The 2012 United States GP saw the Circuit of the Americas host the first Grand Prix in the USA since the 2007 race at Indianapolis. The two title contenders—Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso—were separated by just ten points heading to the penultimate round of the 2012 championship.
It was Vettel who took the first pole position at the new circuit, whilst Lewis Hamilton joined him on the front row. Mark Webber started directly behind his team mate in third alongside Abu Dhabi winner Kimi Räikkönen. Alonso didn’t get the result he was looking for on Saturday and lined up in seventh.
Sebastian Vettel had the perfect getaway and retained his lead as Webber took second place from Hamilton. Fernando made up three places into turn one and was now chasing the McLaren for third. Michael Schumacher was embroiled in a battle with the two Lotus drivers, when Michael retaliated to a move made by Räikkönen , Romain Grosjean seized the initiative and passed both drivers down the back straight with a sensational move up the inside.
Meanwhile the battle raged for second place between Hamilton and Webber. The pair battled for a number of laps until the Brit finally made the move stick and the hunt was on for P1. Lewis closed down the gap through the race and was right on Sebastian’s tail. Whilst lapping backmarkers, Vettel was held up by the HRT of Narain Karthikeyan; this gave Hamilton the help he needed to move past the German down the straight. The other McLaren of Jenson Button was battling with Raikkonen, the Brit pulled alongside the Finn on the back straight and made a brilliant move round the outside of turn 12 to move him up into fifth place.
Hamilton was the winner at the last race at Indianapolis and became the first winner at the Austin, Texas track. He finished just seven tenths ahead of Vettel, who extended his championship lead to Alonso who took the final step on the podium. The Spaniard and the German were separated by thirteen points heading into the last race of the season at Interlagos. The stage was set for the 2012 title showdown.
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