Just when you thought the 2012 Formula One World Championship couldn’t get any more unpredictable, another strange turn occurred. From a surprise pole position, it was Pastor Maldonado and Williams who got the strategy right and took care of their tyres to pick up his first career win.

It was Pastor Maldonado who led the field away from the lights in a surprise maiden pole position. I call it a surprise pole not because the Williams hasn’t been quick at moments. It’s a surprise because Maldonado didn’t set the fastest time of the qualifying session. That honour went to Lewis Hamilton. But when the McLaren driver stopped on track after Q3 in order to have enough fuel on board to provide the mandatory one-litre sample to the FIA for testing, he was stripped of his qualifying times and sent to the back of the grid.

Maldonado’s lead didn’t last long. In fact, he wasn’t even the first car into turn one. Fernando Alonso, in his home race, took the lead from 2nd on the grid, which the home crowd was willing to loudly inform everyone of. Alonso held the lead through the first round of pit stops but Williams made an inspired call to have Maldonado pit early in the second set of stops. The Venezuelan used the fresh rubber to leap-frog Alonso and retake the lead.

Williams repeated the trick in the third round of stops. Maldonado stopped with about 25 laps to go which was five to seven laps longer than the hard tyres were expected to last without losing all the pace. Alonso stopped with 20 laps to go in the hopes that Maldonado’s tyres would fall off and allow the Ferrari through with ease. For a long stretch, it appeared that Maldonado would cave to Alonso’s pressure but the final handful of laps saw the Williams pull away from the Ferrari for a comfortable win.

The win was not only the first F1 win for Maldonado but it was the first win and podium for a driver from Venezuela. It was also the first win for Williams since Juan Pablo Montoya won the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix. It was Williams’ first podium since the 2008 Australian Grand Prix with Nico Rosberg at the wheel. The race also marked the first time since 1983 that five different drivers and teams won the first five races.

Farther down the order, Kimi Raikkonen tried to mount a late charge but came up short with a third-place finish. His Lotus teammate Romain Grosjean scored his third straight points finish after finishing 4th. Kamui Kobayashi put on yet another classic passing clinic en route to 5th. Rounding out the points were Vettel, Rosberg, Hamilton, Button and Hulkenberg.

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It wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops for Williams today. After the race, there was a fire in the team’s pit garage. No cause was known as of writing this post but early speculation indicates that the fire may have been caused by an incident while transferring fuel out of Senna’s car or an explosion of the KERS device. It was reported that three Williams mechanics were treated for smoke inhalation while another had minor burns to his hand. Senna had an early exit today after getting punted while defending from Michael Schumacher.

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The penalty to Hamilton wasn’t without controversy. At the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix, Hamilton stopped on track at the end of Q3 after scoring the pole so he had the mandatory one litre of fuel required for the FIA fuel comparison sample. Hamilton and McLaren were reprimanded for running such low fuel that their car had to be recovered to have enough fuel left for the sample. After that, the FIA added a rule stating that a car must return to the pits under its own power and have one litre of fuel left on-board.

McLaren had tried to have the race stewards invoke force majeure stating they had a legitimate technical reason for stopping so as they wouldn’t be penalized for violating the rule. The technical reason that McLaren used was that a team member didn’t put enough fuel in the car for it to make it back to the pits. The problem with that explanation is that the car didn’t have a technical problem. The team didn’t put enough fuel on-board which is what the rule is trying to prevent.

The real controversy is over the severity of the penalty. Hamilton’s pole was erased and he was moved to the back of the grid. The argument, mostly from the British press and fans, is that Hamilton’s car was only in violation of the rules at the end of Q3 so he should be moved to 10th (last among the Q3 cars). However, that opinion is based on the belief that qualifying is three separate sessions. The FIA treats qualifying as one session. If qualifying is one session and Hamilton was found to have a technical violation in the qualifying session, his times are disallowed. Therefore, it makes sense to me that he was moved to P24. Of course, it would also make sense to have this rule reflect the different segments of qualifying. Therefore, if someone stops on track at the end of Q1, they can be moved to P24 regardless of where they qualify when all is said and done.

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Bernie Ecclestone is throwing his diminutive-heighted weight around once again. In his never-ending quest to make himself more money maximize the commercial interests of Formula One, he’s throwing tradition and good racing under the bus. With pressure from teams to limit the calendar to 20 Grands Prix each season, it looks like Canada and France could be casualties of the money driven expansion of the sport.

This weekend, Bernie discussed some of the future plans for grands prix. First, it appears as though the chances of a French Grand Prix are becoming less likely. Ecclestone believes that the newly elected French President Francois Hollande won’t financially support the Grand Prix where as it was expected that former President Nicolas Sarkozy would aid in funding the race. The fallout there could impact the Belgian Grand Prix as race promoters at Spa were hoping to cut cost by alternating seasons with the French Grand Prix.

The Canadian Grand Prix was also threatened by Bernie this weekend. Negotiations are already underway for the next contract for the race. The current deal (which was for five years starting with the 2010 Grand Prix) expires after the 2014 race. As part of the conditions for the rumoured 10-year extension, Bernie wants the circuit to improve the pit complex and other permanent facilities at the track. The term permanent facilities is a bit ironic considering the majority of the track is publicly used streets on Ile Notre Dame in Montreal. The current estimate for the upgrade is about $15 million CAD. While Bernie is confident a deal will get done, there are issues that would need to be sorted like who would fund the upgrade and would the track be able to put the new/upgraded facilities in the same location as the current pit complex or would they have to move the pit straight.

Finally, the Spanish and European Grands Prix will start alternating years between the two Spanish venues for the races. The Valencia circuit has been rumoured to be in financial difficulty for at least the last year. Barcelona hasn’t suffered as much as Valencia in the Spanish economic crisis. However, race day attendance at the Circuit de Catalunya was estimate to be down by 40,000 spectators from 2011 according to one journalist’s estimate. With the addition of a second US round in 2013, a Russian Grand Prix in 2014 and the rumoured addition of Argentine Grand Prix starting in 2013, it might have been out of necessity for the calendar (and the survival of both venues) that Spain was reduced to one race per year.

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The next race may only be Round Six of the 2012 Formula One World Championship but it’s the most important race of the season. The Monaco Grand Prix is the crown jewel race of the season. While winning the World Drivers’ Championship is the ultimate goal for every driver each season, winning in Monaco is just as memorable a moment for drivers.

By the time the cars arrive in Monaco, it will have been over two months since F1’s last visit to a street course. That race was dominated by Jenson Button and McLaren. They haven’t really looked as threatening to run away with the season since then. The way this season has been going, you have to like the Lotus cars to take the win just to keep things mixed up in this very unpredictable season.