Germany – Race: Fernando Alonso triples the stakes

Under a blue and sunny sky, the drivers set off for the warm-up lap. As the track temperature hovers around 30°C, Fernando Alonso lines up, for the second consecutive time, in the spot reserved for the pole position holder. Despite the FIA investigations, the Spaniard is indeed ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull, the first representative of the Nationalmannschaft in front of Michael Schumacher and Nico Hülkenberg.

On the grid, most drivers opted for Soft tires, except for Kamui Kobayashi, Jean-Eric Vergne, Charles Pic, Nico Rosberg, and Timo Glock who preferred Medium tires.

At the lights out, Fernando Alonso takes the best start while Sebastian Vettel is battling with Michael Schumacher. The two German drivers make no concessions while Jenson Button overtakes Maldonado and Webber takes on Hamilton. At the hairpin, Romain Grosjean goes wide, the rear right tire punctured.

At the end of the first lap, Alonso leads Vettel, Schumacher, Hülkenberg, Button, Maldonado, Webber, Hamilton, Räikkönen, and Di Resta.

After a collision at the start, on the left rear wheel of Ricciardo’s Toro Rosso, Felipe Massa returns to the pits, minus the nose of his F2012. Romain Grosjean and Bruno Senna follow suit, with the Lotus E20 in front also changing its nose.

In the third round, Lewis Hamilton sees his chances of victory reduced to zero as his MP4-27 suffers a puncture: the Briton anticipates retirement over the radio but ultimately continues and logically emerges at the back of the pack.

On the track, Räikkönen and Di Resta are engaged in a neck-and-neck battle in every corner, but the Finn gets the upper hand over the Scotsman. At the front of the race, Alonso and Vettel are soaring, with nearly a five-second lead over Michael Schumacher after 7 laps.

On the 8th lap, Jenson Button dives inside Nico Hülkenberg’s Force India at the hairpin braking to seize 4th place. The 2009 World Champion quickly returns to the seven-time world champion and goes for third place by sliding inside at the hairpin braking once again.

On the 12th lap, Kimi Räikkönen pits to switch to Soft tires. The following lap, Nico Hülkenberg and Mark Webber also pit and come out on Medium tires. Having climbed to 11th place despite being equipped with the hardest Pirellis, Nico Rosberg pits on the same lap to fit Soft tires on his F1 W03. On the next lap, Mark Webber goes wide in the first corner and Pastor Maldonado, coming out of the pits at that moment, takes advantage to stay ahead of the Red Bull driver, even placing a Caterham between him and the Australian.

Author of his first stop on the 15th lap, Michael Schumacher mounts the Soft tires but falls behind Nico Hülkenberg. The young German succumbs to the experience of his elder a few corners later, and Kimi Räikkönen takes advantage of Schumacher’s overtaking to also pass the Force India.

Seventh by the 17th lap, the Mercedes driver is the first driver with two stops behind Alonso, Vettel, Button, Pérez, Kobayashi, and Ricciardo. But the leaders only yield two to three tenths per lap with the worn tires.

It takes until the 18th lap to see Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari slip into the pit lane: the Spaniard emerges on Medium tires and in third position. On the following lap, it’s Jenson Button’s turn to go through the pits and also mounts the Hardest Pirellis while Sebastian Vettel remains on track.

On the 21st lap, the German eventually went into the pits but couldn’t make a difference. The Red Bull came out in third position behind Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber, which he overtook for second place in the DRS zone. Just behind them, Kimi Räikkönen gained the upper hand over Michael Schumacher.

At the back of the pack, Romain Grosjean struggles to catch up, as do Bruno Senna and Lewis Hamilton, all three overtaken by the Caterham drivers.

On the 23rd lap, while Kamui Kobayashi enters the pits, Fernando Alonso is still leading the race ahead of Vettel, Button, Räikkönen, Schumacher, Hülkenberg, Perez, Webber, Di Resta, and Kobayashi. Among these drivers, only Räikkönen and Schumacher are on Soft tires.

In the lead, Fernando Alonso has a 1.6-second advantage over Sebastian Vettel on the 25th lap and 5.6 seconds over Jenson Button’s McLaren. Gradually, the double world champion from Germany is closing the gap on his Spanish counterpart. By the 28th lap, the RB8 is within DRS activation range, while Jenson Button is also gaining ground on the F2012 of the Oviedo native, who seems to be struggling with his tires. However, the three drivers are widening the gap over Kimi Räikkönen and Michael Schumacher, who are more than 15 and 20 seconds behind, respectively.

At the back, Mark Webber finds an opportunity to overtake Nico Hülkenberg’s Force India at the hairpin braking, but the German dives into the pit lane at the end of the lap. The Australian is caught off guard at the same spot by Kobayashi, who takes 7th place.

At the front, Fernando Alonso finds an ideal ally in the person of Lewis Hamilton, 17th but the fastest on the track. As the leaders lap the Briton, the native of Stevenage unlaps himself from Sebastian Vettel, who is furious. After a few laps, the McLaren tucks into the exhaust of the leader’s F2012, who has gained some breathing room over Sebastian Vettel, now more than two seconds behind.

After Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen, a few laps earlier on the 41st lap, Jenson Button stops in the pits and opts for Medium tires. Mark Webber and Sergio Pérez follow suit, while on the next lap Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel slip into the pit lane. The Spaniard and the German come out on Medium tires, but the Red Bull driver sees Jenson Button’s McLaren pass right in front of him at the pit exit.

But it’s not just at the front that the battle is raging; Nico Hülkenberg and Kamui Kobayashi are fighting like mad for 6th place. The Japanese driver doesn’t take long to get the upper hand on the German, setting the fastest lap of the race in the 45th lap.

As Andrea Stella informs Fernando Alonso that he doesn’t need to worry about his tires, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel are respectively one and three seconds behind the Spaniard as they begin the 51st lap. The Red Bull driver is making every effort and pushing his car to stay close to the Ferrari and the McLaren. However, by pushing too hard, the German ends up making small mistakes that cost him valuable tenths.

On the 53rd lap, Michael Schumacher makes his third and final pit stop: the German’s Mercedes W03 sports the Soft tires and comes out behind Kobayashi and Perez.

At the front of the race, it’s status quo, with Fernando Alonso taking advantage of his superior top speed to maintain a sufficient lead over Jenson Button before the Stadium, where the Briton’s MP4-27 seems more comfortable. But while the 2009 World Champion battles for the victory, the race is over for his teammate, as McLaren’s mechanics bring Lewis Hamilton’s car into the garage on the 58th lap.

But with six laps to go before the checkered flag, Fernando Alonso extends his lead over Jenson Button again: it is not so much the Spaniard being faster, but rather the Briton slowing down while Sebastian Vettel is gradually but surely closing in on the McLaren driver. On lap 64, Fernando Alonso has a 2.4-second lead over Jenson Button, while Sebastian Vettel is just 0.8 seconds behind Button, eyeing the second place.

After exiting the hairpin, Sebastian Vettel finally overtakes the Briton by going beyond the kerb. On the radio, the Briton claims that the German overtook him off the track, a rule that had been clarified before the Grand Prix.

Under the checkered flag, Fernando Alonso scores his third victory in 2012 and strengthens his position at the top of the championship. The Spaniard leads Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button, but the German’s overtaking move is under investigation by the stewards. In fourth place, Kimi Räikkönen leads the Sauber drivers and Michael Schumacher, who set the fastest lap of the race.

2012 German Grand Prix Standings: