2012 Spanish Grand Prix qualifying

12 May, 2012 3:04pm Rhian Jones Comments

Pastor Maldonado will start the Spanish Grand Prix from pole, as penalty means Lewis Hamilton starts last

Pastor Maldonado will start the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position, after the announcement Lewis Hamilton will start last following a penalty.

Lewis Hamilton's final lap of the day was four-tenths of a second faster than second-place Maldonado, and was set to be McLaren's 150th pole position.

But Hamilton was handed a grid penalty after stopping on his return to the pits. He will now start from the back of the grid.

Maldonado has now inherited pole position. He had been quick in practice but this is a stunning result for Williams, and a career best for the Venezuelan driver. A Williams driver hasn't been on pole since Nico Hulkenberg in 2010 for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Alonso will start his home Grand Prix in second, ahead of Lotus teammates Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen and Sauber's Sergio Perez.

Nico Rosberg was the only other driver to set a time in the final qualifying session. He starts ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher and Kamui Kobayashi.

The biggest casualties of the day were Jenson Button and Mark Webber, who failed to make it into the final qualifying session. They will start from 10th and 11th respectively.

Felipe Massa will start from 16th for Ferrari, just ahead of fellow Brazilian Bruno Senna, who was caught out in the first qualifying session. He went off in the final few minutes while battling to get into Q2, and will start the race from 17th place.

Narain Karthikeyan didn't meet the 107 per cent requirements, but the stewards have announced that the HRT driver will be allowed to race.

2012 Spanish Grand Prix grid

Position Driver Team Time
1 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1'22.285
2 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1'22.302
3 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1'22.424
4 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1'22.487
5 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1'22.533
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1'23.005
7 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault No time
8 Michael Schumacher Mercedes No time
9 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari No time
10 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1'22.944
11 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 1'22.977
12 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1'23.125
13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1'23.177
14 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 1'23.265
15 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 1'23.442
16 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1'23.444
17 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1'24.981
18 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1'25:277
19 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1'25:507
20 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1'26:582
21 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1'27:032
22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1'27:555
23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1'31:122
24 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1'21.707*

* Penalty means Hamilton will start from the back of the grid
107 per cent time: 1'28:363

Did you watch the qualifying session? Who was your driver of the day? Who should have done better? And what are your predictions for the race tomorrow? Tell us your thoughts below.

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