“The team, the fire services and the police are working together to determine
the root cause of the fire and an update statement will be released in due
course,” Williams said in a statement. While the response to the incident
was impressive, and the relief that there were no fatalities tangible, it
nevertheless took the gloss off one of the more remarkable race weekends in
recent memory..
Maldonado’s victory was the first by a Venezuelan and the first by a Williams
driver since fellow South American Juan Pablo Montoya won in his final race
for the team at Interlagos in 2004.
The 26 year-old had started on pole following Lewis Hamilton’s exclusion from
qualifying after a fuelling issue on Saturday, but no one had seriously
expected him to be able to hang on to the race lead for long, never mind
complete the job.
Maldonado had been written off in some quarters as a ‘pay driver’, only in the
team because he reputedly brings around £30 million a year from Venezuelan
oil company PDVSA. Bookmakers were offering 300-1 on him before qualifying.
Even if he could keep his nose in front for a while, Williams would surely
fail, as they have so often in recent years. Maldonado, it seems, is made of
sterner stuff. And Williams’s revival is apparently for real.
This was an impressively mature win in which Maldonado barely put a wheel out
of place, fending off the challenge of home favourite Alonso in the Ferrari
before pulling away towards the end of the 66 laps.
There had been plenty of debate leading up to the race about the new Pirelli
tyres and the influence they are having on the racing. But this was a great
advertisement for F1 2012; a fifth different winner from a fifth different
team in the first five races. That has only happened before in 1983.
Wherever you looked drivers were on the charge or falling backwards in
dramatic fashion. Whether it was Alonso giving hope to Ferrari’s
longsuffering fans by pushing Maldonado for victory, or Lotus’ Raikkonen
nearly hunting down the pair of them.
Hamilton, having started 24th, survived yet another pit-stop scare to charge
through and finish eighth, while Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher continued his
dismal results by ramming into the back of Maldonado’s unfortunate team-mate
Bruno Senna, causing both of them to retire.
The seven-time champion later lashed out at the Brazilian, labelling him an
“idiot”. The stewards did not agree, awarding Schumacher a five-place grid
penalty at the next race in Monaco. As for Senna, his car was returned to
the pits where it was later burned to a crisp.
But the day belonged to Maldonado, who later received a congratulatory tweet
from his president Hugo Chavez. Not that Sir Frank Williams, honoured with a
surprise 70th birthday party on Saturday night, was getting carried away.
“The English don’t get emotional,” he smiled. “I’m quietly delighted. Boy did
we need that win” He was fooling no one.
Last season was the worst in Williams’ history. From a new engine supplier in
Renault, to an all-new engineering team, to the departures of co-founder
Patrick Head and chairman Adam Parr, it has been all-change. Whatever they
have done, it seems to be working.