[11] The circuit underwent some extensive changes in the aftermath of Sergio Pérez's accident during qualifying for the 2011 Monaco Grand Prix.

[13][14] In response to this, the event organisers had the approach to the chicane smoothened by lowering the tarmac 20 centimetres (7.9 in), and the barrier that Pérez hit was moved back a further 15 metres (49 ft).

[12] Other changes included the widening of the pit exit and the removal of nearby trees to allow a driver re-joining the race greater visibility.

[12] Michael Schumacher was given a five-place grid penalty for causing an avoidable collision with Bruno Senna during the Spanish Grand Prix.

[15] Pastor Maldonado was given a ten-place grid penalty for causing an avoidable collision with Sergio Pérez during the final free practice session.

[citation needed] Charles Pic and Jean-Éric Vergne were the first cars to emerge from pit lane once the twenty-minute session was given the green light to begin.

Pic's first flying lap was ruined when he was blocked by the slow-moving HRT of Pedro de la Rosa at Rascasse, forcing the Frenchman to pit.

Sauber's Sergio Pérez crashed heavily at the Swimming Pool, striking the outer barrier with enough force to remove a wheel.

[citation needed] Pérez's left-front steering was damaged, leading to speculation that the crash had been a by-product of the incident with Pastor Maldonado in the third free practice session.

However, while Romain Grosjean set a competitive lap time, Kimi Räikkönen was not so quick and was only half a second ahead Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen and in danger of being eliminated.

Nico Hülkenberg set the fastest time of the session while on super-softs, while at the back of the field, Kovalainen out-qualified teammate Vitaly Petrov by eight-tenths of a second, with Marussia's Timo Glock a further half-second behind.

[citation needed] Force India driver Paul di Resta was first out followed by Williams's Bruno Senna for the fifteen-minute session.

All cars were out on track early, however Jean-Éric Vergne damaged his front wing and suspension after he hit the wall under braking on the exit of the tunnel.

As time ran out, McLaren driver Jenson Button, was 11th and in the elimination zone, along with the Lotuses, Toro Rossos, Di Resta and Senna.

Grosjean and Räikkönen were able to set laps good enough to push German Nico Hülkenberg and the sole remaining Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi out of qualifying and into 11th and 12th places, respectively.

The gap between the top three was just over one tenth of a second, meaning that no driver had the comfort of knowing his lap time would be sufficient to hold his current position.

[citation needed] With three minutes left of the session, the top five cars at the time pitted and awaited for their final attack on qualifying.

It became clear by his slow pace that he would – as in Spain – not complete a timed lap so as to have the option of starting the race on either type of dry compound tyres.

[citation needed] Webber, Grosjean and Rosberg all went out again on an unused set of the red-banded super-soft compound, but their initial times remained unchallenged.

The second Mercedes of Rosberg was third, with Hamilton in fourth and Grosjean in fifth, although all, along with Fernando Alonso, would also gain a place due to Schumacher's penalty.

[19] Struggling Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was upbeat about his best qualifying performance of the 2012 season saying "I am very happy with how things have gone in this Grand Prix so far.

Pérez, who failed to set a qualifying time, also decided to take a gearbox change and was penalised with a five-place grid penalty.

[21] Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button, Paul di Resta, Vitaly Petrov and Pedro de la Rosa were the only drivers to start on the slower yellow-banded soft compound tyre, with the rest of the field either opting or being forced (by qualifying rules) to start on the red-banded super-soft compound.

Schumacher had nowhere to go as he was already right next to the wall and as a result Grosjean's left rear wheel was forced into and over the Mercedes car's front right, which severely damaged the Lotus's suspension.

[23] Webber was setting consecutive fastest laps while the stewards investigated various cars cutting the first corner to avoid Grosjean; no further action was taken.

By lap 23 the sole remaining Sauber of Sergio Pérez was the only car making multiple overtaking moves, up to 15th from his 23rd place grid spot.

[21] Thanks to Räikkönen's pace, a gap formed that allowed Rosberg to pit on lap 27, to switch to the soft compound tyre, and return to the track without any nearby traffic.

[citation needed] Further back there was a significant gap from sixth to seventh, where Schumacher was being followed by Jean-Éric Vergne, who had pitted early, and the two Force Indias.

Ferrari engineer Rob Smedley was attempting to keep Massa motivated in sixth when he claimed "keep our tyres fresh cause he doesn't look absolutely fantastic, old Lewis",[21] referring to Hamilton ahead in fifth.

Some forty seconds off the lead was the Force India's led by di Resta, who was on the same strategy as Vettel, and teammate Hülkenberg who (like Webber and Massa) captured his best result of the season thus far.