Alonso wins thrilling GP

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso won a thrilling European Grand Prix in Valencia, yester-day, the Spanish driver becoming the first repeat winner of a wide-open season.

Less than 24 hours after Spain had secured their place in the semi-finals at Euro 2012, the two-time drivers’ champion gave his home fans more reason to celebrate.

Alonso, who drove a superb race from 11th on the grid, said: “I can’t express in words my feeling at the moment, to win my home grand prix is a unique feeling, and with the football I’m feeling proud to be Spanish right now.”

Alonso, who picked up a Spanish flag to wave on his victorious slowing down lap, came home first ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, of Lotus, and third-placed Michael Schumacher, 43, of Mercedes.

In a dramatic finale, Lewis Hamilton, of McLaren, crashed out after a final-lap collision with Pastor Maldonado, of Williams, an incident that hoisted Schumacher into the top three to make him the oldest podium finisher since Jack Brabham, in 1970, when he was 44.

Sebastian Vettel, of Red Bull, was forced to retire after dominating most of the race from pole position as also was his nearest challenger, Romain Grosjean, of Lotus.

Mark Webber, who started 19th, came home fourth for Red Bull ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Nico Rosberg who was sixth for Mercedes.

Alonso now leads the drivers’ standings on 111 points, from Webber on 91, Hamilton on 88 and Vettel four points further adrift in fourth.

On a sweltering hot day, Vettel had made a flawless start from his 33rd pole position.

The first round of pit stops reshuffled the field only slightly with Vettel out in front, ahead of the chasing Grosjean, Hamilton and Alonso, the German enjoying a luxurious lead of 20 seconds by lap 22.

The safety car made an entrance on lap 28 when Jean-Eric Vergne, of Toro Rosso, attempted to pass Heikki Kovalainen’s Caterham but instead hit him causing punctures for both with debris strewn across the track.

This, in turn, meant that the field was slowed and bunched up again as the leaders dived into the pits where ­Hamilton, once again, suffered another slow and bungled McLaren stop as his crew struggled with his front left wheel.

He rejoined in sixth.

The race re-started at the end of lap 33 with Alonso, fired up by the partisan home crowd, making a superb move to pass Grosjean.

Within another lap Vettel was forced to retire from the race – gifting Alonso the lead.

On lap 41, Grosjean followed Vettel out of the race with an alternator problem.

This lifted Hamilton back to second with Raikkonen third before Hamilton crashed out.

Result and standings

1. F. Alonso (Ferrari) - 1:44.16.649
2. K. Raikkonen (Lotus) at 6.421secs
3. M. Schumacher (Mercedes) - 12.639
4. M. Webber (Red Bull) - 13.628
5. N. Hulkenberg (Force India) - 19.993
6. N. Rosberg (Mercedes) - 21.176
7. P. di Resta (Force India) - 22.866
8. J. Button (McLaren) - 24.653
9. S. Perez (Sauber) - 27.777
10. P. Maldonado (Williams) - *34.630
11. B. Senna (Williams) - 35.961
12. D. Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) - 37.041
13. V. Petrov (Caterham) - 1:15.800
14. H. Kovalainen (Caterham) - 1:34.600
15. C. Pic (Marussia) - 1:36.500
16. F. Massa (Ferrari) - 1 lap
17. P. de la Rosa (HRT) - 1 lap
18. N. Karthikeyan (HRT) - 1 lap
19. L. Hamilton (McLaren) - 2 laps

Note: Maldonado slips to 12th place after being handed 20-second penalty.

Fastest lap: Nico Rosberg, 1:42.163 (lap 54).
Next race: Silverstone GP, July 8.

Drivers
1. Alonso 111, 2. Webber 91, 3. Hamilton 88, 4. Vettel 85, 5. Rosberg 75, 6. Raikkonen 73, 7. Grosjean 53, 8. Button 49, 9. Perez 39, 10. Maldonado 29, 11. Di Resta 27, 12. Kobayashi 21, 13. Schumacher 17, 14. Hulkenberg 17, 15. Senna 16, 16. Massa 11, 17. Vergne 4, 18. Ricciardo 2.

Constructors
1. Red Bull 176, 2. McLaren 137, 3. Lotus 126, 4. Ferrari 122, 5. Mercedes 92, 6. Sauber 60, 7. Williams 45, 8. Force India 44, 9. Toro Rosso 6.