Gateway to Europe: The 2013 Spanish Grand Prix

            After the four ‘flyaway’ Grand Prix around the Middle East and Asia, Formula 1 returned to Europe in the form of the Spanish Grand Prix today. The return to Europe certainly has its advantages for those watching in Britain, as finally qualifying and race times remain fairly stable. Getting up in the early hours of the morning to watch a race is never as pleasant as enjoying it over lunch! The 2013 championship remains incredibly open, with Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull looking the early favourites to take their fourth successive title, but Ferrari, Mercedes and Lotus believe they have a realistic chance. The Spanish Grand Prix certainly puts the most pressure on the Ferrari driver of Fernando Alonso, being his home Grand Prix. The vast majority of the 95,000 fans that arrived at the Catalunya circuit were undoubtedly supporting their home man. However, in qualifying, fans that had come supporting the Ferraris were left disappointed.

 

                Qualifying has very much been Mercedes forte so far this season, and so it proved again yesterday. A front row lockout for the German team, with Nico Rosberg leading Lewis Hamilton by a couple of tenths. A second successive pole for the German, who would have hoped to perform better in the race this time, having finished 9^th after starting from pole in Bahrain. Nevertheless, after qualifying, both Rosberg and Hamilton made statements to the press claiming that they were not confident about race pace. Vettel was once again successful in qualifying, finishing in 3^rd place and giving himself a great chance for his third successive race win. Home favourite Alonso, however, had to settle for 5^th place, behind Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen. British drivers, apart from Lewis Hamilton, had a relatively poor qualifying session, with Paul di Resta top in 10^th place. Fellow Brit Jenson Button had a poor qualifying campaign, finishing in 14^th place, a full 6 places behind his McLaren rookie teammate Sergio Perez.

 

                The early talk pre-race was all about pit stops and how many each team would do, with much debate over three or perhaps even four stops. As soon as Mark Webber pitted on lap 7, the decision appeared to have been made for four pit stops. With the developments Mercedes have brought to this Grand Prix, there was also much discussion over whether the Mercedes drivers would be capable of keeping the pack behind them. This was particularly important after the dismal performance of the Mercedes from pole last time out. The start of the race was certainly better for Rosberg from pole than Bahrain, as he led away for the first few laps. Hamilton, on the other hand, was instantly swamped by both Vettel and Alonso, falling back behind the pair of them by the end of the first sector. Whilst Rosberg may have led, he was certainly not pulling away from the lead group, causing a six car queue for the early laps. The first round of pit stops reshuffled the order slightly, with Rosberg maintaining the lead after a tight battle with Vettel, only for Alonso to split the pair of them after his stop. Alonso then went on to take the lead a few laps later, causing Rosberg to lose a further two places on the same lap. The indication was very much that the Mercedes were once again struggling to compete for race pace. This was illustrated by Lewis Hamilton, who at one point was fighting for 15^th place with a Williams, causing several exasperated exchanges on the radio. He continued to have a disappointing afternoon, finishing 12^th.

                In the second half of the race, both Ferraris and the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen appeared to get stronger as the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel and the Mercedes faded. Raikkonen’s claim to the race win was strengthened once it was realised that he planned on stopping one fewer times than the Ferraris, forcing Alonso to push harder to attempt to widen the gap. Felipe Massa, having a rather undramatic but successful race, had managed to get himself from his qualifying spot of 9^th, to 2^nd, by the end of the 2^nd stops. Whilst he had to relinquish his 2^nd place to Raikkonen after the final stops, a strong 3^rd place is certainly something he would have settled for at the beginning. Home boy Alonso, however, could not be touched, eventually opening up a gap of 12 seconds to the rest of the field, and comfortably taking the victory at the Spanish Grand Prix. As with Bahrain, the crowd were treated to a final few laps battle, this time between Rosberg and Paul di Resta, for the 6^th spot, which Rosberg eventually took. An incredibly disappointing end to a promising day for the Mercedes team, who will have to seriously re-think their race approach for Monaco.

 

                Alonso’s win at the Spanish Grand Prix has re-ignited the title chase this year, after a mini-period of Vettel and Red Bull dominance. Whilst this race was neither as controversial, nor as eventful as the Bahrain Grand Prix, there was much within it that implied that we have an incredibly competitive championship this year. With the ultimate drivers’ circuit of Monaco up next, there is much more than just pride for the protagonists this season to fight for.