Another chequered flag has fallen on calling the Spanish GP to a close with an all to familiar result at the top of the podium as with the rest of they year so far - with the exception of China but that too was following the generic patten barring tyre wear rates. Everyone is now packing up and stewards investigations pending on four cars, three of which on the top four drivers, decisions I hope will be completed before I get to the end of the review so we have the full picture. And we still await whether HRT will protest the exhaust system everyone else is running.
It was a race of varying fortunes, where some drivers turned strong grid positions into a mediocre or rather dismal race performances and there were others who turned unfortunate qualifying or opening phases into a strong performance. And with the huge differential in tyre compounds there were a wide variety of strategies and approaches all sorts of cars were caught in positions they would rather not be.
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| Sourced from F1Fanatic.co.uk |
The Race
After looking back at the last review that did go on for eternity - could of stuck a cover on it and sold it as a multi-volume novel so today I shall try and be a little more concise and not ramble on too much.
So onto the start - Red Bull managed to turn a front row lockout into 2nd and 3rd into the first corner, reversing the order of the blue machines. Vettel had gained a position round the outside and was looking at the lead but Fernando had something against that idea and out-launched them all and stole the lead with a great launch. Grandpa Schumacher was belaying his advanced years and gained a bunch of spots running running three wide on the outside of turn three a-la-talledega with Petrov and Rosberg.
Elsewhere Kobayashi encountered a puncture either from contact or from running off the track on the opening lap and pitted for a new set - dropping him to the back. The rest of the field remained stable running up until the first round of pit lane action around the lap 10 marker when the grid wanted to shed their opening set of wheels.
After Vettel's stop he dropped in after the train building behind Schumacher but on the new soft tyres he Scythed past a slow starting button and then Struggling massa in quick succession on the out lap - this was followed by Rosberg on the pit straight. Alonso had pitted but came out behind Vettel releasing the RBR driver with Hamilton out front.
It was at this point after the stops Webber found himself stuck behind Alonso who wasn't on the same pace as qualifying showed but had enough top speed to out power the Webber's DRS charges on the main straight showing the Renault engine is a little down on power. The front two were building a significant gap as Fernando was slowing Mark up - and Button on an alternate strategy was closing in on fresher softer tyres.
Outside the front of the grid Mercedes were taking over Squadron duties this weekend from Renault by running in formation from the beginning all the way to the end of the race both passing Petrov on strategy. Heidfeld after a steady start was beginning the Weber-esque charge catching and passing all sorts of drivers including surpassing his team-mate. Something which must have been rather embarrassing for the Russian starting 18 places in front and then caught and beaten by the mid stage of the race.
While the Alonso/Webber battle was raging on the harder tyres Button drafted up to the back of the pair and easily dispatched both of them finally working out how to complete a three strategy without being crippled for the final phase. Other movers in the pack were the Sauber team who were catching up to and passing Buemi and Di Resta - one stop Perez heading Kobayashi for a change but Kamui was recovering very well from a early puncture dropped him to last.
The final round of stops had been completed and with the drivers finding there was still close to 20 laps left on the so by virtue of the soft tyre life being so minimal most of them were forced onto the harder tyre just to get to the end. In this round of tyre changes Webber had finally got clear of the Ferrari who had found a whole new dimension of lack of speed and was falling back. Attrition had only mysteriously claimed HRT's Liuzzi as he vanished from the timesheets.
An extra name was added to the list of retirements when Heikki Kovalainen had converted his 15th grid position into an investigation into the turn four barrier re-arranging the front suspension of the Lotus and knocking off the front wing. It was the resulting yellow flag under which both McLarens, Webber and Alguersuari were going a little too quickly and have been reprimanded but no penalties given.
Massa was fading even worse than his team-mate but was being rather rubbish all weekend to start off but less rubbish than Maldonado who had returned to the default place at the end of the mid-field. Felippe was caught and passed by one stop Perez and then Heidfeld before the car gave up and pulled off and died. Nick then passed one-stop Perez and was chasing after Rosberg in 7th but didn't have enough laps left and finished three tenths behind.
Back out front Vettel was having yet more KERs issues and had a very fast charging Hamilton in very close attention but didn't have the downforce in the faster corners to close up coming into the DRS zone making it easy for the German to stay out front. Lewis was unable to make any effect on Vettel but the pair were lapping fast enough to place everyone outside the top four a lap down including both Mercedes and a Struggling Alonso.
Vettel managed to maintain the lead as he crossed over the line to claim yet another win with McLarens finishing the podium and Webber the only other car on the lead lap. Alonso headed the two Mercedes cars and the only points scoring member of the Renault Squadron in the form of the charging Heidfeld. The final scores went to one stop Perez and a resurgent Kobayashi.
The Official Bonus Points Championship points winners
This race saw a lot of rather disappointing performances from the likes of Massa, Maldonado and Petrov who were much slower then the pace they are capable of this weekend. But amongst what was a sea of mediocrity there were some driving worth points in the Bonus Points Championship
10pts - Nick Heidfeld - For doing a Webber better than Webber did gaining 16 places in the race compared to the 15 Mark managed in China
8pts - McLaren - For not letting Red Bull vanish into the horizon making a race out of what was looking like a walk over
6pts - Hamilton - For being 0.6 behind Vettel and not being dropped during the race by the German
5pts - Schumacher - For out racing Rosberg and for what was an impressive opening sector on the outside of turn three
4pts Kobayashi - For turning a first lap puncture delay into a points scoring finish
3pts Perez - For a strong race and and overturning the seemingly declining pace of the Sauber team
2pts Alonso - For a brilliant start but not too many points as the rest of the race was rather mediocre
1pt - Vettel - For winning again, and for headbutting a camera post race
The Also Official Penalties Championship
Whilst the stewards were handing out penalties to everyone and their mothers in the GP3 races the main game drivers were being all to sensible even the instigation into the four drivers for speeding under yellow finished with only a light telling off but no actual action. So as a result the standings in this championship remain unchanged
The No Less Official Dodgy Dealings Championship
Well the weekend wasn't a wash with any suspicious activity on race-day anyway but there are going to be some penalty points dished out but less than in Turkey
- Schumacher - gets on both scoreboards today, but I have decided he is going to get a penalty point for his dubious qualifying actions yesterday doing only an outlap
- Barcelona - For a track which is designed specifically to stop overtaking - even in the support races so gets a penalty point for that
- DRS - For being rather useless this weekend in race trim which is also the track's fault but I've already given it a penalty point
Looking on to Monaco
With only a week to the most prestigious race of the season, where all the posh folk climb out from under their gold plated rocks for some television exposure to flog whatever crap made them that famous. All sorts of expensive shiny things get glued to driver's helmets for no apparent reason other than marketing and other irritating nonsense. But underneath all that showy silliness there will be a race going on and on the streets of Monte Carlo nothing is certain, anything can and will happen.
We may even see the almost extinct creation that is the safety car if it wasn't for the support series drivers having an interesting habit of running into each other Bernd Maylander would have nothing to do in the Mercedes SLS. And with the upcoming weekend also containing the epic Indy 500 we are heading for one of the greatest race weekends of the year when madness will likely ensue... and madness is always good for bonus points.
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