The live blog below will be updated automatically throughout the race which starts at 13:00 UK time. Contact us on twitter at @tcff1
14:55Join us next weekend for more LIVE coverage from the Hungarian Grand Prix.
14:47Thank you for joining us for the 2012 German Grand Prix, we hope you enjoyed our coverage, keep checking back for the outcome of the stewards inquiry in to the Sebastian Vettel pass on Jenson Button and all the reaction across the grid.
14:432012 German Grand Prix Winner: Fernando Alonso – Scuderia Ferrari
Photo credit: Ferrari
14:38Sebastian Vettel‘s pass on Jenson Button is being investigated by stewards after the German completed the move off the track.
The final positions could still change, if they give a penalty equivalent to a driver through he will lose 20 seconds off his finishing time which will demote him to to sixth place behind Sergio Perez.
14:36Provisional positions for the 2012 German Grand Prix:
- Fernando Alonso
- Sebastian Vettel
- Jenson Button
- Kimi Raikkonen
- Kamui Kobayashi
- Sergio Perez
- Michael Schumacher
- Mark Webber
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Nico Rosberg
- Paul Di Resta
- Felipe Massa
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Jean-Eric Vergne
- Pastor Maldonado
- Vitaly Petrov
- Bruno Senna
- Romain Grosjean
- Heikki Kovalainen
- Charles Pic
- Pedro De Le Rosa
- Timo Glock
- Narian Karthikeyan
DNF
- Lewis Hamilton
14:342012 German Grand Prix race winner: Fernando Alonso – Ferrari
14:33FINAL LAP
14:33Jenson Button radio’s to the pits: “Did he not just pass me off the circuit?”
14:32After being told he can challenge for the lead Jenson Button has lost out to Fernando Alonso and is now passed by Sebastian Vettel takes second place around the outside of the McLaren.
14:31It looks like Fernando Alonso has got this race under control with just two laps remaining.
14:30Jenson Button seems to be losing pace to Fernando Alonso now as the gap extends to 2.4 seconds.
14:29German fans will be delighted by Michael Schumacher‘s late charge as he now has the two Saubers positioned in front of him.
14:285 laps to go, Fernando Alonso continues to lead with Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel continue to chase the Ferrari
14:25Lap 60: Fernando Alonso <– 1.3s –> Jenson Button <– 1.3s –> Sebastian Vettel
14:24Jenson Button loses out to Fernando Alonso as Sebastian Vettel closes in again
14:23The top three are still covered by only 2.7 seconds.
14:22Michael Schumacher is now the man on the move as he dips in to the 1m18s
14:21Lewis Hamilton becomes the first retirement on lap 57 as the team radio to tell him “Lewis, we have a problem with the car. We need to retire. Please confirm.”
14:21Positions on lap 56: ALO, BUT, VET, RAI, KOB, PER, MSC, WEB, HUL, ROS, DIR, RIC, MAS, MAL, VER, HAM, PET, SEN, GRO, KOV, PIC, GLO, DLR, KAR.
14:20Fernando Alonso leads by 0.6 seconds as he approaches traffic, could be the ideal time for Jenson Buttonto move up for the lead.
14:19Felipe Massa makes it look like Pastor Maldonado‘s Williams is standing still as the takes 13th place. Kamui Kobayashi is still charging hard with another fastest lap of the race, Schumacher responds two places behind and sets a lap of 1:19.007.
14:17Jenson Button brings the gap to Fernando Alonso back to 0.9 seconds
14:16Alonso, Raikkonen, Kobayashi and Perez all set sub 1m20s lap times.
14:1515th and 16th placed drivers Jean-Eric Vergne and Lewis Hamilton record the same lap time of 1:20.282
14:14Kamui Kobayashi is the only driver to be lapping below the 1m20s time in sixth place.
14:13Lap times on lap 51:
Fernando Alonso 1:20.190
Jenson Button 1:20.290
Sebastian Vettel 1:20.101
14:12Hamilton stays sixteenth following his pitstop but drops a lap, he’s now 18.4 seconds behind the Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne.
14:11Kamui Kobayashi sets another fastest lap of the race, he is pushing hard to catch the home hero Michael Shumacher
14:09Lewis Hamilton pits, looks like the charge to unlap himself destroyed the last set of tyres.
14:08Jenson Button closes up to just half a second behind Fernando Alonso
14:07There is just 2.5 seconds covering the top three positions after 46 laps!
14:07Kamui Kobayashi sets the fastest lap of the race in clean air as he chases down Michael Schumacher, looks like the soft compound tyres are working well for the Japanese driver.
14:06Top 10 on lap 44 with all scheduled pit stops taken: ALO, BUT, VET, RAI, MSC, HUL, KOB, PER, ROS, WEB
14:05Kamui Kobayashi moves in to sixth place as Hulkenberg loses out to the Suaber.
14:04Jenson Button is within the DRS detection zone, will this be the lap that he passes Fernando Alonso?
14:01Kimi Raikkonen is the fastest man on track now in fifth place. Vettel runs wide on the first corner as Jenson Button starts to pull away from the German.
14:00Alonso and Vettel pit, Hamilton unlaps himself and sets his sights on Maldonado. Jenson Button moves by the Red Bull of Vettel as they come out of the pit lane.
13:58Jenson Button pits as Hamilton will benefit from lapping with the leaders as he looks to make up positions.Webber pits from eighth place.
13:57Fernando Alonso laps with a 1:20.650 while Hamilton laps with a 1:20.685 as he continues his quest to unlap himself.
13:55Lewis Hamilton is now right on the back of Fernando Alonso as the Brit matches the pace of the leader.Vettel has now dropped to 2 seconds behind the Ferrari with Button another 1.9s behind.
13:54The McLaren team tell Lewis Hamilton: “There’s no harm in driving as fast as you can and trying to get past these guys.”
13:53Lewis Hamilton sets the fastest lap while Fernando Alonso extends his lead. Red Bull KERS problems strike again as the team tells Vettel that he can’t use the full power of the energy recovery system
13:52Sebastian Vettel is annoyed with Lewis Hamilton as he now drops 1.7 seconds behind Fernando Alonso
13:51Hamilton passes Sebastian Vettel as he looks to unlap himself, this could play in to the hands of Jenson Button
13:50Lewis Hamilton is lapping faster that Alonso and Vettel, can the McLaren driver unlap himself?
13:483.6 seconds cover the top 3 positions on lap 33.
13:47Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button are trading fastest laps as they reel in the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso.
13:46The top ten on Lap 30 are: ALO, VET, BUT, RAI, MSC, HUL, PER, WEB, KOB, ROS
13:46Sebastian Vettel is 1.1 seconds behind Fernando Alonso with Jenson Button a further 3.1 seconds back.
13:44Nico Rosberg moves in to a points finishing place as he eases by the Force India of Paul Di Resta
13:42Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton are faster that the seven cars infront of them as they lap in 17th and 18th respectively
13:41The top three drivers are so closely matched right now as Jenson Button sets a new fastest lap of the race.Vettel is closing in on the DRS zone, expect to see the Red Bull challenging for the lead very soon.
13:38Alonso and Vettel respond to the pressure from Button as they lap faster than the McLaren.
13:37Felipe Massa pits, this could help out Lewis Hamilton out as he looks to make the most of a bad situation.
13:36Jenson Button is closing the gap to Sebastian Vettel and is only 5.4 seconds behind leader Fernando Alonso.
13:35Top 10 positions on lap 23: ALO, VET, BUT, RAI, MSC, HUL, PER, WEB, DIR, KOB
13:34Purple sector 1 from Jenson Button… the Brit is on a flying lap as he looks to get his championship hopes back on track.
13:34Kamui Kobayashi comes in to the pits while Jenson Button takes back third place.
13:33Lewis Hamilton is up to 18th place with Vitaly Petrov the next car in his sights.
13:32Sebastian Vettel resumes in second place after his pitstop, Alonso leads while the McLaren team believeJenson Button can win the race.
13:31Charles Pic seems to be having a good run in the Marussia as he laps in 18th place, just behind the two Caterhams of Kovalainen and Petrov.
13:30Jenson Button heads in to the pits, Vettel and Kobayashi are the only two of the front runners not to stop yet.
13:29Lewis Hamilton‘s next target is ex-McLaren test driver Pedro De La Rosa as he passes Karthikeyan.
13:28Race leader Fernando Alonso switches to the medium compound tyre, Sebastian Vettel moves in to the lead.
13:27Lewis Hamilton is now right on the tail of Karthikeyan, should be an easy pass for the McLaren.
13:26All cars are still running after 16 laps as the positions look like this:
ALO, VET, BUT, PER, KOB, RIC, MSC, RAI, HUL, MAL, WEB, DIR,ROS,VER,MAS,KOV, PIC, PET,GLO, DLR, KAR, HAM, GRO, SEN
13:24Nico Hulkenberg loses out to Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen as they come in to the stadium section.
13:23Nico Rosberg is continuing his journey up the field and is now in 15th place as team-mate Michael Schumacher pits from fourth place.
13:22Bruno Senna briefly sets the fastest lap before Fernando Alonso sets another fastest lap and dips below 1:22 with a 1:21.994.
Kimi Raikkonen is flying too as he sets the fastest lap, times are tumbling now.
13:20Jenson Button is 7.3 seconds behind the leader Fernando Alonso with Sebastian Vettel just 1.4s behind the Ferrari.
13:18Jenson Button moves up to a podium position as he passes Michael Schumacher in to the hairpin. Meanwhile team-mate Hamilton is making up time back in 22nd place.
13:17Top 10 positions on lap 10: ALO, VET, MSC, BUT, HUL, MAL, WEB, RAI, PER, KOB
13:16Lewis Hamilton seems to have settled back in to the groove as he sets the fastest lap.
13:14McLaren are delighted by Button’s move on Hulkenberg: “Brilliant job, let’s have a go at Schumacher, come on!”
13:13Jenson Button passes Nico Hulkenberg through the hairpin.
13:13Lewis Hamilton to pits: “The car doesn’t feel very stable.”
13:11Hamilton is back out on track but has told the team that the car doesn’t feel right, the team continue to look at their data to see if they can find any problems.
13:10Raikkonen and Di Resta go wheel to wheel through a number of corners, great racing by both drivers. Raikkonen holds on to take the place from the young Scot.
13:09Meanwhile team-mate Jenson Button is having a little more luck as he pushes Nico Hulkenberg
13:09Lewis Hamilton crawls back to the pits as he reveals “I can barely get back.”
He will rejoin the race in last place.
13:08Top 10 on lap 3: ALO, VET, MSC, HUL, BUT, MAL, WEB, DIR, RAI, RIC
13:07Lewis Hamilton is having a slow start to his grand prix, as he is overtaken by Ricciardo. Radio messages reveal he has a puncture.
13:06The Williams of Bruno Senna seems to be smoking, but the team have sent the Brazilian out on track again.
13:05Bruno Senna is also in the pits.
13:05Romain Grosjean overshoots and runs off the track at the hairpin, the Frenchman resumes towards the back of the field.
Felipe Massa pits with a damaged front.
13:03Fernando Alonso heads in to the first corner in to the lead as he makes a brilliant start, Maldonado andWebber are on the move up the grid, Hamilton had a bad start.
13:01Would love to hear your predictions for the race, comment below or tweet us at @tcff1
13:00The grid lines up like this as the cars pull away on their formation lap:
1st row
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault)
2nd row
Michael Schumacher (Mercedes-AMG)
Nico Huelkenberg (Force India-Mercedes)
3rd row
Pastor Maldonado (Williams-Renault)
Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes)
4th row
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)
Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault)*
5th row
Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes)
Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault)
6th row
Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
Sergio Perez (Sauber-Ferrari)*
7th row
Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber-Ferrari)
Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
8th row
Bruno Senna (Williams-Renault)
Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
9th row
Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham-Renault)
Vitaly Petrov (Caterham-Renault)
10th row
Romain Grosjean (Lotus-Renault)*
Charles Pic (Marussia-Cosworth)
11th row
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes-AMG)*
Timo Glock (Marussia-Cosworth)
12th row
Pedro de la Rosa (HRT-Cosworth)
Narain Karthikeyan (HRT-Cosworth)
*indicates drivers handed five-place grid penalties
12:48Welcome along to our live coverage of the 2012 German Grand Prix. There has been drama already before the race has even started when Red Bull faced disqualification after a technical infringment.
Thankfully for the defending champions the FIA have cleared them to race and will be taking no further action.
