Heading into the race, Vettel led the Drivers' Championship with 240 points, ahead of Alonso on 227 and Räikkönen on 173. Mark Webber was fourth on 167 and Lewis Hamilton fifth on 165. Red Bull led the Constructors' Championship with 407 points over Ferrari on 316 and McLaren on 306. The season had been defined by exceptional volatility, with seven different drivers winning the first seven rounds.
Ferrari modified the F2012 with a new front wing, updated main planes, flaps, endplates, and revised bargeboards — modifications requiring the team to break one of their four allocated overnight curfews to complete the work. Force India provided Paul di Resta with a new chassis to address handling problems with his previous monocoque. Caterham revised their exhausts, bodywork, brake ducts, and floor in the battle with Marussia for tenth in the Constructors' standings.
Hamilton set the fastest time in all three qualifying segments, taking pole with a lap of 1:40.630. Webber qualified second. Vettel appeared set for third but was excluded from the results after his car ran short of fuel on his in-lap and could not provide the mandatory one-litre sample for FIA analysis. Relegated to the back of the grid, Red Bull elected to start him from the pit lane after making suspension, gear ratio, and aerodynamic changes — a parc fermé violation. Maldonado inherited third and Räikkönen lined up fourth.
Hamilton held his lead at the start while Räikkönen moved into second by passing Webber and Maldonado. A first-corner collision involving Force India teammates Nico Hülkenberg and Paul di Resta along with Grosjean and Bruno Senna ended Hülkenberg's race immediately. Vettel, starting from the back, made early progress but damaged his front wing endplate against Senna on lap two.
A safety car was deployed on lap nine after Nico Rosberg — unaware of a hydraulic failure developing on Narain Karthikeyan's HRT — drove into the back of the car and was launched into the barrier. Both were unhurt. During the safety car period, Vettel drove into a polystyrene DRS zone marker while swerving to avoid Ricciardo and was forced to pit for a replacement front wing.
Hamilton led after the restart but retired on lap 20 with a fuel pressure problem, handing the lead to Räikkönen. On lap 23, when Räikkönen's engineer relayed information about the gap to Alonso, Räikkönen responded: "Just leave me alone, I know what to do." The exchange was widely reported after the race, and Räikkönen subsequently gave Lotus team members T-shirts bearing the phrase.
A second safety car appeared on lap 39 following a chain-reaction incident at turn 13 involving Pérez, Grosjean, and Webber, retiring both Grosjean and Webber. Alonso closed to within 1.9 seconds of Räikkönen in the final laps but was unable to challenge. Vettel climbed from the pit lane to third, passing Jenson Button around the outside on lap 52.
Räikkönen won by 0.8 seconds over Alonso, with Vettel third and Button fourth. Maldonado finished fifth despite losing his KERS after the first safety car period. The victory was Räikkönen's first of the 2012 season and his first since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix. It was also the first race win for a car bearing the Lotus name since Ayrton Senna's 1987 victory in Detroit. Despite winning, Räikkönen was mathematically eliminated from championship contention alongside Webber and Hamilton, whose combined points deficit was too large to recover in the two remaining rounds. Alonso's second place reduced Vettel's lead to ten points.
The post-race podium interviews conducted by David Coulthard led to a formal FIA communication after both Räikkönen and Vettel used profanity during the live broadcast. Vettel apologised and FIA director of communications Norman Howell wrote to all teams warning that disciplinary action would follow similar incidents in the future.
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