Maldonado wins maiden F1 race, Hulkenberg comes 10th

Barcelona, May 13 (IANS) Pastor Maldonado stormed to his maiden Formula One win in the Spanish Grand Prix here Sunday, also ending the eight-year victory drought for his Williams team. Force India's Nico Hulkenberg finished 10th.

The Venezuelan driver crossed the chequered flag 3.195 seconds ahead of local favourite Fernando Alonso, who came second in his Ferrari. Kimi Raikkonen drove his Lotus in third place.

Maldonado lost his pole position to Alonso in the opening lap before taking the lead with a better pit stop strategy than the Spaniard.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton finished a credible eighth after starting from the back of the grid following his penalty from Saturday's pole position.

Hulkenberg did well to earn a point after starting 13th on the grid while his teammamte Paul di Resta came 14th.

HRT's Narain Karthikeyan was one of the five retirements from the 66-lap race. The other were Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Bruno Senna (Williams), Sergio Perez (Sauber) and Charles Pic (Marussia).