Kobayashi's 2013 seat fund set to pass £1m | 2013 F1 season

Kamui Kobayashi has received almost £1m in donations from fans as he tries to raise funds to stay on the Formula One grid.

Kobayashi launched the Kamui Support website after Sauber confirmed Esteban Gutierrez would join the team for 2013, leaving no place for Kobayashi at the team.

Gutierrez bring backing from Mexican telecommunications giant Telmex. Sauber had already appointed Nico Hulkenberg for next season following Sergio Perez's move to McLaren.

As of today Kobayashi has raised ¥127,863,961 (£967,000) via the website.

Lotus, Force India, Caterham and Marussia potentially have vacancies in their 2013 driver line-ups, as do HRT, though there are serious doubts over whether they will continue in F1 next year.

2013 F1 season

• Kobayashi's 2013 seat fund set to pass £1m
• Senna expected to lose 2013 seat to Bottas
• Bottas: "I've missed racing a great deal"
• Bottas joins Maldonado at Williams for 2013
• Caterham sign Charles Pic for 2013

Browse all 2013 F1 season articles

Image © Sauber F1 Team

Ferrari accepts FIA view on Vettel dispute | 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

Ferrari say they consider the dispute over Sebastian Vettel's driving in the Brazilian Grand Prix 'closed'.

'Ferrari duly takes note of the reply sent by the FIA this morning and therefore considers the matter now closed,' the team said in a statement on Friday.

'The request for a clarification from the FIA, regarding Vettel's passing move on Vergne, came about through the need to shed light on the circumstances of the move, which came out on the Internet only a few days after the race,' said the team.

'The letter to the FIA was in no way intended to undermine the legality of the race result. We received tens of thousands of queries relating to this matter from all over the world and it was incumbent on us to take the matter further, asking the Federation to look into an incident that could have cast a shadow over the championship in the eyes of all Formula 1 enthusiasts, not just Ferrari fans.'

The FIA issued the following statement:

'The FIA received a letter from Scuderia Ferrari, seeking clarification on Sebastien Vettel's overtaking manoeuvre in Sao Paulo on Sunday.

'In the spirit of transparency and goodwill, the FIA wishes to make public the receipt of this letter.

'The Federation also informs it has replied to Scuderia Ferrari, in the same constructive spirit, stating that as the overtaking manoeuvre was not in breach of the regulations, and therefore there was no infringement to investigate, it was not reported to the stewards by race control.'

Had the FIA concluded Vettel's pass on Vergne was illegal, a penalty would likely have dropped him down the classification far enough to make Fernando Alonso the drivers' champion.

The FIA stated yesterday Vettel's pass on Vergne began after a green flag and was therefore legal.

Red Bull said they are 'pleased, but not surprised, that the FIA has confirmed there is no case to answer regarding the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix.'

'We are extremely proud of Sebastian's incredible achievement and his third historic title, which makes him the youngest ever triple world champion,' the team added in a statement.

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

• Ferrari accepts FIA view on Vettel dispute
• FIA confirms Vettel's pass on Vergne was legal
• F1 fans' videos from the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
• Top ten pictures from the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
• F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship won by Carpy3

Browse all 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix articles

Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

Top ten: Schumacher comeback moments | 2012 F1 season review

Michael Schumacher's Formula One comeback did not achieve the success he and Mercedes were hoping for. But nor was it a complete disaster. Guest writer @Greg-Morland picks ten of the highlights.

Schumacher swept all before him at Ferrari in the first half of the last decade. Yet his comeback with Mercedes in 2010 mostly saw him scrapping for minor points finishes. He seldom looked like adding to his tally of 91 Grand Prix victories, never mind winning another world title.

But there were races to cherish and even the occasional glimpse of the greatness we remember from the first part of his career. Here's are ten the best moments from Schumacher's comeback.

2010 Bahrain Grand Prix

Schumacher's drive to sixth on his comeback in the soporific 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix seemed underwhelming at the time. Given that he was driving for Mercedes, which as Brawn had won both titles the previous year, hopes had been high that he could challenge for victories right from the off.

But with the benefit of hindsight, it seems Schumacher had in fact done rather well, especially given how much the cars had changed since his 'retirement' in 2006.

Not only did he end his first race in over three years within four seconds of team mate Nico Rosberg, he finished ahead of Jenson Button and Mark Webber, both of which were driving significantly quicker cars.

• 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix review: Alonso heads one-two on Ferrari debut

2010 Spanish Grand Prix

After the first four races of Schumacher's return it was clear he was not going to be in a position to challenge for the world championship. Regardless of whether his raw ability had deteriorated during his hiatus, the W01 chassis had proved to be no match for its title-winning predecessor.

But Schumacher certainly got the most out of it at the Spanish Grand Prix, an event he had previously won a record six times. After out-qualifying Rosberg for the first time, Schumacher consolidated his sixth position on the opening lap then made opportunistic overtake on Jenson Button as the McLaren driver exited the pits .

Schumacher then spent the remaining 49 laps of the race fending off Button for fifth place with some textbook defensive driving ' no mean feat even in the pre-DRS era. Lewis Hamilton's late retirement gifted him fourth place, a result he was only to better once over the remainder of his stint at Mercedes.

• 2010 Spanish Grand Prix review: Webber dominates as Hamilton crashes out of second

2010 Turkish Grand Prix

Schumacher qualified a strong fifth, a performance he would not better until this year. However he spun into the gravel at Turn eight on his final lap in Q3, and was fortunate that the resulting yellow flags prevented his rivals from beating him.

On race day, Schumacher was comfortably 'best of the rest' behind the dominant Red Bulls and McLarens. He gained an extra place after the infamous collision between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber and eventually came home fourth for the second time in three races.

• 2010 Turkish Grand Prix review: McLaren take one-two as Red Bull self-destruct

2011 Canadian Grand Prix

By mid-2011, the initial enthusiasm surrounding Schumacher's return had largely given way to indifference after a series of disappointing results. The 91-times race winner had garnered just three top six finishes in the twelve months since Turkey 2010, while Rosberg was a fixture among the leading points-scorers.

It was not until the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix that the Schumacher of old returned. In a chaotic race, he scythed through the field as the track began to dry towards the end, culminating in an opportunistic double pass on Felipe Massa and Kamui Kobayashi for second place.

However, a late safety car deployment left Mark Webber and Jenson Button on his tail, and he could do nothing to prevent the pair using DRS to blitz past. The wait for his first podium podium went on.

• 2011 Canadian Grand Prix review: Button bounces back to snatch last-lap win in Canada

2011 Belgian Grand Prix

Schumacher has had a special affinity with Spa Francorchamps ' it was at the Ardennes circuit that he made his debut, won six times (including his first Grand Prix victory) and clinched his seventh and final world championship in 2004.

While he never came close to taking an eighth Belgian Grand Prix win with Mercedes, Schumacher took more points at Spa in his three years at Mercedes than at any other circuit and his drive to fifth in 2011 was the pick of the bunch.

Starting from a career-worst 24th position after a loose wheel pitched him into the wall in qualifying, Schumacher managed his tyres well- and capitalised on an early safety car appearance ' to battle back to fifth place by the chequered flag. It was a fine way to mark the 20th anniversary of his first F1 start.

2011 Italian Grand Prix

In contrast to his attacking performance in Spa a fortnight earlier, Schumacher's second consecutive drive to fifth a week later at Monza saw him on the defensive for most of the race.

Schumacher spent most of the first half of the race fending off Hamilton with a thoroughness that was right on ' arguably beyond ' the limit of acceptability. Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn even felt the need to personally issue his driver a warning over the radio. 'I did exactly what I was supposed to do,' Schumacher insisted afterwards.

Button out-manoeuvred the pair of them to get into third and eventually Schumacher had to give best to Hamilton as well. But he'd made his mark in a spirited contest which led to the stewards clarifying the rules on defensive driving later on.

• 2011 Italian Grand Prix review: Vettel has title in sight after crushing Monza win

2012 Australian Grand Prix

Though the results may suggest to the contrary, Schumacher hit some of the strongest form of his comeback in the early races of 2012. Taking advantage of a much-improved Mercedes car he was a regular at the front of the grid and only a mixture of misfortune and poor reliability prevented him from securing the results his pace deserved.

The season-opener in Melbourne is a good case in point. After qualifying an impressive fourth he moved into third behind the two McLarens at the first corner, and was holding off Sebastian Vettel when a gearbox failure ended his afternoon after just ten laps.

• 2012 Australian Grand Prix review: Button starts his season with an emphatic win

2012 Monaco Grand Prix

By the final year of his comeback, if not before, it was clear Schumacher was not the same driver he had been in his championship-winning glory years. Some even suggested his skills had waned so much he was no longer worthy of a place in F1.

But despite having given his critics plenty of ammunition, who could honestly say that a man capable of recording the fastest qualifying time on the streets of Monaco is not worthy of a place in F1? The 43-year old-stunned the paddock by becoming the oldest man to top the time sheets since Jack Brabbham in 1970.

Unfortunately, Schumacher was denied a place at the front of the grid ' and a shot at victory ' by a five-place grid penalty he had received for driving into the back of Bruno Senna in the previous race. It said a lot about the mixture of speed, inconsistency and occasional ragged driving that marked Schumacher's final season.

Schumacher survived a swipe from Romain Grosjean on the run to the first corner. A fuel pressure problem saw him retire towards the end of the race, so perhaps not starting from pole position was a blessing in disguise.

• 2012 Monaco Grand Prix qualifying: Schumacher fastest but Webber on pole in Monaco
• 2012 Monaco Grand Prix review: Webber gives Red Bull third straight Monaco win

2012 European Grand Prix

At long last, Schumacher made his return to the podium at the Valencia Street Circuit. A battling drive from a lowly 12th on the grid secured the Mercedes driver his first podium in 48 races and close to six years. It was his last in F1.

The result owed a lot to luck ' Schumacher benefited from the retirements of Vettel and Grosjean, and Pastor Maldonado turfing Hamilton off the track in the closing stages. So tumultuous were the final few laps that Schumacher admitted he was initially unaware he'd finished third.

Ten years earlier, Schumacher had finished third only once all season, as he did in 2012. However, while in 2002 it was his lowest finish of the entire campaign, a decade later it was his best result not only of one season, but three. How times had changed.

• 2012 European Grand Prix review: Alonso clinches superb win in Valencia

2012 British Grand Prix

Schumacher caught the eye in a wet qualifying session at Silverstone. The 'Regenmeister' proved his wet weather prowess had not deserted him by outpacing team mate Nico Rosberg by over a second in Q1 and Q2, eventually taking third on the grid, only a quarter of a second from pole.

He proved it was no flash in the pan with another superb qualifying performance at a sodden Hockenheim two weeks later, thrashing Rosberg by 3.5 seconds in Q2 on his way to fourth place at the end of the hour. Though he again slipped back to seventh on race day, Schumacher had at least given his home support a final glimpse of the talent that had made him a seven-times champion.

• 2012 British Grand Prix qualifying: Alonso rides his luck for Silverstone pole position
• 2012 German Grand Prix qualifying: Alonso on pole again in rain-hit German GP qualifying

Over to you

It's hard to view Schumacher's comeback as anything other than a failure. Far from winning races and championships, he found himself in the previously unheard-of situation of being consistently outperformed by his team mate.

But with the benefit of hindsight perhaps our expectations were too high. Grand Prix racing is a physically challenging sport, and even a driver as supremely fit as Schumacher found it challenging in his fifth decade.

The cars changed dramatically during his absence. In place of unlimited testing and a tyre war ' two essential elements of his success at Ferrari ' came strictly limited testing, increased use of simulators, and standard-specification tyres.

Most of all, though, Mercedes never gave Schumacher a car with which he could have challenged for regular wins. Given the backing they enjoy from a major car manufacturer and the success they enjoyed before their rebranding in 2009, this was poorly anticipated at the beginning of 2010.

What's your view of Schumacher's comeback? What he right to return? What, if anything, did his three years at Mercedes reveal about how his earlier successes were achieved?

And were there any other highlights during his return? Have your say in the comments.

2012 F1 season review

• Top ten: Schumacher comeback moments
• Join in the F1 Fanatic 2012 season review

Browse all 2012 F1 season review articles

Images © Mercedes/Hoch Zwei

Media claim Ferrari may 'protest' Vettel | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Conflicting reports over whether Ferrari are trying to take action to have Sebastian Vettel stripped of his drivers' championship title.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Ferrari mull protest over Vettel's title win (Reuters)

As I was putting today's round-up together reports emerged on several websites claiming Ferrari are considering a protest against Sebastian Vettel's sixth place in the Brazilian Grand Prix. As mentioned in yesterday's round-up, some people had queried whether Vettel had overtaken one or more rivals under yellow flags during the race.

Although the deadline for protesting the results of the race has passed the FIA may choose to look into it themselves. The latest date at which that can be done is tomorrow.

There is no indication as yet that the FIA were unaware of any of the events during the race. As explained in the thread, there is ample reason to believe Vettel's driving was legal.

Some of the salient details of the incident, such as Vettel passing the floppy marker which denotes the beginning of the marshal zone where he made the pass, have been widely overlooked in the coverage elsewhere. This explanation from a flag marshal supports that analysis.

I made some enquiries about the incident on Tuesday and if I receive any relevant information I will of course share it, most likely in the same forum thread.

A lot of ground has been covered in that thread so I encourage anyone who's new to this story to read it to see everything we've worked out, explained and hypothesised about it so far:

• Video: Vettel's 'yellow flag' overtakes

Alonso presiona a Ferrari para que recurra el título mundial de Vettel (ABS, Spanish)

This Spanish newspaper claims Ferrari communications director Luca Colajanni has said they will not attempt to have the results of the Brazilian Grand Prix changed.

Razlan Razali ' CEO, Sepang International Circuit (iSportConnect)

'With Malaysia and Singapore, they are in the same region and I think it is bad for Singapore and Malaysia. I think the impact upon audiences could be greater if Malaysia and Singapore alternate races, rather than both being in the same year.'

I'm only thinking about F1 (ESPN)

Max Chilton: 'Another development over the weekend was the announcement that Charles [Pic] is joining Caterham next season. I had an inkling that he was going but you're never quite sure and therefore you don't assume until you hear it through the proper announcements. Obviously it's a good chance for me to take his race seat but nothing's done yet and we're still trying to work on it.'

Horner: Vettel ignored gamesmanship (Autosport)

'I think there have been several of his opponents that have tried to [get under his skin]. It is part of sport isn't it? Sebastian showed the true strength of his character because he has not got involved.'

Two sides to every story (Joe Saward)

'There was a meeting on Thursday in Sao Paulo during which the team decided whether or not it should take part in the race, because there were fears that some of the parts on the cars, notably the rear brakes had gone beyond their 'lifing'. The decision, I am told, was left up to the drivers and they felt that it was the right thing to race, even if there was no future for the team.'

Sebastian Vettel deserved title (BBC)

Jaime Alguersuari: 'In Melbourne, Alonso was 1.5 seconds off pole position. That same guy lost the championship by just three points in Brazil on Sunday. Six races later, that Ferrari was upgraded by half a second, and then another couple of tenths, and then some more. That's amazing. You hardly ever see that.'

Maria De Villota has more eye surgery (The Times of India)

'Maria de Villota underwent a new surgical operation aimed at cranial and ocular reconstruction. The aim was to avoid future dysfunction due to the injuries caused by her accident.'

Niki Lauda Q&A: 2012 has been outstanding (F1)

'This season has been outstanding. It couldn't have been better in terms of these ups and downs for the tyres and the cars. This has been the most entertaining season I have seen since I was racing, because when you are racing you have a completely different perspective.'

F1 diary: Brazilian grand prix (The Telegraph)

'During the afternoon, the media assembles in the Red Bull office ' to await Vettel ' when Webber strolls in. 'Bloody hell,' he says, 'I come to get a quiet bite to eat and you lot are here.' He then spots me and wanders over to ask how Mrs A's cancer treatment is progressing. When I later relay news of his touching enquiry, it creates an instant feel-good factor back home. The Australian could be forgiven for having other things on his mind, but he's a class act: dealing with people like him on a fortnightly basis is something I'll miss.'

With a little help from your mate (Sky)

Mark Hughes: 'There's no denying that Massa was much more of an asset to Ferrari on Sunday than Webber was to Red Bull. But stepping back to look at the bigger picture, Webber has served his team brilliantly this year.'

Tweets

Well done my friend #BOTTAS !

' Felix da Costa (@a_felixcosta13) November 28, 2012

Comment of the day

@Tee19810 is pleased to see Valtteri Bottas will drive for Williams next year:

I am extremely pleased by this announcement.

A lot of people knock Maldonado but he has genuine pace evidenced by his qualifying performances this year. He is the first Williams driver that has excited me in a number of years. Added to that he gained Williams first win in eight years! That surely proves he has something.

As for Bottas I'm very excited by him as well. Senna is a nice smiley guy but wasn't that fast in all honesty. I do however hope he gets the race seat at Caterham as has been rumoured.

Lastly, Williams were knocked from every angle last year for taking on Senna due to his money backing sponsors. Well, Bottas has been taking on talent alone as he doesn't have huge backing at all. I hope he lives up to the hype.
@Tee19810

From the forum

• Which 22 drivers deserve the 22 seats?
• 2013 BTCC silly season

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Alex White, Crispin, djdaveyp85, Prisoner Monkeys, Wes and villalon!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

One year ago today Kimi Raikkonen's 2012 F1 comeback with Lotus was confirmed (the team was still called Renault at the time):

• Kimi Raikkonen to return to F1 with Renault in 2012

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

FIA confirms Vettel's pass on Vergne was legal | 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

The FIA has confirmed Sebastian Vettel did not break the rules concerning overtaking under yellow flags when passing Jean-Eric Vergne during the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Ferrari confirmed they sent the FIA a letter requesting an investigation into whether Vettel illegally overtook the Toro Rosso on lap four on the Reta Oposta straight.

Yellow flags and lights prohibiting overtaking were visible in the run-up to the pass but a green flag indicating drivers could overtake was difficult to see

FIA race director Charlie Whiting told Auto Motor und Sport Vettel had passed a green flag before completing the move. The FIA later confirmed to Autosport the pass was legal.

Had Vettel been retroactively punished for the move, a penalty could have lost him the world championship to Fernando Alonso.

See this forum thread for earlier discussion of the incident.

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

• FIA confirms Vettel's pass on Vergne was legal
• F1 fans' videos from the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
• Top ten pictures from the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
• F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship won by Carpy3
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix weekend in Tweets

Browse all 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix articles

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

Join in the F1 Fanatic 2012 season review | 2012 F1 season review

With the 2012 season all over bar the shouting F1 Fanatic's traditional end-of-year review is set to begin.

This year's review will run up until the beginning of 2013 and include:

• The F1 Fanatic Driver Rankings 2012
• Team-by-team reviews for every competitor
• Plenty more stats, facts and pictures from the season
• The 2012 F1 season quiz
• Your best and worst moments of the year
• A look back on how accurate our predictions for the year ahead were
• Many more articles plus a selection of the best from F1 Fanatic this year

This being F1 Fanatic there are lots of opportunities for you to contribute to this year's season review. Here's how:

F1 Fanatic Driver Rankings

The F1 Fanatic Driver Rankings have been a long-standing feature of the end-of-season review. They will of course be back again this year and as always your comments on the drivers are invited.

Who were the best and worst drivers this year? Join in this forum thread to add your views:

• F1 Fanatic Driver Rankings 2012

Read the previous F1 Fanatic driver rankings here.

The best and worst moments of 2012

What were the highlights and lowlights of the season for you? Have your say here:

• 2012 F1 season review: Best moments of the year
• 2012 F1 season review: Worst moments of the year

Pass of the Year

The Pass of the Year poll will be open soon. As always the shortlist will be drawn up based on your nominations from each race weekend of the season.

Name what you think was the best pass from each race of the season in these threads:

• Pass of the Year 2012: Australian Grand Prix
• Pass of the Year: 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix
• Pass of the Year: 2012 Chinese Grand Prix
• Pass of the Year: 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix
• Pass of the Year: 2012 Spanish Grand Prix
• Pass of the year: 2012 Monaco Grand Prix
• Pass of the Year: 2012 Canadian Grand Prix
• Pass of the year: 2012 European Grand Prix
• Pass of the year: 2012 British Grand Prix
• Pass of the year: 2012 German Grand Prix
• Pass of the year: 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix
• Pass of the year: 2012 Belgian Grand Prix
• Pass of the year: 2012 Italian Grand Prix
• Pass of the year: 2012 Singapore Grand Prix
• Pass of the Year: 2012 Japanese Grand Prix
• Pass of the Year: 2012 Korean Grand Prix
• Pass of the Year: 2012 Indian Grand Prix
• Pass of the year: 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
• Pass of the year: 2012 United States Grand Prix
• Pass of the Year: 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

Last year Mark Webber's pass on Fernando Alonso in the Belgian Grand Prix was voted Pass of the Year.

Your 2012 race experiences

Tell everyone about which F1 races you went to in 2012 and share your pictures and video from the races:

• 2012 Australian Grand Prix ' your pictures and video
• 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix ' your pictures and video
• 2012 Chinese Grand Prix ' your pictures and video
• 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix ' your pictures and video
• 2012 Spanish Grand Prix ' your pictures and video
• 2012 Monaco Grand Prix ' your pictures and video
• 2012 Canadian Grand Prix ' your pictures and video
• 2012 European Grand Prix ' your pictures and video
• 2012 British Grand Prix ' your pictures and video
• 2012 German Grand Prix ' your pictures and video
• 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix ' your pictures and video
• 2012 Belgian Grand Prix: Your pictures and video
• 2012 Italian Grand Prix: Your pictures and video
• 2012 Singapore Grand Prix: Your pictures and video
• 2012 Japanese Grand Prix: Your pictures and video
• 2012 Korean Grand Prix: Your pictures and video
• 2012 Indian Grand Prix: Your pictures and video
• 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Your pictures and video
• 2012 United States Grand Prix: Your pictures and video
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix: Your pictures and video

If you're already planning a race trip for next year, there are discussion threads set up in all the forums which you can find via the 2013 F1 calendar.

An F1 Fanatic account is required to participate in the forums. If you do not have one, register an account here or read more about registering here.

More F1 season reviews

• The complete F1 Fanatic 2011 season review
• The complete F1 Fanatic 2010 season review

Image © Sahara Force India F1 Team

F1 fans' videos from the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix | 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

Pastor Maldonado's lap two crash, which wasn't seen on television, is among the videos shot by fans at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Friday practice

Video from practice on Friday near the entry to the pits at Brazil. This was where Romain Grosjean and Petro de la Rosa crashed on Saturday. The lack of run-off and the close proximity of the pit lane entrance are obvious dangers here, and the stewards warned the pair the crash could have had serious consequences.

Pit walk

This fan takes us on a tour of the pits.

Schumacher arrives on the grid

Applause for Michael Schumacher as he is pushed onto the grid for the last time.

The start

A close-quarters view of the front row at the start of the race.

Senna and Vettel collide

Bruno Senna and Sebastian Vettel collide, blowing the world championship wide open on lap one.

Maldonado's crash

Pastor Maldonado crashed out at turn three on lap two, which was not seen on the main television feed.

Alonso goes off

Vettel's first-lap drama helped Alonso into a championship-winning position early in the race until this off which handed third place to Nico Hulkenberg.

Webber does the same

Webber goes off at the restart as he and Kobayashi attack Vettel for sixth.

Ferrari swap positions

Not a great deal of cheering in the crowd as Massa gives way to Alonso.

Di Resta crash ends race

This crash for Paul di Resta brought out the safety car and effectively ended the race, by which time Vettel had done enough to seal the championship.

Thanks to @Girts for researching this article. If you're interested in contributing to F1 Fanatic, see here for details on how you can:

• Contribute to F1 Fanatic

Were you at the Brazilian Grand Prix? Did you capture any videos? Share them here:

• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix: Your pictures and video

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

• F1 fans' videos from the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
• Top ten pictures from the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
• F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship won by Carpy3
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix weekend in Tweets
• Schumacher says farewell to Formula One

Browse all 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix articles

Senna expected to lose 2013 seat to Bottas | 2012 F1 season

Bruno Senna said he'd been aware of Williams' long-term plans for Valtteri Bottas long before losing his race seat to the team's test driver.

'Since the beginning of my program with Williams I accepted that I had to share the car with Valtteri Bottas in 15 Fridays as a part of his preparation for a likely debut in 2013,' said Senna.

Senna added: 'It has been extremely satisfying to be the teams most regular point scorer and for me to demonstrate my pace in all 20 races.

'I have learned a lot and improved considerably through the season. I have had a relatively short career so far and feel as though I have come a long way in just a few years'.

'I had some notable achievements this year, such as the fastest lap in the Belgian Grand Prix, my favourite track, scoring points on a regular basis and making up many many places through the races.

'Regularly racing in the top ten has certainly been a step forward in my still relatively short career and has allowed me to further sharpen up my race craft. Working with a competitive and supportive engineering team like Williams has left me well prepared for the next step in my career.'

Senna thanked his former team, saying: 'I would like to thank the whole team and particularly Frank for giving me the chance of completing my first full season in F1.

'It has been extremely rewarding to develop the Williams FW34 into a consistently competitive race car and cracking the challenge of the Pirelli tyres has been just one of the satisfying points.'

He added he to confirm his future F1 plans soon.

2012 F1 season

• F1 fans' videos from the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
• Senna expected to lose 2013 seat to Bottas
• Top ten pictures from the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
• F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship won by Carpy3
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix weekend in Tweets

Browse all 2012 F1 season articles

Image © Williams/LAT

Bottas: 'I've missed racing a great deal' | 2013 F1 season

New Williams driver Valtteri Bottas says he's eager to get back to racing after spending a year testing for the team.

His only outings this year have come during 15 free practice sessions during race weekends.

'I'm a naturally very competitive person and I've been competing in triathlons throughout 2012 to keep fit and keep my mind sharp,' said Bottas in a Q&A published by the team.

'Obviously I've missed racing a great deal so can't wait to get back onto a starting grid, but I've been racing constantly since a very young age so when the lights go out in Australia It will be business as usual.'

His practice outings will be a 'big help', he added. 'It means there are only a handful of circuits on the 2013 calendar that I have never driven, in Australia, Monaco, Valencia, Austin and Singapore. There will still be a lot of work to do but it means that I do have some knowledge to work from heading to most races next season.'

Bottas denied his connection to Williams executive director Toto Wolff had a bearing on him taking the seat for 2013: 'Toto is part of my management team and has always supported by career, but because of his involvement with Williams he wasn't part of the negotiations for my contract with the team.

'As with all decisions at Williams, Sir Frank [Williams] and the board of directors get to make the final decision. I'm grateful to Toto for helping introduce me to the Williams F1 Team, but it has been up to me to prove to Frank and the rest of the team that I have the talent and commitment to deliver the results they desire.'

He said he is unsure how competitive he can be in his first year of Formula One: 'It's difficult to set objectives before the season starts, so I'm just trying to make the most of this opportunity to prove the team has been right to promote me to a race seat.

'I want to look back on 2013 and feel that I've improved as a driver and helped the team improve its performance on the track.'

'As a team I think we should be aiming to score more points than this year and really get the most out of the car,' he added. 'Personally I hope to look back and feel that I have learnt a lot and developed as a driver over the course of the season, having scored a lot of points for the team.'

Team principal Frank Williams said that having Bottas in the teams for three years already is a 'big advantage':

'He spends a lot of time in the factory so has managed to develop good relationships and knows how we like to operate. By that token we also know how he likes to work, which is crucial as developing a car throughout the season requires good two way communication.

'Having a new driver who has spent three seasons testing the car and conducting extensive simulator work means that he is as prepared for his first season as you can get.'

2013 F1 season

• Senna expected to lose 2013 seat to Bottas
• Bottas: "I've missed racing a great deal"
• Bottas joins Maldonado at Williams for 2013
• Caterham sign Charles Pic for 2013
• Kamui Kobayashi loses Sauber seat for 2013

Browse all 2013 F1 season articles

Image © Williams/LAT

F1 'played NASCAR' with safety car, say Force India | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Force India criticise the decision to deploy the safety car early in the Brazilian Grand Prix, which wiped out Nico Hulkenberg and Jenson Button's 45-second lead over their rivals.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Force India says first SC period a joke (Autosport)

Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley: 'I think the safety car was a joke. I thought we were playing NASCAR. We could've done that debris under double yellow flags.'

Lewis Hamilton leaves McLaren confident he will win at Mercedes (The Guardian)

'When reminded that his gifts were more instinctive than technical, he replied: 'I guarantee you that is not the case. I don't need to blow smoke up my own arse. I know what I am capable of, although it won't take a major effect until halfway through next season, although more so with the car for 2014. It just means I have to cram a lot into a short space of time. I don't have a problem with that.''

Vettel only interested in Red Bull (The Telegraph)

'At the moment, I don't see any point thinking about another team or something else. I'm extremely happy in the position I am. It's incredible what we have achieved.'

Jonathan McEvoy: So what happens next for Lewis, McLaren and Bernie? (Daily Mail)

'Will Hamilton regret leaving [McLaren]? No time soon. He finally found McLaren so claustrophobic that one team principal privately said he thought Hamilton would have rather taken a year out than stay.'

Driver-car affinity key to the title (BBC)

'[Vettel] drives the Red Bull concept ' he turns in on the brakes, which gives understeer, then when he gets the brakes off, the front grips, the car rotates around the nose and he nails the throttle because he's got confidence that the rear aerodynamics will make the back grip.'

Horner feared race-ending damage (ESPN)

'There was quite a lot of damage to the exhaust and they're sensitive bits of equipment and to receive an impact like that was massively concerning. What we saw is as the pace picked up the problem became more evident; the loss that Sebastian had. Then we saw another bit of the bodywork disappear off the car.'

Champion Sebastian Vettel deserves all of our respect (The National)

Gary Meenaghan: '[Adrian] Newey and Vettel appears not just difficult to beat but omnipotent. At the start of the season, when the car was not the quickest and results proved unpredictable, Vettel showed his worth and his consistency to collect double-figure points at five of the first seven races.'

Humphrey: Why I'm leaving F1 (BBC)

'Contrary to some reports it not due to the rights change bombshell that hit us in 2011. Of course, not doing every race live was tough because that is where I think I and the team excel.'

• 'The Inside Track' by Jake Humphrey reviewed

Tweets

Incredible finale! What a race! What a season! Thanks to Force India for two great Years. And Congrats Seb and Red Bull!

' Nico Hülkenberg (@NicoHulkenberg) November 26, 2012

Comment of the day

@Marcky was in the stands at Interlagos on Sunday ' and in 2008:

I was there yesterday at Interlagos watching the race in grandstand A by the main straight. Got to say, it was an amazing race, even for us who were watching at the track getting soaked by the rain.

There was so much going on at the same time that we didn't know where to look at, if we tried to look at the large screen showing the replay, we'd lose an overtake in the main straight or in the middle sector. Everyone there was just blown away after the race ended, we were privileged to have seen history being made live.

Comparing this year's race with 2008, for me 2008 was still better (and I am Brazilian!). This year's race probably had more twists and turns, and was more action packed, but the fact that in 2008 nobody knew who was going to be champion until the very last minute made it the ultimate thriller. We'll probably never see something like that happen again.

And for me, it will always be a moment that I'll never forget, the disappointment was so intense, I mean, we were watching a Brazilian driver about to become champion, something we have been waiting for a long time since we lost Ayrton Senna, and on top of that, he would be champion in Brazil! When I saw Hamilton passing Glock on the last turn, we were just speechless.

So, I guess this year's race was more fun, but the 2008 Grand Prix was more emotional and intense.
@Marcky

From the forum

• McLaren lay the groundwork for the arrival of Sergio Perez in the last episode of Tooned
• The Brazilian Grand Prix attracted 0.7m more viewers live on the BBC that it did last year
• Comparing Vettel's latest title with Schumacher's in 2003

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Goldenboy, Lucas 'Mr. Veloce' and L_A_Munro!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Mark Webber scored his first win of last year in the final round of the season. But the manner in which it was achieved, following a gearbox problem on his team mate's car, inevitably raised questions over whether it had been a true triumph.

• Webber ends season on a high with Brazil win
• Was Vettel's 'gearbox problem' team orders in disguise?

Image © Sahara Force India F1 Team

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix weekend in Tweets | 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix in Tweets

Relive the drama of the championship-deciding Brazilian Grand Prix weekend as it unfolded through the eyes of the drivers and teams.

Thursday

Spending some of @jensonbutton Spa win bonus tonight. His traditional Brit media dinner. Caipirinhas may ensure quiet news day tomorrow :))

' Martin Brundle(@MBrundleF1) November 21, 2012

F1 team have all arrived in Brazil. Hopeing for some changable weather to allow us to get 10th place back

' Mike Gascoyne (@MikeGascoyne) November 22, 2012

Last day of prep before p1 and p2!Almost the end of the season, it's gone so fast! After a 5 week stint it'll be good to get home,

' Tom Briggs (@1derpony) November 22, 2012

It never ceases to amaze us that less than 72 hours after pack-up finished in Austin our whole track operation was ready to go in Brazil'

' Caterham F1 Team (@MyCaterhamF1) November 22, 2012

It seems Kimi Raikkonen is not going to make it to Interlagos today. He's been delayed in LA. Can't imagine why

' Andrew Benson (@andrewbensonf1) November 22, 2012

Friday

Lewis Hamilton was fastest in both practice sessions as Pirelli tested new tyre compounds for 2013. Championship rivals Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso end the day separated by just a few tenths.

Sauber confirmed Esteban Gutierrez as Kamui Kobayashi's replacement in 2013, while Charles Pic confirmed for a transfer to Caterham from current rivals Marussia.

BBQ #sau paulo style twitter.com/dave_coggin/st'

' David coggin (@dave_coggin) November 23, 2012

Gooood morning from São Paulo!! Homework day today! #bringit

' Lee Stevenson (@leestevo1) November 23, 2012

For all those asking: no, Sunday isn't Lewis's 'last day in the office'. He has a few appearances & will go to MTC to thank everyone too.

' McLaren (@TheFifthDriver) November 23, 2012

This is what's great about #INTERLAGOS how close you can get to the cars #BrazilF1GP twitter.com/F1Thommo/statu'

' Mark Thompson (@F1Thommo) November 23, 2012

Vettel and Alonso go side-by-side together through Mergulho ' the title contenders getting racy early! #F1

' F1 Fanatic Live (@f1fanaticlive) November 23, 2012

'Can you see if my tyres are overheating I have absolutely no grip' 'Yes Kimi the tyres are very hot, front and rear.' #F1

' F1 Fanatic Live (@f1fanaticlive) November 23, 2012

To Sauber F1 Team 2013! #EstebanAF1 #MexicoEnF1 instagr.am/p/SYBaXWuwxZ/ fb.me/2q8giUXz1

' Esteban Gutierrez (@EstebanGtz) November 23, 2012

How would you like it if someone photographed the top of your head while you're at work? Tough, you're an F1 driver'. twitter.com/MyCaterhamF1/s'

' Caterham F1 Team (@MyCaterhamF1) November 23, 2012

@f1fanatic_co_uk this is the crowd on grandstands by the main straight, great atmosphere here! twitter.com/marckanno/stat'

' Marcelo Kanno (@marckanno) November 24, 2012

Massa runs wide. Smedley says 'I think you know what went wrong. The grip isn't brilliant trying to take that amount of speed into turn six'

' F1 Fanatic Live (@f1fanaticlive) November 23, 2012

On the way to Hotel..! Some stretching session at the gym and dinner soon '! Million thanks for all the good wishes you are sending..

' Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) November 23, 2012

We are pleased with our long run work but will look overnight at our qualifying pace

' Marussia F1 Team (@Marussia_F1Team) November 23, 2012

Nice interview on @skysportsf1 with my man' I especially love the fact he was wearing the 'I ' boobies' bracelet I bought him ;)

' Catherine Hyde (@KataHyde) November 23, 2012

Friday done. That was a manic day! #BrazilianGP

' Marc (@MarcCox) November 24, 2012

Saturday

Kimi Raikkonen's engine woes continued as his final practice session came to an early end. Jenson Button was fastest ahead of qualifying but was beaten to pole position by Hamilton. Vettel qualified fourth with Alonso eighth ahead of the championship showdown.

FP3 is on at #Interlagos. It is 28 degrees ambient today but more overcast. Track is 36 degrees ' 12 less than yesterday. It might help!

' Sauber F1 Team (@OfficialSF1Team) November 24, 2012

'This is a different car today,' says Hulkenberg. 'Much better.' #F1

' F1 Fanatic Live (@f1fanaticlive) November 24, 2012

Leave me alone, I'm sat on a chair. No lap time in FP3 for blown engine #Kimi. #FullBrazilian

' Lotus F1 Team (@Lotus_F1Team) November 24, 2012

Given the mixed conditions we're expecting in qualifying, the pit garage is rammed with tyres: 2 x dry compounds, inters and wets.

' McLaren (@TheFifthDriver) November 24, 2012

Why did Lotus not change tyres with GRO for a set of fresh hot tyres ?! Mmhhh. Well, shame

' alexander wurz (@alex_wurz) November 24, 2012

'I had a little issue with the braking for turn one but nevertheless it wouldn't have been enough,' says Schumacher #F1

' F1 Fanatic Live (@f1fanaticlive) November 24, 2012

'First run I locked a little bit into turn four, second run was better,' says Vettel. #F1

' F1 Fanatic Live (@f1fanaticlive) November 24, 2012

Massa just told Italian TV 'if they tell me my gearbox is broken, I'll race with a broken gearbox.'

' Will Buxton (@willbuxton) November 24, 2012

Happy with q3 laps and the usual position around 8th .. ;)! Now I hope many overtakes again tomorrow, and fight to the flag!! #forzaferrari

' Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) November 24, 2012

What an exciting Quali session here in Interlagos, just pipped by Lewis! Congrats to the whole team. Great to end the year as we started ;)

' Jenson Button (@JensonButton) November 24, 2012

Xmas has come early? Well a 1-2 in Brazil feels like it. #BOOMTOWN #BelieveInMcLaren

' Benjamin Hebbourn (@Benjiani79) November 24, 2012

Sunday

Race day dawned overcast and rain fell shortly after the race began. The championship advantage swung back and forth between Alonso and Vettel after the Red Bull driver's first-lap collision with Bruno Senna.

While Button excelled in the wet conditions for his third win of the year sixth place was enough for Vettel to seal his third championship title.

Spoken to Mark Gillan who says the Q2 weigh bridge call was 'very unusual' and William's will have to adjust plans for future Q2's as result

' Jennie Gow (@JennieGow) November 25, 2012

Arrived at the track and found this guy on the entry. Looks like he is on a mission twitter.com/realTimoGlock/'

' Timo Glock (@realTimoGlock) November 25, 2012

3 hours until go time in Interlagos. The latest weather update is in and it's now reduced the chance of rain to around 20%'.

' Caterham F1 Team (@MyCaterhamF1) November 25, 2012

very funny normally the mechanics have heavy metal music in the garage. At the Moment there are pre race Christmas songs'.

' Nico Rosberg (@nico_rosberg) November 25, 2012

The commentators' choice of superlatives in the past 10 minutes: 'extraordinary', 'superb', 'unbelievable', 'incredible'.. #f1 #BrazilianGP

' PETRONAS Motorsports (@PET_Motorsports) November 25, 2012

Please let it rain in Interlagos'!

' Jean-Eric Vergne (@JeanEricVergne) November 25, 2012

For some reason we are fighting the world championship that logic would say was impossible. Enjoy today and whatever happens.. Thank you all

' Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) November 25, 2012

Smedley to Massa: 'Nice work mate we are P6, Kobayashi in front, let's get him as well.' Not thinking of blocking Vettel, then. #F1

' F1 Fanatic Live (@f1fanaticlive) November 25, 2012

Kimi should have got a TomTom. Oh dear'.

' Taki Inoue (@takiinoue) November 25, 2012

There you have it.. Vettel is World Champion! Personally I was routing for Alonso, but both deserved the title.

' Robert Wickens (@robertwickens) November 25, 2012

Three points are missing for a dream to come true'

' Scuderia Ferrari (@InsideFerrari) November 25, 2012

So gutted we didn't get our first win today @nicohulkenberg deserved it drove like a champion #F1

' David coggin (@dave_coggin) November 25, 2012

Congratulations to @jensonbutton @daverobsonf1 & @tom_stallard and the whole team on winning the final race!

' Oliver Turvey (@OliverTurvey) November 25, 2012

Christian Horner reads out a list of previous three times world champions to Vettel but misses out Jack Brabham! Tut-tut. #F1

' F1 Fanatic Live (@f1fanaticlive) November 25, 2012

Great great day for us today !!! I'm so happy!!! I do not know what to say!!! Thank you for all you support !!!! Eeeeeeee :)))))))

' Vitaly Petrov (@vitalypetrovrus) November 25, 2012

Thank you #F1 for another great season and unforgettable year.

' Alan van der Merwe (@alanvdm) November 25, 2012

And that's it for the 2012 season!

' Toro Rosso (@ToroRossoSpy) November 25, 2012

What a day. What a race. So proud of the work done. A real boost for the winter homework.

' Cyril ABITEBOUL (@Cyroul) November 25, 2012

F1 Twitter Directory

Looking for official F1 Twitter accounts to follow? Need to look up some of the names above? Check out the F1 Fanatic Twitter Directory:

• F1 Twitter directory

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

• F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship won by Carpy3
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix weekend in Tweets
• Schumacher says farewell to Formula One
• Montezemolo wants 'a winning car from round one'
• Vote for your 2012 Brazilian GP driver of the weekend

Browse all 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix articles

F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship won by Carpy3 | Predictions Championship

@Carpy3 had a low score in the final round of the Predictions Championship. But, like Sebastian Vettel, it was enough to secure overall victory.

The Brazilian round was won by @Andy2k12, who claims a 1976 Autocourse eBook as a prize.

Second place and a Grand Prix Heroes DVD went to James (@Spirals) and @SpinyNorman (best username ever) won an F1 poster from PJ Tierney for coming third.

Here are the predictions from the top ten players in the final round:

Lewis Hamilton was favourite for pole position, chosen by 62% of players. He was also the favourite to win but it was fourth-favourite Jenson Button, picked by 7.64%, who claimed victory.

2012 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship overall prize winners

Grand prize: Two grandstands tickets to the 2013 British Grand Prix

Congratulations to @Carpy3 who will be attending the 2013 British Grand Prix at Silverstone with a friend with weekend tickets and grandstand seats for the race!

• Buy British Grand Prix tickets via the Silverstone website or call the ticket hotline on 0844 3728 300

Second place prize: An F1 painting

@ZanteX won the second place prize after coming out on top in a tie-breaker* with @OEL-F1.

• More motorsport paintings at Car-a-day

Runner-up prize: Racecar Engineering subscriptions

Five players win a year's subscription to Racecer Engineering for finishing in positions three to seven. They are @OEL-F1, @Anakincarlos, @Hobbsy009, @Pratik007 and @Romain-from-Grenoble.

Racecar Engineering is the world's leading motorsport technology magazine. Every issue is packed with in-depth features, interviews and analysis from Formula One, Le Mans and all forms racing and rallying.

• Exclusive offer: save up to £33 when you subscribe to Racecar Engineering

Runner-up prize: Autocourse calendars

And five more players win a 2013 Autocourse Calendar. They are @Chrissylyn, @Durk, @Xabregas, @Lucamus and @Slowhand.

Commiserations to @Journeyer and @Rumfresh who were tied on points* for 12th place with Slowhand.

The Autocourse Grand Prix calendar contains images taken during the season of all the major players competing in the Formula One World Championship.

The images are high resolution and taken by one of the world's leading Grand Prix photographers, the calendar is printed on art quality paper and comes with a stiffened backing board and shrink wrapped for protection.

• Autocourse Grand Prix calendar

2012 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship results

See the updated points standings in full here:

• Updated Predictions Championship standings

Congratulations to everyone who won the 68 prizes that were given away in this year's Predictions Championship. Over two thousand players took part during the course of the season ' thanks to everyone who joined in, I hope you all had fun.

The competition will return again next year and I hope we'll have more players and more prizes than ever before!

*Where a tie-breaker was needed, the player who had the highest individual score in a single round was picked.

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

• F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship won by Carpy3
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix weekend in Tweets
• Schumacher says farewell to Formula One
• Montezemolo wants 'a winning car from round one'
• Vote for your 2012 Brazilian GP driver of the weekend

Browse all 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix articles

Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix fastest laps | 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

Nico Hulkenberg wasn't the only driver who impressed with his speed in the wet conditions ' Jean-Eric Vergne did as well.

Brazilian Grand Prix lap times

All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded):

One driver who shone in the damp conditions was Nico Hulkenberg, in similar circumstances to those he set pole position at the same circuit two years ago.

Another who impressed was Jean-Eric Vergne, who was among the quickest drivers on the track late in the race when the rain returned.

Kimi Raikkonen's unsuccessful attempt to return to the circuit using an old section of track on lap 53 cost him over half a minute.

Brazilian Grand Prix fastest laps

Each driver's fastest lap:

The fastest laps table reveals how badly Sebastian Vettel's car was affected by the damage it incurred on the first lap ' he was a second off the pace when the track was at its best.

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

• Schumacher finishes his F1 career as he started it
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix lap charts
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix fastest laps
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops
• Vettel proud Red Bull not distracted by "dirty tricks"

Browse all 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix articles

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix lap charts | 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso was in position to win the world championship at two different points during the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Brazilian Grand Prix lap chart

The positions of each driver on every lap. Use the control below to show/hide different drivers:

The lap chart reveals how rapid Sebastian Vettel's return to the front of the pack was after his collision with Bruno Senna at the start of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Having fallen to last place he gained at least two positions on each of the next seven laps, putting him sixth by lap eight. He was aided by pit stops for some drivers including Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Mark Webber.

With Fernando Alonso looking on course for a podium finish for much of the race, Vettel needed to get back into the points. Alonso was in position to win the championship on two different occasions during the race.

He moved into championship-winning position when he passed Webber and Felipe Massa for third on lap three. But on lap six he went off at the first corner allowing Nico Hulkenberg into third and putting Vettel back in position to claim the title.

There was a brief moment later in the race when Alonso had the title in his grasp. Lewis Hamilton's retirement moved him back up to third on lap 55, while Vettel was recovering from a slow extra pit stop due to a radio glitch.

At this moment Alonso had the combination of positions he needed to win the title, but lost it when Vettel passed Kamui Kobayashi for ninth the next time by. Although Massa later let Alonso through into second, by this time Vettel was up to seventh and the Red Bull driver eventually claimed sixth to secure the title by three points.

Brazilian Grand Prix race chart

The gaps between each driver on every lap. Use the control below to show/hide different drivers:

Marussia lost their grip on the lucrative tenth place in the constructors' championship to Caterham after Timo Glock's race was ruined by Jean-Eric Vergne.

Glock was running in the 12th place the team needed in front of both Caterhams when he was hit by Vergne following the first safety car period. It brought back memories of Glock's retirement in Korea two years ago at the hands of another Toro Rosso driver ' Sebastien Buemi ' which also cost the team (then Virgin) a strong result.

Glock's demise led to the battle for 12th place being conducted between his team mate Charles Pic ' who will join Caterham next year ' and Vitaly Petrov. With six laps to go, Petrov overtook Pic and gave Caterham the result they needed.

Inevitably this proved questions over whether Pic took a fall to benefit his future team. The pair were close on lap times at this stage but Pic's lack of KERS probably made the difference in this battle.

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

• Schumacher finishes his F1 career as he started it
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix lap charts
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix fastest laps
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops
• Vettel proud Red Bull not distracted by "dirty tricks"

Browse all 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix articles

Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

Schumacher finishes his F1 career as he started it | 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix stats and facts

Sebastian Vettel cemented his place in F1 history by becoming the third driver to win three consecutive world championships.

The two drivers who did so before him, Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher, went on to win four and five titles in a row respectively.

As noted yesterday, Vettel is the youngest driver ever to win three world championships, beating Ayrton Senna's record by six years.

Like Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton before him, Vettel won the title in Brazil despite not finishing on the podium.

So long to Schumacher

While a new thrice-champion was crowned, another one bowed out. Michael Schumacher returned to retirement after 306 starts, having failed to add to his tally of 91 Grand Prix wins during his three-year comeback.

But he did make a final appearance in the points. The seven-times champion at the wheel of car number seven finished his F1 career in seventh place. Appropriately enough, that's also where he started it.

Button wins for McLaren

In a similar vein McLaren ended their season the way they began it, with a front row lock-out led by Lewis Hamilton followed by victory for Button.

The pair led their first laps in Brazil but it was Button who clinched his 15th career win. He is now 17th on the list of most prolific F1 winners.

With Hamilton retiring following a collision with Nico Hulkenberg, Button has accumulated more points than his team mate during their three years together, with 672 to Hamilton's 657. See this article for more information.

McLaren scored points in every race where Hamilton and Button were team mates. Here's how many points each driver scored in that time:

Hamilton's last three victories have all been preceded and succeeded by no-scores. However he did set his 26th pole position for McLaren, equalling Mika Hakkinen's tally.

Hamilton had more pole positions than any other driver this year: seven, which would have been eight but for his penalty at the Circuit de Catalunya. Vettel had the most fastest laps with six and Fernando Alonso the most podiums with 13.

And Hamilton also set fastest lap for the 12th time in his career, giving him as many as Alberto Ascari, Jack Brabham, Rene Arnoux and Juan Pablo Montoya.

McLaren were joined by Ferrari and Lotus in scoring points at every round this year. Constructors' champions Red Bull had one no-score, at Monza.

Hulkenberg's first laps in the lead

Nico Hulkenberg led a race for the first time. This was the third race led by a Force India, the others being this year's Bahrain Grand Prix (by Paul di Resta) and the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix (Giancarlo Fisichella). Hulkenberg led for 30 laps, boosting Force India's total to 35.

He became the 13th different driver to lead a lap this year, the same number that did so in 2009. The record is 15, set in 1954, 1956, 1957 and 1960 ' all seasons which included the Indianapolis 500 ' as well as 1975 and 2008.

Kimi Raikkonen's mistake in trying to rejoin the track via a closed escape road cost him a lot of time and led to him being lapped. As a result he failed to complete every lap of the 20-race season ' he did 1,191 out of 1,192.

However Paul di Resta's crash promoted Raikkonen to tenth place and extended his string of consecutive points scores to 17.

Raikkonen ended the year third in the drivers' championship, the best position for a Lotus driver since Ayrton Senna 25 years ago. He was the only driver to finish every race this year.

Pastor Maldonado became the first driver to receive a penalty for collecting too many reprimands. His third reprimand of the year earned him his tenth penalty of 2012, giving him twice as many as any other driver. Three of his penalties were for gearbox changes.

Sergio Perez failed to add to his points tally after being signed by McLaren six races ago.

This was the 500th Grand Prix to feature a Renault-engined car.

Pirelli stats

Pirelli produced some interesting statistics on their second season as F1's official tyre supplier.

During the season they provided 31,800 tyres ' 22,500 slicks and 9,300 for wet conditions ' plus a further 6,600 for testing. Pirelli also covered 7,021km of testing themselves using a 2010 Renault R30.

The average lifespan of their dry-weather tyres was 180km. Drivers averaged 1.9 pit stops per race with the most coming in the wet race at Malaysia (76) ' Brazil saw 69.

The highest track temperature recorded during the year was 55C during the second practice session in Brazil on Friday. Valencia saw the highest ambient temperature, 37C. At the other end of the scale track temperatures dipped to 11C in America and 0C during testing at Jerez.

Review the year so far in statistics here:

• 2012 F1 championship points
• 2012 F1 season records
• 2012 F1 race data
• 2012 F1 qualifying data
• 2012 F1 retirements and penalties
• 2012 F1 strategy and pit stops
• 2012 F1 driver form guides

Spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Brazilian Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

• Schumacher finishes his F1 career as he started it
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix lap charts
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix fastest laps
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix tyre strategies and pit stops
• Vettel proud Red Bull not distracted by "dirty tricks"

Browse all 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix articles

Images © Daimler/Hoch Zwei, Sahara Force India F1 Team

Hamilton vows to 'drive the nuts off' his car | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton says he wants to score his first win at Interlagos in his last race for McLaren.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Lewis Hamilton: 'I am going to drive the nuts off this car in Brazil' (The Guardian)

'I have never won here. I think I have won at most of the historic circuits, and this is one of the last ones. I don't know when I am going to have a car next that will compete as good as the one I have. So I am going to drive the nuts off it this weekend.'

Vettel doesn't expect Webber's help (ESPN)

'When pressed that he would expect a switch to take place at some point, Vettel simply replied: 'I do not expect anything.''

Vettel denies feeling title pressure (BBC)

'I did a mistake in the first run of Q3 but not because this is the last race or whatsoever. I'm pushing and that's what I try to do all the time.'

Will Bernie Ecclestone be forced to leave Formula 1 behind? (The Independent)

'One day, I'm not going to be there and one of the biggest problems is I've got really, really good relationships with the race promoters. A few of them said to me, 'if you're not there, we're not there'. That's what the danger is. They feel that they trust me and wouldn't want to let me down.'

Kobayashi not ruling out F1 race seat (Autosport)

'He said he had no hard feelings towards Sauber, despite being dropped just after securing his maiden F1 podium at Suzuka. 'I'm not disappointed. They need a sponsor and more money for the team,' Kobayashi said. 'I cannot find money in such a short time.''

Michael Schumacher: 'There's going to be some excitement'' (Adam Cooper's F1 Blog)

'Obviously I was focussing a little bit more towards tomorrow, on top of this one I didn't get the tyres spot-on for their use, so as a combination we ended up where we did. Nevertheless I don't think we had a great potential for qualifying, but we probably have a reasonable car for tomorrow.'

Brazilian Grand Prix Weather 2012: Saturday Review, Sunday Forecast (F1 Weather)

'The most likely scenario is that there will be a few showers during the course of the morning and early afternoon, but there will also be some lengthy gaps, allowing the track to dry out somewhat. You won't go far wrong if you are thinking along the lines of the 2008 race with a couple of sprinkles within the race window to spice things up.'

Joann Villeneuve: When Ferrari called, we thought it was a joke (The Star)

'Because of what happened [at Imola in 1982], that was it for him, as far as he was concerned. Gilles was a very straightforward and honest guy; a shaking of hands was a contract to him. So when what happened happened, it was just this huge disappointment and in his mind, I think it was, 'I've got to get out of this,' for no other reason than he was such an honest person and what happened was crushing.'

Pirelli's 2013 Test Tyre ' Brazil/Interlagos (Somers F1)

'From a mechanical perspective it will be interesting to see who follows Ferrari down the pull-rod front suspension route especially [with] the revised tyre weight. Let's remember that the alterations to the 2013 Technical Regulations are limited and so initially Pirelli's aggressive stance could bode well for close quarter racing.'

Tweets

A panorama view into our busy garage during FP3 in Brazil. twitter.com/TheFifthDriver'

' McLaren (@TheFifthDriver) November 24, 2012

Comment of the day

@Rob-Wilson is concerned money have become more important than talent when it comes to securing a Formula One drive:

I can't get my head round the growing fact that money is becoming more important than talent, it's too devastating, so don't bother trying, I just block it out and in my own fantasy world I still believe, and will always believe that the drivers on the Formula 1 grid are the fastest drivers in the world.

I ignore the best I can the fact that some drivers are massively backed and some aren't but I will just try to convince myself that Kobayashi and Kovalainen have had their time in F1 and because they haven't been magic all the time on the track, they won't be in it any more. Thinking it's just down to money is terrible for the sport.
@Rob-Wilson

From the forum

• More on Robert Kubica's progress in rallying
• Are you going to today's race? Tell us all about it here
• How qualifying will change if no one takes HRT's place in 2013

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Matt Aitch and Sozavele!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Two years ago today we were marvelling at the epic 2010 season, which I think deserves to be considered a modern classic:

• The six ingredients of F1's classic 2010 season

Image © McLaren/Hoch Zwei

Infiniti to become Red Bull title sponsor | 2012 F1 season

Renault's luxury brand Infiniti will become the title sponsor of Red Bull next year as the two deepen their technical co-operation.

Infiniti, whose branding has appeared on Red Bull's cars for the past two seasons, will assist Red Bull with their development of energy recovery systems under the new 2014 technical rules.

Team principal Christian Horner said: 'Red Bull Racing and Infiniti have been working on a number of initiatives since the start of our relationship in 2011.

'During that time, Infiniti has demonstrated significant technical prowess and I've been impressed by the depth of the wider engineering capabilities of the Nissan Motor Company.

'In terms of marketing, Infiniti has leveraged their involvement with Red Bull Racing and Formula One extremely effectively to become much better known in a short space of time.'

Infiniti president Johan de Nysschen added: 'While our first 24-months have been very beneficial to both parties, our new increased relationship will bring increased advantages to Infiniti and Red Bull Racing. As title sponsor, Infiniti Red Bull Racing will help us garner even more worldwide exposure for our brand, products and technology.'

2012 F1 season

• Live: 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
• Infiniti to become Red Bull title sponsor
• Threat of rain promises a tense title showdown
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying in pictures
• Q1 incident could have had "very serious outcome"

Browse all 2012 F1 season articles

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

Live: 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix | F1 Fanatic Live

Follow the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix on F1 Fanatic Live.

F1 Fanatic Live combines updates from the teams and drivers in real-time via Twitter with comments from F1 Fanatic readers and more.

The circuit was dry ahead of the start of the race and the chance of rain during the Grand Prix is decreasing.

Launch F1 Fanatic Live

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

• Live: 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
• Threat of rain promises a tense title showdown
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying in pictures
• Q1 incident could have had "very serious outcome"
• Maldonado penalty promotes Alonso to seventh

Browse all 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix articles

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

Live: 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying | F1 Fanatic Live

Follow the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying session on F1 Fanatic Live.

F1 Fanatic Live combines updates from the teams and drivers in real-time via Twitter with comments from F1 Fanatic readers and more.

Rain fell at the circuit before the start of qualifying.

Launch F1 Fanatic Live

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

• Live: 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying
• McLaren remain quickest as Brazil practice ends
• Live: 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix third practice
• Ferrari look quick as wet race prospects decrease
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix practice in pictures

Browse all 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix articles

Image © McLaren/Hoch Zwei

McLaren remain quickest as Brazil practice ends | 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix third practice

McLaren were quickest for the third practice session in a row at Interlagos ' but this time it was Jenson Button who was ahead.

Button, who switched from using a low-downforce rear wing to the higher-downforce version sported by Lewis Hamilton yesterday, led the session early on when the drivers used the hard tyres.

After switching to medium tyres in the final ten minutes Button went quickest again, his final lap just 0.004s faster than his previous best.

A late effort from Sebastian Vettel saw the Red Bull driver finish just 0.057s shy of Button despite not setting a fastest time in any of the three sectors.

The other Red Bulls and McLarens completed the top four ahead of Romain Grosjean. The Force India pair were next, separated by just over a tenth of a second.

Fernando Alonso could only manage eighth as the Ferrari team mates appeared to practice running in the slipstream of each other at the exit of the final corner. Pastor Maldonado and Felipe Massa also made it into the top ten.

Kimi Raikkonen's session came to an end as he began his first flying lap. A cloud of smoke appeared behind the Lotus and he quickly pulled to a stop. An engine problem spoiled his run during first practice as well.

Michael Schumacher was the first driver to set a time on the medium compound tyres but had to back off coming out of Juncao when Bruno Senna spun in front of him, the Mercedes narrowly missing the Williams.

Combined practice times

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

• Live: 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying
• McLaren remain quickest as Brazil practice ends
• Live: 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix third practice
• Ferrari look quick as wet race prospects decrease
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix practice in pictures

Browse all 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix articles

Image © McLaren/Hoch Zwei

Kovalainen doesn't want to be a pay driver | F1 Fanatic round-up

In the round-up: Heikki Kovalainen says he has told his management team not to look for money to support his F1 career.

Links

Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Kovalainen rules out becoming a 'pay driver' (Reuters)

'We are looking at other options' but even the other options require some money, teams asking for money, and I don't want to go that route.'

Kamui Support (Japanese)

Kamui Kobayashi has set up a website where his fans can contribute to support his racing career after losing his seat at Sauber.

Esteban Gutierrez: 'I don't know if I am ready yet' (Adam Cooper's F1 Blog)

'To be honest I don't know if I'm ready yet. I think when I'm going to be living the position of being an F1 driver next season, then I'm going to know if I was ready or not! But definitely I feel that I was comfortable to do the next step in my career.'

Sergio Perez Q&A: I'm ready for the pressures of McLaren (F1)

'In Japan I made a mistake and in Korea we had an issue with the pit stop. Abu Dhabi saw the contact with Grosjean. It was not my fault so I don't understand why I got a penalty there. And at the last race in Austin it looked okay but then I ran into problems with the brakes. So there you have it ' various calamities which ruined my chances of a better position in the standings.'

Tearful Lewis Hamilton discusses McLaren exit (BBC)

'It was the most difficult call I've ever had to make because we'd grown so close and [Martin Whitmarsh] had been so supportive and I didn't want to let people down. But at the end of the day you have to let people down sometimes to make decisions.'

Whitmarsh wants Lewis return (Sky)

'We'd have him back, yes. So let's hope it's just a gap year.'

Wasted: Hamilton says he left three world titles on the table at McLaren (The Mirror)

'Should I have had more championships? Absolutely. I feel I drove really well in 2007 and 2008, and in 2009 I was ready to do the same. 2010 was not bad. 2011 was not good so I don't feel I deserved to win that year.'

Sauber's poor pace concerns drivers (Autosport)

Sergio Perez: 'The heat just doesn't suit us,' he said. 'I found the car difficult to drive this afternoon and I think some big changes are required. Let's see how we can improve.'

F1 economic tally could take months to add up (Austin-American Statesman)

'Not everyone who attended the race had to purchase a ticket. Of the more than 110,000 tickets sold, track spokeswoman Ali Putnam said, 60 percent of the buyers were from outside Texas and the remainder were Texas residents. She said 15 percent of the ticket buyers came from 46 countries, primarily Mexico, Canada, Great Britain, Australia and a mix of Western European and Central/South American countries.'

La Ferrari per la gloria Alonso anche per i bonus (La Stampa, Italian)

La Stamps claims Fernando Alonso will receive a '10m (£8m) bonus if he wins the drivers' championship tomorrow.

Raging McLaren chief Dennis snubbed Hamilton's goodbye party (Daily Mail)

'McLaren chairman Ron Dennis was the only notable absentee from Hamilton's leaving function on the pool terrace of the Hilton hotel in Austin, Texas, last Saturday.'

Tweets

Sentirse observado en el trabajo';)Being analyzed and watched at work';)#brazilAlo twitter.com/alo_oficial/st'

' Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) November 23, 2012

Congrats @rfrijns for 3rd driver role with Sauber. But i think he deserves much much more' ''' #all4themoney

' Daniel Juncadella (@danijuncadella) November 23, 2012

Comment of the day

Many readers were disappointed to see Kobayashi lose his seat ' a subject of a recent Comment of the Day ' but @Hotbottoms was a dissenting voice:

I don't get it why everyone's so upset about Kobayashi losing his Sauber seat.

Sure, his debut drive in 2009 was promising and great entertainment and he's also Japanese, but has he really proven enough to get his fourth full season in Formula One instead of a rookie getting his shot?

It's true that Mexican money helped Gutierrez, but Sauber might've let Kobayashi go anyway. Or at least they chose Hulkenberg over him.
@Hotbottoms

From the forum

• With GP2 driver Esteban Gutierrez moving up to F1, who will be racing in the category next year?
• @Santico is looking to buy Monaco Grand Prix tickets and needs some advice
• @PieLighter has a question about Alain Prost's influence on French motorsport

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Heart of the Sunrise!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

It's six years to the day since McLaren announced Lewis Hamilton would make his debut for them in F1 in 2007. Hamilton became the first rookie to start his first race with McLaren since Jan Magnussen 12 years earlier, and the first to start a new season with them since Michael Andretti in 1993.

However tomorrow's Brazilian Grand Prix will mark Hamilton's last race for the team that gave him his F1 break.

• McLaren will race Lewis Hamilton in 2007

Images © Caterham/LAT, McLaren/Hoch Zwei

McLaren and Red Bull closely-matched in first practice | 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix first practice

Just one tenth of a second covered the best times by McLaren and Red Bull's drivers in the first practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton led the way followed by Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber and Jenson Button ' all covered by 0.086s.

Vettel's title rival Fernando Alonso was fifth-fastest, 0.261s slower than the best time. Felipe Massa was sixth following a spin in his Ferrari, which left his car undamaged.

Romain Grosjean was seventh for Lotus but team mate Kimi Raikkonen's session was disrupted by an engine problem. He failed to set a time until the final quarter of an hour after the team's first attempt failed to cure the glitch.

The Force India drivers also appeared in the top ten, separated by Pastor Maldonado's Williams.

The HRT drivers did little running early in the session before appearing for a few laps.

Much of the session was conducted by drivers using Pirelli's development tyre compound for the 2013 season, which were identified with orange markings.

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

• Live: 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix second practice
• McLaren and Red Bull closely-matched in first practice
• Live: 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix first practice
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix Thursday pictures
• Massa to wear helmet inspired by father in Brazil

Browse all 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix articles

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

Live: 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix second practice | F1 Fanatic Live

Follow the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix second practice session on F1 Fanatic Live.

F1 Fanatic Live combines updates from the teams and drivers in real-time via Twitter with comments from F1 Fanatic readers and more.

Launch F1 Fanatic Live

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

• Live: 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix second practice
• McLaren and Red Bull closely-matched in first practice
• Live: 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix first practice
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix Thursday pictures
• Massa to wear helmet inspired by father in Brazil

Browse all 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix articles

Image © Lotus F1 Team/LAT

Caterham sign Charles Pic for 2013 | 2013 F1 season

Caterham have confirmed Charles Pic will drive for them in 2013.

Pic has joined the team on a 'multi-year' contract.

Team principal Cyril Abiteboul said: 'We are thrilled that Charles has decided to join us for his second season in F1 and beyond. We are all looking forward to working with a young driver who has clearly shown in his first season in F1 that he has the pace, racecraft and demeanour to help us achieve our goals.

'Throughout the 2012 season we have been monitoring the progress that Charles has made, challenging us on several occasions in qualifying, and it is clear that he is a special talent. As the year has progressed he has performed extremely well against a very experienced team mate and we are looking forward to seeing him develop further within the environment we will provide in 2013 and beyond.

'We will continue growing together, and the energy and image he will bring to our team and his partners will be a very positive influence on the seasons that lie ahead. Being able to make this announcement before the end of the current season gives us the chance now to allow Charles and the team to prepare fully for the 2013 season and quickly learn how to maximise the performance benefits of the Renault Sport F1 and Red Bull Technology powertrain that will be new to him.'

Pic said: 'I am very proud to be able to confirm that I am joining Caterham F1 Team next year and I'm looking forward to many seasons of successful racing co-operation.'

'I am very excited about starting my second year in F1 with a team that has so much potential,' he added. 'Caterham F1 Team has everything in place to help it move into a position to fight with a number of teams ahead. I know how determined the team is to keep progressing and I am looking forward to playing my part in helping them move up the grid.'

With Pic joining the team for next year, one of Caterham's current drivers will have to make way, leaving Heikki Kovalainen or Vitaly Petrov potentially without a drive in 2013.

Renault Sport F1 managing director Jean-Francois Caubet endorsed the hiring of a French driver, saying: 'We are always motivated to see promising drivers in our partner teams and Charles is no exception.

'Additionally, France remains the largest Renault market and having another young, dynamic French driver join the Renault 'stable' will give us further branding, marketing and PR opportunities, both for our F1 involvement and road car range in France and the rest of Europe. We look forward to working with him closely over the coming years.'

See the updated list of 2013 F1 drivers and teams

2013 F1 season

• Caterham sign Charles Pic for 2013
• Kamui Kobayashi loses Sauber seat for 2013
• Esteban Gutierrez confirmed at Sauber for 2013
• Two DRS zones per track necessary for 2013 - Lowe
• Which young drivers deserve race seats in 2013?

Browse all 2013 F1 season articles

Title-deciding weekend to start warm but turn wet | 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix weather

Sao Paulo's capricious weather has given us some sizzling championship contests in the past.

Wet qualifying sessions during the 2009 and 2010 race weekends produced some surprises on the grid. And who could forget the astonishing twists of the rain-hit 2008 title-deciding race?

So it's no surprise the early reports of wet conditions during the race have been eagerly watched from the moment the chequered flag fell in Austin, if not sooner.

Much interest has been focused on a band of low pressure which is expected to move northwards from Argentina, bringing rain with it. The crucial question is how quickly it will move and when it will arrive at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.

Early forecasts suggested it would affect both qualifying and the race. But as they draw closer updated forecasts indicate only the latter may be hit by rain. And of course that could change again within the next few days.

This could be a headache for the teams and above all the title-contenders. Their set-up decisions on Saturday may be influenced by the likelihood of rain on Sunday. Although fewer changes are made to cars for wet conditions as was once the case, there are still alterations which can make a difference.

As it stands, practice on Friday is likely to begin with dry, warm, sunny conditions and temperatures over 30C. That should give teams a useful opportunity to get through the extra sets of 2013-specification tyres Pirelli are bringing.

Cloud will build up on Saturday, cooling temperatures slightly. But the first rainfall isn't likely to appear until after qualifying and it may even bring some hail with it.

Considerably lower temperatures of just over 20C will accompany Sunday's forecast rain. As things stand the rain looks likely to affect the race, but the forecast could change. As usual we'll keep a close eye on how it develops on F1 Fanatic Live and the F1 Fanatic Twitter account.

On the face of it the prospect of rain will be welcome news for Fernando Alonso, as he has thrived in wet conditions this year. But extremely heavy rain could prove very bad news ' as noted yesterday if the race were stopped short of 75% distance he would be unable to win the championship.

For those who wish to keep a close eye on the developing forecast, this interactive satellite image via the link below gives a detailed view of the days ahead. You can see the blue band of rain passing over the region where the track is:

• InMet MBar 10km radar

Location of Interlagos

See the location of every race on the 2012 F1 calendar here:

• 2012 F1 calendar

2012 Brazilian Grand Prix

• Title-deciding weekend to start warm but turn wet
• Vettel and Alonso pay tribute to Schumacher
• 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix TV Times
• Vettel and Alonso take it down to the wire as Schumacher bows out
• Which drivers will say farewell to F1 after Brazil?

Browse all 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix articles

Image © Red Bull/Getty images