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 Spain 11-13 May 2012Gran Premio de Espana Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Catalonia Race Distance: 66 laps, 307.104 km The Circuit de Catalunya is located near Barcelona, Spain. This track includes many different elements that require a car to be well-rounded and balanced at all speeds. Traditionally, passing is rare at the circuit due to the high speed sweepers that prevent a following car from being able to keep up because of dirty air. 2011's Spanish GP was won by Vettel with a combination of tire strategy during qualifying and outright race pace fighting off good challenges by Hamilton and Alonso. Hamilton ended up 2nd, with Button in 3rd. Hamilton sets the fastest lap by half a second, only to run out of fuel after Q3 and get disqualified for failing to supply a fuel sample to the FIA. Inheriting the 1st grid spot is Maldonado who stuns the field with the pace of his Williams. Home-town hero Alonso puts his Ferrari in 3rd, and will start on the front row after Hamilton's penalty. As expected the Lotus-Renaults of Grosjean and Raikkonen run well to start 3rd and 4th. The surprise was Vettel choosing to sit out Q3 to save tires for the race, while teammate Webber fails to even get into Q3, topping out in 12th place. The top 10 starters in Spain: HAM* MAL ALO GRO RAI PER ROS VET MSC KOB BUT *will start last after being disqualified for fuel To 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.
Gran Premio de Espana Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Catalonia 
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