*20-second penalty for rejoining the track in an unsafe fashion.
Timo Glock (Marussia) did not start due to illness.
2012 European Grand Prix
- Alonso is 2012’s eighth Driver of the Weekend winner
- European Grand Prix rated best race of 2012 so far
- Top ten pictures from the European Grand Prix
- Vote for your European GP Driver of the Weekend
- Schumacher is oldest driver on podium since 1970
nackavich (@nackavich)
24th June 2012, 14:51
Whaaaaat a race! Best race at Valencia yet! I was on the edge of my seat so much I’m now on the floor!
Calum (@calum)
24th June 2012, 14:54
Crazy weekend for Alonso – his title rivals retire to lose 25 points and 15 points and he ends up taking the full 25.
What was Maldonado playing at? Just too impatient, Hamilton had no grip. There would have been plenty easy chances on the final lap for the Williams to steal the final podium!
batacani
24th June 2012, 15:15
nice drive kimi.patient driving
timi (@timi)
24th June 2012, 15:17
Vergne and Maldonado. Interesting moves today, to say the least.
On the Maldonado-Hamilton incident,- Hamilton shouldn’t have even been near the williams, had Lewis’ pitstop not been completely botched. There are some serious serious operational errors occuring week in-week out at that McLaren team. They need to sort it asap if they can even think about a WCC or WDC.
Great race for ALO, looked after the tires well, managed the gap, home GP as well must have felt incredible. Can’t blame him for choking up.
I feel for VET. He was having the perfect race (other than the SC), before his engine just cut out. He and Hamilton will be very very disappointed today.
Button.. The less I say the better.
egsgeg
24th June 2012, 15:28
Well you could almost say his car gave out because he was pushing it too hard to get that gap after the safety car.
David-A (@david-a)
24th June 2012, 21:07
Except that mechanical failures are not considered to be the fault of the driver.
Julian (@julian)
25th June 2012, 0:18
I think you reaching a bit there egsgeg.
Slr (@slr)
24th June 2012, 15:31
First time Alonso, Raikkonen and Schumacher have been on the podium together since Canada 2006. I’m so happy for Schumacher, just amazing.
dkpioe
24th June 2012, 16:41
i dont think the pitstop mattered, he would still have been third, and maldonado would still have been chasing him down. it was maldonados fault, but i can see maldonados frustration, he was technically wheel to wheel so perhaps hamilton should have given him a bit more space, especially as he was going to be passed anyway, its almost like he was asking for it. lets call it even for monaco last year.
BBT (@bbt)
24th June 2012, 18:32
Schumacher is under investigation for using DRS under yellows, he might not had a podium after all…
Maldonado was considered at fault and has been dropped to 12th
Verge has been given a double penalty for an avoidable collision.
Kor, its all going on.
Shaun Swales
24th June 2012, 15:40
Pastor Maldonado drove straight into the side of Lewis as his car had 4 wheels off of the track!
Facebook Hate Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pastor-Maldonado-Hate-Page/488249657856077
Slr (@slr)
24th June 2012, 18:22
Pastor Maldonado was at fault, but a hate page directed at him (or anyone) is just sad.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
24th June 2012, 20:50
Correct @slr
SHOCKER! SPORTSMAN CAUSES CONTROVERSY.
?
24th June 2012, 16:06
Wow….the driver who finished 3rd is the predecessor of the winner’s predecessor, who finished 2nd!
James (@goodyear92)
24th June 2012, 16:45
Well, what a fantastically exciting race. Some serious scruffy driving going on (though not as much as in GP2, that was insane) and some people robbed of results they really deserved.
Vettel, though I’m not a fan, was the deserved winner by far and I was gutted when he pulled over to retire. Maldanado continues his extreme fall from grace, with yet more idiotic driving that just doesn’t belong in such a professional sport. I seriously cannot stress enough, my utter contempt for how he goes about racing. It’s a complete farce that he hasn’t had a driving ban for F1 yet. Accidental collisions are all part of racing, but swiping other cars and retarded moves like the one he pulled on LH, are the reason he has so little support beyond that of his home country. Jenson? Ye again, he has a weekend to forget. I’ve all but ruled him out of the championship now, I just hope he can get some solid points and try and put a stop to the almost inevitable 3rd constructor’s for Red Bull.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
24th June 2012, 20:44
Schumacher podium! About time! Really glad FI managed to bag some solid points, especially after they prepared so much for it with various upgrades.
Big shame for Massa, he looked competitive but his collision with Kobayashi (I think) kinda ruined his race.
xjr15jaaag (@xjr15jaaag)
24th June 2012, 21:10
Just out of interest, why were the backmarkers allowed to pass the safety car when the detritus had been cleared away?
I thought that rule had gone out the winow
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
24th June 2012, 21:11
It was reintroduced for this year:
Lapped cars allowed to pass safety car in 2012
graigchq (@graigchq)
24th June 2012, 22:45
Well, this is the first race I managed to watch at home here up on Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, since the 3G has been installed, and I avoid the $90 a month DSTV charges to watch stuff like this and the football, and well, WHAT A RACE!!
As a Jenson fan, it’s another weekend of disappointment, running consistently 1.5-2 secs slower than his team mate all race, and was falling back from Di Resta even on newer tyres… what the hell Jenson??
Apart from that, an awesome showing from a lot of people, not least the two Lotus’s. That E20 is a fast car eh?
But above all, Alonso. I don’t like him, but you can’t fault his commitment today, that overtake on the restart shows what you can do with an F1 car in the right hands. Driver of the day for sure.
Alfie (@alfie)
24th June 2012, 22:52
Feeling sorry for Petrov. Two extra stops I suppose could’ve kept him right behind Senna at the end..
Fixy (@)
25th June 2012, 17:38
Before the race I predicted (or hoped) Vettel was going to retire halfway through. I was wrong, it was on lap 34 :P
After he retired, however, I felt sorry for him despite a Ferrari being in the lead. He was superb and faultless, and retiring from 1st place musth be horrible.
I was also sorry for Hamilton who continued pushing even when his tyres had ended their life. And for Vergne for that silly mistake that also damaged Heikki. And for Petrov who was 10th with a few laps to go. And for Hulkenberg who could’ve finished on the podium. And for Kobayashi who started in a good position. And for Massa who retired again.
But I was happy for Alonso, Raikkonen and Schumacher.