Alonso becomes second winner this season and leads championship points

Fernando Alonso came through from 11th on the grid to claim a remarkable victory on his home turf of Valencia, Spain in the European Grand Prix yesterday. This makes the double world champion the first repeat winner of this season, and also leads the driver’s championships points from Vettel. Kimi Raikkonen came through to win second, and seven time world champion Michael Schumacher to made his podium return for Mercedes in third place in front of Mark Webber of Red Bull who started 19th.

Vettel charged the early stages of the race, forming a lead of several seconds ahead of the pack. Fellow front row qualifier Hamilton had a slower start and fought hard to defend his place before securing second ahead of Grosjean, Kobayashi, Maldonado, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg and the prancing Alonso.

Alonso was electrifying as he had a slew of overtaking moves and ran an extra lap before his first pitstop after which he continued hunting. In the 2000 blockbuster movie, Gladiator, Russell Crowe could be seen saying in the likes of Spain having some of the finest horses; it seemed apt here though it was an Italian horse piloted by a Spaniard.

Near half-distance of the race, Vettel had built a lead of 20 seconds as he chased his third consecutive victory at the street circuit. Grosjean who had a neat overtake over Hamilton on lap 10 created a 10s lead. The safety car was then called to clear debris from a clash between Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso and Kovalainen's Caterham, destroying all the lead gaps the drivers had built. Most drivers made their second and final pitstop. Hamilton had a slow stop, again, allowing Alonso to get up to third.

Alonso was quick to resume fighting when the race restarted, overtaking Grosjean on the outsides of the first corner. Moments later Alonso started leading the pack as the unanticipated happened. Vettel's Red Bull suddenly cut out and had to retire, much to the disappointment and shock of the world champion. In a bizarre turn of events Grosjean whom was a close threat to Alonso retired, with an alternator failure with just 17 laps to go.

It seems all the motor racing and automotive angels from the heavens were blessing Alonso and Ferrari as he finished 6.4s ahead of Raikkonen and become the first repeat winner of the 2012 season, reclaiming the championship lead in the process with 111 points, 20 points ahead of Webber, 23 points ahead of Hamilton and a further 26 points ahead of Vettel.

Raikkonen got past Hamilton whom was struggling with tyres that were fading away. Maldonado tried to do likewise, which ended in a crash, putting the McLaren in the barriers and breaking the front wing of the Williams. A fuming Lewis Hamilton was left thumping his steering wheel in frustration.

This allowed Schumacher to claim a podium finish for the 115th time and his first podium since the 2006 Grand Prix in China. At 43 years old he is now the second oldest podium finisher since Jack Brabham, at 44 whom finished second in the 1970 British Grand Prix. Interestingly at a post-race interview, he admitted that he did not know he was on for podium until crossing the finish line.

However he was very close to losing his position as the Mercedes driver was under investigation for using his DRS under the yellow flags on the final lap following Hamilton’s crash. Lucky for the driver, the race stewards decided otherwise as the seven-time champion had slowed down sufficiently thus revoking their decision.

Hamilton’s teammate and fellow champion Jenson Button finished eighth, ahead of Sergio Perez's Sauber and the limping Maldonado whom was given a 20s post-race penalty, demoting him to 12th. While Alonso had all the fun (and attention) the second prancing horse with Felipe Massa finished 16th.

Fernando Alonso struggled to find words to describe his feelings after his victory. "Winning the home grand prix is something unique, a very special feeling. I had the opportunity in Barcelona in 2006 with Renault and I still remember that moment perfectly. But now I had opportunity with Ferrari, with the grandstands full of red colours. I'm feeling very proud, and winning this race in Spain is probably the best victory I ever felt in terms of emotions. Nothing can compare to this one."