The 2012 Formula 1 season has come to a close, and it ended in an extremely exciting way with Fernando Alonso being the provisional world champion at moments during the race. The first complex incident that involved Vettel, Senna and Perez caused extensive damage to Vettel's RB8Red Bull RB8Austria, 2012 > 201210 photos
, and the Red BullRed BullAustria, 2004 > present12 models
1049 photos
3 videos
team says now that they were afraid the car would not finish the race. 

Vettel's car had severe damage to the driver's left side with a chunk of the car removed forward of the rear wheel and a visible dent in the now-exposed exhaust. 

"There was quite a lot of damage to the exhaust and they're sensitive bits of equipment. So for them to receive an impact like that, of course, it was massively concerning," said team principal Christian Horner. 

Even technical director Adrian Newey was surprised at the extent of the damage saying: "It's probably about as bad as you can possibly have and still finish the race."

The team adjusted Vettel's rear wing for more down force to cope with the damage and changed the engine mapping to reduce exhaust temperature. 

Ferrari

Further up the grid but one spot lower in the championship Alonso finished second with his teammate Massa beside him. 

"He was always at the limit, not only from the technical point of view because you can expect this from a world champion like him, but also the way he was working with the team," said FerrariFerrariItaly, 1947 > present233 models
5131 photos
37 videos
team principal Stefano Domenicali. 

The Ferrari team was still racing hard at Brazil to defend second place in the World Constructors' Championship from McLaren. 

"This championship, the best car was McLaren at the beginning and maybe at the end," said Domenicali.

Ferrari CEO Luca di Montezemolo has already requested an analysis of the entire team for next year to improve the team for next year. 

Source: Autosport (1,2)