Rate the race: 2012 Spanish Grand Prix

2012 Spanish Grand Prix

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What did you think of the Spanish Grand Prix? Share your verdict on today’s race.

F1 Fanatic holds polls on each race to find out which fans thought were the best and worst races during a season.

Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (14%)
  • 9 (33%)
  • 8 (33%)
  • 7 (13%)
  • 6 (3%)
  • 5 (1%)
  • 4 (1%)
  • 3 (0%)
  • 2 (0%)
  • 1 (1%)

Total Voters: 774

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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2012 Spanish Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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219 comments on “Rate the race: 2012 Spanish Grand Prix”

  1. 10 of course

    1. Jayfreese (@)
      13th May 2012, 15:52

      Maldonado story of the day but HamiltoTn make THE pass of the day over the two Toro Rosso, isn’t it?
      Massa still disappoints Ferrari, Webber out of points, good recovery by Vettel.
      2012, keep up the good work!

      1. Yes that was to notch driving ,

      2. it certainly was the move of the race though Kobayashi’s overtakes on Button and Rosberg were brilliant too! I bet JB never saw that one coming from so far back!

        Top race overall!

      3. That was a superb overtake, but I think his one on Senna was even better.

      4. I agree ! Great overtaking, but not even a replay to spanish TV gave us… It’s always the same…

      5. I agree ! Great overtaking, but not even a replay the spanish TV gave us… It’s always the same…

    2. Since Williams dumped Hulkenberg I thought Williams would never get back up again, I thought they would just fall into paid driver circuit and into selling the team to privatees slowly killing the team, I hope that results as such as these can make Williams escape that path, a true blue collar British team and I also hope people wont forget Williams as they tend too, when I started watching F1, Williams status was for granted, I just wanted to watch the red cars win for a chance now just like millions of fans I just want to see more teams winning.

      1. This season just keeps on delivering so much variation. Congrats to Williams & Pastor, was extremely elated for them. Roll on Monaco!

        1. They didn’t show that Hamilton overtake on TV did they? Or did I miss it? Any footage?

    3. I rated it an 8. Fun to watch and lots of nice moves on track – overall quite competitive. I still think the tires are playing too big a role in the show, but hey… And I think Hamilton’s penalty was way too excessive. Had his gearbox failed, he would have only gotten a 5 spot penalty for the change. F1 really needs to get its stewardship in order and apply a little consistency and common sense.

      1. Same for the drive through of Vettel and Massa. Last year Hamilton put the fastest sector down under yellow flag and didn’t get anything.

    4. can people please stop voting 10! that is the perfect race score. come on! spain was epic but did it have side by side racing for the lead? changing weather conditions? multiple astonishing overtakes? even a title decided? no.
      voting 10 whilst still in the post-race euphoria just scews the results.

      1. came here to say this… but i think it’s new fans who haven’t seen that much yet. this was obviously not a 10 race.

        1. I rated it much lower, too many pit stops and DRS passes, apart from MAL and FER it was hard to understand who was doing well rather than looking good because of pit stop variations.

  2. Wait, what?!? Maldonado?!? Really? Did I just watch a F1 race? It wasn’t an old GP2 race?

    Im confused..

    1. On a slightly related note, 8/10 for me. Yes things happened and there were battles but as a whole it didn’t really go anywhere.

      The battle between Alonso and Maldonado fizzed out with 4/5 laps to go.

      Most of the other battles were either over in a lap or two, or were disrupted because of penalties

      1. yeah, voted it an 8/10 as well. Not a perfect classic, but a highly entertaining race with a lot of action, tension and close racing almost all the way.

        1. An 8 from me too. In the end, it was a race won on strategy rather than daring overtakes. Still highly tense viewing, but this race will be remembered as a classic not for the action, but for the result. Brilliant for F1! I really enjoyed that.

          1. Disagree. The action down the field was fantastic as well even if there were no overtakes in the battle for the lead. I espesially liked the many overtakes outside the DRS zone(special thanks to Mr. Kobayashi)

    2. Always great to see an underdog victory! The start showed that Barcelona is a rubbish track for overtaking but thank goodness for Pirelli, once the tyres went we got passing all over the place.

      The race though showed you don’t need overtaking to be exciting, the Maldonado/Alonso battle made for tense viewing. A really enjoyable race!

      1. The race though showed you don’t need overtaking to be exciting, the Maldonado/Alonso battle made for tense viewing.

        Exactly. Which is why I enjoyed the races in 2010 much more than in 2011. And I’m really enjoying this year a lot more, too!

        1. “The race though showed you don’t need overtaking to be exciting, the Maldonado/Alonso battle made for tense viewing.”

          Well, if thier’s no overtaking, all thier is, is a Maldonado/Alonso time trial race, and if that’s the case, we should all just go and watch rallying.

          1. Not at all. The tension of two drivers pushing has it’s own appeal, which I think most understand. See Imola 2005 and 2006. Turkey 2010 until Vettel took out Webber was another prime example. Spain last year with Hamilton pushing Vettel for ages.

          2. I’ll add, if all we car about is overtaking, we should all just go and watch Nascar.

          3. i dont agree with that, watching a 2 times champion battling it out all race with pretty much a rookie in a car that was so far back in the past few year infront of millions of people is great. brilliant seeing the young man hold his nerve and come out on top. its like watching an epic long drawn out 0-0 soccer game, or a 5 set tennis game, all which could be considered boring if your not that into that particular sport, but this race was pretty good for an f1 race.

          4. “Not at all. The tension of two drivers pushing has it’s own appeal, which I think most understand.”

            You may be confused as to what I wrote. I never said two driver’s pushing does’nt have any appeal.

            “See Imola 2005 and 2006.”

            I did. It was 6 years ago now. Yesterday’s news.

            ” its like watching an epic long drawn out 0-0 soccer game, or a 5 set tennis game”

            I’m unaware if you’ve ever watched something like, say, Federer and Nadal play 5 sets. They hit winners. A lot of winners. They dont just wait for the each other to hit the ball into the net or hit the ball out.
            That is vastly different from 0-0 soccer score, which really just displays a failure to be able to kick a tiny ball into a massive net for 90 minutes.
            “but this race was pretty good for an f1 race.”
            I agree, nowhere did I say it was’nt.

          5. I assume you meant then that a race needs to have at least a little overtaking then?

          6. Well, if thier’s no overtaking, all thier is, is a Maldonado/Alonso time trial race, and if that’s the case, we should all just go and watch rallying

            You don’t need on track 20 lead changes for a good race. We have Nascar for that if you’re going to dismiss everything less as a “time trial”. The tension of Alonso pushing Maldonado is exciting enough.

    3. Im still in shock, Williams, Sauber, Lotus have good cars but i never thought that Maldonado could deliver especially taking in account how tough this season has been.

  3. I gave it an 8, great fun race to watch and gripping throughout! Great job by Williams and Pastor and some great driving by several others drivers throughout the field!

    1. I think 8 seems fair but 9 for me after listening to Frank Williams interviewed. When the Rai reporter put questions to him he responded in fluent Italian.

      I love the old school British who take victory in stride and answer questions calmly in the other person’s language. The style, the man: trust the classics.

  4. 10

    Exciting race. New winner. Loads of overtaking. In the words of Murray Walker.. FANTASTIC!

  5. 9: fantastic, loads of interesting stuff going on. I liked the Ferrari-Williams battle, and seeing RedBulls and Mclarens out of position added an extra element to already interesting midfield battle.

    1. Yeah I went for 9 as well. Great to see Hamilton battling through the field considering the circumstances.
      The Maldonado/Alonso/Raikonnen battle was brilliant, loads of tension. The Schumacher incident was interesting, I actually thought Senna was in the wrong, moving in the braking zone and breaking very early, but I think others will see it differently.
      I think Button was really poor today, he had no pace whatsoever. Mclaren need to look at how his set up could have been so wrong this weekend. I’ve no idea how he managed to finish behind Hamilton.
      Overall a really interesting race, with perhaps the best part of the race was that it looked like everyone was being able to push as hard as possible, the tyres didn’t look like they were restricting anyone too much, which is how it should be.

      1. i think he moved to take the racing line, and only slightly, because schumacher was too far behind for a real pass attemp. schumachers attempt was WAY too late, he would have hit him anyway with such a late attempt, if anything it shows that schumacher is way past it, that little turn of the wheel by senna totally unbalanced schumachers mind, and he didnt know what to do in the moment and forgot to brake.

  6. 7 or 8 congrats on pastor

  7. these tyres are horrid.

    was so looking forward to watching a great fight between alonso/pastor only for the tyres to see fernando fall back & destroy a potentially great scrap.

    im on the verge of abandoning f1 after 34 years as i think drs is nothing but a silly gimmick & hate every pass i see created by it & think these tyres are nothing but a joke.

    1. Silly tires? Maldonado’s set were 3 laps older, he played it intelligently, managed his race well and beat Alonso fair and square. Alonso, one of the top drivers simply wasted his tyres early on.

      This has so little to do with Pirelli and pretty much everything to do with a skilled drive by Pastor.

      1. Exactly. Let’s not diminish Maldonado’s achievement.

        1. anyway Pole sitters and undercutting strategies have been far too important. just limit the number of pit stops or make tyres harder to heat up cause the dirty air is killing racing between equally matched cars.

      2. well said @mouse_nightshirt, Pastor pitted 3 laps earlier but managed to keep the tyres working. Surely Alonso lost a lot pushing behind him, but a fully deserved win from Maldonado today.

    2. If it weren’t for the tyres where would the strategy element come from? The DRS is there due to how much downforce you lose following another car, the problem is that they have no plans to change the car’s aero regulations to promote passing without DRS

    3. I agree 100% with this.
      I am really happy to see Pastor winning a race, and can’t be bothered with what happens to Alonso. But this Formula 1 is a very sad shadow of itself. It is shameful, really.
      I truly, honestly, can’t understand how someone, anyone, who followed Formula 1 for more than three decades, like me, can be satisfy with this spectacle.
      There were drivers swapping tyres with 6 laps. 6 LAPS!!!!! ***!!!!!! Is that some sort of joke? How can a serious driver accepts to go the track like that? It is just ridiculous. And the DRS… man, that thing needs to go, really, it is an insult to REAL racing fans.

      1. in the golden era of f1 ,the 80s, strategy was based on fuel consumption ,cars retired on the very last lap, and drivers never really pushed to the limit during the race, you follow for 3 decades but you seem to forget the very best of it…

      2. Pitting after 6 laps? So….what’s the big deal? “Oh my gosh – how terribly awful and pitiful!”. Enough whining alredy. First of all, I don’t think the rules mandated everyone start on softs and short-stint like Red Bull did. And second, Barcelona tends to place a priority on track position and in that sense, this was somewhat of a welcome site this year because passing was made fairly difficult.

        Qualifying was absolutely critical – no way that Maldonado wins that race from 3rd on the grid. And there was nothing artificial about it. No gimmick fuel or tyre tricks or anything like that – the Williams was just plain and simply the best car on the grid all weekend – just like the Mercedes in China.

        The charactersitics of the Pirelli tyre may be amplifying the effect that the track configurations and ambient temperatures this year is having, but no one can deny the fact that Williams, Sauber, and Lotus have all clawed back a a huge performance gap to the teams in front over the past few years. We’re certainly not seeing anything special from Force India, Toro Rosso, or Caterham. So let’s give credit to these three midfield teams for really taking advantge of this situation and giving us a phenemonal season.

        1. @minardi, as you say many teams have made great advances in competitiveness, I say the tyres are getting the credit not the team, the loss of off throttle exhaust downforce has made the racing much closer but the tyres are ruining the results with excessive wear and variable characteristics from minute to minute.

    4. The tyres were actually the best they’ve been all season.
      The hard tyres, unlike the softer compounds, perform more or less as they should – they go off, but not at a ridiculous rate, and allow some real racing. Hamilton managed to run a 30 lap stint at the end, and dice with Vettel for a couple of laps.
      I thought Maldonado’s performance, given his erratic driving in the past, was absolutely exceptional. He managed the last stint particularly well.

      The race itself – 9 out of 10.

      1. And after dicing with vettel Hamilton got a try at rosberg also on the final lap .

    5. the tyres can last if you do it right. Just look at Hamilton!

    6. We can blame people like you when Pirelli are forced out and we’re forced to watch processions in Spain once more.

    7. We can blame people like you when Pirelli are forced out and we’re left with processions in Spain once more.

    8. Quit whining or the sport, no matter whichever comes first I will wholeheartedly support your decision

    9. I have only been following F1 for the last decade and it certainly wasn’t exciting to see Schumy winning all the time. Vettel wouldn’t be so dominant last year with these tyres. I think that’s why Pirelly changed the tyres even further. It’s difficult to be dominant.
      In my opinion, it all became more exciting when Alonso moved upward and started winning then, when LH came into F1. Now I am simply glued and cannot miss a race.
      I give it a 8 because it was a great race. I wasn’t expecting LH to do 30 laps on a set of tyres.
      The tyres make it more exciting and unpredictable. It’s great for the sport when we don’t know if the polesitter is going to win the race. It’s simple the opposite of boring. Things change!

      1. In my opinion, it all became more exciting when Alonso moved upward and started winning then, when LH came into F1. Now I am simply glued and cannot miss a race.

        Dont think I could agree with you anymore on that. I actually stopped watching the 2002 and 2004 season midway as it had gotten so boring. If it wasn’t for Fernando in 2005, i probably would have stopped watching the sport.

        Pirrelli do come under criticism, but I do not think that I have witnessed a start to the season as we have had this year.. and a lot of that is due to pirrelli

        1. That’s what I meant. @todfod
          In my opinion, in last 10 years, F1 got more exciting when Fernando started to win and challenged Michael’s rein in 2005. Just like you say, I was also losing interest.

    10. @paul_E80 I really don’t think the tyres were such a major issue today at all. I thought that most people looked like they were pushing as hard as possible.
      Alonso had a window of opportunity when he was within 1sec for around 2-4 laps, he needed to make the pass then, similar to the Raikonnen vs Vettel situation in Bahrain. He didn’t make it, and then both his and Maldonado’s pace dropped off, which is why Raikonnen caught them so rapidly towards the end.

    11. if your going to abandon the sport after 34 years then you are a liar and havent watched it at all. tyres were worse in previous years, and races were less exciting, say in late 90s to late 2000s.

    12. I partly agree with @paul_E80’s comment. Tires are too fragile and too sensitive, and, IMO, DRS was a good work-around for aero sensitivity when they introduced it, but F1 using it as a permanent solution seems not right.

      1. They should’ve made rules to reduce aero sensitivity of the car, or give a free use of DRS for a defined period and at defined locations on the track to everybody (more like KERS)
      2. Pirelli overdid what was asked for, we went to crazy overtaking counts from nothing (as a fan I would like to see a little bit more operating window for the tires)

      But, all credits to Maldonado today. He did well with what was given to him, good for Williams and him. Hope, everyone is OK at the garage after that fire.

  8. Exciting (from the live blogs anyway) but can someone tell where the line between exciting variability and random silliness lies…?

    1. @newdecade I think we need to go a little further before we can call it random silliness. There’s always a development race to gain the latest innovation, this year the latest innovation is “a comprehensive understanding of the tyres”, the importance of this “innovation” is even greater seeing as though the tyres are the only things connecting car with the road. You’d think that a true understanding will occur before the halfway point in the season

  9. 9. For me Hamilton’s penalty left a slight shadow, but then we got to see a great comeback drive. The winner was in doubt until the last 5 to 10 laps. A little dull in the 2nd quarter perhaps.

    1. Yep great comeback. The only driver to make a two pit stop to work.

      1. Significantly, he beat Button.

        1. I agree, so many people have criticised him for not looking after his tyres as well as Jenson, looks like he’s adapting now.

    2. It’s the only reason I didn’t give a 10 – not because I’m a Hamilton lover, but I think it would have added something to the race adding Hamilton to the mix up-front.

      1. I think it would have been enough for me if I hadn’t found myself a little bored for a brief period or if Raikkonen had got that little bit closer to mixing it up at the end.

      2. I honestly think Hamilton would have easily won this GP if he didnt get that stupid penalty and he led into the first corner!

  10. One of the tensest races I’ve seen. 9/10

  11. Good race. 7

    1. Short but sweet, and I agree. I don’t think it deserves more than a 7. The lead changed hands a couple of times, which is always nice to see, but I don’t think we’ve yet seen an overtaking move for first position this year that wasn’t either at the first corner or during a pit stop. I think it comes down to the dirty air problem, which not even DRS can always overcome. At a couple of stages Alonso was definitely faster than Maldonado, but because he couldn’t get past straight away, his tyres started to wear out more quickly and eventually he fell back into the clutches of Räikkönen, whose late charge was great. I thought it was gripping, just not particularly exciting. In fact I found the timing screen more interesting than the race itself during the last dozen laps or so.

      Well done to Maldonado and Williams though. Just how many different winners are we going to see this season? I think there’ll be at least two or three more. The title is still anyone’s for the taking.

      1. The new aerodynamic restrictions have created more even performance amongst the teams and reduced the ” dirty air” problem but the new tyres rapid wear when following in even this reduced dirty air has wiped out all the gains.
        With more durable tyres we could be seeing great fights and passes between these cars that produce similar lap times but have different strengths and weakness’ and still have a variety of winners without the tyre lottery.

    2. Ditto. Having a new winner with good old Williams is great! But I do feel a bit robbed of a splendid race.

      I mean when one of the best drivers in the field can’t have anymore than one window of opportunity to fight, it feels like the tyres are one step too far.

      Did like all those GP2-style battles from Hamilton, Kobayashi and Vettel!

  12. The starts of all of these races have been electric. Maldonado has gained some respect. I was concerned that he may make an error following some of his other endeavours (such as Australia and Bahrain) but he proved me wrong and I’m delighted to see it. Great result for him and Williams. Great passing, Lewis cutting though the field then holding on on 2 stop. 9

  13. Maldonado didn’t put a foot wrong all race. Didn’t get the best start, but his pace in the middle was great and the end was incredibly composed. Didn’t expect this, truly fantastic drive.

    Kobayashi finally displayed some of his sharp overtaking skills again and although the result wasn’t spectacular, I really enjoyed seeing Hamilton race wheel to wheel all over.

    Best race I’ve watched so far, even better than the amazing Malaysian Grand Prix, and all that at the Spanish GP. A rare 10/10.

    1. It just clicked for him. Bit like massa at turkey a few seasons ago

  14. 8.5 but rounded up to 9. some of the drs moves were too easy.

  15. Amazing Amazing! Just pure amazing. Wow i never thought Maldonado could make it to the end on those tires. Kimi for WDC!!!

    1. Lotus really squandered Kimi`s chance by doing a second stint on the option tire. When the hard tire was clearly the better choice today. In the end he finished so close to the leaders which leaves me thinking what-if.

      I would have rated the race a 10 if the Lotus drivers had been involved in the scrap for the lead.

      1. I think what blew it was not coming in as soon as Maldonado passed him – as soon as he could no longer hold him back, it was time to come in and start the long chase.

        1. Yes, he ran out of laps and his tyres still seemed ok at the end. As in Bahrain, their strategy was just a bit off being a winning one. Williams showed them how it’s done today! But the Lotuses were slow early on – I wonder if the cooler temperatures didn’t help?

  16. A big 10 for me. Yay Williams. I love this year everyone gets a win. It’s like T ball.

  17. Great action all around the field, and an amazing result. 8/10

  18. 9 – so tense! In any other season this would have been one of the best races, in this season, just another race! Brilliant.
    Best Spanish GP since 1991

  19. 10. Crazy and unpredictable, just like the whole season. I’ve massively failed in my predictions once again and I’m loving it.

  20. I might be an old cynic, but I’m not happy with the direction of where F1 is heading. The cars in the field are only separated by the tyres. It seems irrelevant who has the fastest engine, or the best aero kit, or the best strategy, it ultimately comes down to who can keep the tyres together for the longest…

    1. @dragoll

      and that is exactly what Schumacher’s argument is regarding tyres, but not everyone agrees.

    2. I do agree to an extent. I like that they do degrade, but it shouldn’t be such a tight margin

    3. Surely the engine, the aero, the strategy and most importantly, the driver’s skill all play into the longevity of the tyres. I’m not getting my hopes up but this season has the potential to be the greatest in living memory. Bring it on I say.

    4. I’d much rather this, than watch Vettel effortlessly win every race.

      1. It saddens me that the cars will now be designed around the tyres and that the drivers will have to spend more of their time managing them instead of being able to race. Motorsport should be about aerodynamics, engine power and driver ability, I watched the GP2 race on Saturday and loved the pureness of it, the raw talent of some of the young drivers. I have enjoyed this season so far but feel having to prioritise managing tyre degradation is a castration of the drivers.

        1. I agree ,I also watched the GP2 and 3 races on Saturday and Sunday

  21. Definitely one of the best races throughout… 9 from me

  22. Second ever 10/10 from me, exciting race from start to finish, really had my heart pumping!

  23. Great result for Maldonado and Williams! Would have been even better for me if hamiltons tyres held on to hold off vettel but still it was a great drive from Hamilton Williams and awesome to see Alonso not on the top spot of the his home race.

  24. Definetely the best race this year!

  25. Not too much passing. Very tense, but a new winner. 9 for me..

  26. 8 for me. Great race, very happy for Pastor but I wish Lotus sorted out their strategy. I could tell before Kimi’s last stop that it was about 3 laps to late. Should have pitted him the lap after Pastor caught him than he could have won. also putting them on softs for second stint when it was clear that hard was faster was plain stupid. Lotus strategists utterly useless. Nonetheless great race!

    1. talking about strategy, I would say Lotus did not win much from theirs, but McLaren only got Button dropping back after his good start, and it was not great for Hamilton either.

      1. I guess with Hamilton they had little choice, wouldn’t you agree @bascb? W/o fresh tyres or grid position than a 2 stopper. Button’s strategy seemed to be leading to disappointment from early on, but maybe it was also just him not seeming to be confident in the car (a bit like HAM seemed not to have it entirely under control in AUS?). The HAM tyre bump was sad.

        Lotus do indeed need to look at what they do, and it sounded like Kimi will be telling them that softly, but insistently. Too many misses, I am sure they feel they could have won two, maybe three, races this season had they done things a bit different. Kimi for a win in Monaco, fighting Mark and Lewis to fend of Pastor to get their first win of the season?

  27. OMG <3 f1!!!!!

  28. Amazing from Maldonado, really amazing. I’m also extremely impressed with Hamilton coming from the back and managing his tyres. I had a friend tell me the other day that Hamilton can’t really manage his tyres, I look forward to talking to him later today.

  29. Fun race! Happy for Pastor and Williams. Pastor showed great maturity and really managed that situation well.

  30. 10/10 – Who said Spain is boring? No rain? No problem! Epic drive my Maldonado and great overtakes everywhere in the field. Koba also back to his BANZAI self.

  31. 8 for me… what a race.. absolutely brilliant. Different winner at every race. I won’t even bet £.10 on who is going win the championship.. every driver has a chance. Pastor did a great job. To beat Alonso at during the pit stop phase and take such a lead is remarkable.

    Lewis almost won the driver of the day for me but have to give it to Pastor. Maybe if he had overtaken Rosberg on the last lap :-)
    Bring on next race :-)

  32. Obviously, things might have panned out differently had McLaren not shot themselves in the foot… yet again, but super drives from Maldonaldo and Alonso. So great to see Williams’ return to form. I gave the race an 8.

  33. Awsome race and great job from Pastor. Rated 8 / 10

  34. Not a very exciting race and the yellow flags in the first part really blew some of the excitement out of it (Vettel’s and Massa’s penalties were utter bull, as was Hamilton’s quali penalty), but more than worthy of a 9.

    Thank you so much, Pastor. At least, when Massa leaves, I’ll still have someone to cheer for.

    1. “Not a very exciting race”
      “but more than worthy of a 9”

      what? :S

      1. That penalty has been handed out before, there is a clear precedent for it. When a driver goes past double waving yellow flags they must make an effort to slow down as he passes, that’s a safety issue.
        There was debris all over the track, all Vettel and Massa had to do was make an effort to slow down. The Video of Vettel blasting past with his DRS wide open was damning.
        The Commentators said straight away pretty much as soon as you are referred to the stewards for speeding past yellows you get a penalty. Telementry and Sectors times and the GPS trackers they have make it pretty much impossible to defend the charge.

  35. So many things to think about. First off, it was an exciting Spanish Grand Prix for a change. There was action everywhere on track, the field was all mixed up, the DRS worked OK and there were plenty of overtaking outside the DRS zone… it feels odd to think this was a race at Barcelona, where they (used to) just follow each other.

    Secondly, we got a new winner in F1, which is always great. Maldonado was just superb the whole race and the team’s strategy was a slap in the face for Sauber, who should’ve done the same in Malaysia.

    And finally: it’s Williams back to the top. And that’s a popular win no matter what. To think last year they probably were the worst team besides Team Lotus, Virgin and HRT, and they now win from pole. It’s unbelievable how unpredictable F1 now is… and that’s a great thing too.

    10/10 for me.

    1. About Malaysia forget pitting Perez early, even if they had pitted him on the same lap as Alonso they could have won it

      1. @ridiculous yeah, well, that’s what I wanted to say. This is how you win a race… they got it completely wrong at Malaysia!

        1. I thought they scared out of it a bit. Guess the difference is with Wiliams knowing how success tastes, they had the balls to go for it, while Sauber seemed to be just thrilled to have a podium finish.

          1. @bascb my thoughts exactly.

  36. 8 for me…
    Hamilton’s penalty ruined a little bit…might’ve been an exciting battle in front of he had started in 6th or even 10th…
    but still a very tense and amusing race! I never thought to see so many overtakes outside DRS zone in Barcelona! Kobayashi on Button and Hamilton on both Toro rossos were great!

  37. I’m absolutely speechless. Yesterday I was wondering whether Williams or Ferrari would have the race pace to fight for the win. This year they had been much stronger on race trim so I was left believing they had sacrificed some of their race pace in favour of qualifying performance, as Sauber seemingly did, and I went to sleep convinced that the best bet was on Grosjean followed by Raikkonen. It was almost a shock to see Lotus so far behind on the pace in the early stages of the race.

    Although I wanted the battle to be decided on track, I can be equally amazed by a good strategic battle, and this race surely delivered on that. The final stint was a swrill of emotions that combined the tenseness I felt at Monaco 2011 – with Alonso chasing down the leader with fresher tyres – and the excitement of seeing an underdog comanding a race – like Vettel did in his first win in 2008, and it is just these emotions that I strive for when I watch an F1 race (although my legs hurt a bit now after spending 25 laps shaking like Christian Horner). Easily 10 out of 10.

  38. 9, really close to a 10, but the race was just a little dull at times. Battles throughout the field, a great feel-good result, winner in doubt until the last few laps, and two great passes from Kobayashi.

    I’m no DRS fan, but it worked well here, allowing passing to happen without it being too easy. It doesn’t solve the problem, but it’s fix of sorts and I’m coming round. Tyres producing unpredictability (always a good thing) but there’s no luck — it’s all about managing they tyres. Maldonado did it, and Alonso didn’t really.

    1. I agree with your view on the DRS, there weren’t actually that many DRS passes of significant note, most of the good passes happened elsewhere.

  39. Really hope that williams keep the momentum and doesn’t fade away then it would have been a great season . just cant understand the vettel drive thru penalty he didn’t overtake any one under blue flag

    1. @smokinjoe

      You also have to slow down in yellow flag zones. Vettel was using his DRS there which shows he was pushing as hard as ever. He probably posted a similar sector time to his other laps (although that is just and assumption, I wasn’t following the live timing), so the penalty was deserved.

      1. And to make it worse @smokinjoe, in addition to what @guilherme says about Vettel showing he was racing, having DRS open in a yellow flagged area, Button behind him did close his DRS in response to the yellow flag, showing that wasn’t impossible to do. I guess Massa similar issue (though didn’t see it).

    2. The commentators said he opened DRS flap under yellow

  40. An excellent race, I gave it 8/10, very close to a 9.
    Brilliant drives by Maldonado, Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel and Raikkonen. Plenty of battles throughout, and a very tense and interesting finish. Might have been even better if Kimi passed Alonso.
    At the end of the day it was brilliant to see Pastor win, he held off Alonso under massive pressure, he deserves it.

  41. 8/10 Great race for Maldonado, he beats a two times champion by his own! Great race for Hamilton also, wonderful work for him.

  42. Gave it an 8/10, great race, sooooo happy with Williams an Maldonado winning! A few battles here and there, might have given it a 9 , but have to hold it against the other races this year , so an 8

  43. Good race, well done to Maldonado. Good job Hamilton. Very embarrassing for Schumacher. –> I guess if one can not go “around the car”, the next option is to try going through it! Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to work… Fair enough that Senna was blocking, but Schumacher should have expected something and hit the brakes or anything. Now Rosberg has 41 points vs Schumacher 2. That looks quite awkward.

    1. Thats coz michael fights for every point and rosberg collects every point

      1. Looks like Michael didn’t win any of those fights

        1. Michael has won 7 times & rosberg none. collectors never win.

          1. At the moment, though, it’s Rosberg with the race win. Unlike Massa, though, there is some capability for Schumacher to turn some of the points deficit around. I’d rather have the pace to be running 2nd or 3rd in a race before something goes wrong with the car, than eternally running around in 15th a lap down on my teammate.

  44. A 10 even as I read the text live for the past hours.
    Great job Pastor and especially Williams; a sensational win after 7-odd years
    Slightly disappointed as the Lotus pair did no agitation, but great potential!

    This season is scintillating!!!

  45. 10. Action from start to finish, what more do you want?

  46. It astounds me that some people are saying this race should be rated 8th or lower. What more realistically can you expect from a formula 1 race. If you gave this race an 8 or lower I don’t think you’re really a fan of motor racing as much as you think you are.

  47. 9. Incredible race, I’m really looking forward to the Monaco GP.
    I don’t even know where to begin, it was fantastic.
    A lot of tension because of the battle between Maldonando and Alonso, very good drive by Vettel after his drive through, incredible to see Hamilton managing his tyres so well, amazing final stint from Raikkonen..
    I am forgetting something, right now I’m thrilled. The standings look very interesting, I would say that Alonso, Vettel and Raikkonen are the guys who are in the best position to fight for the champioship. But anything can happen.

  48. As a Venezuelan I’m feeling so proud right now, it’s incredible what Maldonado has just archive. I would love to hear now those people who said that Pastor was just another pay driver, he’s showing what is capable of and with a midfield car. A true Champion!!
    Thank you Pastor for making us Venezuelans so proud

    1. Heaps pleased for you. It is a terrific thing PM has achieved today.

  49. Hope your CAPS is fixed

    1. o.O Reply doesn’t work?

  50. Fantastic race, so many intriguing battles on track, Main one of course being Maldonado vs Alonso. Great to see another new winner in F1. Also good to see Kimi remaining quick. And good to see Hamilton start from the back and beat Jenson!

  51. Quite good, quite good… I’d have to say 8 for a race with a definite european vibe to it, that delivered the fifth different winner on a fifth different car in the fifth race of the season. Didn’t really think this was possible anymore. :)

    Great drive from Maldonado. I have to say, last year I didn’t think he had the potential to win a race in F1, but for once I’m quite happy I was wrong. Really glad for Willams. Always a nice image, with their car/cars on the podium. Hopefully this will not be a one-off this season, but yet again, who can take the risk of predicting what’s gonna happen next anymore? At this rate the next winner could very well come from pretty much anywhere in the middle of the pack.

    Also, brilliant drives in order for Koba, Vettel, Raikkonen (a bit closer and the race could have been his) and Alonso (massive improvements at Scuderia). Grosjean – doing a good job keeping the pace.

    Schumacher – I still can’t quantify the amount of bad luck he keeps getting just as I can’t really point the finger at him or Senna over that incident. Stupid, stupid situation there…

    McLaren are just hilarious to watch at this point. Massa – not even delivering expectations anymore…it’s just sad.

    After Barcelona, we still have no clue how the season will unfold. Jesus, can’t wait for Monte Carlo…

    1. I hope you’re not including Lewis in the ‘hilarious’ comment, 24 to 8 with only 2 stops, 30 laps on the same tyres and some fantastic overtaking!!!

      1. Nah, Lewis limited the damage as much as he could, I’m aware of that. However, races are planned, driven and won as a team so my “criticism” goes to McLaren as a team.

        China happened, Bahrain happened, there were changes in the pit crew, then Saturday happened and after all that they ALMOST screw Lewis up AGAIN in the race?! I’m sorry but it’s becoming a laughing matter now…

        Starting the season with the fastest car, having two of the best and complex drivers on the grid in your line-up, one incredibly fast, the other incredibly smart and STILL throwing it all away, getting next to no results out of it because of repeated, well known, solvable issues? It sounds surreal even to me and I haven’t rooted for McLaren since the early Hakkinen-Coulthard days…

  52. 8/10
    Good but not as much as Bahrain and China and Malaysia. Well done Pastor.

  53. Dreadful scenes at the track at the moment, a huge fire appears to have broken out in the Williams garage.

    1. Been explosion, some people hurt apparantly

    2. I’m watching it now, such a sad way to end a great weekend.

    3. whoa.. is everyone okay?

    4. Any news? Forum now gone off – didn’t see the last bit. BBC F1 says some people hurt.

  54. 10- the best championship. Unpreditable. Anyway i’m a little confused. Which is the best car?? As Ferrari improve or RB and McLaren loose???

    1. Given Mclarens pace in practice, and how theyve looked after their tyres, we probably would have seen Hamilton take a relativly easy win had he started at the front.

      1. And what happen with Button??? He didn’t finish on top. Do you really think McLaren is the best car ??

        1. You mean Jensen ‘couldnt-find-the-balance’ Button? :]

          The McLaren is definatly the strongest car. It had the best race pace in practice over long runs, looked after its tyres, and stuck on pole by half a second.

          1. and another hick-up in the pits with Ham.
            fire that wheel man left hand back.
            how many more s–f-ups do we have to put up with.

          2. You said it right there: It had the best race pace in practice

            Today it was a lot colder, than yesterday, witch was cooler than before.
            HAM could switch his tyres on, BUT couldnt, give it +10 celsius, and BUT has balance, HAM is overheating.

            @nico74 @N

  55. As GP’s at Barcelona go. That has to be one of the better ones.

  56. Massive fire, hope all is ok in there! Looks like no one hurt though. Senna’s car is ruined by the looks.

  57. 10/10. Tense at the front, battles all through the field, excellent!

  58. It was an entertaining race to watch at times. I just feel like, once again, the tires played waaayyy to big a role in the outcome of the race. I’m not taking anything away from Maldonado, he drove a superb race, but when a williams is lapping a red bull something weird is going on, and it could either be a) pastor is the next coming of ayrton senna b) the williams is faster than the lotus, the red bull, the mclaren, the mercedes, etc or c) he won the tire lottery. I think it’s great that Williams won for Sir Frank’s 70th, but I don’t like how tires are dictating the outcome of races

    1. c) He won the tire lotery. Yes, he drove a great race also. But Schumacher is right about tires. Racing is something else…

  59. 9, great entertainment, any time we get a new winner it’s good for the sport IMO, sure put a smile on this ugly mug ! :)
    Hugo’s probably dancing the Joropo …..

  60. Sviatoslav Andrushko (@)
    13th May 2012, 17:13

    Great perfomance from Williams, especially after disappointing last year. Great race for Kobayashi: his style of overtaking is something I’ll never forget. Race wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t boring with lots of not-so-beautiful-to-watch DRS overtakings. Though I’m not a fan of Lewis, but his ride was extremely impressive. And I’m not satisfied, because I would love to see Alonso on the top) Anyway, race was nearly perfect: 9 out of 10.

  61. As a Hammy fan I think the race result is pretty silly and that he should have probally won the race.

    Despite this he drove one of the best races I’ve ever seen. He made over-taking cars on a track thats hard to over-take look easy and he did it all while saving his tires to make a 2 stop work better than his team mates 3(4?) stop despite starting 14 places behind him.

    Let’s hope McLaren wont ruin his next race where you REALLY can’t over-take

    1. I doubt it very much. He finished 78 seconds behind the winner so he was even close to being lapped.

      Great drive though to reach the points, but then he lacked the pace.

      1. He lacked pace because he only stopped twice and his tyres were shot nearing the end, which is why Vettel got past him. As for being 78 seconds behind the winner, are you for real? He started 24th because of a penalty, how does that have any bearing on what’s going to happen at Monaco??

  62. I gave it an eight but again for the worst racing venue on F1 the pole sitter won, on the plus another driver and another construtor won but it wasnt because of Catalunya nor because of great racing that today this was epic this was epic because 5 different DRIVERS and TEAMS have won.

  63. 8/10. probably the most exciting Spanish GP since the rainy 1996 race, but it’s been spoiled by an anti-climatic ending.

    1. i’m a ferrari fan, but i’m very happy for Frank Williams and his team, they didn’t deserve to be at the back of the competitive teams. That Cosworth engine was really damaging them…

  64. QUE VIVA LA REVOLUCION!!!!

  65. I thought this race accurately highlighted some of the downsides of DRS. With quite a few DRS passes, the attacker was already a car length ahead by the time they got to turn 1 – not terribly exciting; otherwise, there may have been more side-by-side battles in the first corner.

    Another downside is that if there is a train of cars, with the second car not close enough to pass, it’s completely impossible for anyone to overtake on the main straight – very silly and also pretty boring.

    The race was very enjoyable, though. I gave it an 8 though I fear I may have been a bit skimpy.

  66. sid_prasher (@)
    13th May 2012, 17:49

    I think first of all today an apology is due to Maldonado from the fans who have dismissed him as a mere “pay” driver. It was a brilliantly driven race by him and the team.

    I guess Fernando will feel that under the circumstances a win was possible – I don’t think Ferrari is really fast enough to mix with the top teams yet…but Alonso this year has not dropped a single point due to a mistake.
    I am still not sure of the reasons for the drive through penalty given to Vettel and Felipe…

    The way Kimi was going at the end – it looks like Lotus made a mistake by keeping him out for too long. If he had been brought in a couple of laps earlier – he could well have come second again.

  67. Not great, 5- 6 out of ten and two of those only because Williams won

  68. Been on alot of F1 sites recently. No one pulling Kimi to pieces for his demeanour after the race? He was extremely annoyed and not bothering to hide it, but when LH did the same after 3rd in AUS, everyone hit the roof. Don’t get me wrong, I think Kimi had every right to be annoyed, so did Lewis in Aus, but any excuse for people to rip him to pieces. Well let’s see you try it after today, our boy did us proud and completely demolished Mr. I-Look-After-Tyres. On another note, Pastor was amazing today and I hope everyone involved in the fire is ok. That was not something you want to see happen on a day where they should be over the moon.
    The best drivers today:
    Pastor Maldanado
    Lewis Hamilton
    Sebastian Vettel (and it pains me to say that)

    1. big differences~` kimi nvr blame anyone apart of himself~~!!

      1. Yes he did he put some blame on his team, try watching it again

      2. Firstly; if you’re gonna bother to reply, try using proper grammar and spelling.
        Secondly; after AUS LH never blamed anyone in his interviews, he was just annoyed in general. We don’t know if it was at the team, or at himself for not getting the best out of his car. Probably the latter given the type of driver he is. To say Kimi never blames the team is ridiculous and would be wrong anyway. The team are at fault sometimes and deserve to be called out on it. The team have made many mistakes with LH this year, but he has stood behind them 100%, so your claim is completely unfounded.
        Thirdly; There is no difference between Kimi’s demeanour today and Hamilton’s in Australia after the same result (3rd), but everyone (the press included) pulled him apart and have said nothing of Kimi. It is clear hypocrisy and there is no excuse for it.

        1. i think it’s because Kimi is “Kimi” and his demeanor always seems that way. Hamilton runs hot and cold. Now Alonso was interesting as he seemed genuinely happy with his 2nd even though Pic may have cost him the victory.

          1. His demeanour seeming ‘that way’ is nothing to do with it, Lewis is always being criticised for blaming his team or for being sullen in the press conferences, but ‘adas’ after ‘james’ made the point that no-one said anything about Raikkonen during the press conference, stated that he only blamed himself, the fact is he DID blame his team, where are the criticisms for him or is it just Lewis who isn’t allowed to speak his mind? As for Lewis blowing hot and cold, he’s been superb this season but with people like you he just can’t win can he??

          2. Ah ‘Kimi is Kimi’ and if it was someone else, there would be some other excuse. I’m tired of hearing excuses as to why it’s one rule for LH and another for everyone else. He runs hot and cold? What you mean he actually has a personality? He’s passionate about the sport perhaps and wears his heart on his sleeve. I think his honesty with how he feels is to be applauded, not shunned. What would you prefer it if he just became another P.R machine?

          3. @welshwitch, wow what’s with the “with people like you” comment? I didn’t say anything bad about Lewis, nor was I criticizing him, just offering a possible reason why a similar reaction by a driver might be seen differently by the media.

            Not to mention that Lewis is going to get treated differently by the British press being a British driver and a lightning rod both in positive and negative ways over the past 5 years than a non British, whether it’s Kimi or someone else.

            As for Hamilton, he’s done an excellent job this year and if there’s ever been a time where he could rightly blame the team for his woes, this is definitely the year and to his credit he hasn’t done so.

          4. @James really, one rule for LH and another for other drivers? After Malaysia, Vettel called NK an idiot right after the race and he gets hammered for that statement. I recall Lewis having similar comments after Monaco a year ago.

            And then Vettel gets criticized for standing by what he said right after the race as being how he felt in that moment. Would folks prefer if he became another PR machine? (even funnier is, everyone blaming Vettel as the “crash kid” even when Johnny Herbert came on SkyTV, as the race steward in Malaysia and showed how NK jinked to right 1.5 meters while looking in his LEFT mirror lol).

            Lewis is ahead of the curve in that he is one the major personalities in F1. Because of that he gets treated the way he does. I’m sure Kimi (or his fans) get tired of the “lack of motivation” talk that always surrounds him. Hamilton and Button don’t go to Mugello and it’s no big deal, Kimi doesn’t go and it’s Lotus needing to deal with Kimi being Kimi etc.

            Can you imagine being Massa? He spins the car and he’s a loser who should be out of F1, someone else spins the car and they are “pushing it”.

            Or relevant to today, how about Maldonado being a pay driver who shouldn’t be in F1? So relax, you’re a fan of Lewis, it’s all good.

          5. James (@goodyear92)
            14th May 2012, 1:50

            @uan Calling another driver that is a bit different to just being generally unhappy with 3rd place when it could have been a win, yet the reaction was the same. Lewis’ behaviour was being called disgusting and there was no call for it. Although calling a driver what he did is worse, I still don’t think that deserved the reaction it got either. Lewis’ comments in Monaco recieved extremely heated comments online also, he apologised for what he said even though he explained it (like Vettel) was in the heat of the moment. But Vettel didn’t actually apologise for what he said, just gave a reason why he did it and stood by his comments. For that LH should have been given a bit of credit, for standing up and saying sorry.
            Hamilton was pushing to go to the test, but ultimately the team wanted the test drivers there. Kimi had no intentions to go and that (much like Button) showed a lack of interest in the progress of the car. I don’t think you can compare LH and KR as they weren’t there for different reasons, but I see your point on JB.
            The reason others don’t get called rubbish when they spin is usually because it doesn’t happen anywhere near as often, or they were at least going fast before it happened. Massa does it too much (even when he was at his best) and isn’t going fast when he does it. So the comments are deserved and that Ferrari seat shouldn’t be his much longer.
            The pay driver comment was justified untill he proved himself after him being promoted had resulted in another very talented driver, with no real sponsors, losing his seat. He had already answered the critics before today in my opinion, but he might never have done and people have every right to dislike rich drivers ousting talented, but poorer drivers.

          6. @goodyear92 I don’t think we’re that far apart in our views, though I do think we are probably speaking past each other. My general point is that each driver has fans and distractors and some of the distractors can be a bit over the top. More specifically, I think the issue you’re bringing up has to do with the fact that Hamilton has distractors that are what I would call distractors of Hamilton, rather than pro-Kimi or pro-any other driver. I do think you’re lumping them all together. For instance, I didn’t comment on Hamilton’s reaction in AUS or on Kimi’s today.

            I have also seen situations where Webber had been even more sour after a podium than Hamilton (Malaysia 2010), but he didn’t get hammered for it. It’s easy to forget that these guys just finished 1.5-2 hrs of pretty intense racing when we see them.

            These distractors probably also feel quite justified in their criticism of Hamilton in the same way you feel that the pay driver comments were justified towards Maldonado until he proved himself.

            There are also certain themes that always seem to follow certain drivers. One common theme that follows Hamilton is that he blames others, including the team, for poor results, and never takes responsibility for whether he could have performed better. Kimi gets hammered for “commitment”. Vettel for the crash kid thing or he can’t pass. Button can only win in changeable conditions, etc. Right or wrong, those are the memes people respond to, even when there’s clear evidence to the contrary.

            The whole point is that fans and the media are never fair or equal in how they view individual drivers. And where ever someone lands on the continuum from the most ardent fanatical fan, to the most spite-filled distractor, they each feel that their position is completely justified by objective facts and sound reasoning. Such is the nature of sport (and life :).

    2. If you watch closely, Kimi was actually very happy for Pastor and looked satisfied on podium.

      There is only so much he can do to try encourage the team for better performance, you’d imagine they didn’t do same mistakes again and again. Plus Kimi always was like that, he just speaks his mind or doesn’t say anything.

      1. James (@goodyear92)
        14th May 2012, 1:34

        No if you watch closely and actually listen to what he says, he isn’t very happy with today. I don’t blame him, but think those who reacted so venomously to LH in Australia need to stop being such hypocrites.

        1. kimi blame the team?? He said the car lack of pace in the first part of the race which cost him alot~~!! and he also said is easy to say which choices to make afterwards~~ means that he only intends to look forward to make up for these races in which his team screwed him up almost every 1 of them! As for Mugello, Lotus make the wrong call in assigning Jerome to test for day 1, results in the team falling behind schedule thats why they ask Romain to test for 2 day in order to get constant data from the same driver to compare the efficiency of new parts~!! It wasnt kimi who make that call~~

          1. YES! The ‘choices’ was a hint at the calls his team made today e.g the options on his second stint. Try listening. You seem to think I’m having a go at him for being annoyed, which I’m not, he has every right to be, he’s human. But the same people that pull Lewis apart for being moody with 3rd in AUS and always blaming his team (he doesn’t) never say the same when other drivers do it.

        2. You should really get out of the cave, Kimi was like that for 11 of his F1 years.

          Further, I’m not gonna get into difference between Australia and Spain, as obviously you lack basic perception of human emotions. Cheer up emo, Hamilton actually getting more and more support across the board of how he handling things lately. Win will come eventually.

          1. There is a difference between generally being monotone and uniterested with the press, to obviously being annoyed at only 3rd place and not happy with the ‘choices’ made in the race. There is no difference. They both feigned smiles, even though they were unhappy with 3rd. Yet LH’s behaviour got called disgusting, which was over the top. Both of them have every right to show how they feel, but if people are gonna pull one person apart for it, then not do it to someone else who does the same, then they are hypocrites. Emo? No… just no. I know he is, and he deserves after how he has performed this season. Mature and brilliant.

    3. @goodyear92 – As much as it pains you to say that Vettel was one of the best on Sunday, it pains me to agree that Hamilton definitely shouldn’t have been criticised for not looking happy in Australia. He wanted to win the race, but his teammate did. F1 drivers, especially the champions, aim high and don’t want second best, like Vettel in Hungary. Lewis had the right to be annoyed. Just like Kimi Raikkonen yesterday.

      1. It doesn’t pain me that much, it was more of a joke, as I really disliked him in 2010. I think Vettel has been brilliant since the start of 2011 all the way to now. I have a massive respect for him and I’m glad he has overcome the problems that defined him in 2010 (the crashing and overtaking problems) to become one of the absoloute best drivers on the grid. I’m just not a fan, maybe it’s because I’m in constant fear of a Vettel/Red Bull domination repeat.
        I agree with you completely. I was only pointing out because I think most people have been hypocrites, but F1 drivers should absoloutely be able to show how they feel.

  69. 8 out of 10 for me. Very close to a perfect race. But I still feel the DRS detracts from it.

  70. Wasn’t half bad. Deserves 4 points.

  71. 9. Amazing result, Williams win for the first time in years. Lots of action, shunts and penalties. Great race by Lewis to make the strategy work and finish ahead of JB. Ferrari need to take action, loyalty is running out for poor Massa.

  72. 7/10 Fantastic drive by Pastor Maldonado, well deserved win for Williams (shame about the fire, hope the damage isn’t too bad and everyone is OK). Lewis was amazing, confident and smiling through what must have been a bitter blow after all his hard work in qualifying (he would have still been ahead with the right fuel), complementing his team, his fellow drivers, giving us what F1 should be about sportsmanship, great driving and overtaking. 24th to 8th and only 2 stops, so much for not being able to look after his tyres where are his critics now??

    Drivers of the day : Maldonado, Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel and Kobayashi – I wasn’t going to watch today in protest over Hamilton’s penalty but you lads made me glad I did, Thanks x

  73. Webber: “If you push you have to pit”.

    It might be a good random show, but this isn’t F1 for me. I don’t get why people are voting 10, but once again I guess its what people want so so be it.

    1. Ah and I voted 7. I enjoyed the race, but I still don’t get it :)

  74. It’s a 9 for me – there was so much going on and the best race of the season for me. Fantastic drive by Pastor and awesome to see Williams back on top after so many years: brought a little tear to the eye!

  75. 9/10
    Thank you Pirelli!

  76. I vote 8.
    Like the williams win & another winning team, but the race is quite boring. I in fact felt asleep waking up early to watch the race.

  77. Enjoyed the race. Lots going on all across the field with little incidents. Well done Williams/Maldonado … I wonder what Rubens is thinking right now?

    1. if only I had more sponsorship cash

      1. if only I had more sponsorship cash

        …I might have finished in the top 10 today maybe.

        Either that or Rubens is concentrating on Indycar, where he’s doing okay.

    2. He’s doing alright in IndyCar and will be focussed on his first Indy 500 in a couple of weeks, which MANY F1 drivers would love a go at @mugotea

  78. The race was intense from start to finish.Brilliant spectacle 9/10 from me. Really good to see Williams win again, especially after a tough 2011.

    Pastor was amazing and fully deserved the win. Undoubtedly driver of the day and shows the world that he is more than a pay driver.

    Other good performers were Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton and Kamui. Cannot wait for Monaco!!!

  79. 8/10. a classic GP

  80. A 9 from me. After qualifying this had all the hallmarks of a classic; a scattered grid, unexpected surprises, the pole sitter being sent to the back and as a result a new driver in P1. Kobayashi showed some flashes of his 2010 brilliance and I was impressed to see him still hounding Rosberg right to the end. Hamilton made for some major damage limitation which he can be proud of.

    In essence, I think we saw the best of many drivers today, which always helps!

  81. A remarkable race, and a fantastic sign of things to come for 2011. 8/10

    1. @cjpdk I think 2011 is over :)

      1. 2012*

        dammit…

  82. 8. I have seen better races, but there’s a lot of worse races out there. We got people fighting through the field (Hamilton), tyre wear games (Maldonado/Alonso) and a tense finish in the top 3..

    The main reasons I couldn’t award it more was Schumacher’s moaning (again, I’m starting to dislike him..) and for all the hype and tenseness over the last few laps, we were kinda robbed (much like the situation in Monaco ’11)..

    Congratulations to Pastor and Williams.. It’s about time they took steps towards making a comeback..
    I’m really hoping Raikkonen or Grosjean can make it 6 teams winning races next time out!

  83. 8
    Racing like this is what made Turkey 2010 so great – there’s no need for overtaking, just the constant threat of overtaking is better for edge of the seat racing.

    Stoked to see Williams back on top.

  84. I’m going to give it ten. Not only was the race, exciting, but just about everyone had something to do at some stage during the race – Maldonado had to hold off Alonso, Raikkonen had to try and make a risky strategy work, Vettel had to overcome a drive-through and an unscheduled stop to reel in Rosberg, Hamilton had to work his way through the field, and Kobayashi was Kobayashi (instead of the Nobayashi we’ve seen of late).

  85. 7/10 from me. Although we had a fight for the win through the entire race and a surprise winner, it was made very clear early on that positions were very unlikely to change anywhere other than DRS zone which made most of the lap not worth watching, especially when Alonso was gaining about 6 tenths every lap using DRS and then losing it all again by T4.

    There were a few good overtakes in the race outside of DRS (Hamilton’s double overtake on STR drivers stands out) but most of these seemed to be down to either massive difference in tyre wear or failing body parts (good job Red Bull)

  86. 10 because Willam’s win is good for F1 and Ferrari’s resurgence is great for F1…:)

  87. 9 for me, possibly the best Spanish grand prix ever :P
    Had everything; drama, overtakes, controversy, a new winner and perhaps some of the best racing I’ve seen from the likes of Maldonado, Alonso, Raikkonen, Kobayashi and Hamilton.
    My only gripe was some of the DRS overtakes were too easy but it was great to see drivers using other places apart from turn 1 to overtake which in itself is a rarity at Barcelona.
    I’m still overwhelmed 24hours after the race, here’s to hoping that the remaining 15 races of 2012 are as epic as the first 5.

  88. For me the race was a 7.5 rounded up to an 8.

    I am really glad that Williams have won it has been too long, hopefully they this wasn’t a one off performance and we see some more good results for Williams from now on.

  89. I gave it an 8. A pretty exceptional race, with much more overtaking and wheel-to-wheel dicing than Catalunya typically allows, and some real (if pitlane-centric) battling for the lead throughout.

    I would have given it a 9, but the excessive (to my mind at least) penalty for Hamilton after such a sublime qualifying left a bad taste in my mouth. Even though the rule book allowed for such a disqualification, it still seems like the stewards went with the most draconian interpretation of the prescribed penalty.

  90. I gave the race 9/10.
    The battle between Maldanado and Alonso was tense and intriguing all the way through the race, and watching Hamilton fight his way through the pack being the only one on a 2 stop strategy and making it work was good too.

    I think it had been Vettel or a another top car battling with Alonso I may have only given it an 8, but the added tension of having something of an unknown quantity at the front in the williams pushed it up to a 9 for me. It definitely wasn’t a 10 for me as I would have liked to see Hamilton / Raikonen battling at the front and I thought some of the DRSing down the main straight was also a bit too much. e.g. Vettel passing Hamilton.

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