Lewis Hamilton celebrated his third pole position of the season yesterday before being demoted to the last spot on the grid after he was penalized for failing to drive his car all the way back to the garage. A team member had failed to put in enough fuel to provide a sample at the end of the qualifying session.
Given that on only one occasion since 1991 a driver at the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona has won the race after starting farther back than the front row, it is more than just highly unlikely that Hamilton will not win the race. He also failed to win the other two races for which he scored pole this year.
Still, how likely is it that Pastor Maldonado, who now starts from pole, will bring the Williams team its first victory since 2004? Fernando Alonso, the local driver, starts second in a Ferrari.