2012 was a great motorsport year; we witnessed another season dominated by Sebastien Loeb in the World Rally Championship and a third Formula 1 title for Sebastian Vettel. So, as a farewell for 2012, we decided to bring back some of the most important motorsport moments of the year.
In Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button kicked off the 2012 season in brilliant fashion for McLaren by locking out the front row in Australia; Button won the race with Hamilton third. Despite having the fastest car throughout almost the entire season, McLaren succumbed to Ferrari and Red Bull in the World Constructors’ Championship following reliability problems and pit stop errors. Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel eventually fought off Ferrari and their #1 driver Fernando Alonso to clinch their 3rd consecutive title in an epic Brazilian GP finale.
It was a great year for teams like Sauber and Lotus, and bittersweet for Williams and Mercedes. Sauber scored 4 podium finishes, Lotus showed flashes of brilliance, highlighted by their performances in Bahrain, Hungary and Abu Dhabi. Williams and Mercedes both scored a single win, but failed to score points on a lot of occasions.
The surprise of the season though, came when McLaren announced Sergio Perez as their second driver for 2013 as a result of Lewis Hamilton’s departure to Mercedes. Hamilton’s confirmed seat at Mercedes sent legend Michael Schumacher packing.
It was a different story in the World Rally Championship; Sebastien Loeb announced his retirement from the sport in the best way possible: a ninth consecutive title. Ford took the remaining headlines after declaring their withdrawal, while Hyundai announced its return for 2014.
Ex-Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala signed with Volkswagen for 2013 alongside Sebastien Ogier, as Petter Solberg‘s WRC campaign came to and end. Meanwhile, Dani Sordo returned to Citroen for a full programme following a three-year stint at Mini.
Abu Dhabi joined forces with Citroen, Qatar and Nasser Al-Attiyah with M-Sport Ford, meaning two Arab-backed teams duking it out next season, without mentioning Volkswagen of course.
Nasser Al-Attiyah’s M-Sport deal came after he secured his seventh Middle East Rally Championship title on a Ford Fiesta RRC, beating fellow countrymen Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Misfer Al-Marri to victory.
In MotoGP, Jorge Lorenzo won his second championship title in an exciting battle with Dani Pedrosa, with the former taking 16 out of 18 podium finishes, six of which were victories. Other significant stories from 2012 were Casey Stoner’s retirement from the sport and Valentino Rossi’s return to Yamaha in 2013 after two tough seasons with Ducati.
Locally, the Feghali brothers dominated the motorsport scene as Roger Feghali won the 2012 Rally of Lebanon for the tenth time, while also taking the Lebanese Rally Championship title with it; his brother, Red Bull athlete Abdo Feghali secured the Lebanese Hillclimb Championship for the 7th consecutive year.
We await 2013 with bated breath, and we hope it’ll be as exciting and thrilling as 2012.