2012 European GP: Alonso wins from 11th on the grid for a home triumph

At the 2012 European GP on the Valencia Street Circuit, Fernando Alonso won for Ferrari even though he had started only from grid position 11. Kimi Räikkönen (Lotus F1) and Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) finished behind him. The race was decided in the phase around the Safety Car: afterwards, the dominant leader Sebastian Vettel ground to a halt and Alonso took over at the front.

From pole position, Vettel pulled away immediately in the Red Bull. According to Wikipedia, he was already around four seconds clear after two laps and then extended his lead by roughly a second per lap. Behind him, Romain Grosjean in the second Lotus got past Pastor Maldonado (Williams) during the opening phase. In the first quarter of the race he also used DRS to pass Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), moving up to second place.

Alonso had missed out on the top 10 in the second segment of qualifying. According to grandprix.com, he gained three places on the opening lap on new, softer tyres. He then spent a while stuck behind Nico Hülkenberg (Force India) before finding a way past. He made his pit stops on lap 15 and lap 28. According to Wikipedia, after the first stops he passed more rivals in heavy traffic, including Mark Webber and Bruno Senna.

Around half distance (the sources give lap 27 or 29), Jean-Éric Vergne (Toro Rosso) tried to pass Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham) using DRS. However, he moved across too early and the two cars touched. Debris on the track brought out the Safety Car, and Vettel's big lead was gone. Vergne retired after 26 laps, while Kovalainen carried on. The stewards handed Vergne a ten-place grid penalty for the next race and a €25,000 fine.

Almost all of the front-runners used the neutralisation for their second stop. During Hamilton's stop, the front jack got stuck. According to our data, he needed 31.1 seconds to get through the pit lane, compared with just 19.4 seconds at his first stop. As a result, he dropped behind Alonso and Räikkönen.

Shortly after the restart, Vettel's Red Bull cut out. He retired after 33 laps, with the official reason given as ‘Gearbox’. According to Motor Sport Magazine, Vettel himself said the engine had simply died.

At the restart, Alonso showed why he was the strongest man in the field that day. He went around the outside of Grosjean to grab second place. According to grandprix.com, the two made slight contact, but it had no consequences. With Vettel coasting to a halt shortly afterwards, the Spaniard led the race from lap 34 and held the lead all the way to the finish.

Grosjean stayed within striking distance for a long time. After 40 laps, however, his race was over, officially due to ‘Electronics’. Motor Sport Magazine and Wikipedia name a faulty alternator as the cause. That cost him second place.

In the closing stages, Hamilton's tyres degraded heavily. According to Motor Sport Magazine, Räikkönen passed him for second place three laps from the end. A lap later, Maldonado attacked him, ran off the track and, on rejoining, drove into the side of the McLaren. Hamilton ended up in the wall and retired after 55 laps (status: collision). Maldonado crossed the line in tenth with a broken front wing. However, he was hit with a 20-second penalty for rejoining the track unsafely and dropped to 12th place. That handed Senna the final point.

In the final laps, the drivers on fresh tyres benefited most. Schumacher didn't make his second stop until lap 41, Webber on lap 38. Both passed the two Force Indias in the closing stages. According to grandprix.com, the stewards did check whether Schumacher had used DRS in a zone under waved yellow flags, but they accepted that he had slowed significantly. It was Schumacher's first podium since his comeback. According to Wikipedia, at 43 years and 173 days he was the oldest driver on the podium since Jack Brabham in 1970. As it later turned out, it was his last podium in Formula 1.

Webber had started only 19th after a DRS failure in qualifying and still finished fourth. Hülkenberg finished fifth, according to grandprix.com his best Formula 1 result up to that point. Behind him came Nico Rosberg, who set the fastest lap, followed by Paul di Resta, Jenson Button, Sergio Pérez (Sauber) and Senna.

Pérez's team-mate Kamui Kobayashi collided with Felipe Massa in the fight for 13th place. Kobayashi retired after 33 laps with damaged suspension and received a five-place grid penalty for the next race. Massa pitted with a puncture and finished 16th, one lap down. Timo Glock (Marussia) didn't even start. According to his team, he had an intestinal infection and was not medically cleared.

Winners:
- Mark Webber: gained 15 places, from grid position 19 to fourth, more than anyone else.
- Fernando Alonso: gained ten places and won his home race. According to grandprix.com, he was visibly moved after the race.
- Michael Schumacher: gained nine places, from grid position 12 to the podium.

Losers:
- Sebastian Vettel: retired while leading, lost 20 places.
- Lewis Hamilton: from grid position 2 to 19th (−17), no points after the collision on the penultimate lap.
- Romain Grosjean: stopped by the failure while running second (−16).
- Pastor Maldonado: from grid position 3, dropped to 12th because of the time penalty, no points.

With the win, Alonso took the lead in the 2012 standings: he now had 111 points, 20 more than Webber on 91. Hamilton dropped to third with 88 points, with Vettel fourth on 85. Rosberg (75) and Räikkönen (73) followed. In the constructors' standings, Red Bull stayed top on 176 points, ahead of McLaren (137), Lotus F1 (126) and Ferrari (122).

In a season in which the first seven races had produced seven different winners, Alonso became the first to win twice. He had taken his first win in Malaysia. There was also a special record: according to Wikipedia, Alonso (two titles), Räikkönen (one) and Schumacher (seven) had ten world titles between them, the most ever on a single podium. As it later turned out, it was also the last Grand Prix in Valencia.