Pastor Maldonado becomes the first Venezuelan F1 driver to win a Grand Prix and with that, he brings Williams their first victory since Juan Pablo Montoya at Brazil in 2004. It also comes during the weekend that Sir Frank Williams hits the grand old age of 70.
The big news came last night when Pole sitter, Lewis Hamilton, was demoted to 24th due to not being able to bring the car back to the pits and provide a fuel sample. This automatically placed Maldonado at the front of the grid but he found himself in second place going into the first corner after Fernando Alonso overtook the Williams. The major incident at the start of the race saw Sergio Perez suffer a puncture that would effectively ruin his race.
By lap nine Hamilton had moved from the back up to 11th, just two laps before the first phase of pitting, and would find himself in 14th after he pitted.. Michael Schumacher went into the back of Bruno Senna on lap 13, causing both drivers to retire and will be investigated by the stewards post-race.
The Red Bulls were extremely quiet for most of the race due to some sort of problem with their front wings. This caused Mark Webber to come in for a second pit stop after just 18 laps. Sebastian Vettel would also have his wing changed later on in the race.
Narain Karthikeyan became the third retirement of the race on lap 25, stopping outside the exit of the pit lane. Two laps later, Maldonado had regained the lead by pitting two laps earlier than Fernando Alonso in the second stop phase.
Felipe Massa and Vettel both received drive through penalties on lap 28 for ignoring yellow flags, this put the Ferrari back down to 16th with the Red Bull in 9th. Charles Pic also received a drive through penalty on lap 36 for ignoring blue flags but, instead of taking it, Marussia decided to retire the Frenchman.
The penalty and the wing change seemed to spur Vettel on because the German managed to overtake Jenson Button on lap 38 to take him into 7th. Two laps later, Hamilton found himself in tenth after overtaking both of the Toro Rossos within three corners. Also, Perez was forced to retire after a botched pit-stop meant a wheel nut wasn't on properly.
The third pit phase saw Maldonado once again stop earlier than Alonso and, despite being a little slow, the Venezuelan managed to stay ahead. By lap 59, it was deja vu for Button as he once again saw the Red Bull of Vettel overtake him and move into eighth.
Kamui Kobayashi would seal fifth place for Sauber by overtaking Nico Rosberg on lap 61. Vettel soon found himself in seventh two laps later after overtaking Hamilton before then overtaking the Mercedes to ultimately finish sixth on the penultimate. Maldonado makes it five different winners from five different constructors at the start of this year's F1 season. Result:
1.Maldonado (Williams), 2.Alonso (Ferrari), 3.Raikkonen (Lotus), 4.Grosjean (Lotus), 5.Kobayashi (Sauber), 6.Vettel (Red Bull), 7.Rosberg (Mercedes), 8.Hamilton (McLaren), 9.Button (McLaren), 10.Hulkenberg (Force India), 11.Webber (Red Bull), 12.Vergne (Toro Rosso), 13.Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), 14.Di Resta (Force India), 15.Massa (Ferrari), 16.Kovalainen (Caterham), 17.Petrov (Caterham), 18.Glock (Marussia), 19.De La Rosa (HRT). DNF: Schumacher (Mercedes), Senna (Williams), Karthikeyan (HRT), Perez (Sauber), Pic (Marussia)
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