2012 Australian Grand Prix
| Date | Sunday, 18 March 2012 |
|---|---|
| Winner |
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| Pole position |
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| Fastest lap |
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| Circuit | Melbourne, 58 laps |
| Round | 1 of 20 |
| Race numbers | The 2012 Australian Grand Prix was the
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| More 2012 season | |
| More Australian Grands Prix | |
| Previous race | 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix |
Race result
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +1 |  Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 58 | 1hr 34m 09.565s | 25 |
| 2 | +4 |  Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 58 | +2.139s | 18 |
| 3 | -2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 58 | +4.075s | 15 |
| 4 | +1 |  Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 58 | +4.547s | 12 |
| 5 | +7 |  Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 58 | +21.565s | 10 |
| 6 | +7 |  Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 58 | +36.766s | 8 |
| 7 | +10 |  Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 58 | +38.014s | 6 |
| 8 | +14 |  Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 58 | +39.458s | 4 |
| 9 | +1 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 58 | +39.556s | 2 |
| 10 | +5 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 58 | +39.737s | 1 |
| 11 |  Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 58 | +39.848s | ||
| 12 | -5 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 58 | +57.642s | |
| 13 | -5 |  Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 57 | DNF | |
| 14 | +6 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 57 | +1 lap | |
| 15 | +6 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 53 | DNF | |
| 16 | -2 |  Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 52 | DNF | |
| R | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 46 | DNF | ||
| R | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 38 | DNF | ||
| R |  Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 34 | DNF | ||
| R | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 10 | DNF | ||
| R | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1 | DNF | ||
| R | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 0 | DNF | ||
Notes
- Pastor Maldonado ended lap 57 in P6 before retiring on the final lap.
- Charles Pic ended lap 53 in P15 before retiring on the following lap.
- Bruno Senna ended lap 52 in P15 before retiring on the following lap.
Starting grid
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | |
| 2 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | |
| 3 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | |
| 4 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | |
| 5 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | |
| 6 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | |
| 8 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | |
| 11 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | |
| 13 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | |
| 14 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | |
| 15 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | |
| 16 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | |
| 17 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | |
| 18 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | |
| 19 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | |
| 20 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | |
| 21 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | |
| 22 | -5 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari |
Notes
- Sergio Perez received a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change.
Qualifying result
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 | ||||
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:24.922 | |
| 2 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:25.074 | 0.152 |
| 3 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:25.302 | 0.380 |
| 4 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:25.336 | 0.414 |
| 5 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1:25.651 | 0.729 |
| 6 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1:25.668 | 0.746 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:25.686 | 0.764 |
| 8 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:25.908 | 0.986 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:26.451 | 1.529 |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | – | |
| Q2 | ||||
| 11 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:26.429 | |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:26.497 | |
| 13 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:26.590 | |
| 14 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 1:26.663 | |
| 15 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:27.086 | |
| 16 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:27.497 | |
| 17 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | – | |
| Q1 | ||||
| 18 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 1:27.758 | |
| 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1:28.679 | |
| 20 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 1:29.018 | |
| 21 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:30.923 | |
| 22 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:31.670 | |
| Did not qualify | ||||
| 23 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 1:33.495 | |
| 24 |  Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 1:33.643 | |
Championship standings
How the championship standings stood post-2012 Australian Grand Prix.
Driver
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jenson Button | 25 |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | 18 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | 15 |
| 4 | Mark Webber | 12 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | 10 |
| 6 | Kamui Kobayashi | 8 |
| 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | 6 |
| 8 | Sergio Perez | 4 |
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | 2 |
| 10 | Paul di Resta | 1 |
Constructor
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLaren-Mercedes | 40 |
| 2 |  Red Bull-Renault | 30 |
| 3 |  Sauber-Ferrari | 12 |
| 4 |  Ferrari | 10 |
| 5 | Lotus-Renault | 6 |
| 6 | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 2 |
| 7 | Force India-Mercedes | 1 |
Statistics & milestones
- Race debut
- Charles Pic & Jean-Eric Vergne (first French drivers to start a race since 2009)
- Caterham, Lotus (2012-15), Marussia
- Wins
- 13th for Jenson Button
- 176th for McLaren
- Podiums
- 44th for Jenson Button, 43rd for Lewis Hamilton, 37th for Sebastian Vettel
- 471st & 472nd for McLaren, 67th for Red Bull
- Poles
- 20th for Lewis Hamilton (13th driver to take 20 pole positions, 4th British driver)
- 148th for McLaren
- Qualifying 1-2
- 60th for McLaren (3rd constructor to start 1-2 in 60 races)
- Fastest laps
- 7th for Jenson Button
- 150th for McLaren (2nd constructor to set 150 fastest laps)
- Front row starts
- 38th for Lewis Hamilton, 20th for Jenson Button (39th driver to achieve 20 front row starts, 11th British driver)
- Points finishes
- 1st for Daniel Ricciardo (319th different point scorer, 5th Australian driver)
- Win & fastest lap
- 5th and last for Jenson Button