-numbered side of the grid provides a distinct disadvantage to those who start the race on it. Vettel has qualified on pole, Fernando Alonso has qualified eighth, with his team mate Felipe Massa is in sixth...
Just hours before the race start, Ferrari, willing to try anything to keep Alonso's title hopes alive, broke the seal on Massa's gearbox in order to incur a penalty, moving the Spaniard on to the odd-numbered side. This sparked much controversy over sporting etiquette. Opinion remains firmly split, with some fans believing the move was devious, despite being within the rules, and others simply seeing a show of teamwork from Ferrari.
9. McLaren's Wheely Fast Pit Stop
They may have been criticised for a few botched tyre changes early in the season, but McLaren seriously upped their game later in the year, even setting a new world record for the fastest ever Formula 1 pit stop, replacing all four tyres on Jenson Button's car in just 2.31 seconds at the German Grand Prix.
And just in case that wasn't impressive enough, at the Indian Grand Prix the team managed a five wheel change on Lewis Hamilton's car - all four tyres and his steering wheel - in a mere 3.1 seconds.
8. 7 Races, 7 Winners
The first seven races of the 2012 season saw as many different drivers atop the podium. Among these winners were the usual suspects: Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Jenson Button. But there were another two names you may not have expected to find: Nico Rosberg and Pastor Maldonado, both of whom claimed their maiden F1 victory this season.
Rosberg's domination at the Chinese Grand Prix earned him pole position and victory in his Mercedes, while Maldonado inherited pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix after a lack of fuel in Lewis Hamilton's car sent the McLaren to the back of the grid. The Venezulean's win coincided with team owner Frank Williams 70th birthday but the team's celebrations were unfortunately short-lived after a fire broke out in the team's garage.
7. From Zero to Hero
6. Lewis Leaves McLaren
After Eddie Jordan made the surprising claim that Lewis Hamilton would defect to Mercedes in 2013, weeks of intense speculation surrounding the 2008 World Champion's future ensued. Would he stay with McLaren, the team who nurtured him from the age of 1,3 but whose recent form has been somewhat inconsistent, or would he make the risky move to Mercedes, a team which currently sits in just 5th place in the Constructors' Championship?
It was later confirmed he had signed a three-year deal with Mercedes, replacing the retiring Michael Schumacher, and in turn being replaced by Sergio Perez, in a move which shocked his legion of fans. His decision has been both questioned and praised, but only time will tell whether this was the right career move for the Briton.
5. Kimi Knows What To Do
Kimi Raikkonen has long been known for his hilarious comments (see 33 Classic Kimi Quotes), and the Iceman provided even more comedy at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix via his radio messages. After gaining the lead in the race, his engineer informed him "Ok, Kimi, next car behind you is Alonso, 5 seconds behind you, i will keep you updated on the gap, keep you updated on the pace", only to receive the blunt reply: "Leave me alone, I know what to do". Later in the same race his poor engineer got another ear-bashing after telling the Finn: "Ok Kimi we need to keep working all four tyres, need to keep working all four tyres". "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes im doing it all the time, you don't have to remind me every second," came the reply.
It appears Raikkonen did indeed know what he was doing, and held on to his lead at Abu Dhabi, eventually earning Lotus the win the fans were waiting for all season.
4. Maldonado's Shenanigans
The Maldonator, Crashtor Maldonado. These are the nicknames Pastor Maldonado has earned himself after his antics this year. He slammed his Williams into team mate Bruno Senna in Malaysia, Sergio Perez and Pedro de la Rosa in Monaco, Paul di Resta in Hungary and Perez once again at Silverstone.
However, the penultimate lap of the European Grand Prix in Valencia was the scene of Maldonado's most shocking collision. Lewis Hamilton was in third place, but with his tyres starting to fade he was under pressure from Maldonado. The Venezuelan caught up to the McLaren and tried to make his pass round the outside of his rival, but ran wide before ploughing into Hamilton, sending him into the wall and out of the race.
This moment also spawned some quality commentating from Ben Edwards on BBC, his disbelief and shock perfectly mirroring that of the viewers.
3. R.I.P. Prof.
He revolutionised safety in Formula 1, transforming it from a highly dangerous sport into one which has not seen a death since 1994. Sadly the much loved doctor, fondly known as "Prof", passed away this September at the age of 84. After twenty six years as the FIA Formula One Safety and Medical Delegate, head of the on-site medical team, and first responder at crashes, his popularity in the paddock was clear as tributes from important F1 figures and drivers past and present poured in.
A minute's silence was held on the grid of the Singapore Grand Prix to pay tribute to Watkins, with Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda attending to pay their respect.
2. An Unforgettable Race
19. Rosberg's 'Flying' Lap
Abu Dhabi played host to one of the most exhilarating races of the season, seeing plenty of action on its 55 laps, one of the first of which involved a spectacular crash, not completely dissimilar from that on the first lap of Spa this year. A steering failure in Narain Karthikeyan's HRT suddenly caused his car to slow on lap 9, leading to Nico Rosberg's Mercedes crashing into him and soaring across his head and into the barriers. Thankfully both drivers walked away from the terrifying crash unscathed.
18. Stetsons on the Podium
Its plans were announced in 2010, and this year the freshly constructed Circuit of the Americas was finally unveiled, with the Hermann Tilke designed track hosting the first United States Grand Prix in five years.
Sebastian Vettel led the race for its majority, but was eventually chased down and overtaken by Lewis Hamilton. The Red Bull driver stayed close to him for the rest of the race, but was unable to reclaim the position, leaving Hamilton the track's first ever winner. Fernando Alonso ensured the Drivers' Championship went to the wire as he kept his title hopes alive by finishing third, while Red Bull wrapped up the Constructors' Championship.
17. Typical British Weather
It is one of the most eagerly anticipated races on the F1 calendar, with thousands of fans camping out on Silverstone's surrounding fields, but this year's British Grand Prix soon turned into a soggy nightmare, to the point where spectators were advised to avoid driving to the track on the Saturday, prompting outrage from ticket holders.
By the time qualifying arrived, the circuit was flooded, with rain still beating down. Jenson Button was the first major casualty, failing to make it into Q2. However, this may have been a blessing in disguise, as the downpour increased during the second session. Havoc ensued, with cars constantly aquaplaning and sliding off-track, leading to a few near-crashes.
Standing water made it impossible to continue, and the session was red-flagged before the end. An hour and a half later, the rain began to subside and the water was cleared from the track, allowing qualifying to restart. Fernando Alonso took pole position in the closing moments, with Mark Webber in second. To the relief of the paddock, the rain was completely gone by race day, which remained dry, and was won by Webber.
16. Kobayashi Mows Down Mechanics
Kamui Kobayashi left viewers of the British Grand Prix stunned after entering his pit box too fast and hitting multiple Sauber mechanics with his car. Thankfully no-one was seriously injured, although three mechanics suffered minor cuts and bruises. An apologetic Kobayashi was later fined €25,000.
15. Potty-Mouth Podium
Kimi Raikkonen is no stranger to swearing on live TV (I'm thinking about his 2006 interview with Martin Brundle) so when he commented to David Coulthard that "last time you guys was giving me s**t because I didn't really smile enough" during an Abu Dhabi podium interview, nobody was overly surprised. However, a few minutes later, Sebastian Vettel surprisingly dropped the F-bomb, leaving an uncomfortable Coulthard to apologise to the viewers.
Teams were later warned about using such language in a note from the FIA, which told them "It is very much our collective responsibility to make sure drivers are aware such language has no place during media events".
14. Maria de Villota's Horror Crash
It was one of the saddest moments of the year when Maria de Villota's first test drive with Marussia took a disastrous turn at Duxford Airfield in July.
Following a straight-line test, mechanics approached the car to wheel it back to the garage, when she suddenly accelerated, crashing into a parked lorry, her helmet taking the brunt of the impact. After 15 motionless minutes, she finally moved her fingers, prompting relief. However, this relief was short lived, as the life-threatening extent of her injuries became clear.
Thankfully, her life was saved by hours of complicated surgery, but she sadly still lost her right eye in the process.
In October she bravely made her first public appearance since the accident, and revealed she could remember the entire incident.. She also told how she has lost much of her ability to smell or taste, as well as suffering frequent headaches, but said the crash had given her a whole new outlook on life.
13. Trouble in Bahrain
It was removed in 2011 due to conflict in the country, but in 2012 the Bahrain Grand Prix was very much back on, despite concern from teams and drivers.
Protesters within the country fiercely opposed the race, informing Bernie Ecclestone that they would "do everything in [their] capacity to ensure the failure of the race". They tried their best to derail race plans, and in the weeks approaching the race numerous anti-F1 demonstrations were broken up police.
It was confirmed that the race was to go ahead regardless, with all teams willing to compete despite initial hesitation. However, the Porsche Supercup team MRS Racing chose to pull out of the Porsche Supercup support race over security concerns.
The weekend progressed fairly smoothly, apart from an incident in which a Force India hire car found itself in the middle of a petrol bombing attack. Thankfully nobody was injured, but two of the mechanics involved chose to fly home, shaken by the event and fearing for their safety.
12. Alternator Fail
Renault were left red faced after their engines suffered a total of four alternator failures during races across the 2012 season, as well as others during free practice, forcing them to run three different versions over the year in an attempt to fix the problem.
Following a safety car in Valencia, leader Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull slowed to a stop, ending his race. His frustration was evident, resulting in the now infamous glove-throw. Romain Grosjean's Lotus soon ground to a halt after suffering the same alternator failure. Vettel was once again affected when he was forced to pull over just five laps from the end of the Italian Grand Prix, while Red Bull were again hit by the same problem during the United States Grand Prix, this time affecting Mark Webber.
Going in to the last race, with a Drivers' Championship at stake, the team feared the unreliable alternator could be the end of Vettel's title hopes, and changed it to a third specification provided by Renault, able to breathe a sigh of relief when Vettel went on to with the Championship at Brazil without any nasty surprises from his car.
11. Auf Wiedersehen, Michael!
He retired once before, on the back of seven World Championship titles, but Michael Schumacher could not keep away from the world of Formula 1, returning to drive with Mercedes in 2010.
Unfortunately, the last three years have not been as successful as his previous years with Ferrari. With only one podium to his name since his return, the German decided once again to retire from the sport, announcing his intentions shortly after it was revealed that Lewis Hamilton will replace him in 2013.
10. Gearbox-gate
Let me set the scene: it is the penultimate race of the season. Sebastian Vettel leads Fernando Alonso by 10 points in the Championship, the freshly built Circuit of the Americas is hosting its first Grand Prix. The dirty, even-numbered side of the grid provides a distinct disadvantage to those who start the race on it. Vettel has qualified on pole, Fernando Alonso has qualified eighth, with his team mate Felipe Massa is in sixth...
Just hours before the race start, Ferrari, willing to try anything to keep Alonso's title hopes alive, broke the seal on Massa's gearbox in order to incur a penalty, moving the Spaniard on to the odd-numbered side. This sparked much controversy over sporting etiquette. Opinion remains firmly split, with some fans believing the move was devious, despite being within the rules, and others simply seeing a show of teamwork from Ferrari.
9. McLaren's Wheely Fast Pit Stop
They may have been criticised for a few botched tyre changes early in the season, but McLaren seriously upped their game later in the year, even setting a new world record for the fastest ever Formula 1 pit stop, replacing all four tyres on Jenson Button's car in just 2.31 seconds at the German Grand Prix.
And just in case that wasn't impressive enough, at the Indian Grand Prix the team managed a five wheel change on Lewis Hamilton's car - all four tyres and his steering wheel - in a mere 3.1 seconds.
8. 7 Races, 7 Winners
Rosberg's domination at the Chinese Grand Prix earned him pole position and victory in his Mercedes, while Maldonado inherited pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix after a lack of fuel in Lewis Hamilton's car sent the McLaren to the back of the grid. The Venezulean's win coincided with team owner Frank Williams 70th birthday but the team's celebrations were unfortunately short-lived after a fire broke out in the team's garage.
7. From Zero to Hero
He qualified in third in Abu Dhabi, but with too little fuel in his car for a sample, Sebastian Vettel was left the choice of starting from the back of the grid or the pits. This was a disaster for Red Bull. With Vettel leading the Drivers' Championship by only 13 points from Fernando Alonso, every point was vital. The team finally opted for a pit lane start in order to allow them to investigate the fuel problem prior to the race.
He was forced to make an early pit stop after suffering a broken front wing, before working his way up to second place. It soon became obvious his soft tyres were unable to make it to the end of the race, meaning a second pit stop was necessary. This dropped him down the order, but he soon found his way into third, behind Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso.
6. Lewis Leaves McLaren
After Eddie Jordan made the surprising claim that Lewis Hamilton would defect to Mercedes in 2013, weeks of intense speculation surrounding the 2008 World Champion's future ensued. Would he stay with McLaren, the team who nurtured him from the age of 1,3 but whose recent form has been somewhat inconsistent, or would he make the risky move to Mercedes, a team which currently sits in just 5th place in the Constructors' Championship?
It was later confirmed he had signed a three-year deal with Mercedes, replacing the retiring Michael Schumacher, and in turn being replaced by Sergio Perez, in a move which shocked his legion of fans. His decision has been both questioned and praised, but only time will tell whether this was the right career move for the Briton.
5. Kimi Knows What To Do
Kimi Raikkonen has long been known for his hilarious comments (see 33 Classic Kimi Quotes), and the Iceman provided even more comedy at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix via his radio messages. After gaining the lead in the race, his engineer informed him "Ok, Kimi, next car behind you is Alonso, 5 seconds behind you, i will keep you updated on the gap, keep you updated on the pace", only to receive the blunt reply: "Leave me alone, I know what to do". Later in the same race his poor engineer got another ear-bashing after telling the Finn: "Ok Kimi we need to keep working all four tyres, need to keep working all four tyres". "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes im doing it all the time, you don't have to remind me every second," came the reply.
It appears Raikkonen did indeed know what he was doing, and held on to his lead at Abu Dhabi, eventually earning Lotus the win the fans were waiting for all season.
4. Maldonado's Shenanigans
The Maldonator, Crashtor Maldonado. These are the nicknames Pastor Maldonado has earned himself after his antics this year. He slammed his Williams into team mate Bruno Senna in Malaysia, Sergio Perez and Pedro de la Rosa in Monaco, Paul di Resta in Hungary and Perez once again at Silverstone.
However, the penultimate lap of the European Grand Prix in Valencia was the scene of Maldonado's most shocking collision. Lewis Hamilton was in third place, but with his tyres starting to fade he was under pressure from Maldonado. The Venezuelan caught up to the McLaren and tried to make his pass round the outside of his rival, but ran wide before ploughing into Hamilton, sending him into the wall and out of the race.
This moment also spawned some quality commentating from Ben Edwards on BBC, his disbelief and shock perfectly mirroring that of the viewers.
3. R.I.P. Prof.
He revolutionised safety in Formula 1, transforming it from a highly dangerous sport into one which has not seen a death since 1994. Sadly the much loved doctor, fondly known as "Prof", passed away this September at the age of 84. After twenty six years as the FIA Formula One Safety and Medical Delegate, head of the on-site medical team, and first responder at crashes, his popularity in the paddock was clear as tributes from important F1 figures and drivers past and present poured in.
A minute's silence was held on the grid of the Singapore Grand Prix to pay tribute to Watkins, with Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda attending to pay their respect.
2. An Unforgettable Race
The 2012 Belgian Grand Prix was one of the most exciting race of the season. Spa-Francorchamps was once again the setting against which an unforgettable race played out. It began with a jump-starting Pastor Maldonado, quickly followed by a heart-stopping crash wiping out Romain Grosjean, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez on the first corner. Grosjean later received a one race ban for his actions after contact with Hamilton's McLaren sent the Lotus flying over Alonso's head. Away from the first lap carnage, Jenson Button's maiden pole for McLaren turned into a race win, and Kimi Raikkonen pulled off an outstanding pass on Michael Schumacher into Eau Rouge.
1. Seb is World Champion//Brazilian Grand Prix
It started with a first lap accident between Bruno Senna and Sebastian Vettel which left the Championship leader in last place, facing the wrong direction in his now damaged car. His race looked doomed, but he turned it around, literally, and finished in sixth place, enough to secure his third World Championship title.
Nico Hulkenberg was the surprise race leader, looking set to take his first ever F1 win, but a collision with Lewis Hamilton ended the McLaren's race and left the Force India driver with a drive through penalty, dropping him back to fifth.
The intermittent rain caused problems across the circuit, leading to numerous spins, including one from Paul di Resta, which saw him smash into a wall on the penultimate lap, ending the race. One slide left Kimi Raikkonen on the run-off area, with the Finn driving on to an old access road, only to find himself on a gated-off section of the old track, forcing him to turn around and head all the way back on to the track, becoming the butt of countless jokes in the process.
Nice blog, thanks for sharing. I generally agree with the stuff you have included here but maybe would have had Spa at number one, it was a properly good race!
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