F1 Spain: Pastor Maldonado ends Williams win drought (+results)

From GMM

F1's astonishing season continues to live up to the hype, as a fifth driver and constructor on Sunday won the fifth grand prix of 2012.

Not only is the victory Pastor Maldonado's first, his walk up the steps at the Circuit de Catalunya was the first taste of the podium in his two-season F1 career.

It's also the first Venezuelan triumph in the sport's history, and a hugely popular victory for Williams, the once-great British team headed by Sir Frank Williams, whose 70th birthday was warmly celebrated in the paddock on Saturday.

"Boy did we need that," said Williams on BBC television.

And asked how he feels on Sky television, he smiled: "Relief."

"Some said Maldonado was a pay driver and he didn't deserve his place in formula one but they'll be eating their words now," commented former team driver David Coulthard.

"That was a fantastic drive," added Coulthard, referring to Williams' first win since Juan Pablo Montoya in 2004.

Williams enthused: "I didn't see him (Maldonado) make one single mistake."

"You can't really fault him," agreed Williams' 1996 world champion Damon Hill.

Amazingly, however, away from the champagne, Sebastian Vettel's sixth place leaves him at the top of the drivers' championship, and he is now neck-and-neck with Fernando Alonso, who finished second on Sunday in the improving Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton, who started dead last on Sunday and finished eighth, is third in the points classification, ahead of Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen.

Finn Raikkonen finished third on Sunday, and is the favourite to become F1's sixth different winner of 2012 in Monaco in a fortnight.

"We showed we still have the speed," the Lotus driver said after the Spanish grand prix. "If we had a few more laps, we could have fought for a victory."



Race results – Spanish Grand Prix (Barcelona)

1 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) – 66 laps in 1h39min09.145s
2 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) – 3.195s

3 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) – 3.884s
4 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E20-Renault) – 14.799s
5 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) – 1min14.641s
6 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) – 1min17.576s

7 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) - 1min27.919s

8 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 1min28.100s

9 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 1min25.200s

10 - Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) – 1 lap

11 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) – 1 lap

12 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) – 1 lap
13 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) – 1 lap

14 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) – 1 lap
15 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) – 1 lap
16 - Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham CT01-Renault) – 1 lap
17 - Vitaly Petrov (Caterham CT01-Renault) – 1 lap
18 - Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) – 2 laps
19 - Pedro De La Rosa (HRT F112-Cosworth) – 3 laps



Fastest lap by Romain Grosjean in 1min26.150s



Retirements

Lap 38 - Sergio Perez
Lap 36 - Charles Pic
Lap 23 - Narain Karthikeyan
Lap 13 - Michael Schumacher

Lap 13 - Bruno Senna




Drivers’ championship


1. Vettel e Alonso 61; 3. Hamilton 53; 4. Raikkonen 49; 5. Webber 48; 6. Button 45; 7. Rosberg 41; 8. Grosjean 35; 9. Maldonado 29; 10. Perez 22; 11. Kobayashi 19; 12. Di Resta 15; 13. Senna 14; 14. Vergne 4; 15. Hulkenberg 3; 16. Ricciardo, Massa, Schumacher 2



Constructors’ championship

1. Red Bull 109; 2. McLaren 98; 3. Lotus 84; 4. Ferrari 63; 5. Mercedes e Williams 43; 7. Sauber 41; 8. Force India 18; 9. Toro Rosso 6