2012 Spanish Grand Prix

Tyres Available	Tyres Available	Tyres Available	Tyres Available
Option 	Prime 	Inter 	Wet
 	 	 	
The 2012 Spanish Grand Prix (officially Gran Premio de España Santander 2012) was the fifth race of the 2012 Formula One Season. It was the 22nd time the event was held at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo, near Barcelona. It was the 54th running in total of the Spanish Grand Prix. The race took place on 13 May 2012.
Following qualifying, Lewis Hamilton was going to start the race on pole. However, he was stripped of his pole because he did not have the required amount of fuel (one litre) in his fuel tank."Lewis Hamilton loses Spanish pole because of rules on fuel". BBC Sport Formula One. 12th May 2012 As a result, Pastor Maldonado starts from pole for the very first time in his career. Fernando Alonso will start second, and Romain Grosjean will take third place on the grid.
As for the race, Fernando Alonso made a good start to take the lead at the first corner. He held the lead for two stints, before a strong out lap by Pastor Maldonado gave Maldonado the lead. Alonso closed down Maldonado before their final pitstops, but Maldonado held off Alonso. After their pitted, Kimi Räikkönen temporarily held the lead before being passed by Maldonado and Alonso in successive laps. After about ten laps of pressure, Alonso's tyres started to go off, Maldonado, who had pitted earlier, had controlled his tyres better. Maldonado then went on to win his first race, witth Alonso second and Räikkönen third. Williams won their first race since the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix."Williams Pastor Maldonado takes landmark Spanish Grand Prix win". BBC Sport Formula One. 13th May 2012.
However, the result was marred as a fire in Williams garage injured four Williams team members and one Force India team member."Spanish Grand Prix: Williams crew injured in pit fire". BBC Sport Formula One. 13th May 2012.
==Background==
Section to follow
==Entry list==
The full entry list for the is shown below:
No. 	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor 	Chassis 	Engine 	Model 	Tyre
1 	Sebastian Vettel 	Red Bull Racing 	 	RB8 	 	RS27-2012 	
2 	Mark Webber 	Red Bull Racing 	 	RB8 	 	RS27-2012 	
3 	Jenson Button 	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4-27 	 	FO 108Z 	
4 	Lewis Hamilton 	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4-27 	 	FO 108Z 	
5 	Fernando Alonso 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	F2012 	 	056 	
6 	Felipe Massa 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	F2012 	 	056 	
7 	Michael Schumacher 	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	 	W03 	 	FO 108Z 	
8 	Nico Rosberg 	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	 	W03 	 	FO 108Z 	
9 	Kimi Räikkönen 	Lotus F1 Team 	 	E20 	 	RS27-2012 	
10 	Romain Grosjean 	Lotus F1 Team 	 	E20 	 	RS27-2012 	
11 	Paul di Resta 	Sahara Force India F1 Team 	 	VJM05 	 	FO 108Z 	
12 	Nico Hülkenberg 	Sahara Force India F1 Team 	 	VJM05 	 	FO 108Z 	
14 	Kamui Kobayashi 	Sauber F1 Team 	 	C31 	 	056 	
15 	Sergio Pérez 	Sauber F1 Team 	 	C31 	 	056 	
16 	Daniel Ricciardo 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR7 	 	056 	
17 	Jean-Éric Vergne 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR7 	 	056 	
18 	Pastor Maldonado 	Williams F1 	 	FW34 	 	RS27-2012 	
19 	Bruno Senna 	Williams F1 	 	FW34 	 	RS27-2012 	
20 	Heikki Kovalainen 	Caterham F1 Team 	 	CT01 	 	RS27-2012 	
21 	Vitaly Petrov 	Caterham F1 Team 	 	CT01 	 	RS27-2012 	
22 	Pedro de la Rosa 	HRT F1 Team 	 	F112 	 	CA2012 	
23 	Narain Karthikeyan 	HRT F1 Team 	 	F112 	 	CA2012 	
24 	Timo Glock 	Marussia F1 Team 	 	MR01 	 	CA2012 	
25 	Charles Pic 	Marussia F1 Team 	 	MR01 	 	CA2012 	
Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only 	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only
11 	Jules Bianchi 	Sahara Force India F1 Team 	 	VJM05 	 	FO 108Z 	
19 	Valtteri Bottas 	Williams F1 	 	FW34 	 	RS27-2012 	
20 	Alexander Rossi 	Caterham F1 Team 	 	CT01 	 	RS27-2012 	
23 	Dani Clos 	HRT F1 Team 	 	F112 	 	CA2012 	
==Practice==
===FP1===
===FP2===
===FP3===
===Free Practice Results===
==Qualifying==
===Grid===
* Narain Karthikeyan failed to set a time within the 107% time, but was given the stewards' permission to race.
† Lewis Hamilton was stripped of his pole and placed at the back of the grid for not having enough fuel in his car after qualifying.
==Race==
===Results===
Pos	No	Driver 	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1 	18	Pastor Maldonado 	 	66 	1:39:09.145 	1 	25
2 	5 	Fernando Alonso 	 	66 	+3.195 	2 	18
3 	9 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	66 	+3.884 	4 	15
4 	10	Romain Grosjean 	 	66 	+14.799 	3 	12
5 	14	Kamui Kobayashi 	 	66 	+1:04.641 	9 	10
6 	1 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	66 	+1:07.576 	7 	8
7 	8 	Nico Rosberg 	 	66 	+1:17.919 	6 	6
8 	4 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	66 	+1:18.140 	24 	4
9 	3 	Jenson Button 	 	66 	+1:25.246 	10 	2
10 	12	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	65 	+1 Lap 	13 	1
11 	2 	Mark Webber 	 	65 	+1 Lap 	11 	
12 	17	Jean-Éric Vergne 	 	65 	+1 Lap 	14 	
13 	16	Daniel Ricciardo 	 	65 	+1 Lap 	15 	
14 	11	Paul di Resta 	 	65 	+1 Lap 	12 	
15 	6 	Felipe Massa 	 	65 	+1 Lap 	16 	
16 	20	Heikki Kovalainen 	 	65 	+1 Lap 	19 	
17 	21	Vitaly Petrov 	 	65 	+1 Lap 	18 	
18 	24	Timo Glock 	 	64 	+2 Laps 	21 	
19 	22	Pedro de la Rosa 	 	63 	+3 Laps 	22 	
Ret	15	Sergio Pérez 	 	37 	Transmission	5 	
Ret	25	Charles Pic 	 	35 	Halfshaft 	20 	
Ret	23	Narain Karthikeyan	 	22 	Wheel 	23 	
Ret	19	Bruno Senna 	 	12 	Collision 	17 	
Ret	7 	Michael Schumacher	 	12 	Collision 	8 	
==Milestones==
* Pastor Maldonado's first win.
* ' 600th Grand Prix.
* ' first win in 132 races (2004 Brazilian Grand Prix)
==Championship Standings following race==
Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship	Drivers' World Championship
No. 	Driver 	Pts
1 	Sebastian Vettel 	61*
2 	Fernando Alonso 	61*
3 	Lewis Hamilton 	53
4 	Kimi Räikkönen 	49
5 	Mark Webber 	48
Only top five are shown 	Only top five are shown 	Only top five are shown
*Vettel leads Alonso by virtue of having scored one more 6th place (4th best result).
Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship	Constructors' World Championship
No. 	Team 	Pts
1 	Red Bull-Renault 	109
2 	McLaren-Mercedes 	98
3 	Lotus-Renault 	84
4 	Ferrari 	63
5 	Mercedes 	43
Only top five are shown 	Only top five are shown 	Only top five are shown
==Notes==
===References===
Category:Spanish Grand Prix
Category:2012 Grands Prix
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:Formula One races in Spain