Formula One Pirelli Spanish GP: Lewis reigns in Spain

Formula One now moves to the Circuit de Catalunya for the fifth race in the 19 race calendar. The circuit is noted for being one of the best testing facilities in Europe. The 4.665-km track has always provided the teams with valuable information during winter testing, and, for this year, it seems that the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team have made the best of it.

 

Mercedes have now won all five races this young season, with 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton winning four in a row, and teammate Nico Rosberg taking top honors in the first race in Australia.

 

Locking out the front row of the grid in qualifying, Hamilton and Rosberg were poised to claim another trophy for their efforts. Daniel Ricciardo in his RB10 took 3rd, while Sebastian Vettel, who wasn’t able to set a decent time in Q3 was supposed to start from 10th place, but having a gearbox change meant Vettel incurred another five-place penalty dropping him further to 15th.

 

As the lights went out, the Mercedes duo made a quick start off the line. Even better was the start of Valtteri Bottas in his FW36 (Williams Martini Racing)—he out-dragged Ricciardo into turn 1 and kept a decent pace to maintain his hold on third till late in the race. Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen fought it out, with Raikkonen eventually keeping his place ahead of the Spaniard. Massa in the other FW36 was hounding his former teammate for 6th place.

 

The usual suspects kept the fireworks on the track. Maldonado and Ericsson touched and were investigated, with the Venezuelan getting a five-second stop – go penalty. Meanwhile, Hamilton just kept his foot down and went about his race. He was lapping 2 seconds faster than Rosberg, and nothing it seems would stop another Mercedes 1-2 in Spain. Even after their pit stops, both cars still led the field.

 

Lap 25 saw the first retirement of the day. Jean-Eric Vergne in his Toro Rosso withdrew due to an exhaust problem. Later on, Kobayashi in the Caterham stopped on lap 36.

 

The driver of the day has to Sebastian Vettel. Say what you want about the German, but he drove a brilliant race, managing his tires and keeping on going even when he was languishing in the mid-field. Finishing 4th behind Ricciardo and conquering all the gremlins in his car took all of his skill.

 

The last few laps of the 66 lap race saw the Mercedes boys being allowed to race to the flag. The Ferraris also took on each other, with Alonso eventually taking 6th ahead of Raikkonen.

 

Lewis held on to take the flag ahead of Nico, while Daniel Ricciardo took his first official podium for the season (you may recall that he was disqualified after his podium in Melbourne due to a fuel flow infraction). Vettel finished 4th and Bottas came in 5th. Fernando and Kimi crossed the line in 6th and 7th respectively.

 

Hamilton now leads the championship with 100 points. Rosberg drops to 2nd with 97 with Alonso having 49 points good enough for 3^rd. Vettel is 4th with 45 points.

 

In the constructors championship standings, Mercedes leads Red Bull 197 to 84 points and Ferrari is 3rd with 66 points.

 

The jewel of the Formula One crown, Monaco, will play host to the F1 circus in two weeks’ time.

 

Will anyone be able to derail the Mercedes assault for the 2014 championship? Or will it again be a Nico and Lewis show?

 

Whatever the result, it is sure to be a cracking race.