Spain 2012
FAIRY TALES AND DREAMS CAN STILL COME TRUE EVEN IN THE HIGHLY CHARGED, TECHNOLOGICAL WORLD OF FORMULA ONE. AFTER FOUR RACES PRODUCING FOUR DIFFERENT VICTORS DRIVING FOR FOUR DIFFERENT MANUFACTURERS, WHAT ODDS COULD YOU HAVE GOT ON THE SEQUENCE CONTINUING?
AFTER QUALIFYING, THERE DID SEEM TO BE AN OUTSIDE CHANCE WITH PASTOR MALDONADO (WILLIAMS) SECOND FASTEST, ROMAIN GROSJEAN (LOTUS) FOURTH, KIMI RAIKKONEN (LOTUS) FIFTH AND SERGIO PEREZ (SAUBER) SIXTH.
THE CHANCES PICKED UP EVEN FURTHER WHEN LEWIS HAMILTON (FASTEST) WAS DEMOTED TO LAST PLACE ON THE GRID BECAUSE THERE WAS INSUFFICIENT FUEL IN THE CAR TO GET IT BACK TO THE PITS AND ALSO PROVIDE THE 1 LITRE OF FUEL FOR TESTING. EVERYONE MOVED UP ONE PLACE, GIVING PASTOR HIS FIRST F1 POLE BUT IT STILL SEEMED REMOTE.
THE DRIVERS IN 1ST AND 3RD HAD ONLY A FEW F1 DRIVES BETWEEN THEM WHILST 2ND AND 4TH (BOTH FORMER WORLD CHAMPIONS) HAD HUNDREDS OF F1 RACES TO THEIR CREDIT. JENSON BUTTON AND MARK WEBBER BOTH SUFFERED PROBLEMS AND COULD ONLY TAKE 10TH AND 11TH PLACES RESPECTIVELY ON THE GRID.
WHEN THE RACE STARTED, PASTOR COULD NOT QUITE HOLD OFF FERNANDO ALONSO AT TURN ONE BUT DID NOT PANIC AND SETTLED IN BEHIND THE FERRARI AND DID NOT ALLOW ALONSO TO PULL AWAY. BEHIND THEM, KIMI RAIKKONEN GRADUALLY DROPPED BACK AND IT BECAME CLEAR THAT THE OUTCOME WOULD DEPEND ON HOW THE DIFFERENT DRIVER/CAR COMBINATIONS PRESERVED THEIR TYRES.
DURING THE RACE, MICHAEL SCHUMACHER MANAGED TO RUN INTO THE BACK OF BRUNO SENNA AND THEN BLAMED SENNA.
BUT AT THE FRONT, AS THE RACE PROGRESSED, IT SEEMED MORE AND MORE LIKELY THAT THE IMPOSSIBLE MIGHT JUST HAPPEN AS PASTOR FIRST TOOK THE LEAD DURING AN ALONSO PIT-STOP AND THEN MAINTAINED IT FOR THE REST OF THE RACE. FERNANDO KEPT UP THE PRESSURE AND REDUCED THE GAP TO ONE OR TWO CAR LENGTHS BUT COULD NOT GET IN A POSITION TO TRY TO OVERTAKE.
MALDONADO KEPT HIS HEAD, CONTINUED TO DRIVE SUPERBLY AND ALL THE TIME THE CHEQUERED FLAG WAS GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER UNTIL EVENTUALLY HE TOOK THE FLAG.
HE BECAME THE FIRST VENEZUELAN DRIVER TO WIN A FORMULA ONE GRAND PRIX; IT WAS THE FIRST WIN FOR THE WILLIAMS TEAM SINCE 2004; AND IT HAPPENED JUST AFTER SIR FRANK WILLIAMS TURNED 70 AND WHILST HE AND ALL HIS FAMILY WERE AT THE TRACK.
UNFORTUNATELY, THE DAY'S CELEBRATIONS FOR THE DRIVER, TEAM AND SIR FRANK WERE MARRED BY A SERIOUS FUEL FIRE THAT ERUPTED IN THE GARAGE AS SIR FRANK WAS GIVING A SPEECH TO ALL THE TEAM 90 MINUTES AFTER THE VICTORY. THE NEIGHBOURING GARAGES OF FORCE INDIA AND CATERHAM ALSO BECAME INVOLVED AND IN ALL 31 PEOPLE WERE INJURED, MOSTLY SMOKE INHALATION BUT SOME BURNS OF VARYING DEGREES.
STARTING GRID
| | | |
| 1.
|
Pastor Maldonado
|
| 2.
|
Fernando Alonso
|
| 3.
|
Romain Grosjean
|
| 4.
|
Kimi Räikkönen
|
| 5.
|
Sergio Perez
|
| 6.
|
Nico Rosberg
|
| 7.
|
Sebastian Vettel
|
| 8.
|
Michael Schumacher
|
| 9.
|
Kamui Kobayashi
|
| 10.
|
Jenson Button
|
| 11.
|
Mark Webber
|
| 12.
|
Paul di Resta
|
| 13.
|
Nico Hulkenberg
|
| 14.
|
Jean-Eric Vergne
|
| 15.
|
Daniel Ricciardo
|
| 16.
|
Felipe Massa
|
| 17.
|
Bruno Senna
|
| 18.
|
Vitaly Petrov
|
| 19.
|
Heikki Kovalainen
|
| 20.
|
Charles Pic
|
| 21.
|
Timo Glock
|
| 22.
|
Pedro de la Rosa
|
| 23.
|
Narain Karthikeyan
|
| 24.
|
Lewis Hamilton
|
RESULT
| |
| 1.
|
Pastor Maldonado
|
| 2.
|
Fernando Alonso
|
| 3.
|
Kimi Räikkönen
|
| 4.
|
Romain Grosjean
|
| 5.
|
Kamui Kobayashi
|
| 6.
|
Sebastian Vettel
|
| 7.
|
Nico Rosberg
|
| 8.
|
Lewis Hamilton
|
| 9.
|
Jenson Button
|
| 10.
|
Nico Hulkenberg
|
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers :
| |
| Sebastian Vettel
|
61
|
| =Fernando Alonso
|
61
|
| Lewis Hamilton
|
53
|
| Kimi Räikkönen
|
49
|
| Mark Webber
|
48
|
| Jenson Button
|
45
|
| Nico Rosberg
|
41
|
| Romain Grosjean
|
35
|
| Pastor Maldonado
|
29
|
| Sergio Perez
|
22
|
Constructors :
|
| Red Bull Racing
|
109
|
| McLaren
|
98
|
| Lotus F1 Team
|
84
|
| Ferrari
|
63
|
| Mercedes
|
43
|
| =Williams
|
43
|
| Sauber F1 Team
|
41
|
| Force India F1 Team
|
18
|
| Scuderia Toro Rosso
|
6
|
| Marussia F1 Team
|
0
|
| Caterham F1 Team
|
0
|
| HRT F1 Team
|
0
|
Race Results posted by
David Little
14th May 2012
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