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The Spanish GP has been part of the F1 calendar for decades now and fans often complain how it makes for boring racing, since it lacks any element of surprise. Despite this, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is the venue where one of the most surprising drivers took the top step of the podium in 2012. Yes, we are talking about the victory of F1's 'bad boy' Pastor Maldonado.
The Venezuelan driver is remembered by fans as the perfect example of what happens when you bring 'pay drivers' to the grid. They crash a lot, they're not as good as the legitimate members on the grid and more than that, they disappear as soon as the cash dries up.
All of this was true in Maldonado's case. He crashed a lot, was involved in far too many incidents on the track and whenever he had a strong driver as his teammate, he was always overshadowed by him.
In fact, Maldonado crashed so often that he was fondly nicknamed 'Crashtor' by F1 fans and by the time he bid F1 farewell, his leaving the sport was not considered a great loss by anyone.
There was more to him!
However, Maldonado did not have a bad reputation prior to his entry into F1. Sure, he was considered a very fast but slightly error prone driver, but it was nothing to be alarmed of. Especially since he made his debut in F1 after winning the GP2 championship, beating drivers like Sergio Perez and Jules Bianchi along the way.
He made decent progress at Williams alongside his teammate Rubens Barrichello in 2011, and the only major accident that he was involved in that year was caused by Lewis Hamilton in Monaco.
However, as Maldonado's career progressed, things got worse. There was the clash with Lewis Hamilton in Valencia in 2012, the one with Sergio Perez in Silverstone the same year and, slowly but steadily, Maldonado's reputation saw a shift from being a shiny new prospect from GP2 to a driver who was in F1 because of the copious sums of money he brought to his teams.
The Venezuelan was always considered to be quick on his day, but it was a well-known fact that he was a work-in-progress until the day he left the sport.
That Magical Spanish GP weekend
However, things did improve for Maldonado in the middle. The 2012 F1 season is considered to be one of the most unpredictable seasons in F1 history. It had as many as seven different winners in the first seven races and it was in one of these races where Pastor Maldonado, a driver who would go down in the sport's history as a loose cannon, redeemed himself as a F1 race winner.
That year, Williams built a good car around the 2012 regulations. The British team was one of the few teams that had been able to unlock performance from Pirelli tires without overworking them.
Maldonado himself had had a decent season until then as he displayed point-scoring speed in almost all the races. However, once the F1 circus reached Spain, no one saw what was coming next.
Spanish GP 2012: Qualifying
The Williams machinery worked like a charm in the hot conditions of the Spanish GP. After posting the fastest lap in Q2, Maldonado's Q3 lap time was good enough to start in P2 behind Lewis Hamilton's pole.
Things further improved for Pastor Maldonado when Hamilton was disqualified for not having enough fuel after qualifying, promoting him to pole position, with Fernando Alonso next to him on the front row.
Spanish GP 2012: Raceday
The P1 start at the Spanish GP was considered to be a bonus for the Williams driver and it was expected that Fernando Alonso will get the better of him at the start of the race and then cruise to victory.
At the beginning of the race, the Ferrari driver did get the jump on Maldonado and it appeared that the Spaniard would indeed bag the victory. However, the 37-year-old driver had other plans. He kept pace with Alonso's Ferrari and never let him get away. What was, however, a bigger surprise was Williams' quick thinking in performing the undercut on Ferrari.
Even after the pit stop when Maldonado was ahead of Alonso, many expected him to be overtaken. However, the Venezuelan was level-headed and used the track's characteristics to keep Alonso at bay and win the race.
Pastor Maldonado's surprise victory was welcomed by everyone on the grid and gave the legendary Williams team its first win in eight years.
Sure, things went downhill for him after the Spanish GP, however, that day, Pastor Maldonado sat on the shoulders of Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, two of the greatest talents of that generation.
