( CNN ) -- Pastor Maldonado grabbed his first Formula One victory as the Venezuelan impressively held off Ferrari 's Fernando Alonso to win Sunday 's Spanish Grand Prix , but his celebrations were muted by a fire in his team 's pit-lane garage . In only his second Formula One season , Maldonado secured Williams ' first win since 2004 despite losing the early advantage of his pole position , thanks to some timely pit stops after Alonso raced away from him at the start . Maldonado 's second pit stop proved key to his victory and Alonso then had to work hard to hold off Lotus ' Kimi Raikkonen , with the Finn 's teammate Romain Grosjean finishing fourth , while Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber was fifth and Red Bull 's Sebastian Vettel sixth . Alonso and defending champion Vettel are tied on points in the 2012 standings after a race that produced the season 's fifth winner in five races , though the German driver stays ahead on count back . Maldonado had started on pole after McLaren 's Lewis Hamilton was relegated to the back of the grid on Saturday because of a technical fuel breach , which resulted in the exclusion of all the Briton 's qualifying times by the race stewards . Hamilton fought up from the back of the grid to eighth , with teammate Jenson Button taking ninth . `` I think it 's a wonderful day , not just for me but for all the team , '' said Maldonado . `` We have been pushing so hard since last year to try to improve race by race and here we are . '' Spaniard Alonso added : `` Second place at home feels fantastic and thanks to the people that came here and the people at home and hopefully a step forward in terms of championship possibilities . '' However Williams ' celebrations at Maldonado 's win were marred after a fire broke out in the team 's garage just over an hour after the race finished as the Barcelona pit lane was engulfed in thick smoke . A number of personnel from the Williams , Force India and Caterham teams were taken to the medical center , though no serious injuries have been confirmed . Of the 31 people taken to the medical center , 24 were released and the remaining seven were transferred to local hospitals for treatment . `` All the team 's employees have been accounted for and four people have been taken to the circuit medical center for examination ; one with a minor hand injury and three with respiratory issues , '' said Caterham . Formula One 's governing body the FIA and the Spanish authorities have opened an investigation into the fire . Meanwhile , Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher 's collision with Williams ' Bruno Senna on lap 12 proved costly for Germany 's seven-time world champion , who was handed a five-place grid penalty for the Monaco Grand Prix later this month . Race stewards decided Schumacher was at fault in the incident which forced the retirement of both drivers .
Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado takes first Formula One win in only his second season . Maldonado 's Williams team secures first win since 2004 in Spain on Sunday . Fernando Alonso finishes second to join Sebastian Vettel at top of standings . McLaren 's Lewis Hamilton fights from back of the grid to take eighth place .