2012 Spain F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Spanish Grand Prix
Track: MotorSportResultsReport::msr_circuit:Unknown shortcode $shortcode

Weather: dry, warm, sunny

Pastor MALDONADO won his 1st F1 World Championship race at the 2012 Spain F1 GP, Williamss first victory since Juan Pablo Montoya at Brazil 2004 and one of the seasons defining shocks. The Williams driver started from pole after Hamiltons exclusion and won at Barcelona by 3.195 seconds from Fernando Alonso for Ferrari. It was Williamss 114th F1 win.

Maldonado inherits pole, Williams FW34 in form

Barcelona on 13 May 2012 saw Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap in Q3 but the McLaren was excluded for insufficient fuel to return to the weigh-bridge, dropping him to the back. Maldonado inherited pole with a 1:22.285, Alonso second by 0.017 for Ferrari on home soil, Grosjean third for Lotus, Raikkonen fourth. The five-drivers-five-races opening of the season was about to become six-in-six.

Race day: Maldonado holds off Alonso for a fairytale win

Alonso jumped Maldonado at the start to lead early, but the Williams was quicker and Maldonado calmly retook the lead in the pit stops and held on to the flag for a first Williams win in more than seven years. Alonso settled for second in front of his home crowd, Raikkonen third for Lotus, Grosjean fourth, Kobayashi fifth for Sauber, Vettel sixth, Rosberg seventh. Grosjean set the fastest lap on lap 53 at 1:26.250. A fire in the Williams garage that broke out at parc ferme after the race injured seven mechanics and destroyed much of the teams equipment; the celebration was cut abruptly short.

Championship: Alonso 61, Vettel 53, Webber 48

Six different winners in six races. Alonso took the championship lead. Monaco in two weeks would be next.

Classification 2012 Spain F1 GP

Fastest lap: 1:26.250 min. by Romain Grosjean

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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