Spain 11-13 May 2012 Gran Premio de Espana Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, CataloniaTo the delight of his home-town fans, Alonso jumped straight to the lead in the 1st corner where he stayed for much of the race. But over the long haul, the Ferrari's hard use of tires meant that the Williams of Maldonado was able to regain the lead during pit stops and take the win, allowing Maldonado to become the 1st ever Venezuelan F1 race winner.
Alonso holds on to 2nd place, while Raikkonen pushes hard to catch him but runs out of laps to finish in 3rd ahead of his teammate Grosjean in 4th. Kobayashi fillets his way through the field to round out the top 5.
Hamilton puts in a brilliant drive from last place to as high as 4th, but can't make his tires last quite long enough to stay there and finishes in 8th.
Monaco 24-27 May 2012 Grand Prix de Monaco Circuit de Monaco Monte Carlo, MonacoRace Distance: 78 laps, 260.520 km
The Monaco Grand Prix has been around since 1929 and has evolved into not just the most spectacular race of the F1 calendar, but perhaps the most amazing race in all of motorsports.
The course has remained nearly unchanged since the inception of the event resulting in a narrow, bumpy course where the cars race wheel to wheel mere inches away from the Armco walls. The course is so tight, the teams are forces to use one-off suspension designs to get around the tightest hairpin of the season.
Vettel continued his domination of the 2011 season with a win from pole in Monaco, fighting off hard challenges from Alonso and Button along the way who take 2nd and 3rd in a race with several red-flag periods.
