Pastor Maldonado’s maiden Formula 1 victory at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix remains one of the sport’s most unexpected results.
But the day took an even more dramatic turn as a fire broke out in the Williams garage post-race, putting a sour twist on a historic day for the Grove-based squad.
Starting from pole position at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on this day in 2012, Maldonado had inherited the top spot after Lewis Hamilton’s exclusion from qualifying for failing to return to the pits under his own power to supply a fuel sample.
Hamilton had set the fastest lap, but the McLaren driver’s technical infringement handed Maldonado a golden opportunity.
The Williams driver seized it with both hands. Over 66 laps, he held off home favourite Fernando Alonso, crossing the line just 3.195 seconds ahead of the Ferrari to become the first Venezuelan ever to win a Formula 1 race.
Kimi Raikkonen completed the podium for Lotus, 3.884 seconds behind.
For Williams, the victory ended a 12-year drought dating back to the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix. It was a moment of redemption for a team that had fallen from its dominant position in the 1990s.
Yet the celebrations were tempered by catastrophe approximately 90 minutes after the chequered flag, a fuel rig failure sparked a massive fire in the Williams garage that quickly engulfed the team’s equipment and workspace.
The blaze sent thick black smoke billowing across the paddock as emergency crews rushed to contain the inferno.
31 people were injured in the incident, with seven requiring immediate hospitalisation for smoke inhalation and burns. The fire destroyed valuable equipment, computers containing setup data, and spare parts worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Team members watched helplessly as their moment of triumph turned into chaos, with some mechanics suffering minor burns while trying to salvage what they could from the flames.
The post-race fire fuelled conspiracy theories across social media, with unverified claims suggesting everything from staged incidents to destroy evidence of technical infringements, to suggestions that Bernie Ecclestone had rigged the result to honour Frank Williams, or that Pirelli had supplied special tyres.
None of these theories have ever been substantiated, with investigations confirming the fuel rig malfunction as the fire’s cause.