The live blog below will be updated throughout the race which starts at 13:00 UK time. Contact us on twitter at @tcff1
Well, that’s it from me today – but the results for a thrilling European GP are: Alonso, Raikkonen, Schumacher, Webber, Hulkenberg, Rosberg, Di Resta, Button, Perez, Maldonado, Senna, Ricciardo, Petrov, Kovalainen, Pic, Massa, De La Rosa, Karthikeyan, Hamilton.
Alonso crosses the line in P1 for his 29th career win from p11 ahead of Raikkonen and Schumacher; the German legend’s first podium since his comeback! Incredible race, absolutely brilliant stuff!
Schumacher now up to p3 whilst Maldonado trundles back to the pits! Webber p4!
Hamilton’s tyres have seemingly dropped off and is now under massive pressure from Maldonado for p3… AND THEY TOUCH! HAMILTON IS OUT! HAMILTON HAS RETIRED!
Hamilton makes a mistake and Raikkonen has a run at the McLaren driver. It didn’t happen, but he’s having another go through turn 17 and MAKES IT STICK! Outstanding stuff by Kimi who is now up to P2!
Di Resta is overtaken by both Webber and Schumacher who have moved up to 6th and 7th respectively.
Di Resta is swamped by F1′s oldies Schumacher and Webber. A commendable strategy taken by the Force India team.
Schumacher passes Perez, whilst Webber has a go too and makes it stick over the young Sauber driver.
Four laps to go… Who’d have thought that the race would end up like this?!
Oddly enough, Schumacher is on for his best result of the year with an 8th place, whilst his Mercedes team mate sets the fastest lap of the race.
The top three still remain the same. Alonso leads by 3.9 seconds over Hamilton and Raikkonen
Rosberg passes Senna for p11. A good recovery drive from the Brazilian, all things considered.
Schumacher sweeps past Button, as does Mark Webber. The 2009 world champion is now down into p10.
Ricciardo and Petrov to be investigated by the stewards…
And Petrov and Ricciardo collide, the Russian losing the nose of his Caterham.
The lead up to 4 seconds now. Perez looking strong again in p7 and should be squabbling with Di Resta soon.
Ferrari chatting in Italian over the radio to Alonso. 3.9 seconds over Raikkonen and Hamilton… The Finn looking the racier of the two.
The main question now is, is will Alonso’s Ferrari knacker its tyres? Can Raikkonen and Hamilton can take advantage?
Red Bull are still unsure as to what the problem with Vettel’s RB8 was. The current champion seems to think it may be a similar problem to what Webber had on Friday.
[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/Lotus_F1Team/status/216883297853259776"]
Alonso was 2/10ths faster than Hamilton on that last lap.
Petrov up into p10, compounding that Caterham have genuine pace here this weekend.
Does Schumacher have another problem? He’s pitted, and looks pretty slow…
Standings so far: ALO, HAM, RAI, MAL, HULK, DIR, PER, BUT, ROS, PET, MSC, WEB, RIC, SEN, KOV, DLR, PIC, MAS, KAR
Alternator failure for Grosjean. Absolutely tragic for Lotus. Now Hamilton up to p2…
Not a great time for Renault powered cars at Valencia with both front runners Vettel and Grosjean retiring
BREAKING NEWS! GROSJEAN IS OUT NOW! What is going on?!
Webber trumps Alonso’s fastest lap with a 1:42…
Webber goes fastest of all through the first sector. An incredible comeback drive from the Aussie who suffered such bad luck yesterday.
Perez is shaping up Button for P9… It looks like the McLaren driver is really struggling with his rear tyres.
Fastest lap of the race for Alonso 1:44:141
Alonso has managed to pull out a little bit of a lead of 0.746 over Grosjean. According to BBC, the Lotus driver has 3/10ths a lap over the Spaniard due to DRS…
Hamilton under investigation for ignoring waved yellows, whilst Webber loses three places in three corners! Dull-encia? No, I don’t think so…
It looks on between Grosjean and Hamilton!
So, Vettel has retired and launched his gloves in a rage after he has been denied a hat-trick. Alonso leads over Grosjean and Hamilton. Will he continue Spain’s glorious run of sport this weekend?!
Maybe the early pace from Vettel was too much too soon? The Red Bull driver will now be wondering if he should have taken it easier in the early stages of the race.
Massa nerfed by Kobayashi – The Brazilian does not have luck on his side at the moment…
Hamilton is past Ricciardo!
BREAKING NEWS! VETTEL IN TROUBLE!!
Alonso up to p2! An astonishing drive from the Spaniard.
Alonso is all over Grosjean and he is through!
Safety car in this lap!
Vergne doesn’t think that the incident with Kovalainen was his fault – this one will divide fans and observers, surely. The Frenchman is the only retirement thus far.
Christian Horner is looking nervous. Can Red Bull and Vettel take a hat-trick around Valencia, or will Grosjean score Lotus’ first win after their return to F1?
Grosjean was on a flying lap before the safety car come out, on lap 27 he set the fastest lap of the race.
So, standings so far after the safety car: Vettel, Grosjean, Alonso, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Rosberg, Schumacher, Webber, Maldonado, Hulkenburg, Di Resta, Kobayashi, Massa, Button, Perez, Petrov, De La Rosa, Pic, Kovalainen, Karthikeyan
Replay of the Vergne/Kovalainen incident… medieval. Absolutely ridiculous. Meanwhile, the pack are bunching up now. This is actually turning out to be a proper exciting race! What a nice surprise!
Vettel rejoins comfortably in the lead, but will be significantly reduced because of the safety car on track.
RETIREMENT: Jean Eric-Vergne retires from the race following his contact with Kovalainen.
Vettel pits – smooth stop from the Red Bull boys.
McLaren again perform a poor pitstop for Hamilton. Alonso gets by for position. The 2008 world champion can’t be happy.
SAFETY CAR! We’re on!
Kovalainen has made contact with Vergne. A shame for Caterham who have shown genuine pace all weekend.
Button pits again and bolts on a pair of hard tyres to rejoin in P13. Meanwhile, Massa and Hulkenburg are still at it for p7
Meanwhile, Alonso is only six-seconds behind Hamilton. Will we see the two former team-mates go wheel to wheel?
Grosjean sets a new fastest lap with a 1:44.451.
Ricciardo gets past Perez for p.10
Massa has been told to look after the rear tyres by Rob Smedley. Ferrari seem to think the Brazilian can get some much needed points.
Drive through penalty for Senna… another avoidable incident for the likeable Brazilian this year…
Raikkonen gets past Di Resta - surely Force India should pit him soon, as he’s just been mugged by Maldonado
Vettel’s lead is up to 20 seconds. Problems aside, he should comfortably win this.
Alonso gets by Di Resta for 4th. He is truly on fire since his two goals against France last night.
Senna rejoins in 23rd following the contact with Kobayashi. Vettel now leads by 19 seconds over Grosjean.
AND THERE’S CONTACT! Senna and Kobayashi touch with the Japanese driver losing half of his front wing!
Mercedes have called Schumacher in, as have Red Bull for Webber.
The fresher tyres on the Ferrari seem to be benefitting Alonso as he slices through the field. Mercedes, Williams and Red Bull should be considering to pit their drivers at this stage.
Sebastian Vettel puts in the fastest lap of the race as he increases his lead over Paul Di Resta by 16.7
Alonso tries to go around the outside of Webber who is still to pit along with Senna and Schumacher who are in the same situation. Brave stuff by the Ferrari man!
Fastest lap of the race so far is Sauber driver Sergio Perez with 1:44.630 on lap 12
Grosjean rejoins on softs in front of Hamilton.
Vettel pits in lap 16. Lotus are reacting to this by pitting Grosjean on the same lap.
Hamilton breezes past Schumacher.
The top four five drivers – Vettel, Grosjean, Di Resta, Rosberg and Schumacher are still to pit
Alonso pits. Beautiful stop by The Boys In Red and he gets out ahead of Raikkonen.
Hamilton gets by Senna - the McLaren driver made it look like taking candy from a baby. He is now in P7.
Top 10 on lap 14: VET, GRO, LAO, DIR, ROS, MSC, SEN, HAM, RAI, KOB
Raikkonen pits and rejoins in 10th, ahead of Kobayashi.
Vettel’s lead up to 14 seconds. Alonso has also passed Maldonado for 5th.
Hamilton pits – a clean pitstop from McLaren. Rejoins in 10th behind Senna
Raikkonen undercuts Maldonado!
Alonso FINALLY makes it past Hulkenburg for 7th. Radio message to The Spaniard: “Now we push, we push as much as we can”.
Raikkonen attempts a past on Maldonado for 5th. The Finn runs out of track, unfortunately. Decides to back out of it.
The Brazilian rejoins in 15th.
Ferrari getting ready for Massa.
Vettel now leading by 11.8 secs from Grosjean and Hamilton…
Button is the first to pit, followed by Perez. They rejoin in p. 19 and 20 respectively.
Wow! What a pass by Grosjean – sensible driving by Hamilton, too.
Grosjean gets by Hamilton!! Great move by the young Frenchman!! Bravo, Romain!
Vettel is now leading by just over 10 seconds from Hamilton. Most of us expected him to win, just not by this much…
Alonso still chasing down Hulkenburg…
Grosjean is still pushing Hamilton hard, with just 0.6s between the two on the last lap
Massa flies by Di Resta but loses out on the exit of the corner
Another fastest lap from Vettel on lap 6.
Top 10: VET, HAM GRO, KOB, MAL, RAI, HUL, ALO, DIR, MAS
Maldonado has found a way by Raikkonen in to fifth, Hulkenberg now has his sights set on the Finn
Another fastest lap from Vettel as he extends his lead to 7.6 seconds over the chasing pack of Hamilton Grosjean and Kobayashi
Vettel has two purple sectors already as he looks to increase his lead.
Grosjean being given the hurry up by his team to get by Hamilton.
Hamilton, Grosjean and Kobayashi joined by Raikkonen as they fight over the best of the rest positions
Vettel sets the pace on lap 3 with Hamilton already dropping 5 seconds to the leader
DRS is enabled
Senna passes Perez for 14th
Massa passes Rosberg who has had a shocker. Alonso up to 8th.
GO!!! Vettel gets away smoothly, awesome start by Grosjean who takes third!
Lights out in Valencia in…
27 degrees air temperature, track temperature at 44…63% humidity too. Wow!!!
David Coulthard seems to think that pit-stops will start at around Lap 10
FOM pretty determined to confirm to us that there’s lots of scantily clad women hanging about the Valencia paddock today…
MSC, WEB, PER, VERGNE all starting on hard tyres according to Force India
Four Renault powered cars in the top five. Can they beat Ferrari for actual number of wins in the European season?
So, what are everyone’s predictions? will Vettel dominate, or can Hamilton and Maldonado hassle him into the first corner? Will it be someone different?
Track temperature is 40 degrees this afternoon. The tyres are gonna have to work for it. Hopefully will make the race a bit more exciting than normal.
Incredible to believe that Seb Vettel is only 24 and is third most successful driver behind Schumacher and Senna in terms of poles. Excellent lap.
BREAKING NEWS – Timo Glock out of European Grand Prix – read more here
