2012 Spanish Yawn Prix from Barcelona

[kals]

Bottom post of the previous page:

Lol at people's reactions on other boards believing this to be Williams' first pole in like a decade but being totally ignorant to Hulkenburg at the 2010 Brazilian GP.

[WilliamsF1]

Great result for the WilliamsGp in qualifying.

Maldonardo drove smoothly for 95% of his Q3 pole lap. Still, the pole could potentially mean nothing if it's raining tomorrow. The biggest advantage of starting on pole in the wet is the fact you don't get the spray from the car infront though... Watching the post qualifying interviews you had Williams, Mclaren, & Ferrari represented. When was the last time you had those 3 in that situation?

As for Senna, 17th isn't the worst for him. He's done well here in GP2, pushing through the field to take a win, I imagine he'll progress into the top 10 come Sunday night.

[Cheeveer]

First time ever I have been excited ahead of a Spanish GP. Weird feeling. Wasn't even this anxious before the 2005 race when I was actually there!

[Cheeveer]

lmao Schumi

[Ian-S]

indeed.

maybe he was angry with himself....

ah, of course it was Michael so automatically the other guys fault.

[Cheeveer]

Well, historically, most of Schumi's incidents have been his own fault.

Maldonado got proper pace!

[Everso Biggyballies]

Hopefully he still has the pace to keep the Spaniard behind him..... alternatively if they both have to pit again, then KR is looking good. Thinks.... when was the last Lotus 1-2?

Andretti and Peterson, Zandvoort 1978. In JPS Lotus 79's.

[erwin greven]

MALDONADO WINS SPANISH GP!!.

[PTRACER]

What a result I'm totally chuffed by that. When Alonso got past Maldonado at T1, I thought it was over already, I wouldn't have even bothered putting money on him from there. I'm just happy for Williams as a team, it's been 8 long, dry years.

[Sam]

Brilliant stuff from Maldonado and Williams. Great to see this happen, especially with Frank being there and celebrating his 70th birthday. And a proper win as well, not something that came thanks to a lucky break or extraordinary weather. Fantastic.

And Alonso takes the championship lead (tied in points with Vettel, but more wins). Who would've thought of that before or even after the first race...

Good to see Kimi on third, but I can't help but feel that he lost his chance for higher position due to the pit strategy, which seems to be the theme of the season for him...

Also, good runs for both Vettel and Hamilton after their issues during the race.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Wooot. Great Result. Very happy for the team indeed.

So, Sam Michaels leaves the team he has been TD of since they last won a race and slid to the rear of the mid pack..... and joins McLaren, who immediately set about having a form slip and have since fallen down the order.

Enjoyable and exciting race. Great charge from Raikkonen at the end, just 0.6 behind Alonso. Pity about the strategy and tyres.

Top of the Championship is looking good too.

Drivers:
1=. Sebastian VETTEL 61
1=. Fernando ALONSO 61
3. Lewis HAMILTON 53
4=. Kimi RAIKKONEN 49
4=. Mark WEBBER 49
6. Jenson BUTTON 45
7. Nico ROSBERG 41
8. Romain GROSJEAN 35
9. Pastor MALDONADO 29
10. Sergio PEREZ 22

Constructors:

1. Red Bull Renault 110
2. McLaren Mercedes 98
3. Lotus Renault 84
4. Ferrari 63
5=. Williams Renault 43
5=. Mercedes 43
7. Sauber Ferrari 41
8. Force India Mercedes 18
9. Toro Rosso Ferrari 6

[WilliamsF1]

Great result for Williams & Maldonardo.

During the race, after Maldonardo's 2nd pit stop, he set the fastest lap, right when there was a yellow flag on the pit exit. I thought that he'd get a drive through on that one, but fortunately he didn't.

[Ian-S]

Been a big fire in the Williams garage post race, KERS batteries maybe exploded in one of the cars.

[Cheeveer]

Wow. Eventful day. No one seem to have been substantially injured, luckily.

I really liked what Frank Williams said to Swedish media just after the race when asked "what does this win mean to you?"

"10 points. Or 20, whatever it is".

[kals]

Well that was a pretty fantastic race. The result was stunning and it was amazing to see Williams back on top.

It seems the fire in Williams' garage was caused by a fuel cell exploding, but no-one is sure how it happened. The theory is that a spark from a KERS unit ignited the fuel. But that's just speculation.

As for Schumi well, he was being a nonce and his excuse was pathetic considering how he drove at Monza last year. However this is an incident caused by the combination of the variance in tyre wear plus the speed differential with DRS. Then add in Schumi's total lack of anticipation, probably due to his old age.

There needs to be a post mortem over at McLaren now because Lewis should have walked this race had the team not screwed up on Saturday. You have to wonder how much longer these issues will be allowed to continue before there is a management reshuffle.

[Ian-S]

haha about McLaren, me and Dad were talking about it last night.

I think to identify the problem, you have to look at what has changed recently....

While considering that, also take into account what has changed at Williams, and their sudden upward in form...

There is only one thing that has changed in both organisations, and when you look back at history, this ones been repeated over and over to the point that you have to wonder who made the decision (and on what basis) at McLaren to employ this guy with such a major black cloud following him wherever he goes.

Yeah I know, I could just be putting 2 and 2 together and coming up with 8, but it seems a little more than coincidence if you ask me...