Spanish GP Report
May 10th 2010 15:48
The real business of Formula One began last weekend, with a sun-soaked Barcelona circuit kicking off the European leg of the championship. The warm, dry conditions remained all weekend, giving teams a chance to get to work and establish a clear idea of where they sit in the pecking order. In the Spanish sun, Red Bull set an unassailable pace, and Mark Webber put on his invincible gloves and dominated the weekend. Five races down, four different winners – things are getting interesting.
Red Bull
Mark Webber (1st)
The Aussie looked supremely comfortable and confident all weekend. He earned pole with a genuine pace advantage over teammate Vettel, and crucially, he didn’t undo all his good work off the line. Webber made a clean getaway and took command of the first corner. Riding the kerb on the exit, Webber had achieved his hardest goal of the race, to stay in front. From there it was game over. He effortlessly punished a chasing Vettel and Hamilton with a relentless string of ultra fast laps. When the flag dropped, he was 24 seconds in the clear - a forceful reminder that the man from Queanbeyan is very much a contender.
Sebastian Vettel (3rd)
Seb looked despondent in the post-race interviews, despite clinching third place with a failing car. He had no reply to Webber’s pace all weekend, and losing is not something the German takes well. While Webber streaked ahead in the lead, Vettel became embroiled in a battle with Hamilton, eventually losing second place thanks to a slow pitstop. He had the pace to occupy Lewis’s mirrors, but with about a dozen laps to go, Red Bull’s questionable reliability reared its ugly head and threatened a brake failure. Seb’s race engineer pleaded his driver to back off – lest he end up buried in a tyre barrier. Vettel begrudgingly did so and coasted home, behind Alonso. Hamilton’s late shunt elevated the Red Bull driver to the podium, but with Webber standing proud on the top step – it was not a great weekend for the youngster.
Ferrari
Fernando Alonso (2nd)
Nando’s army of Spanish fans turned out en masse in Ferrari clobber to support their local hero. And he didn’t disappoint, squeezing every last drop of performance juice from hi Ferrari to finish on the podium. The double-world champion was on the money all weekend, never losing sight of the faster Red Bulls and McLarens. A hearty dose of luck lifted Nando to second, and seeing Hamilton stranded in the gravel will have only added to his elation.
Felipe Massa (6th)
Felipe was never able to match his teammate’s pace at Barcelona, and with rumours that a certain Polish man is eyeing off his Ferrari seat, the Brazilian’s mediocre performance won’t have helped his confidence. Massa spent the race watching Button and Schumacher tussle. At one point, Massa did try to throw his hat into the ring, but ended up clipping Karun Chandhok’s HRT in the process of lapping, damaging the Ferrari’s wing. After that it was a quiet run to sixth and a few consolation points.
Mercedes
Michael Schumacher (4th)
Finally, Michael found a way to rid himself of the monkey – he simply ran it over with the new, long-wheelbase Mercedes. Michael was visibly happier with the longer-than-normal car – perhaps because it matches his longer-than-normal chin. Either way, Schumacher was at last able to better teammate Rosberg in both qualifying and the race. Still, the overall pace was lacking from Mercedes, and Schumacher’s commendable fourth came from a race spent defending stoically against a much-faster Jenson Button.
Nico Rosberg (13th)
The dreamboat’s dream came to an abrupt end in Barcelona – ending Rosberg’s impressive string of result and his dominance over Schumacher. The younger German was not as happy with the updated Mercedes and struggled for a good balance. A poor qualifying result was followed by a dismal race. After Kubica showed Rosberg where the grass was on the outside of turn 1, Rosberg lost track position and never recovered, eventually rolling in a lap down in unlucky 13th.
McLaren
Jenson Button (5th)
Button found himself in a familiar position, tucked directly underneath Michael Schumacher’s rear wing. The defending champion’s steering wheel readout went blank early in the race, meaning he had to rely on feel to make brake bias adjustments and gear changes. Despite this, Button had a very fast car underneath him – unfortunately a Barcelona’s non-existent passing opportunities and Schumacher’s stubborn car placement, meant Jenson could do no better than fifth. Five races down, though and he’s still the man at the top of the table.
Lewis Hamilton (DNF)
Hamilton was the only driver who looked truly able to threaten the dominant Red Bulls, and in the race he did just that. After some sloppy pit work by the Red Bull mechanics, Burnout Boy was able to usurp Vettel into second and split the Red Bulls. He was not able to pressure Webber, but had enough pace to see off any challenge from Vettel, until the German’s brakes decided they’d had enough. Lewis then needed only coast home for a strong podium, but his left front had other ideas and decided to thrill the Spanish fans by exploding on the penultimate lap, cruelly denying Hamilton any points. McLaren said they are investigating the cause, but considering Hamilton had only just set the fastest lap of the race before the failure, his trademark aggressive driving style may well have been a factor.
Force India
Adrian Sutil (7th)
It was another strong showing for Sutil – who is establishing himself as Force India’s go to driver. Starting from outside the top ten, the German was able to fight his way into the points on the first lap – and he tailed Felipe Massa to the flag, comfortably collecting some important points for his team.
Tonio Liuzzi (15th)
After a great start to the season, things are beginning to go a little pear shaped for the Italian Stereotype. Another decidedly sluggish performance in qualifying left Tonio at the mercy of fate if he wanted to score any points. As it was, he was bogged in the mire of the lower midfield, and looked completely ordinary against his teammate. Paul Di Resta must be rubbing his hands together.
Renault
Robert Kubica (8th)
An early silly season rumour doing the rounds is that Robert Kubica will be drafted in to replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari next year. Ferrari driver choices are usually the worst kept secrets in the universe, so it might not be worth discounting this – particularly as Massa looks less and less convincing against Alonso. But for now, Kubica is at one with Renault – again steering his wheeled-banana into the points. An early bump with Kobayashi may have kept the Pole from troubling Sutil, but eighth place was ultimately a satisfying result.
Vitaly Petrov (11th)
The Russian rookie was solid, if unspectacular in his first outing at Barcelona. After a disappointing 19th from qualifying, Petrov put in a disciplined performance and kept out of trouble. He picked up places thanks to Toro Rossos and Saubers flying about – but was just not fast enough to challenge for some points.
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Williams
Rubens Barrichello (9th)
The ancient Brazilian didn’t make the best of it on Saturday, qualifying a lowly 18th after failing to get a clear run. But, Sunday was a different story, and Woobens made a sensational start, claiming five scalps on the first lap, and steadily progressing his way to finish ninth, bagging two well-earned points.
Nico Hulkenberg (16th)
It was a tough day for Hulky, exacerbated by his teammate’s impressive performance. The German rookie lost spots at the first corner, unlike Barrichello, and then ran wide, damaging his car and leaving him to come home nowhere.
Toro Rosso
Jaime Alguersuari (10th)
Lil Algy came alive at his home grand prix – on the pace all weekend with his Toro Rosso and then displaying an almost care-free bravado on his way to a points-paying position. He did it the hard way too, first with a pitlane hiccup costing some time, and then for a careless accident with HRT’s Chandhok. Despite the setbacks, the rookie scored another point.
Sebastien Buemi (DNF)
Like his teammate, Buemi was in the wars on Sunday – however unlike his teammate, the Swiss pilot ended up on the casualty list. Some early argy bargy with De la Rosa left his car with a broken nose and some dodgy driving during the subsequent pitstop pinned him with a drive through. Finally, his hydraulics put him out of his misery.
Sauber
Kamui Kobayashi (12th)
Kamui finally gave the embattled reborn Sauber outfit some cause to smile, managing to haul his car into Q3 with some genuine pace. Unfortunately the familiar pang of woe returned when Robert Kubica’s understeering Renault pushed the Japanese driver into the dirt. Kamui recovered to the track, but was not able to reclaim his place in the points after being stuck behind the other Renault of Petrov for the rest of the race. At least he finished – an achievement by Sauber’s current standards.
Pedro de la Rosa (DNF)
Pedro’s return to his home grand prix was a tragic affair. From the relatively strong starting slot of 12th, Pedro came together with Alguersuari, causing irreparable damage to the rear of his car. He was forced to retire the car, and then went and found a river to fall into.
Lotus
Jarno Trulli (17th)
It was a trouble-free drive for winemaster Jarno in Spain. Despite reporting the car to be “difficult” the Italian veteran was able to finish comfortably ahead of new-team rivals Virgin.
Heikki Kovalainen (DNF)
Not so trouble-free of Heikki, however. The Finn never made it off the grid af his gearbox became confused and selected several gears at the same time. His Lotus refused to budge and it was game over before it had even began.
Virgin
Timo Glock (18th)
Timo led home a double-finish for Virgin, though was still some way behind Trulli’s Lotus. Nick Worth, Virgin’s technical director labelled later praised Timo and teammate Di Grassi for their patience – not doubt alluding to the fact that Virgin’s undersized fuel tanks required the drivers to complete the race in conservation mode. Frustrating for someone of Glock’s talents.
Lucas di Grassi (19th)
The rookie put in a steady performance at Barcelona – but was still nowhere up to the pace of his teammate or the Lotus cars. The Brazilian was slower than even the HRTs at the start, his car performing woefully on prime tyres. After swapping to the options though, Di Grassi High’s pace picked up and he was able bring the car home and complete Virgin’s brace of reliability.
HRT
Karun Chandhok (DNF)
It wasn’t a strong showing for Hispania Racing at the new team’s home event – not that they expecting much anyhow. Chandhok was solid and able stay ahead of the Virgin of Di Grassi until madman Algy came through to lap and instead crashed into the Indian driver. The damage sustained to the HRT’s suspension was too substantial and Chandhok had to retire.
Bruno Senna (DNF)
Senna was showing some decent pace at the team’s home GP, but in the end it was a rookie error at turn four that denied the Brazilian a chance to sight the flag.
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