The 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix saw a dream win for Lotus, and gave rise to one of the greatest radio messages of all time.
About The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
In early 2007 the first mentions were made of a race being held in Abu Dhabi. There were already plans in motion to create the ultimate tourist attraction at Yas Island, so why not add a Formula 1 track? Enter the Yas Marina Circuit. Built as a 5.5 km (3.41 mile) course that was one of the most technologically-advanced tracks on the calendar. Work began in May 2007, with the circuit completed by October 2009.
The inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was Formula 1’s first ever day-to-night race. The race would start in the golden glow of the setting sun. As night set it, it smoothly transitions into the illumination of the floodlights. Modifications were made to the circuit ahead of the 2021 season, shortening the circuit to 5.28km (3.28 miles). In December 2021, Formula 1 announced it had extended its deal with Abu Dhabi by 10 years. The current contract means that Abu Dhabi retains the right to host the season finale until the end of the 2030 season.
The 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Mention the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and most people immediately jump head-first into the debate about the 2021 season finale. But that can of worms has been opened so many times, there’s hardly any worms left..
So instead, we’re going back to 2012. Lewis Hamilton on pole, drama for Sebastian Vettel, a dream win for Lotus. And the cherry on top? One of the greatest quotes in Formula 1, courtesy of the legendary Kimi Räikkönen.
Qualifying
Saturday’s qualifying saw a blistering lap from Lewis Hamilton to secure pole, clocking in at 1:40.630. He was joined on the front row by Mark Webber, who set a time just three tenths slower than Hamilton. Championship leader, Sebastian Vettel, was sent to the back of the grid. After initially qualifying in third, the FIA were unable to extract the mandated one-litre fuel sample from Vettel’s car. His closest rival, Fernando Alonso, qualified sixth and looked set to demolish the 13 point gap between himself and Vettel.
The world was ready for the sunset showdown, and we were in for one mighty ride.
Pre-Race Predicaments
At the start of the formation lap, there was drama for Pedro de la Rosa. A thread on one of his rear tyre blankets got tangled up with the car, and HRT quickly wheeled him into the pit lane. Following Vettel’s disastrous qualifying session, Red Bull opted to take the car out of parc fermé in order to change the gear ratios, suspension and create a low-drag setup. It meant starting from the pit lane, but would hopefully make it easier for Vettel to overtake.
Lights Out In Abu Dhabi
As the race got underway, Lewis Hamilton made a good start and retained the lead into the first corner. Behind him, Kimi Räikkönen quickly passed Mark Webber and Pastor Maldonado to take hold of second position. As the rest of the field went into Turn 1, Nico Hϋlkenberg and Paul di Resta tangled. Romain Grosjean and Bruno Senna also found themselves caught up in the collision. Hϋlkenberg was forced to retire from the race, whilst Grosjean and di Resta both limped to the pits for repairs. Fernando Alonso managed to pass Jenson Button at the start, and also managed to overtake Webber into Turn 9.
Hamilton locked up going into Turn 8 on the second lap. He jumped on the team radio to complain about cold tyres, struggling to get them up to temperature. This gave Räikkönen a chance to put the pressure on the McLaren, but Hamilton kept his cool and stayed in front. It wasn’t long before Hamilton managed to get the tyres back up to temperature, and the Brit set a fastest lap as he pulled away. Meanwhile, Vettel had managed to gain six places despite now having a broken right-front wing plate as a result of a minor bump with Senna.
On lap nine, the Safety Car was deployed following a scary collision between Nico Rosberg and Narain Karthikeyan. The HRT of Karthikeyan suffered a sudden loss of hydraulic pressure, causing his steering to become much heavier. Rosberg, who was in the process of overtaking at the time, drove straight into the back of the HRT. Rosberg’s Mercedes was launched into the barrier and a stream of debris was scattered across the track.
The Race Gets Back Underway
During the Safety Car period, Vettel had to swerve to avoid crashing into Daniel Ricciardo. Vettel instead went smashing through a polystyrene bollard, causing yet more damage to his wing. Red Bull called Vettel into the pits to fit a replacement, forcing them to recalculate their tyre strategy.
On lap 14, the Safety Car came back in and racing resumed. Hamilton once again retained the lead, whilst Alonso fought off a lunge from Webber to keep hold of third. Further back, Vettel was starting to scrap with Grosjean for 17th position. In the battle, Vettel ended up driving into the run-off area. He re-joined the track and passed Grosjean, but ended up having to hand the position back to avoid a penalty. Vettel eventually got the move done, and was soon past Jean-Éric Vergne to get up into 11th on lap 20.
As this was happening, Hamilton’s fortunes faded. He pulled over onto the grass at the side of the track, retiring from the race with a fuel pressure problem. Räikkönen breezed past the stricken McLaren, now finding himself in the lead of the race. On the following lap, Alonso passed Maldonado to take second position. In a bid to try and help their driver, Räikkönen was provided information about the gap to Alonso behind him. Cue classic Kimi, as he curtly responded “Just leave me alone, I know what to do!”. On lap 23, Webber tried a daring lunge on the outside line in an attempt to pass Maldonado. The bold move didn’t pay off as both cars made contact and Webber was sent spinning off onto the grass. Thankfully, they were both able to continue on, but Webber now found himself down in seventh position.
Pit Stop Window Opens
Lap 26 saw the first of the scheduled pit stops, with Kamui Kobayashi being the first to come in for fresh tyres. Webber was desperately trying to pass Massa and ran side-by-side with the Ferrari into Turns 10 and 11. After running wide, Webber re-joined the track as Massa hit the kerb and spun at Turn 12. Massa came into the pits on lap 27, along with Michael Schumacher, and they cam back out in 14th and 15th respectively. By lap 30, Webber had managed to fight his way back up to second place, with some help from his rivals pitting. Red Bull gave clear instructions not to battle Vettel for position and called him into the pits on lap 31. Webber was given a set of medium compound tyres, as Vettel went by to inherit second place.
Räikkönen came in to change onto a set of medium tyres on lap 32, and managed to retain his lead as he exited the pits. It didn’t take long for the Finn to begin extending the gap between himself and Vettel. On lap 38, Vettel was told to box, coming back out in fourth position on a fresh set of softs. Crucially, this was just ahead of Romain Grosjean, who had a trio of cars on his tail.
Second Safety Car Period
As they made their way across the line to start lap 39, di Resta slipped past Grosjean. Pérez managed to get a good slipstream behind Grosjean. He quickly passed the Lotus and used his momentum to try and make a move on di Resta. As they tussled, Pérez forced di Resta wide, who in turn forced Pérez. The move caused a domino effect, as Pérez hit Grosjean’s front right wheel as he re-joined the track. Pérez was sent spinning, whilst Grosjean was forced to swerve to avoid further crashing into the Sauber. In doing so, Grosjean went into the path of Webber, who was unable to avoid the Lotus. The collision caused both Webber and Grosjean to retire from the race, and debris was scattered across the track. The Safety Car was sent out once again and the race was neutralised.
As the pack dutifully followed behind the Safety Car, Räikkönen’s engineers hopped on the radio to advise him to “keep working all four tyres”. As a result, we were treated to another brilliant response, as he replied “yes, yes, yes, yes, I’m doing all the time so you don’t have to remind [me] every ten seconds”. The stewards handed Pérez a ten-second stop-go penalty for the earlier collision, and the Safety Car came at the end of lap 42. Räikkönen wasted no time on the restart, immediately pulling ahead. Pérez served his penalty three laps later, sitting in his pit box for 10 painful seconds before re-joining the race.
Final Push
On lap 46 Alonso was under pressure from Button, who was himself under pressure from Vettel. As Button and Vettel scrapped between Turn 8 and Turn 11, Alonso was able to break away to start chasing down Räikkönen. Two laps later, Vettel was once again trying to make moves on Button, but just couldn’t find a way to get past the McLaren. By lap 48, Vettel used DRS to close up on the back of Button, before sticking his Red Bull on the outside line of Turn 11 to finally get past and into third position.
With just two of the 55 laps remaining, Alonso managed to get within 1.9 seconds of Räikkönen. He pushed hard for the remaining two laps, but as the chequered flag came out it was Räikkönen who took victory. Alonso crossed the line just 0.85 seconds behind to claim second place. Vettel managed to secure third, which was enough for him to retain his championship lead.
Summary
The 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was an action-packed race with plenty of memorable moments. To see Räikkönen back on the top step for the first time since his return to Formula 1 was just incredible. The “leave me alone” radio message was an instant viral sensation, covered so widely by the media and embraced by fans around the world – he even ended up giving t-shirts to the Lotus team with the phrase printed on! The race win was Räikkönen’s only one of the season, and it ended up being the only race victory that Lotus would achieve during their time in Formula 1.
It was a stellar drive from Vettel too, who had clawed his way onto the podium after starting in the pit lane. The championship title fight was also still very much alive with just two races to go. The 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was rather special, and is one that I will always fondly remember.
Which Abu Dhabi Grand Prix do you think is a race to remember? Let us know in the comments!
Featured image credit – Planet Labs, Inc. – Link, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link