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 Europe 22-24 Jun 2012Telefonica Grand Prix of Europe Circuit de Valencia, Valencia, Spain Race Distance: 57 laps, 308.883 km Once again the European GP will be held at the Valencia Street Circuit in the port city of Valencia, Spain. Built out of the waterfront city streets, the track is similar to Monaco (and to Long Beach for US open wheel fans). The track features 25 corners and is relatively high-speed for a street course. Last season Vettel dominated from pole, leading every lap on the way to the win. Alonso grabs 2nd in front of his home fans from Webber who finishes in 3rd. With a single hot-lap in Q3, Vettel shows that he's still the best at qualifying. Taking his 33rd career pole position, he ties for 3rd overall on the best qualifiers list in F1 history, with just Senna and Schumacher ahead of him. Hamilton takes the other spot on the front row, while Maldonado and Grosjean punch above their weight in 3rd and 4th. Qualifying surprises include Alonso in 11th, and Webber in 19th with DRS issues preventing him from escaping Q1. The top 10 qualifiers in Europe: VET HAM MAL GRO RAI ROS KOB HUL BUT DIR Pure insanity is probably the best description for the race in Valencia. Everything started as usual with Vettel running away from the pack and building up a 19 second lead. Behind him Hamilton and Grosjean slugged it out, with the Lotus gaining the 2nd spot on lap 10. But a safety car period backed the field up behind Vettel, and shortly after the restart, Vettel was slowing with a mechanical failure. And to the joy of the Spanish fans, it was Alonso who had battled up to the front from 11th place that was there to take the lead from Vettel and the eventual race win. Alsono called it the best win of his career. In 2nd, Grosjean with the same engine as Vettel also stopped with a mechanical, leaving Maldonado and Hamilton to fight on worn tires for 2nd. A risky pass attempt by Maldonado and an unyielding Hamilton resulted in Hamilton in the wall, and Maldonado in 10th (to be penalized down to 12th for the contact). Amazingly enough, it was Raikkonen and Schumacher that rounded out the podium.
Telefonica Grand Prix of Europe Circuit de Valencia, Valencia, Spain 
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