F1: Top 5 closest world championship title battles of the decade.

#3 2012- Heart-break for "Ferrarinator" Alonso as Bullish Vettel reigns by 3 points

Fernando Alonso was the Dark Knight of 2012 season

Perhaps no other Formula 1 driver is as polarising and intimidating as Fernando Alonso. While on the one hand, he's chided for often seeming a petulant child, constantly complaining of the radio and doubted for his misjudgment concerning the decision to remain at McLaren (despite a poor 2015 season thanks to a dismal car), on the other hand, Alonso is celebrated as one of the greats of the grid, decorated as a champion marksman.

And if there were a year that proved just why "El Nino" is so widely regarded then it was the 2012 season where he all but prevailed in an imposing Ferrari, finishing 3 points behind championship-winner Vettel.

While the 2010 season marked the start of what eventually arose as one of the sport's great modern rivalries- the ferocity of Vettel in a Red Bull on the one hand pitted against the consistency of Fernando on the other- the 2012 season brought out something great from the two giants.

Throughout the season, Vettel maintained his superiority registering 5 race-wins, dominating the Asian circuits where his consistent triumphs at Singapore, Japan, India, and Korea proved he was just impossible to defeat, Alonso won handsomely at Malaysia, Europe, and Germany.

Vettel also asserted his strength at the front of the grid by setting 6 fastest laps that season and winning the season by gathering 281 points, 3 ahead of Alonso's 278. In the end, Alonso was dauntless, as proven by the spectacle of gathering 13 podiums that year including 5 consistent finishes on the podium in the final 5 races at Korea, India, Abu Dhabi, USA, and Brazil.