Pastor Maldonado took his first and only Formula 1 race victory at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix – and it wasn't even the most important thing he did that day.
The Venezuelan racer had come under intense criticism for a poor debut season in the sport. He scored just one point in that first year and was dismissed by many as being little more than a pay driver.
Safe to say he silenced those critics over the Barcelona race weekend 11 years ago. The season famously began with the first seven races of the year being won by different drivers and Maldonado was the fifth in that sequence.
He benefitted from Lewis Hamilton's misfortune to take pole for the race. The Brit went quickest but didn't have enough fuel left for his in lap and so he was disqualified by the stewards. That bumped Maldonado up to pole and, even more impressively, he held off the challenge of home favourite Fernando Alonso to win the race itself.
It was probably as much of a surprise for Williams as it was for the driver himself. It was the his team's first victory in eight years and would have been very welcome on founder Sir Frank Williams' 70th birthday weekend.
Maldonado's on-track heroics deserved the limelight for longer than he ultimately got. Sir Frank was delivering a victory speech to his staff when a fire broke out in the garage which sent thick, black smoke spewing out into the pit lane.
Team staff, media personnel and photographers scarpered to get out of danger but Maldonado's cousin was wearing a protective boot on his broken foot and had been holding the winner's trophy. The racer picked up 12-year-old Manuel and carried him on his back down the pit lane and away from danger.
The incident brought teams from across the paddock together as Williams staff were joined by rivals in fighting the flames. The blaze was controlled after around 20 minutes but came at a cost. In total, 31 people were given treatment, mostly for smoke inhalation, including some mechanics from those other teams that had rushed to help.
Fortunately, there were no casualties and, even though some had been taken to hospital, everyone hurt made a full recovery. As for Maldonado, it was the weekend he secured his place in the F1 history books while also endearing himself to fans around the world.
