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Formula 1
Spanish GP
2012 Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix
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Lap 44: Raikkonen heads through to take the lead, chased by Maldonado - who now has track position over the resuming Alonso.
Lap 44: Alonso heads in for his final stop.
Lap 44: Replays show it was a left rear issue for Maldonado, but the team did at least ensure it had been bolted on correctly before sending him out
Lap 43: Hamilton is now eighth with team-mate Button ninth, Massa 10th and di Resta comes into the pits from 11th.
Lap 43: Vettel pits his Red Bull, taking fresh tyres and a nose change - which makes it a slow stop for the championship leader.
Lap 42: Alonso is clocked 16.3 seconds ahead of Maldonado, which is still enough for the Williams to lead after the final stops.
Lap 42: Maldonado needs to take advantage of his fresh rubber, but also has to keep the tyres in shape to last the distance.
Lap 42: Seemed to be a fumble at the left rear on Maldonado's stop, meaning this will be quite tight with Alonso when the Ferrari heads in.
Lap 41: Button follows Massa past di Resta and then at the end of the main straight he gets past the Ferrari and up to 10th.
Lap 41: It's a slow stop for Williams but Maldonado is back underway on hard tyres.
Lap 41: Leader Maldonado makes his final stop.
Lap 41: Rosberg is the next man in for a final stop, as is Webber in the Red Bull.
Lap 41: Vergne is now holding up di Resta ... and Massa takes the advantage and nips through ahead of the Scot and into 10th.
Lap 40: Hulkenberg pits from ninth spot, allowing Hamilton up another position.
Lap 40: Alonso is still chipping away at the lead gap and is now 4.2 seconds behind Maldonado.
Lap 40: Perez has pulled off the track and is out of the race.
Lap 40: Hamilton - far from taking things easy with his tyres - pulls off a magnificent double pass on the Toro Rosso pair through Turns 3 and 4 and moves up to 10th.
Lap 39: A train of cars has now formed behind eighth placed Hulkenberg, with Webber, Vergne , Ricciardo and Hamilton all together.
Lap 39: Button pits for hard tyres in another McLaren attempt to run long to the finish.
Lap 39: Alonso continues to close slightly on the leader, but the margin is still over five seconds.
Lap 38: Hamilton in is told over the team radio that the plan is to go to the end of the race. He also manages to get past di Resta for 13th.
Lap 38: Vettel is making his recovery from the earlier penalty and breezes past Button to take over seventh with DRS at Turn 1.
Lap 37: But it doesn't matter, because Pic pulls straight into the Marussia garage and is out of the race.
Lap 37: Leader Maldonado is told again to look after his tyres, with Alonso now 5.6 seconds behind
Lap 37: Charles Pic is handed a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags. He is down in 20th place and he comes into the lane.
Lap 36: Further down the field, Webber is on the tail of Hulkenberg in a battle for ninth place.
Lap 36: Hamilton makes an inevitable pitstop, resuming in heavy traffic down the order.
Lap 36: In Rosberg's mirrors is Kobayashi in seventh, with the pair having pulled slightly away from Button.
Lap 35: Rosberg is now closing on the struggling Hamilton, who is looking unlikely to make it into a window to run to the end of the race.
Lap 34: Hamilton's pace has faded in recent laps, complaining his "tyres are going off badly now" to the team.
Lap 34: Ricciardo passes di Resta and takes over 13th position.
Lap 34: But not for long as Kobayashi makes a bold dive for the inside at Turn 5, barging his way past Button in a classic move by the Japanese.
Lap 33: Vettel is ninth after serving that penalty, with Hulkenberg 10th, Webber 11th and on the German's tail, Vergne 12th and di Resta in 13th.
Lap 33: So at half distance it is Maldonado from Alonso, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Hamilton, Rosberg, Button and Kobayashi...
Lap 33: Better pace from the Lotus pair now they have moved to the harder tyres, but still not matching the 1m28s speed from Maldonado and Alonso.
Lap 32: Kobayashi has quickly closed on that scrap, which is battle over sixth, seventh and eighth.
Lap 31: Button continues to press Rosberg, with the Mercedes clearly slower at this stage. Rosberg is on hard tyres, while Button is back on soft.
Lap 31: Vettel is in this time to take a costly penalty, having failed to slow for the Turn 1 yellow flags.
Lap 31: Vettel, on fresher tyres, is currently chasing Hamilton but is still to serve his drive-through penalty.
Lap 31: Massa comes in for the third time this afternoon - his second stop for tyres after that drive through penalty.
By: Emlyn Hughes, Geoff Creighton
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