The F112's path to the grid was troubled from the outset. The car was expected to launch on 21 February 2012, but mandatory crash-test failures pushed the debut back into March. Two of the required tests were failed, and because passing one was a prerequisite for the third, the team was forced to resolve the issue before proceeding. The car eventually cleared its final crash test on 24 February and made its on-track debut at Barcelona on 5 March, when Karthikeyan completed the permitted maximum of one hundred kilometres on a combined shakedown and filming day.
Further complications arose at the Australian Grand Prix opener when the chassis allocated to de la Rosa was not completed in time for Thursday scrutineering. The team requested, and received, FIA permission to delay the inspection until Friday morning, and the car was approved. Both drivers ultimately failed to qualify within 107 percent of the fastest Q1 time, repeating the same situation from the previous season. Team principal Luis Pérez-Sala acknowledged the shortfall and predicted the car would not be capable of making the cut until the second or third race.
The F112 was one of only two cars in 2012, alongside the Marussia MR01, not to use KERS. It also lacked a brake bias handle in the cockpit, highlighting the team's constrained resources.
Pace improved incrementally as the season progressed, but HRT's direct rivals at Marussia and Caterham improved at a similar or greater rate, leaving the F112 as the outright slowest car on the grid for most of the year. The team managed only one occasion where they outpaced a rival on raw speed: de la Rosa edged out Timo Glock at the German Grand Prix, with Karthikeyan closing on Glock in the closing laps.
The Canadian Grand Prix represented the F112's best competitive showing. A new low-downforce rear wing allowed de la Rosa to out-qualify both Marussia drivers, and both HRT cars matched the Marussia pace in the race until retiring with brake failures. At Valencia, both drivers qualified within 103.7 percent of the fastest Q1 time — a personal best for the season — and out-qualified Charles Pic's Marussia.
De la Rosa out-qualified Karthikeyan at every round except Monza, Singapore, and Brazil. After the summer break, reliability became an increasing problem, widely attributed to the team's deteriorating finances and components being used beyond their intended lifespan.
The F112's red, white, and gold livery was closely modelled on the Force India 2008 colour scheme. Sponsors included Tata Group and its automobile division, along with smaller backers KH-7, Panda Security, Yamimoto, Varlion, Transportes Azkar, and Ermestel. The car carried its third different livery in three seasons, reflecting the team's ongoing commercial instability.
HRT went into administration in November 2012 after failing to secure the funding needed to continue. Both F112 chassis were subsequently purchased by Teo Martín. The car's retirement from the grid brought to an end HRT's three-year presence in Formula One, during which the team never scored a World Championship point.