Motorsports Mondial
Head & Shoulders
Venezuela, the land of motor cycle legend Johnny Cecotto and ‘Caballo Viejo,’ now has a Formula 1 Grand Prix winner.
The “Pay Driver” posted his first victory in the top tier of motor racing on Sunday in Barcelona.
Pastor Maldonado’s “Montmelo Moment” saw him start the race from his first pole position, following Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification for running on empty after posting the fastest time on Saturday.
Local legend Fernando Alonso got the jump on Maldonado at the start and looked set to become season’s first two-time winner in the early stages. Alonso would stay in command till his second pit stop when Maldonado assumed the lead.
In other on track incidents Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes collected Bruno Senna’s Williams; not surprisingly, each driver blaming the other. The German driver was given a five grid place penalty for the next round in Monaco.
Defending double world champion Sebastian Vettel was given a drive-through penalty for ignoring yellow flag; Massa also endured the same penalty.
Alonso was expected to mount a challenge on Maldonado after the final pit stop, and the Malaysian Grand Prix winner was, in the words of David Hobbs, “all over Maldonado like a cheap suit.”
Maldonado was reminded by his team on more than one occasion to look after his rear tires. Alonso also had a very fast closing Kimi Raikkonen to deal with; the Lotus driver had made a late final stop and was closing on the race leaders more than a second per lap.
In the end Raikkonen ran out of laps to snatch second place from Alonso, who in turn was unable to push his Ferrari and Pirelli tires any further to delight the fans with a home win.
So it was Pastor Maldonado scoring his first F1 victory and also giving the fabled English team their first victory since the 2004 season ending Brazilian Grand Prix, when another Latin American driver, the effervescent Juan Pablo Montoya, won in his final race for Williams.
Romain Grosjean was fourth for Lotus, Kamui Kobayashi fifth for Sauber, followed by the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel, Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, and McLaren of moral pole winner Hamilton. His teammate Jenson Button was ninth.
Nico Hulkenberg in a Force India held off a strong charge from the second Red Bull of Mark Webber to claim the final championship point from tenth place finish.
Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix was round five in the 2012 Championship. Each race has been won by a different driver from a different team.
Maldonado is season’s second first-time winner following Nico Rosberg’s maiden success in Shanghai.
Veni, Vidi, Venezuela
Before Maldonado two other drivers from Venezuela raced in Formula 1.
Ettore Chimeri raced in the 1960 Argentine Grand Prix in an ex-Fangio Maserati 250F. Two weeks later he was dead after crashing his Ferrari in practice for a race on an airfield near Havana.
Motor cycle champion Johnny Cecotto was teammate to Ayrton Senna at Toleman in 1984. His final race was that year’s Dallas Grand Prix before his F1 career came to a crashing halt at Brands Hatch in preparation for the British Grand Prix.
Crowded at the top
In the championship, Alonso’s second place finish has propelled him to joint lead with Vettel, both on 61 points each.
Hamilton, still winless this season, is third with 53 points. Raikkonen is fourth on 49 points, one ahead of Webber.
Button, winner of season opener in Australia is sixth with 45 points, four ahead of Rosberg.
Rosberg’s teammate, Michael Schumacher, and Alonso’s teammate, Felipe Massa, both have only a couple of points to their credit.
Red Bull leads the constructors’ championship with 109 points. McLaren second on 98 points and Lotus third with 84 points.
Heidinado
In another first, SpeedTV skipped the post-race press conference of this historic win to show a Chelsea football game.
What’s next? Mud wrestling from Macon on a rainy night in Georgia.
— Nasir Hameed
Greetings and Benton regards from Barcelona.