Pastor Maldonado Pastor Maldonado gave Williams their first Formula One victory for eight years here before a beaming Sir Frank Williams. Williams, 70 last month, had a surprise birthday party in the paddock on Saturday evening but this was the best birthday present imaginable as he watched the race surrounded by his family.
Fernando Alonso, who was second, looked poised to overtake the Venezuelan – the fifth winner in five races – in the closing laps but then his rear tyres appeared to lose some of his grip.
The Lotuses of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean were third and fourth, ahead of the charging Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi, but Lewis Hamilton, who started from the back of the grid, had to be content with eighth with a two-stop strategy.
amilton, who lost his pole position on Saturday night because he ran out of fuel during qualifying, drove a thrilling race and even got himself up to fourth at one stage.
But he always had too much to do. When it was all over he ran into the Williams motor-home to congratulate Williams. He might have asked him for a job, too, the way McLaren have treated him lately. There was yet another botched pitstop, though it didn\'t matter much this time.
It was also a frustrating afternoon for Jenson Button too. He started in 10th place and came home in ninth but never seemed at his most comfortable.
But the day belonged to Maldonado. \"I think it\'s a wonderful day, not just for me but for the team,\" he said after his maiden victory. \"We\'ve been pushing so hard to improve since last year and here we are. Yesterday after a great qualifying and today we did it again.
\"It was a tough race because of the strategy and after a couple of laps we were struggling with the rear tyres. The car was so competitive after the first lap. Fernando did a better start then me but I was following the pace. It was my first pole and first win and you can imagine what I am feeling.\"
Maldonado did not look likely to make a sustained challenge when he was overtaken by Alonso on turn two of the opening lap.
Meanwhile, Hamilton made an outstanding start, making up five places before he had gone halfway round the first lap. But it was a less eye-catching start from Sergio Pérez, who suffered an early puncture.
The race was not a quarter over when it lost its six-times winner here, Michael Schumacher, who ran into the back of Bruno Senna. The race was over for both drivers. Schumacher, unsurprisingly, blamed Senna, but the Williams driver appeared innocent and said: \"I was in front of him and had to break earlier than him and he just hit me.
Hamilton, having cut a swathe through the field, was now frustrated by some more serious runners. But he was told the cars in front of him, of Felipe Massa, Jean-Eric Vergne and Paul Di Resta, were on a three-stop strategy while it was hoped to bring in the McLaren driver just twice for fresh rubber.
He had another epic battle with Massa. But overtaking is never easy here and he must have been mightily relieved when both Massa and Di Resta were brought in to serve drive-through penalties.
At the halfway stage Maldonado was leading Alonso by 7.4 seconds, with Raikkonen and Grosjean third and fourth.
There was a sign that Button was having one of his off days when he left the door open for Kobayashi to barge his way through.
This was a day and a weekend that the McLaren team would prefer to forget.