The race was held 2 days after the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.

Red Bull were cleared of wrongdoing, as, in the stewards' words, they had not technically broken any rules, but the FIA announced plans to rewrite the regulations governing throttle mapping so as to outlaw the practice entirely ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

[10] Dani Clos took Narain Karthikeyan's place once again for the first free practice session on Friday morning.

At the end of the formation lap, Michael Schumacher stopped in the 19th place grid position, instead of 17th where he had qualified.

At the start of the race, Sebastian Vettel attempted to pass Romain Grosjean in turn one, but was blocked.

Jenson Button pitted from 3rd position on lap 35 and got stuck behind Bruno Senna, who was up to 7th running a long stint.

Kimi Räikkönen began turning out blistering lap times in clear air.

Sebastian Vettel remained in fourth, and by the last lap was able to catch back up to Romain Grosjean on fresher tyres, but was unable to pass.

[12] It would be eight years until the next race where no Red Bull, Mercedes or Ferrari driver was on the podium, the 2020 Italian Grand Prix.