Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's live text commentary of the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.
I, for one, think this will be a super race with a jumbled grid and some surprise faces at the front.
Pastor Maldonado of Williams begins in pole position following Lewis Hamilton's demotion to the back of the grid for failing to have enough fuel in his car during qualifying.
(Please refresh this page for the latest updates)
Alonso gives Maldonado a well-done hug. He's fortunate that Hamilton was relegated to the back but drove superbly to win this race. A pulsating race in Barcelona and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thanks for joining Sports Mole for coverage. See you for the next race.
Final top ten points scorers: 1 Maldonado 2 Alonso 3 Raikkonen 4 Grosjean 5 Kobayashi 6 Vettel 7 Rosberg 8 Hamilton 9 Button 10 Hulkenburg
Lap 66: PASTOR MALDONADO WINS THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX!
What a drive from Maldonado. It's a first victory for Williams since 2004. Alonso holds off Raikkonen for second while Grosjean takes fourth. Kobayashi is fifth while Rosberg manages to prevent a charging Hamilton taking seventh.
Lap 66: Alonso has a 2.3s lead going into the final lap. The race looks to be going to Maldonado. He'll become the first ever Venezuelan to stand atop an F1 podium.
Lap 65: Vettel takes three seconds out of Rosberg as the world champion comes up behind his fellow German and grabs another place. He's up to sixth. Raikkonen's gap to Alonso is around four seconds. Two laps left.
Lap 64: Vettel takes seventh place from Hamilton with the aid of DRS on the pit straight. One of the remaining battles out on track is Hulkenburg-Webber for tenth.
Lap 63: Four laps left and Maldonado's lead is increasing all the time. What a memorable victory this will be for Williams.
Lap 62: Vettel's all over the back of Hamilton, who manages to hold off the German into turn one.
Lap 61: Kobayashi and Rosberg are having a bit of a ding-dong for fifth place and the Sauber man takes Rosberg down the inside.
Lap 60: Amazingly, Alonso has fallen away from Maldonado and can Raikkonen now make a late charge for a top-two finish?
Lap 59: Vettel passes Button for eighth place and the Red Bull man will next have his sights on the other McLaren of Hamilton.
Lap 59: Alonso looked good for a possible overtake on that lap but Maldonado does well to pull out a one-second lead. Lotus think Raikkonen is in pole position to win this race!
Lap 58: Will Maldonado get nervous in these last few laps. Surely he is? Alonso's been there at done that for so many years while Maldonado isn't used to such pressure situations.
Lap 57: Raikkonen's one of the quickest out there and if Maldonado and Alonso lose grip near the end, he could come into play.
Lap 56: Ten laps to go at the Circuit de Catalunya. Here's another update of the points-scoring top ten: 1 Maldonado 2 Alonso 3 Raikkonen 4 Grosjean 5 Rosberg 6 Kobayashi 7 Hamilton 8 Button 9 Vettel 10 Hulkenburg
Lap 55: Alonso's dropped out of the one-second DRS zone and now is falling back a little from Maldonado.
Lap 54: Looks like the McLaren duo of Hamilton and Button will be fighting it out as we approach the final laps of this engrossing race. Hamilton's currently ahead in seventh with Button just behind and Vettel also lurking in ninth.
Lap 53: Maldonado and Alonso lap Massa. The Venezuelan is still in front but can his tyres go to the end of the grand prix?
Lap 52: Grosjean pits from third to allow Raikkonen back into a podium position. Looks like it will be a 3-4 finish for Lotus.
Lap 51: Maldonado however keeps his cool to put in a good third sector and hold off Alonso down the straight.
Lap 50: Alonso's right on the back of Maldonado now. He's probably gonna pass on the home straight this time round.
Lap 49: Raikkonen finally pits from third and resumes in fourth, he looks good for another podium finish.
Lap 48: Alonso uses the DRS on the home straight to easily drift past Raikkonen. The Spaniard must now hunt down the Williams of Maldonado, who has a 1.9s lead.
Lap 47: Alonso sets a new fastest lap of the race as Maldonado passes Raikkonen for the lead. It's now down to Alonso to get past the Finn.
Lap 46: Maldonado needs to pass Raikkonen sooner rather than later as Alonso cuts the gap further.
Lap 45: Alonso pits from the lead and Raikkonen and Maldonado go past on the home straight. Looks like Raikkonen, who still has a stop to make could hold up Maldonado. Alonso is 3.2s behind Maldonado with 21 laps to go.
Lap 43: Vettel has to change his nose for some reason and he's lost time there because of a ten-second stop. Disappointing afternoon for the world champion.
Lap 41: Button out-brakes Massa into turn one to take a place. Maldonado pits from the lead and it's a slow stop from Williams! A window of opportunity for Alonso?
Lap 40: Top stuff from Hamilton who takes two places after zig-zagging his way past Toro Rosso duo Vergne and Ricciardo. Perez comes to a halt out on track after a problem during the pit stop. Miserable afternoon for the Mexican who started in a promising fifth but suffered a puncture early on.
Lap 39: Alonso, who was about seven seconds adrift at one point, has cut the gap to Maldonado to five seconds. We're in for a grandstand finish I reckon. Button pits from eighth to get his final set of hard tyres.
Lap 38: Button's drab day continues as Vettel sweeps round the outside of the McLaren driver.
Lap 37: Hamilton passes Di Resta into turn one and McLaren confirm he will have to get to the end of the race on these tyres. Charles Pic of Marussia, who had been given a drive through penalty for holding up Alonso, retires from the race.
Lap 36: The McLaren man comes in and finally it's a good stop for McLaren and Hamilton comes out in 14th. He has a brand new set of hard tyres to try and nurse home for the rest of the race.
Lap 35: Hamilton reports back that his tyres have gone. He's got no grip and will surely have to pit for some new rubber.
Lap 34: Bold move from Kobayashi, who dives down the inside of Button. The pair touch wheels and it's the Japanese man who comes out on top to take seventh place from the Englishman.
Lap 33: So we're at half-distance in Barcelona. Top ten update: 1 Maldonado 2 Alonso 3 Raikkonen 4 Grosjean 5 Hamilton 6 Rosberg 7 Button 8 Kobayashi 9 Vettel 10 Hulkenburg
Lap 31: Vettel serves his drive through and resumes in ninth place. Senna responds to Schumacher's comments by saying Schumacher didn't dive down the inside early enough. I think the footage indicates some silliness from the veteran, he was in the quicker car but surely could have avoided a high-speed collision.
Lap 30: Schumacher admits that he thinks Senna was an "idiot" for wiggling around the track before the crash.
Lap 29: Those drive throughs are music to the ears of Hamilton, who was still struggling to pass Massa before the Brazilian had to serve his penalty.
Lap 28: Surprising that Hamilton hasn't taken Massa yet. Raikkonen pits from first and Maldonado takes up the lead. Vettel also comes in from seventh and as he comes out there's news that he has to serve a drive-through penalty for failing to slow during yellow flags. Massa will also have to drive through the pits for committing the same offence.
Lap 27: Button has to pit again because of a dodgy left front as Alonso pits from first. I't s quick stop from Ferrari but Maldonado sets the fastest lap to go ahead of the Spaniard!
Lap 26: Alonso doesn't come in, staying out as Maldonado sets fast times on the fresher tyres. When Alonso does come in it looks like he'll be overtaken by the Venezuelan.
Lap 26: Maldonado needs a rapid out-lap to nick first from Alonso. Can he do it?
Lap 25: Maldonado pits from second and it's a solid stop from the Williams boys.
Lap 23: We also now believe that Hamilton is two-stopping, as opposed to the majority of the field who will come in three times. The stewards also announce that they're investigating an incident under yellow flag conditions between Massa and Vettel.
Lap 22: Hamilton in 12th is all over the back of Massa ahead of him. These two have history from last season when they seemed to have collisions almost every race.
Lap 20: Maldonado really closing on Alonso but he's held up by Karthikeyan and loses time. The Williams man is now around 1.5s behind Alonso.
Lap 18: Alonso's lead from Maldonado is around two-and-a-half seconds, with Raikkonen several seconds further back. Here's the latest top ten: 1 Alonso 2 Maldonado 3 Raikkonen 4 Grosjean 5 Rosberg 6 Vettel 7 Button 8 Kobayashi 9 Di Resta 10 Vergne
Lap 17: Webber's got big problems and is being left for dead, he's got a front wing problem and will be in to change that.
Lap 16: Grosjean passes Rosberg for fourth place as Hamilton is told he bumped into a tyre trying to get away at the pit stop.
Lap 15: Hamilton pits from fourth and he's back out in 14th. It's another poor stop at McLaren, somehow, as Hamilton runs over something as he looks to get away.
Lap 13: SCHUMACHER'S OUT! The German seven-time world champion is the first casualty in Barcelona as he runs into the back of Senna coming in to turn one. Senna also has to retire as his car was too badly damaged by Schumacher's recklessness.
Lap 12: Hamilton gets told that they might be able to go for a different tactic. Senna and Grosjean touch and the latter loses part of his front wing end plate.
Lap 12: Maldonado pits from the lead, as does Raikkonen, with Alonso resuming the lead upon their exit.
Lap 11: Looks like Hamilton is now fourth because of all the pit stops happening around him. Maldonado has taken up the lead with Raikkonen chasing the Venezuelan.
Lap 11: Button and Rosberg pit on lap 10 before leader Alonso enters the pit. Grosjean bucks the trend by putting the softer compound on again in his pit stop.
Lap 9: Now Kobayashi comes in, surely there'll be a flurry of cars entering the pits shortly. Hamilton's locking up his car a lot but he's still storming up the field, he's now 11th!
Lap 8: Now Webber's teammate Vettel comes in to the pits for a change of rubber. Very early stops for the Red Bull boys.
Lap 7: And yes, here's the first stop as Webber pits from 12th for a brand new set of the harder compound tyres.
Lap 6: Massa's tracking Vergne, who is surprisingly tenth in the Toro Rosso. Tyres are expected to degrade early and we could see some pit stops very soon.
Lap 5: Here's the top ten as it stands: 1 Alonso 2 Maldonado 3 Raikkonen 4 Rosberg 5 Grosjean 6 Schumacher 7 Vettel 8 Button 9 Kobayashi 10 Vergne
Lap 4: Hamilton takes Senna to continue his charge, he's now 17th.
Lap 3: Alonso's pulling away at the front to the delight of the Spanish crowd but Maldonado claws some time back, setting the fastest lap of the race.
Lap 2: Hamilton's only made up four places and crosses the line for the first time in 20th place. His teammate Button has moved up to eighth, just behind Vettel.
Lap 1: Rosberg also takes Grosjean as Perez suffers a puncture from fifth. Schumacher adds to a great start for Mercedes by moving up to sixth.
Lap 1: Five red lights go out and Alonso jumps Maldonado. Raikkonen also gets ahead of Grosjean.
Formation lap: Maldonado leads round the 24 cars and they line up ready to go. Remember, it's the longest run-down to turn one of any race so there should be plenty of overtaking early on. I'll warm up my fingers for the typing!
12.58: 66 laps of the Catalonian circuit are to take place in a little over two minutes. Further back from Vettel, Button and Webber start 10th and 11th respectively and will be looking to move up multiple places after turn one.
12.54: Some of Barcelona's top stars including Sergio Busquets, Pedro and Cesc Fabregas have been spotted milling around in the paddock.
12.50: Ten minutes until we get underway. I reckon Alonso will jump Maldonado and one of the Lotus's could also move up. Further back, can Vettel, who chose not to set a time in Q3 yesterday, advance from seventh?
12.45: F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone thinks it will be a good race and wants Maldonado in the Williams to take victory.
12.42: Massa admits to Sky Sports F1 that it's "not great" to start in 16th. The Brazilian, who has only picked up two points this season, will probably just be hoping for a top-ten points finish.
12.38: We'll not be hearing from Hamilton pre-race as he's told the media to leave him be in the build-up.
12.35: Hamilton's penalty surely opens the door for home favourite Alonso in the Ferrari. If he can jump the Venezuelan at the start and pull away then this race could be his. Watch out for the Lotus's on the second row, they've been very quick this year and have shown a good race-pace in Barcelona.
12.30: The penalty for Hamilton seems harsh but it's another reckless human error from the McLaren boys, whose pit stops have let the British team out on multiple occasions this season. He should motor through the backmarkers in what is the longest run-down to turn one on the F1 calendar.
12.25: Should be a cracking race at the Circuit de Catalunya today. There's a host of world champions at various places in the grid, meaning we should see plenty of overtaking. Here's a look at the top ten and selected others: 1 Maldonado 2 Alonso 3 Grosjean 4 Raikkonen 5 Perez 6 Rosberg 7 Vettel 8 Schumacher 9 Kobayashi 10 Button 11 Webber 16 Massa 24 Hamilton
