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Brazil   23-25 Nov 2012
Grande Premio Petrobras do Brazil
Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace (Interlagos), Sao Paulo, Brazil
71 laps, 305.909 km (190.067 mi)

The final race of the season is traditionally held at Autódromo José Carlos Pace, otherwise known as Interlagos, which literally means "between lakes". The track is situated on a hilly, swampy area between two lakes near Sao Paulo, Brazil, resulting in a track with lots of elevation changes and notorious bumps.

With a 15th pole, Vettel set the new single season record for most pole positions. Rain on race day and a failing gearbox reminded Vettel of Senna's drive in '91, but unlike Senna, Vettel had to settle for 2nd place as teammate Webber gets the win. Button took 3rd.
McLaren arrives in Brazil with the ultimate revision of the MP4-27 and lock out the front row with Hamilton on pole ahead of Button.

Team Red Bull take row 2, Webber ahead of Vettel.

Massa puts his Ferrari in 5th, but teammate Alonso qualifies only 8th, making his chance of a podium very slim, critical if he is to overcome Vettel's 13 point lead for the championship.

The top 10 in Brazil:
HAM BUT WEB VET MAS MAL* HUL ALO RAI ROS DIR
*10 spot penalty for missing weigh-in
With a 13 point championship lead going into the final round, and a 4 spot qualifying advantage, it seemed like Vettel held all the cards at the start of the race.

But at the start of the race, Vettel is hit, damaged, and spun out at the bottom of the esses, while Alonso makes an incredible start leaping all the way up to 4th from 8th. At the end of lap 1, Alonso was in 4th, leading the championship with Vettel out of the points.

Alonso got another position as teammate Massa gave him 3rd, but then the rain came, as expected, and shuffled the field as drivers made multiple stops to switch between dry and inter tires to suit the changing conditions.

Hulkenberg hits Hamilton fighting for the lead after a safety car period, moving Button to the point, Alonso to 2nd, and Massa to 3rd. But Vettel is able to fight through traffic to 6th place, good enough to win his 3rd championship in a row, only the 3rd driver ever, and youngest, to do so.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th
BUT
(+25)
ALO
(+18)
MAS
(+15)
WEB
(+12)
HUL
(+10)
VET
(+8)
MSC
(+6)
VER
(+4)
KOB
(+2)
RAI
(+1)
PET
 
PIC
 
RIC
 
KOV
 
ROS
 
GLO
 
DLR
 
KAR
 
DIR
 
HAM
 
GRO
 
MAL
 
SEN
 
PER
 
Pos Participant Driver Picks Round
Points
Season
Points
Champ.
Standings
1 Van ALO BUT GRO MAS RAI 59 897 2nd ↑ 3
2 curley ALO BUT HAM RAI WEB 56 907 1st ↑ 1
3 Motoring BUT MAS RAI ROS WEB 53 882 6th  
4 Tahoe RX7 BUT GRO HAM MAS WEB 52 894 3rd  
5 owace ALO GRO HUL MAS RAI 44 884 5th ↓ 1
6 MattR HAM HUL MAS MSC WEB 43 864 7th  
7 delongedoug BUT DIR GRO MAL MAS 40 840 8th  
8 sperry HAM MAS ROS VET WEB 35 813 10th  
9 Double Phister GRO MAS MSC ROS VET 29 826 9th  
10 MS3 GRO HAM MAS ROS WEB 27 710 12th  
11 RapidfireAZ DIR GRO HUL MAS ROS 25 886 4th ↓ 3
12 Nick GRO MAS PER PET ROS 15 784 11th  
13 zpeed GRO KOB RAI ROS WEB 15 658 13th  
14 Lisa -- -- -- -- -- 0 418 14th  
Grande Premio Petrobras do Brazil
Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace (Interlagos), Sao Paulo, Brazil