2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Race 18 of 20 in the 2012 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Race details[1]
Date	4 November 2012 (2012-11-04)
Official name	2012 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Location	Yas Marina Circuit Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.554 km (3.451 miles)
Distance	55 laps, 305.355 km (189.739 miles)
Weather	Dry[2] Air Temp 29 °C (84 °F)[2] Track Temp 34 °C (93 °F) dropping to 29 °C (84 °F)[2]
Pole position
Driver	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:40.630
Fastest lap
Driver	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault
Time	1:43.964 on lap 54
Podium
First	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault
Second	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari
Third	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault
Lap leaders

The 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (formally the 2012 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 4 November 2012 at the Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It was the eighteenth round of the 2012 Formula One season and the fourth Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The 55-lap race was won by Lotus driver Kimi Räikkönen after starting from fourth position. Fernando Alonso finished second in a Ferrari with his championship rival Sebastian Vettel third for Red Bull, having started from the pit lane.

The victory was Räikkönen's first of the season, his first since he returned to Formula One at the start of the year, and his first since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix. It was the first time a Lotus had won a race since Ayrton Senna's victory in Detroit in 1987. Alonso's second place allowed him to narrow the gap to Vettel in the Drivers' Championship to ten points. Räikkönen's radio communications during the race were widely reported, particularly his comment to his engineer on lap 23: “Just leave me alone, I know what I'm doing.”