2012 Spanish Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Pastor Maldonado earned a remarkable first Formula 1 victory in Spain, holding off Fernando Alonso to end Williams‘ long winless run. Kimi Räikkönen completed the podium after a race decided by pace, strategy and composure under pressure.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Pastor Maldonado	Williams
Pole time	1:22.285
Fastest lap	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1
Fastest-lap time	1:26.250 on lap 53
First	Pastor Maldonado	Williams
Second	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari
Third	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
11 May 2012	Practice 1	10:00 – 11:30
11 May 2012	Practice 2	14:00 – 15:30
12 May 2012	Practice 3	11:00 – 12:00
12 May 2012	Qualifying	14:00
13 May 2012	Race	14:00

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Sebastian Vettel arrived at round 5 leading the 2012 F1 World Championship on 53 points, with Lewis Hamilton on 49. Red Bull Racing headed the constructors’ standings with 101 points.

Race entries

The 12 teams kept the same race line-ups for the Spanish Grand Prix. Alexander Rossi, Dani Clos, Jules Bianchi, Valtteri Bottas also took part in practice.

Free Practice

Fernando Alonso led a warm, clear FP1 in front of the home crowd as teams began their Barcelona programmes. HRT had a more difficult morning: Pedro de la Rosa lost bodywork after the car bottomed out, while Dani Clos stopped with a mechanical problem near the pit entry during his practice appearance.

Jenson Button led FP2 despite persistent understeer as teams moved into race simulations. Excursions complicated the session, particularly Mark Webber’s trip through the Turn 4 gravel, which left stones on the racing line when he rejoined. Sergio Pérez also ran off there as drivers explored the limits in warmer conditions.

Sebastian Vettel led FP3, but Pastor Maldonado’s pace offered Williams encouragement before qualifying. Romain Grosjean lost much of the session after a fuel-pressure failure stopped his Lotus at Turn 10. Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton were later called to discuss an on-track incident, with Michael Schumacher receiving a reprimand rather than a grid penalty.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2012 Spanish Grand Prix FP1, 11 May 2012

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:24.430	20
2	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+0.378s	18
3	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+0.482s	28
4	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	+0.566s	24
5	19	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+0.690s	24
6	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+0.757s	15
7	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+0.787s	16
8	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.822s	20
9	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	+0.855s	29
10	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+0.909s	24
11	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+0.937s	22
12	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+1.003s	21
13	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+1.109s	23
14	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+1.177s	20
15	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber	+1.488s	19
16	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+1.796s	24
17	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+1.867s	18
18	11	Jules Bianchi	Force India	+2.200s	21
19	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	+3.045s	20
20	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	+3.837s	21
21	20	Alexander Rossi	Caterham	+4.018s	25
22	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	+4.203s	22
23	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	+4.677s	19
24	23	Dani Clos	HRT	+7.188s	19

Free Practice 2 Classification

2012 Spanish Grand Prix FP2, 11 May 2012

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:23.399	38
2	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+0.164s	38
3	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.372s	41
4	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.510s	32
5	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	+0.519s	32
6	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+0.565s	37
7	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.666s	34
8	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+0.681s	36
9	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+0.815s	41
10	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+0.966s	22
11	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+1.019s	35
12	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber	+1.023s	32
13	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+1.069s	40
14	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+1.201s	33
15	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	+1.289s	30
16	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+1.334s	34
17	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+1.370s	37
18	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	+1.648s	42
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	+2.897s	36
20	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	+3.341s	35
21	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	+3.915s	27
22	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	+4.265s	30
23	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	+4.836s	26
24	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	No time	2

Free Practice 3 Classification

2012 Spanish Grand Prix FP3, 12 May 2012

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:23.168	13
2	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+0.168s	19
3	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+0.182s	19
4	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.410s	16
5	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber	+0.574s	22
6	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.639s	15
7	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+0.665s	14
8	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	+0.741s	13
9	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	+0.768s	16
10	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.902s	24
11	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+1.011s	16
12	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+1.155s	17
13	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+1.163s	15
14	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	+1.241s	18
15	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	+1.431s	15
16	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+1.610s	15
17	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+1.657s	17
18	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	+2.743s	20
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	+3.419s	20
20	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	+4.301s	18
21	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	+4.521s	16
22	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	+5.039s	24
23	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	+5.205s	13
24	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	No time	2

Qualifying

Pastor Maldonado headed qualifying for Williams, with Fernando Alonso second and Romain Grosjean third.

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time but was excluded after McLaren could not meet the fuel-sample requirements. Maldonado inherited pole, with Alonso alongside, while Hamilton started from the back.

Qualifying Classification

2012 Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying, 12 May 2012

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	1:23.380	1:22.105	1:22.285	14
2	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:23.276	1:22.862	1:22.302	15
3	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	1:23.248	1:22.667	1:22.424	14
4	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	1:23.406	1:22.856	1:22.487	13
5	15	Sergio Pérez	Sauber	1:24.261	1:22.773	1:22.533	14
6	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:23.370	1:22.882	1:23.005	17
7	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:23.850	1:22.884	No Time	14
8	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:23.757	1:22.904	No Time	15
9	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	1:23.386	1:22.897	No Time	14
10	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:23.510	1:22.944	—	13
11	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	1:23.592	1:22.977	—	8
12	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	1:23.852	1:23.125	—	14
13	12	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India	1:23.720	1:23.177	—	13
14	17	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso	1:24.362	1:23.265	—	11
15	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	1:23.906	1:23.442	—	11
16	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:23.886	1:23.444	—	12
17	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	1:24.981	—	—	8
18	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	1:25.277	—	—	8
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	1:25.507	—	—	8
20	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	1:26.582	—	—	8
21	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	1:27.032	—	—	8
22	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	1:27.555	—	—	6
EX	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:22.583	1:22.465	1:21.707	17
—	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	1:31.122	—	—	4

Lewis Hamilton was excluded from qualifying and demoted to the back of the grid for breaking refuelling regulations by failing to provide the FIA with enough fuel for analysis.

Narain Karthikeyan failed to set a lap time within 107 per cent of the fastest lap time in the first session. He was allowed to start the race at the discretion of the stewards.

What happened in the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix?

Alonso beat Maldonado into the first corner and led the opening stint. The Williams remained close, preserving its tyres and keeping Ferrari under pressure as the first pit stops approached.

Williams gained the advantage by bringing Maldonado in earlier during the next stop sequence. Alonso emerged behind and pursued closely, but Maldonado managed the gap and his tyres through the demanding final stint.

Räikkönen closed rapidly late in the race but could not catch the leading pair before the flag. Maldonado secured his first victory and Williams‘ first since 2004, with Alonso second and Räikkönen third.

Grosjean finished fourth ahead of Kobayashi and Vettel, while Hamilton recovered to eighth. Celebrations were later disrupted by a fire in the Williams garage, with several people requiring treatment after teams helped tackle the incident.

Further down the points places, Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Nico Hülkenberg completed the scoring positions. Romain Grosjean set the fastest lap, but no bonus point was awarded under the 2012 rules.

After the race, Sebastian Vettel headed the drivers’ standings with 61 points, followed by Fernando Alonso on 61. Red Bull Racing led the constructors’ table on 109, with McLaren on 98.

2012 Spanish Grand Prix race results

The 2012 Spanish Grand Prix was held on 13 May 2012, with a scheduled start of 14:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	66	1:39:09.145	25
2	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	66	+3.195	18
3	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	66	+3.884	15
4	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	66	+14.799	12
5	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	66	+1:04.641	10
6	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	66	+1:07.576	8
7	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	66	+1:17.919	6
8	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	66	+1:18.140	4
9	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	66	+1:25.246	2
10	12	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India	65	+1 lap	1
11	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	65	+1 lap	0
12	17	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso	65	+1 lap	0
13	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	65	+1 lap	0
14	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	65	+1 lap	0
15	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	65	+1 lap	0
16	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	65	+1 lap	0
17	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	65	+1 lap	0
18	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	64	+2 laps	0
19	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	63	+3 laps	0
Ret	15	Sergio Pérez	Sauber	37	Transmission	0
Ret	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	35	Halfshaft	0
Ret	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	22	Wheel	0
Ret	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	12	Collision damage	0
Ret	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	12	Collision	0

2012 Spanish Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time	Avg. Speed
1	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	53	1:26.250	194.295
2	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1	50	1:26.938	192.758
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	46	1:27.390	191.761
4	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	65	1:27.768	190.935
5	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	44	1:27.857	190.741
6	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	26	1:27.906	190.635
7	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	45	1:28.150	190.107
8	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	45	1:28.266	189.857
9	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	54	1:28.308	189.767
10	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	44	1:28.313	189.756
11	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	47	1:28.448	189.467
12	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	44	1:28.587	189.169
13	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber	20	1:28.605	189.131
14	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	41	1:28.624	189.090
15	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham	50	1:28.715	188.897
16	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	48	1:28.773	188.773
17	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	48	1:28.912	188.478
18	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	50	1:28.918	188.465
19	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	49	1:29.599	187.033
20	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	54	1:30.722	184.718
21	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	4	1:31.089	183.973
22	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	29	1:31.136	183.879
23	19	Bruno Senna	Williams	10	1:31.822	182.505
24	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	15	1:32.903	180.381

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. Average speeds are in km/h. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

2012 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix.

2012 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Sebastian Vettel	German	Red Bull Racing	61
2	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Ferrari	61
3	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren	53
4	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Lotus F1	49
5	Mark Webber	Australian	Red Bull Racing	48
6	Jenson Button	British	McLaren	45
7	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes	41
8	Romain Grosjean	French	Lotus F1	35
9	Pastor Maldonado	Venezuelan	Williams	29
10	Sergio Pérez	Mexican	Sauber	22
11	Kamui Kobayashi	Japanese	Sauber	19
12	Paul di Resta	British	Force India	15
13	Bruno Senna	Brazilian	Williams	14
14	Jean-Éric Vergne	French	Toro Rosso	4
15	Nico Hülkenberg	German	Force India	3
16	Daniel Ricciardo	Australian	Toro Rosso	2
17	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	2
18	Michael Schumacher	German	Mercedes	2
19	Timo Glock	German	Marussia	0
20	Charles Pic	French	Marussia	0
21	Vitaly Petrov	Russian	Caterham	0
22	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	Caterham	0
23	Pedro de la Rosa	Spanish	HRT	0
24	Narain Karthikeyan	Indian	HRT	0

2012 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Red Bull Racing	109
2	McLaren	98
3	Lotus F1	84
4	Ferrari	63
5	Mercedes	43
6	Williams	43
7	Sauber	41
8	Force India	18
9	Toro Rosso	6
10	Marussia	0
11	Caterham	0
12	HRT	0

2012 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2012 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	18 March
2	2012 Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	25 March
3	2012 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	15 April
4	2012 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	22 April
5	2012 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló	13 May
6	2012 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	27 May
7	2012 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	10 June
8	2012 European Grand Prix	Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia	24 June
9	2012 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	8 July
10	2012 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	22 July
11	2012 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	29 July
12	2012 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	2 September
13	2012 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	9 September
14	2012 Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	23 September
15	2012 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	7 October
16	2012 Korean Grand Prix	Korea International Circuit, Yeongam	14 October
17	2012 Indian Grand Prix	Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida	28 October
18	2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	4 November
19	2012 United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas	18 November
20	2012 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	25 November