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Jun
24th

F1 Valencia: Emotional Fernando Alonso ends run of new winners (+results)

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From GMM

Bitterly disappointed on Saturday, Luca di Montezemolo chose the wrong moment to return to Italy.

The imperious Ferrari president, on a rare paddock visit, was visibly upset after Fernando Alonso qualified just eleventh at Valencia.

24 hours later, Spaniard Alonso was the darling not only of his team, but also of the rapturous partisan crowd in Spain's host port city -- and the only multiple race winner of 2012 and the new runaway championship leader by a huge 20 points.

An unusually-emotional Alonso picked up a Spanish flag on the slowing down lap and then his F2012 broke down in front of the grandstands, where he enjoyed a dance with his delighted countrymen.

Also on the podium were two other Ferrari champions: Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen who finished second, and Michael Schumacher, thoroughly enjoying the first podium of his comeback with Mercedes.

In the thrilling European grand prix, major title contenders Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton failed to score at all -- the Red Bull succumbing to a sudden failure whilst commandingly leading, and a furious McLaren driver crashing with Pastor Maldonado.

Romain Grosjean was another casualty, who was a contender to challenge Alonso until his Lotus failed.

"He was one of the big stars of today," said former team owner Eddie Jordan on British BBC1 television.

Mark Webber in the second Red Bull made a great run from 19th on the grid all the way back up to fourth, on a track where overtaking is known to be difficult.

Bruno Senna's chances of a good finish ended when he clipped with his rear right wheel the nose of Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber. The Brazilian picked up a puncture and a drive-through penalty in the incident.

Good pace and back luck for front runners looked like it might score Caterham its first point, but reality caught back with Vitaly Petrov, who was running 10th at one point.

A collision with Daniel Ricciardo ended the Russian's hopes of finishing in the top 10.

Timo Glock, still unwell from a virus, did not take the start.



Race results - European Grand Prix (Valencia)

1 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) - 58 laps in 1h44min16.449s

2 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) - 6.421s

3 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W03) - 12.639s

4 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 13.628s
5 - Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 19.993s

6 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) - 21.176s
7 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 22.886s

8 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 24.653s
9 - Sergio Perez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 27.777s

10 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) - 34.630s

11 - Bruno Senna (Williams FW34-Renault) - 35.900s

12 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 37.000s

13 - Vitaly Petrov (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1min15.871s

14 - Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1min34.654s

15 - Charles Pic (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 1min36.565s
16 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) - 1 lap

17 - Pedro De La Rosa (HRT - Cosworth) - 1 lap

18 - Narain Karthikeyan (HRT - Cosworth) - 1 lap
19 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 2 laps



Fastest lap by Nico Rosberg in 1min42.163s



Retirements
Lap 41 - Romain Grosjean
Lap 34 - Sebastian Vettel
Lap 34 - Kamui Kobayashi
Lap 27 - Jean-Eric Vergne
DNS - Timo Glock



Drivers' championship
1.Alonso 111; 2.Webber 91; 3.Hamilton 88; 4.Vettel 85; 5.Rosberg 75; 6.Raikkonen 73; 7.Grosjean 53; 8.Button 49; 9.Perez 39; 10.Maldonado 30; 11.Di Resta 27;12.Kobayashi 21; 13.Hulkenberg 17; 14.Schumacher 17; 15.Senna 15; 16.Massa 11; 17.Vergne 4; 18.Ricciardo 2.



Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 176; 2.McLaren-Mercedes 137; 3.Lotus-Renault 126; 4.Ferrari 122; 5.Mercedes 92; 6.Sauber-Ferrari 60; 7.Williams-Renault 45; 8.Force India-Mercedes 44; 9.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6.
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