2012 Indian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Vettel leads the championship on 215 points after Korea. Alonso is second on 209 — six points behind — with three races remaining. Räikkönen is third on 167, Hamilton fourth on 153, and Webber fifth on 152.

Previous race

Vettel won in Korea with Webber second and Alonso third, moving Vettel to the top of the championship for the first time since Spain. The result put Vettel six points clear with three races to run.

Entrants

Pérez was taken ill before the weekend and needed Esteban Gutiérrez, Sauber’s reserve driver, to run the opening practice session. Pérez recovered in time for FP2. Bottas again substituted for Senna at Williams in FP1; van der Garde drove Kovalainen’s Caterham.

Ferrari displayed the Italian Navy flag on the nose of their F2012 in support of two Italian sailors detained by Indian authorities following a shooting incident involving Indian fishermen in February 2012.

Following track invasions by stray dogs during the 2011 Indian Grand Prix, the circuit has installed ultrasonic devices to deter animals from the track.

Tyre choices

Pirelli brings the silver-banded hard compound as the prime and yellow-banded soft as the option.

Practice

Vettel topped all three practice sessions. In FP1 he spent most of the 90 minutes in the garage yet still set the fastest time, with Button three tenths back and Alonso a further tenth behind. FP2 was again topped by Vettel, one tenth ahead of Webber. Massa, Grosjean, and Senna all spun on the under-used track surface. FP3 gave Vettel a clean sweep — two tenths faster than Button and Webber.

Weather

Fine and dry with light haze — 30°C air temperature, 31–36°C track.