The European Grand Prix Highlights Formula 1

Hello there. After seven incredible racist to start the 2012 Formula

One season, welcome to raise eight, at Valencia. Let's look at how the

drivers and Constructors' Championship was sitting going into

McLaren have caught up. Lotus will be very happy with their season so

far. The same applies to Sauber and Williams. All the action from the

race in a moment but first, his Ben Edwards with what happened in

qualifying. Mark Webber's Saturday started

badly with the brake problem in free practice and got worse when

his debt reduction system failed and left him unable to escape the

first drop zone, which means he starts 19th. Due to was Mud -- one

of the most competitive sessions with 13 cars covered by one quarter

of a second, just missing the cut was Fernando Alonso making a first

time since Australia that he has failed to reach the top ten. The

Ferrari boss was supported off Alonso's efforts, Massa's 13th

place seemed to elicit less response. Jenson Button was faster

than Hamilton in that section but found himself in ninth. Hamilton

surprised himself with second place but Vettel was not to be denied his

third pole position of the season and his hat-trick in Valencia with

an outstanding lap over three- tenths of a second faster than

anyone else. So the front row is a repeat of Canada and Bahrain.

Maldonado was a superb third for Williams while Gray John and

Raikkonen are Forth and -- of fourth and fifth. Force Indias are

weather. Due to a stomach said and -- due to a stomach upset Timo

Glock will not be on the grid. We are said for the European Grand

Prix in Valencia to get under way. Like Saud come away we go,

Sebastian Vettel trying to get off the line. Lewis Hamilton in danger.

Raikkonen gets past Grosjean but loses out. Raikkonen losing out,

trying to get down the inside. Vettel Leeds Raikkonen, side by

side with Pfahls Mark -- with Maldonado. Mal Sodano loses out. --

Maldonado loses out. It is Grosjean who has got through, Raikkonen has

missed out and the Ferraris, Alonso has made up ground. Massa and

Button were all over each other into a turn for. The battle

continues with Raikkonen. Coming across the swing bridge into turned

ten, Rosberg has Massa on the outside. This will allow Schumacher

a perfect run. Massa will be slow off the turf. Rosberg has had a

terrible start, fighting with now with Schumacher. You have Massa on

the right and Rosberg far right, trying to sort themselves out as

they come down, trying to do it, can he do it? Massa sneaks past the

Mercedes. Alonso is trying to get past, trying to gain places on the

opening lap. Look at Sebastian Vettel, sprinting away from Lewis

Hamilton, then it is Grosjean and here comes Alonso, trying to get

past. Can he sweet round? No, Hulkenberg holds on to the place.

good start for Fernando Alonso, battling with Hulkenberg. He will

not be running too much in the dirtier of Force India, trying to

lose his -- used his experience to leap on in his lap. They are doing

190 miles an hour as they come through 1024. Jenson Button has

dropped down to 19th -- dropped down to 13th. Mark Webber has

gained a crucial place. Vettel leads from Hamilton at the end of

the first lap. There is the race leader. Hamilton from Grosjean and

behind him, Kobayashi. He has had a really great first lap. He started

in sevens. Bruno Senna, trying to get down the inside and he has held

down to 14th place. Senna just doing enough to hold on but it is

dropping them away from the group ahead which is Jenson Button. You

have Mark Webber in that group, the back of this group, so Mark Webber

trying to join in the fun and games. Bruno Senna may be holding up this

group. Senna is doing a lot to hold his position, understandable. He

plays into the hands of Jenson Button. Grosjean. Grosjean is

making some Hamilton go defensive as he runs down to turn 12. In this

early stage McLaren taking some time to try and build the energy

and their tyres. Could this be that Lewis Hamilton has been told let's

see if we can do the opposite of Canada, see if we preserve the

tyres and see if we can do one stop this weekend because the

differential and pace between they took out front and what we see

there, he runs in wide. It is cheeky. Great stuff from AGA up --

from Maldonado. It is fair to say that he was mugged there by

Maldonado. Maldonado was fending him off, Raikkonen was having a go.

You can give a driver some space for you can run him wide and that

is what Maldonado did. Now he has pressure, Raikkonen, from

Hulkenberg. Kimi Raikkonen, who lost out at the start, made an

initial quick getaway but then lost out, fighting for it. We are with

Hulkenberg here, chasing Raikkonen. You have Sebastian Vettel two

seconds a lap faster than Lewis Hamilton, a four second gap after

two laps. That is astonishing. Where has Sebastian Vettel and Red

Bull found this incredible pace from? DRS is enabled so they will

use the debt reduction system, Hamilton definitely struggling, or

controlling his pace, with a Grosjean behind, then cut the Ashes,

then Maldonado and Raikkonen. Grosjean has the doctors Open. Will

he be close enough on this particular lap? Hamilton is still

defensive, not good enough to pick on the dust on the inside. Paul di

Resta locking up a bit behind Massa. But it is behind Michael. Tyre

temperatures are looking after the critical point. Tyre temperatures

are critical. It is such a narrow window if you go beyond the tyre

temperature that is comfortable thought that, but if tier, the

drivers begin to struggle. Oh,... Getting past Grosjean but it did

not quite come off. Kobe ashy in attacking mode and the sort of.

What I would suggest is a sign of appreciation as the drivers went

past, what I would suggest is to make this work, the message to

Romain Grosjean he has been given the hurry it up, get a move on. He

was the man who made impressive progress in Canada, one stop to

second place but this afternoon the word is he has to push and get past

Hamilton. That is right. Vettel is managing to build up the gap even

more, 6.8 seconds between first and second places as Hamilton defence

from Romain Grosjean in the Lotus, the black and gold colours of the

Lotus. Kobayashi is in fourth place. You would do my great job. Which

implies they are looking after their tyres and trying to control

what is going on, control the pace and maybe, just maybe, they are not

planning on as many stops as Sebastian Vettel, who is really

going for it up front and putting in some very quick sector times so

maybe this is a different story from McLaren, maybe they are

looking to go less on pit stops. are told that time in pit lane is

about 16 seconds if you get a nominal three-second stop. You need

at least 19 seconds, 20, really, to be comfortable. To be able to get

in, get your pit stop and get out and maintain track position. Vettel

at the moment, 6.8 seconds after four laps ahead of Hamilton, if he

keeps this pace up that will give them the opportunity to make that

choice. They will have a pit stop in hand. The lead up to 9.7 seconds

now as Vettel leads Hamilton, Grosjean still in third place.

Kubica Behzti in fourth, Maldonado in fifth. This is the Russian car,

though, they did make contact. they are battling over 22nd place

but fighting for their careers and in this place just a bit

comfortable -- clumsy from Charles. If you're going to make the pass,

you have to get firmly alongside before turning in. A better

performance this weekend from HRT, managed to out-qualified Marussia

on merit. Glock it is not in the race due to illness, 23 cars out on

track. That is the battle for last place. A little bit of debris at

the end of the start to finish curve but hopefully that will not

cause problems. Alonso is tucked in behind Hulkenberg still and it was

a good first lap from Alonso's point or AU. He is in eighth

position, now you are into the main part of the race. We are expecting

to see pit stops coming up in the teams, I would think, but at the

moment the lap times are holding up well. We are not seeing a sign of

drop-off just yet, are we? We will catch up with Gary in a second and

find that out. Alonso is chasing down Force India. Force India have

had good results over the last few years here. They have had points

for Valencia. Force India and this track go well together. They were

disappointed with their qualifying yesterday, despite having both cars

in the top ten. As I mentioned, as we walked down the grid, Paul di

Resta felt he had the pace to be on the second row and felt he dropped

some time in that last sector but I think overall Force India had made

improvements as the scene -- the season has progressed and to have

both cars in the top ten in qualifying in front of the likes of

Ferrari and Red Bull and Mercedes, it shows that small private team is

making progress. Look at the lead, Vettel goes through. Wait for it,

there is Hamilton at last was Romain Grosjean and we're only on

lap ten. Grosjean trying to go round the outside and to Lewis

Hamilton in a battle for second place and he has done it, gone past

Lewis Hamilton. A great move by Grosjean. He made his debut here in

2009. From that point his early career was not good but this year

he has a different driver. He saw the opportunity and he did exactly

what he had to do around the outside in turn 12 and unlike Massa

on Paul di Resta he made sure enough of his car was alongside

Lewis Hamilton that he had no choice when he turned into 13 but

to give him the position. Fantastic, mature overtaking. Still watching

Fernando Alonso as he chases down Hulkenberg. He positions the car on

the outside of the braking zone Hamilton goes to squeeze him into

13 but there is too much of the Lotus alongside him and that was

crucial. You see at once again, Hamilton has gone defensive and he

would be looking to the outside, he will sense were Grosjean is but as

they start to ride up the curve, that was very fair from Hamilton,

he gave him the room and a great professional driving from Lewis

Hamilton and you can see Grosjean releasing the pace of that Lotus

and if we believe the message of earlier as we see Jenson Button

coming in for his first stop this afternoon, we can expect Grosjean

to be in on a two-stop strategy, the harder of the tyres going on,

the medium tired, so that means that he started on, now this is

interesting. Perez has been into the pits and we expected to do one

of his long, single stop runs but he has not done it because he has

past past Loch Maldonado for fifth- place... He has got it! -- getting

past Pastor Maldonado. Instead of going round the inside for 13, he

goes around the outside of Maldonado! Alonso's engineers said,

now we push. They are going for it. That furrow road team with Fernando

Alonso, they worked so well together. Sergio Perez, 19th place,

moment. Button makes them pass and that leaves him with Massa up ahead.

Lewis Hamilton has a fresh set of tyres, the medium one. Let's see if

it brings him out on track. Schumacher has gone through. He

comes up behind Bruno Senna, in 12th place. A good pit stop. 2.9.

Excellent. McLaren seemed to be turning around their pit stops from

Vergne in the Toro Rosso, relatively straightforward. Button

has gone to do that himself. Debris there. I think it was a straw hat

that was blown onto the circuit! Alonso is on Bruno Senna in the

Williams. He goes on the outside of him very tightly, no problem. The

fans are loving this. Alonso will obviously not very happy, the plan

not working as they had hoped. car is systematically running wide

on the exit of 10 at 20. -- turn up 24. Alonso is going past Michael

Schumacher. On the outside. Michael is having none of it and stays in

about gives him space! Webber trying to take advantage of the

loss of momentum of Senna. Another standing ovation for Alonso. Flying

down the inside. Kimi Raikkonen and Kobe ashy are battling it out. This

is Grosjean. -- Kobayashi. Lewis Hamilton getting past Rosenberg as

well. Di Resta has been running in second place because he has not

made a stopped yet. Button is in 15th position. Sergio Perez just

behind him, 16th. All of this playing into the hands of Sebastian

Vettel, 16.7 seconds up the road from Grosjean. Bruno Senna is

outside Michael Schumacher or in 17th. Mark Webber trying to take

advantage of it as well. Kimi Mark Webber is coming in as well.

He has had enough of that battle. Kimi Raikkonen trying to get past

Bruno Senna there. Bruno Senna is going as far as he possibly can on

his first stint. Webber are going to his car, Bruce Senna is

effectively out of the race! It was bunching up so much, David! It was

pass. Kobayashi thought he wanted some of that but he was closed up

against the wall. Let's wait and see if it is a racing incident. We

need to see the cameras. Damage to India. Good news for Button,

Hulkenberg has been told that his break temperature is high. He will

be encouraged to lift out of the throttle. To take out some of the

energy that has been built into vivid calibres. Sebastian Vettel is

Vettel is still able to achieve, he has such a comfortable advantage --

past the Force India. They will investigate the incident between

Kobayashi and Senna, as you saw on the fact that di Resta has very

little grip available and goes past. The team have to react to this,

surely. Di Resta will be in this lap. Looking to try to do one stop

Vitaly Petrov has been told, give why he is seen to be the guilty

party. He is one lap down. Crossed John has just set a new fastest lap.

-- Grosjean. Lapping very quickly Sebastian Vettel, but certainly

quicker than Lewis Hamilton and indeed. Alonso is in fourth place

and is only six seconds behind Hamilton. Closing that gap. We

could see Hamilton and Alonso going Vitaly Petrov has also just stopped.

Vettel is still leading. Alonso his fourth, Raikkonen Fifth, Maldonado

6, Button 9th. The two Mercedes are just outside the top 10. Webber is

in 13th place and di Resta is in once again. He is on a harder

Jenson Button. Hulkenberg is not letting go of that Ferrari, chasing

Felipe Massa. Felipe Massa's position at Ferrari is in some

question of course. Not this year but perhaps in the future. Nico

Hulkenberg trying to impress in the Force India as he chases him down

the DRS zone. India have shown genuine pace all weekend. They on

the same tyres, compound. Force India looking the faster car this

afternoon in the hands of top 10. Sparks! What happened?

Contact with Kovalainen's car! suggests contact with Jean-Eric

Vergne. Yes. Jean-Eric Vergne was behind Kovalainen. He must have

slipped past with the DRS because you have damage to your front left

and he has damage to his back right. There is no point going back that

quickly. Jean-Eric Vergne's weekend has gone to from bad to worst.

can tell he's a newt driver to Formula One. He has not experienced

this before. There was no need for him to do the move to the right.

Kovalainen is holding position. I am not quite sure what Jean-Eric

Vergne was thinking. He may be thought with the DRS Open that he

would clear Kovalainen but at almost 200 mph, it is not necessary

to be weaving around. Button just it is about his car and that

section of track, the same that section at Mark Webber went over

him... Safety car on circuit! It was for Webber's accident that it

happened previously. Jean-Eric Vergne has made it back but I

reckon there is too much damage to the back of the car. Grosjean

coming in. As the safety car goes out, with the current rules you

would wait for everybody to get behind the safety car but Grosjean

is waiting for the early stock. Several cars are using this moment

to change on to another set of tyres. We have Raikkonen,

Maldonado... Problems for Lewis Hamilton! Miserable news for Lewis

Hamilton and McLaren! It takes forever to get Lewis Hamilton out!

It looks like it fell off the front jack! Was that misinformation from

the signalling? What would allow the front jack to pull away or did

it fail? We will look for a replay. This changes everything. Be it

looks like the front jack just fell away, it would not hold its

position. Did they know it they had an issue? The second man goes in

place. How we it is that! It was a the pace. He will be allowing the

safety car to disappear into the distance and I would expect him to

bold a time before they get down to the next phase of the corner and it

looks like he has started to go now. The pack have gone with him so he

does not have a clear lead as he goes through 24 and under 25,

almost catching the safety car. The race gets under way again. The

Kimi Raikkonen trying to get the Toro Rosso of Ricardo. Here comes

Alonso. The Ferrari going wide, the Lotus going tight. Here goes along

so, trying to go around the outside, contact a little bit, he is through,

Fernando Alonso into second place. Hamilton could not get past

Raikkonen. Maybe the Lotus engineer might wish she had warned his

driver that Alonso had perfected a technique earlier. Mark Webber,

fantastic stuff. As they came out of turn two, the Spanish crowd not

only happy from the football, they will be delighted their man has

gone from 11th to second place. Astonishing drive from Alonso. What

a beautiful pass. Massa making contact, Kobayashi I think, just

touching on the exit of the swing bridge. There was some debris.

Could there be another safety car? Hamilton on Raikkonen, Hamilton has

managed to get past the Lotus, a crucial move for Hamilton.

Schumacher is behind. There is the damage on Massa's car. He has a

puncture on the RIA, look at the front tyre, flat as well. What has

been a reasonable run for Master... Vettel has a problem. What is the

trouble? He has a puncture? What has happened? Sebastian Vettel is

in trouble, dropping back down the order. Major dramas in the European

Grand Prix. Vettel has slowed to a stop. He can't believe it. He is

not going to take a hat-trick of wins in Valencia. Not only that we

have Fernando Alonso who leads the European Grand Prix in Spain. His

Vettel in a position where they can recover the car? Well, we could

have a safety car again, I am not sure. Alonso Leeds in Valencia.

Grosjean in second place. So, we have got yellows but no sign of the

safety car just yet. Third place is still Ricardo in the Toro Rosso. So

while one Ferrari Leeds cover the other one is in trouble in the pits

with a puncture and we will get a view in a moment of what caused

that. Kobayashi I think was involved, although he has not come

into the pits. And you set of tyres, from wind changed. -- A new set of

tyres. There is a problem somewhere. Have they found some damage? To do

we will not go on properly? A different said. That was odd. They

had soft tyres. Meanwhile Hamilton is going to get past the Toro Rosso

cometh no worries at all. He is up into third place now. Look how

close Grosjean was to the back of Alonso. Alonso is not running away

with this and suddenly you have a real race on our hands here.

yellow flag is there but I think Raikkonen had the past done before

they got into that yellow flag zone, so he should be OK but that takes

away any opportunity of pushing the car away from turn 17, trying to

find a break in the war, decided not to have a safety car when you

have marshals on the track, you do have waved yellows, the drivers are

meant to slow down and be ready to react to that incident but here we

see a replay of what went on with Massa. He got wide in turn ten,

that allowed country ashamed to assault the side of the car. -- Cow

Bridge Ash the assaulted the side of the car. This is where Vettel

suddenly slowed but we have no idea why. We can't see any smoke, his

response, he cannot believe it. He under investigation for potentially

involved -- ignoring a yellow flag. That could be used for Hamilton.

That would have been for Vettel's car in turn 17. It is clear cut.

You have the GPS marshalling system on the cards. We see whether under

pressure. Maldonado puts his car down the inside it pushes Mark

Webber wide. This will allow Hulkenberg to get the run of Mark

Webber. He has that position now. Paul di Resta, can he follows

through as they then down into turn two? He is trying. Mark Webber

loses three places in three corners. Daniel Ricardo came in the pits.

You saw him peel off in the Toro Rosso. He has not been able to hold

out any longer before making that other pit stop. For a while he must

have enjoyed himself running in front of some very established

Formula One names. It is going to be interesting, back with Hamilton,

to see what the outcome is. The marshalling system is clear cut, if

they are looking into it. We see Sebastian Vettel, helmet off,

normally the lead it on when they don't want to talk to anyone. --

normally they leave it on. He is disappointed, clearly, but sporting

enough to wave to the fans. He knows he could not have done

anything different this afternoon and Mark Webber leaves the door

open, Maldonado takes it and gives him a push out wide on to the Kirk.

A look from Mark Webber's point of view. At think he was following

into the pit lane. Mark is losing a place on the exit as Hulkenberg

swept past in the Force India. At the front Alonso has established a

bit of a gap over Grosjean but there is still plenty of time to go

and this race and Grosjean will not be thinking I have got to get past

him straight away. Hamilton, a bit further behind in third. He is

indeed. What I think I started before I interrupted myself is that

Grosjean has the advantage of about three-tenths of a second of a lap

by being able to open the DRS on the run between turned ten and 12,

so in effect he can sit there quite comfortably behind Alonso

maintaining that one-second gap, not taking quite so much out of his

time as because he is getting the over speed, the reduction in drag,

just biding his time. I love the Mexican waves you get every time

there Alonso comes past the grandstand. He has never won in

Valencia, of course. He has had a difficult time at his second home

venue. He did not finish the race in 2008, has had some finishes but

never the victory that he has been cheered onto. Hamilton still chased

by Raikkonen, the two lotuses are running top four. Still with an

opportunity to win, possibility that we could have and 80 different

winner. Raikkonen closing to the back of loops Hamilton. She back in

fifth. We are expecting him to make a pit stop. Mark Webber has been

into the pits as well so it has dropped him down the order but

Michael Schumacher will have to Rosberg 11th, Petrov 12th, whether

13th on rejoining, there are three cars lost from this race most

dramatically Sebastian Vettel after leading, dominating the early

stages and then looking to pull away again after the restart.

Something went wrong with his car. We have lost Kobayashi, who has

retired after an incident with Massa. We have lost Vergne as well.

A little slow from Grosjean, still chasing down Alonso. It is easy to

forget that Alonso started in the 11th. He is slow. Grosjean has a

problem. Grosjean is in trouble. I thought that he was slow, I thought

he was taking it easy on the turn in but he is in trouble. What is

going on? These reliable Formula One cars, 24 finished last year,

now we have lost the guy who was leading and the guy who was in

second place. Hamilton is up to second and Raikkonen will be third.

Looking for the gap in the wall, so disappointing for this young

Frenchman. OK, sorry about that. I am sorry, we lost the alternator,

we could not do anything. He lost the alternator, the alternator has

failed, the electric power has gone for Grosjean. He gets art of the

car. You have to feel for this young guy. It has all gone wrong

when he could still perhaps have had chance of winning. It is cruel,

the engine is normally reliable but the alternator has got. -- gone.

When you see him finding a gap in the Fens, finding a gap, this is

the young man who absolutely as comfortable words where he is in

Formula One. He is bitterly disappointed but trying to do the

right thing after his car has broken down. Perez has gone past

Button. Into seventh place. Schumacher has made his pit stop.

He has gone on to his softer tyres, Michael Schumacher. This is how

Perez got past. It is into the last turn, turn 25, like we saw with

Maldonado on Mark Webber. There was nothing that Jenson Button could do.

You see the look of frustration. Hamilton, 3.9 seconds behind the

race leader, Alonso. Does Hamilton have any answer for the Ferrari?

Well, the gap, as you say, just under the four second mark.

Hamilton has not had the pace that we saw from him in qualifying

yesterday. Alonso looks comfortable in front. We are with Mark Webber

here, with Michael Schumacher, having a battle, Schumacher has had

his pit stop and trying to get past for 11th place. Schumacher is not

that quick at the moment, Mark Webber on the softer tyre, I think

and ethic Schumacher on the softer tyre, but he is still trying to get

up to speed. Michael has not got any speed in a straight line and

was of position as he came through the turn 14, so does Michael

haven't issue? He has done his pit stop and he is back out and he is

slow. Let's keep an eye on the Mercedes as -- is it just a warm-up

issue? As far as my record tells me that is a new set of options he had

available, the tyres. It looks whatever the is sheet -- whatever

the issue was, it has cleared itself. Or was the Red Bull very

good and where ber macro -- and whether has not had the chance to

show it. -- Mark Webber. Perhaps Mark has the opportunity now. The

two are behind Petrov in the Caterham, currently in tenth place.

He has done three stops this afternoon, working the pit crew

heart and Caterham, a press -- an impressive weekend or round.

Kovalainen did not have such luck. Let's see Mark Webber, he went on

the attack,. Going defensive into 12th. He thought he would have a

cheeky pass into 14 but bailed out early, it cost him pace but was

able to close up on the run to 17, which is why I asked the question,

does he have an issue? Up front, Alonso. We can do is come a great

job. Do what, when it? Three-tenths quicker than Alonso on the last lap.

Raikkonen, as thought he was staying with him, but losing a

length or two over the last half lap. There is Fernando Alonso,

chasing his Lewis Hamilton, we will keep an eye on the lap times.

Raikkonen is not far behind. Three world champions going at it for the

final 13 laps here in Valencia. On that lap, a good lap from Alonso,

two tends faster than Hamilton and it was a good luck from Raikkonen,

who was faster than both of them. It is interesting, the McLaren

message, they think they are doing two stops this afternoon, it is

questionable whether Hamilton has the pace to catch Alonso but do

they think the Ferrari are going to burn up these tyres and do a third

stop this afternoon and just to compound the difficulty for

Hamilton, he has mirrors full of a Lotus and Raikkonen and Raikkonen

has got to come and go it is only raced eight but he has to show he

has that racing, attacking spirit that he had the first time around.

He has been soft with his passes this year. Rosberg is all the

sudden the fastest man on the track. He is definitely sliding. Hamilton

made a mistake. This is a chance for Raikkonen. Going one way, then

the other, trying to take second place. Surely the McLaren has run

out of grip. Kimi Raikkonen is trying to go down the outside,

wheel-to-wheel. He is trying to go round the outside, Hamilton won't

let him and panel -- and Raikkonen cannot do it. Somehow after the

error and the slight, he is holding on to position. Raikkonen will try

to come back at him and try to get in on the run to the hairpin.

Raikkonen, you have doctors, the clean-lined, he could not make it

stick but will he do it on turn 17? He is going for the outside but he

seems tenser tip -- tentative. He does not seem comfortable. He makes

it stick. Well done, Raikkonen. has done it, gone into second place,

Kimi Raikkonen. The Lotus is in second and it is the McLaren that

has run out of grip. Hamilton could be under pressure from Maldonado.

He does wide. He will pass him on the run out. There will be two

abreast as they run through the high-speed corner. That is tight,

so close, almost touching we lack 180 miles an hour but somehow

Hamilton holds on to it. HRT has gone wide. Hamilton, that was brave

the end Hamilton held onto the place but can he hold on into the

last lap? He has no back tyres left by the look of it. Maldonado will

be right into his slipstream as they come into the DRS zone.

Maldonado, the Barcelona race winner, looking to try to get his

second Formula One podium but Hamilton will fight it with

of the European Grand Prix! He beats the steering wheel! He cannot

believe what has just happened! Disappointment. McLaren were so

to come through and take the position for third place so this

could be a podium for Michael. Maldonado runs offered the circuit.

Mark Webber can also sniff the the track. He T-boneed at the side

white line defines the racetrack and even know there was plenty of

room there, Maldonado was off the racetrack. Does this mean Michael

Schumacher will benefit, as an expensive Steering wheel gets

thrown across but expensive for the podium. We are on the last

lap! Fernando one on so leads. A yellow flag means you cannot

overtake. He have to sit behind for the moment. -- Fernando Alonso

leads. He started in 11th place, and he has now just got a final

half of a lap to complete to take victory in Valencia. What a

remarkable story it has been once again for Fernando Alonso and for

Ferrari! He comes down to the final corner. Fernando Alonso is the

first repeat winner of 2012! It is his 29th win and the first time he

has won in Valencia! Second place will go to Kimi Raikkonen for Lotus.

Third ball before Michael Schumacher! His first podium since

his comeback! He has done it at last! Mark Webber finishes in

fourth place. Hulkenberg will be 5th. Nico Rosberg grabs sixth place

from di Resta, who villages 7th. Button eighth, Sergio Perez 9th.

Maldonado has managed to get home intent, the guy that made contact

with Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton walks back. Alonso has seen his two

biggest rivals out of the European Grand Prix, whereas he has taken

victory at home for Spain. What a date for Fernando Alonso.

Fantastic! We did not meet any translation on that. A world-class

drive. -- we did not need. Time for the photographs. Those three world

champions, such famous names in Formula One, who have emerged on

top. Time for the Champagne shower. Fernando one on so, the winner of

the European Grand Prix in Spain -- Fernando Alonso. Last year his only

victory was that the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Guess what?

That is next on the calendar. Without question, that has been the

best race ever held at Valencia. A very popular home winner. Bruno

Senna in the top 10. Maldonado knocked out of the top 10 because

of the crash for Lewis Hamilton, and he was given a 22nd penalty.

This is what it means for the We will discuss all the action with

Fernando, who says you can't overtaken Valencia? This is

something difficult to describe. Forshaw, the most emotional win of

my career. To be on the podium is something unique. Unexpected. It

feels emotional because for Spain it is a difficult time now with the

economic problems, people making a lot of sacrifices to come here, a

lot of people sleeping in the car and caravans, 35 degrees all day,

and yesterday we felt it was sad because we did not deliver what

they were hoping for an today we knew we had to give something back.

The win was not in our predictions. But I think they enjoy and we enjoy

much more. Spain has the footballers and you. Where was the

race won today? I think it was the pace because you need to have the

pace in some moments of the race to overtake people. There were some

overtaking manoeuvres. We were lucky because they were quite

aggressive. We touch with people like Grosjean are for example. It

could go either way. We risk it, we were aggressive and we were lucky.

The battle at the start did not go your way, the battle at the end did.

You must be happy, Kimi Raikkonen. Happy. I had a very good start but

then I got blocked by Maldonado and I had to back off and I lost quite

a few places. Without that I thought we could have had even

better results. A lot of fighting in the race. We got second place,

it is not too bad. For the team we would have liked to have been first

place. Could you have won this race do you believe? We did not, so

there is no point with ifs. We have to try to do better next time.

Michael. Never mind the chequered flag, what about a podium? How do

you feel? I am very, very excited. It is one of those moments that you

love so much as a racing driver, particularly after coming from a

reasonably nice retirement to do all of this again! I am feeling

excited. Beautiful moments that we all love and after the criticism

that happened to be given to us, it is the best answer that we can give.

It was a brave strategy. Was it the right one? It would have been had

the safety car not come out. Any chance of us making any ground, it

all comes down to being able to do one stop and not have a safety car.

There was a lot of retirements. I suppose we got relatively lucky at

the end. To be able to achieve that, given way we work in Canada, I

think our pace was not too bad. I think what we set out to achieve

today regardless was the safety car that blew it. Tell us what happened.

12 years of experience did not help me. Yeah. I was boxed in at the

first turn. I saved Ben Ando and myself on having an accident at the

second, where he was coming across -- Fernando and myself. I was

trying moves here and there and nothing really worked out. The car

felt reasonably good in the race. Improving it all the way through

the race. I think we did well in terms of strategy but we were just

unlucky and a lot of teams got into a strategy at the end up where they

put new tyres on and almost won the race. It was an unusual race. I

don't think we are ever going to learn! We have to get lucky

sometimes. Abbey congratulations to Fernando, it was a good race for

him. -- Big congratulations. It was a tough day at the Office for us

but that's life. I put my heart and soul into it as usual. I am looking

forward to the next Grand Prix. Eddie Jordan, what a Grand Prix and

what a win. A great win for Valencia, for Spain, for Alonso,

and we were served up with a fantastic race. A few little things

we have to discuss, some contentious points. Pastor

Maldonado was demoted 20 seconds by the race stewards because they

believe he took Lewis Hamilton out of the race. Was that the right

call? Probably on balance. We do not have the full information about

the different camera angles that the stewards have but there were

mitigating circumstances. I think 20 seconds was a small penalty

given the fact that he could have had a five race protected position.

They were so severe -- they were not so severe and I think that was

probably the right decision. Many people expected that Michael

Schumacher would get a penalty because he had his DRS Open, which

indicated he wanted extra speed, but he took the speed of the car as

far as the stewards are concerned. You will never know what speed was

taken from the car at that given moment. We know he did have his DRS

Open through at least two of the yellow flags and that in itself,

there is a penalty for that. A lot of the teams are surprised. Of

course Mercedes are not. Nevertheless, all the other

competitors felt that Michael Schumacher or, given the

circumstances, given his third place in the championship, I do not

want to Olu to anything, but he was probably given the benefit of the

doubt -- want to a lewd to anything. We should also say, a great drive

by Schumacher, and Webber. Yes and we must not so -- we get Grosjean

and Sebastian Vettel. That is the big concern for all of the teams.

There improvements in that car this weekend have been sensational and

they will be very hard to beat in the championship. They hope to take