Sebastian Vettel clinched his third consecutive world championship title this evening in a chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix, which saw Jenson Button take the win in a wet race for McLaren.
Vettel managed to take enough points to keep his championship lead after crossing the finish line in sixth place, as Alonso finished on the podium in second place ahead of teammate Felipe Massa, which helped Ferrari maintain its second place in the World Constructors’ Championship.
Lewis Hamilton retired from the lead after being hit by Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India; the Briton leaves McLaren with a disappointing last race.
Nico Hulkenberg was blamed for the incident with Hamilton, and therefore given a drive-through penalty which dropped him back to fourth behind Red Bull’s Mark Webber.
Vettel had to fight his way from the back of the grid after being taken out by Bruno Senna on the first lap; the German eventually settled for sixth ahead of the retiring Schumacher, which was enough to secure him the championship.
Jean-Eric Vergne, Kamui Kobayashi and Kimi Raikkonen concluded the top 10 in a thrilling finale to the 2012 season.
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h45:22.656 2. Alonso Ferrari + 2.754 3. Massa Ferrari + 3.615 4. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 4.936 5. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes + 5.708 6. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 9.453 7. Schumacher Mercedes + 11.900 8. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 28.600 9. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 31.200 10. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap 11. Petrov Caterham-Renault + 1 lap 12. Pic Marussia-Cosworth + 1 lap 13. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 14. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault + 1 lap 15. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap 16. Glock Marussia-Cosworth + 2 laps 17. De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps 18. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps 19. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 3 laps