There is no denying that last year's Spanish Grand Prix weekend was a shock. And for a number of reasons, both good and bad. Here's a quick one year rewind to re-live that memorable race weekend, both on and off track.
The weekend started with the Friday practice sessions. As you would expect, there were plenty of upgrades and updates to test, making it a very busy day for the teams and drivers.
Alonso topped an uneventful first practice at the Barcelona track but it all kicked off in the second 90 minute session with a number of off track excursions, incidents and plenty of drama. Button eventually topped the time sheets for McLaren but his then team-mate Lewis Hamilton went off numerous times during his race run. He was not the only one taking to the run-off area, Bruno Senna and Mark Webber along with several others also put the run-off to good use.
Saturday was similar to the previous day, the morning brought more straight forward running and the afternoon welcomed the drama. Qualifying certainly provided us with several jaw dropping moments. Bruno Senna was knocked out in the first 20 minute session much to the shock of his team, Maldonado (as we all know) was a lot faster. The second session saw Jenson Button and Mark Webber miss out on the top 10 shoot out, as did Felipe Massa in his Ferrari.
The 10 minute rush for pole was equally exciting and by the sessions end Hamilton had clinched first place after a phenomenal and committed lap. However it was the man alongside him who really shocked the Formula 1 world, Pastor Maldonado (who had scored just five points in his career at that point) lined up on the front row of the grid.
The session took a further turn when Hamilton pulled off to the side of the track after his final run. The FIA found that he did not have sufficient fuel to provide the required one litre sample and he was excluded from qualifying, Maldonado took pole and Hamilton dropped back to 24th on the grid.
So race day beckoned and everyone was wondering one thing, could Maldonado win the race? Off the line Alonso took the lead from the Venezuelan after a typically storming start which set him up well for the long run to the first turn. Elsewhere Raikkonen made the jump on his team-mate and Perez developed a puncture after contact at the third corner.
The race calmed down after the frantic first few laps, however the drama returned on lap 13. This time it was down to Michael Schumacher, the German missed his braking zone and slammed into the back of Bruno Senna's Williams whilst battling in the midfield. At the time, the seven time world champ was fuming and stated that Senna had been moving around in the braking zone. The stewards disagreed and gave him a grid penalty for the next round in Monaco.
The crash came after the first round of pit stops where Maldonado had stayed behind Alonso. Hamilton stopped after the accident on lap 15 after eking out his first stint. He had made strong progress through the field but he was delayed in his stop after clipping one of the tyres that had just been removed from his car.
By the second round of stops, which occurred just shy of the 30 lap mark, the Williams was back in front after undercutting Alonso in the pit stop sequence. The Venezuelan shot back into the lead thanks to Williams' strategy success as Alonso watched up fly by from the pit lane.
Tyre wear and conservation played a big part in the lead battle due to the less durable Pirelli tyres. Elsewhere Vettel and Massa were given drive-through penalties for failing to slow for yellow flags. After the third stops it was Alonso who had the bit between his teeth. He closed in on Maldonado who was struggling to get past Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn was having race of his own and had yet to make his final trip to the pit lane.
The Venezuelan displaced him thanks to DRS, the overtaking device worked relatively well at the Circuit de Catalunya and it hugely boosted the overtaking opportunities, the circuit is renowned for its lack of passing.
The two front runners were together for the final laps, with the gap dipping below one second on a few occasions. There was a tense atmosphere in the Williams garage but after eight years without a victory, the Grove based squad returned to the top step of the podium in dramatic and shocking style.
Maldonado crossed the line to win the Spanish Grand Prix with over three seconds in hand. Alonso finished second in front of his home crowd but was chased home by Kimi Raikkonen. Grosjean and Kobayashi had strong runs to fourth and fifth ahead of Vettel, who put in some breath taking overtakes (particularly a late lunge on Jenson Button at turn 10). Rosberg finished ahead of a recovering Hamilton in seventh, with Button in ninth and Hulkenberg in 10th.
It was a historical day for Williams, with Maldonado taking the first Formula 1 win for a Venezuelan driver and giving the iconic team their first win in eight long years.
However the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix will also be remembered for the shocking fire that ripped through the victor's team garage 90 minutes after the race. The team were gathered in the garage for a race debrief and victory speech by Sir Frank Williams when the explosion occurred, quickly engulfing the garage in flames and damaging millions of pounds worth of equipment, including Bruno Senna's race car.
Fortunately no one was seriously injured in the blaze. I personally felt touched by the fantastic team-work, camaraderie and unity that was shown in the pit lane that afternoon. Teams from up and down the pit lane battled to tackle the flames and draw people inside to safety, including TV crews and camera men. It was a real team effort, particularly due to the slow reaction from the circuit fire crews.
The fiery inferno tainted what had been a dramatic, exciting and shocking (in a good way) race weekend. However the silver lining was that it did open the teams eyes to safety when handling fuel, which was where the fire originated from, and caused changes to be made.
It was a race that no one will forget, for both good and bad reasons, and was a hugely popular race win in the paddock and with the fans. What a shame that we didn't see a repeat of Maldonado's performance during the rest of the season... It begs the question will he ever win a Formula 1 race again?
 |
| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
The weekend started with the Friday practice sessions. As you would expect, there were plenty of upgrades and updates to test, making it a very busy day for the teams and drivers.
Alonso topped an uneventful first practice at the Barcelona track but it all kicked off in the second 90 minute session with a number of off track excursions, incidents and plenty of drama. Button eventually topped the time sheets for McLaren but his then team-mate Lewis Hamilton went off numerous times during his race run. He was not the only one taking to the run-off area, Bruno Senna and Mark Webber along with several others also put the run-off to good use.
Saturday was similar to the previous day, the morning brought more straight forward running and the afternoon welcomed the drama. Qualifying certainly provided us with several jaw dropping moments. Bruno Senna was knocked out in the first 20 minute session much to the shock of his team, Maldonado (as we all know) was a lot faster. The second session saw Jenson Button and Mark Webber miss out on the top 10 shoot out, as did Felipe Massa in his Ferrari.
The 10 minute rush for pole was equally exciting and by the sessions end Hamilton had clinched first place after a phenomenal and committed lap. However it was the man alongside him who really shocked the Formula 1 world, Pastor Maldonado (who had scored just five points in his career at that point) lined up on the front row of the grid.
The session took a further turn when Hamilton pulled off to the side of the track after his final run. The FIA found that he did not have sufficient fuel to provide the required one litre sample and he was excluded from qualifying, Maldonado took pole and Hamilton dropped back to 24th on the grid.
 |
| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
The race calmed down after the frantic first few laps, however the drama returned on lap 13. This time it was down to Michael Schumacher, the German missed his braking zone and slammed into the back of Bruno Senna's Williams whilst battling in the midfield. At the time, the seven time world champ was fuming and stated that Senna had been moving around in the braking zone. The stewards disagreed and gave him a grid penalty for the next round in Monaco.
The crash came after the first round of pit stops where Maldonado had stayed behind Alonso. Hamilton stopped after the accident on lap 15 after eking out his first stint. He had made strong progress through the field but he was delayed in his stop after clipping one of the tyres that had just been removed from his car.
By the second round of stops, which occurred just shy of the 30 lap mark, the Williams was back in front after undercutting Alonso in the pit stop sequence. The Venezuelan shot back into the lead thanks to Williams' strategy success as Alonso watched up fly by from the pit lane.
Tyre wear and conservation played a big part in the lead battle due to the less durable Pirelli tyres. Elsewhere Vettel and Massa were given drive-through penalties for failing to slow for yellow flags. After the third stops it was Alonso who had the bit between his teeth. He closed in on Maldonado who was struggling to get past Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn was having race of his own and had yet to make his final trip to the pit lane.
The Venezuelan displaced him thanks to DRS, the overtaking device worked relatively well at the Circuit de Catalunya and it hugely boosted the overtaking opportunities, the circuit is renowned for its lack of passing.
The two front runners were together for the final laps, with the gap dipping below one second on a few occasions. There was a tense atmosphere in the Williams garage but after eight years without a victory, the Grove based squad returned to the top step of the podium in dramatic and shocking style.
Maldonado crossed the line to win the Spanish Grand Prix with over three seconds in hand. Alonso finished second in front of his home crowd but was chased home by Kimi Raikkonen. Grosjean and Kobayashi had strong runs to fourth and fifth ahead of Vettel, who put in some breath taking overtakes (particularly a late lunge on Jenson Button at turn 10). Rosberg finished ahead of a recovering Hamilton in seventh, with Button in ninth and Hulkenberg in 10th.
It was a historical day for Williams, with Maldonado taking the first Formula 1 win for a Venezuelan driver and giving the iconic team their first win in eight long years.
 |
| (c) Sky Sports F1 |
However the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix will also be remembered for the shocking fire that ripped through the victor's team garage 90 minutes after the race. The team were gathered in the garage for a race debrief and victory speech by Sir Frank Williams when the explosion occurred, quickly engulfing the garage in flames and damaging millions of pounds worth of equipment, including Bruno Senna's race car.
Fortunately no one was seriously injured in the blaze. I personally felt touched by the fantastic team-work, camaraderie and unity that was shown in the pit lane that afternoon. Teams from up and down the pit lane battled to tackle the flames and draw people inside to safety, including TV crews and camera men. It was a real team effort, particularly due to the slow reaction from the circuit fire crews.
The fiery inferno tainted what had been a dramatic, exciting and shocking (in a good way) race weekend. However the silver lining was that it did open the teams eyes to safety when handling fuel, which was where the fire originated from, and caused changes to be made.
It was a race that no one will forget, for both good and bad reasons, and was a hugely popular race win in the paddock and with the fans. What a shame that we didn't see a repeat of Maldonado's performance during the rest of the season... It begs the question will he ever win a Formula 1 race again?
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