F1: Maldonado holds off Alonso for Spanish GP win

Barcelona: Pastor Maldonado held off Fernando Alonso to win the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday and give Williams its first Formula One victory in eight years. Maldonado, starting from pole position, held his nerve as he withstood the challenge of Ferrari’s Spanish driver to take the 66-lap race at the Catalunya Circuit by 3.1 seconds. Maldonado become the sport’s first Venezuelan winner, while Williams’ 114th triumph was its first since the 2004 Brazilian GP. Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus was 3.8 seconds behind Maldonado for third, ahead of teammate Romain Grosjean. [caption id=“attachment_307770” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Williams Formula One driver Maldonado celebrates winning the Spanish F1 Grand Prix during the podium ceremony at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo. Reuters”]  [/caption] Lewis Hamilton, demoted from pole to last place in the 24-car field because of a rule breach, finished eighth for McLaren. Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber was fifth, ahead of two-time defending F1 champion Sebastian Vettel, who charged past Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes to take sixth after the Red Bull driver had to perform a drive-thorugh penalty during the race. Hamilton finished ahead of teammate Jenson Button with Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg taking the last two points in 10th. Alonso provided home fans with a steely start as the two-time champion kept his inside line, under pressure from Maldonado. The Spaniard led around the first corner with Raikkonen moving ahead of Grosjean to sit third. Hamilton overcame a poor first stop when his crew failed to clear a tire quickly to stay in the points. He moved as high as fifth after the second round of stops, when Maldonado took over the lead from Alonso, with Raikkonen still ahead of Grosjean. Maldonado’s third stop was far from graceful as he lost valuable time, returning to the track behind Raikkonen, who took the lead when Alonso stopped for the third and final time. But Maldonado passed Raikkonen on lap 47 to open up a gap on Alonso, who passed the Finn one lap later to stay on Maldonado’s back. The 27-year-old Maldonado drove with confidence down the final stretch despite Alonso bearing down on him. It was Alonso’s fourth runner-up finish here, to go with a 2006 victory. Michael Schumacher bowed out after running into the back of Bruno Senna’s Williams on lap 14, the German driver’s terrible season getting worse as he failed to finish for the third time while also knocking the Brazilian out of the race. AP