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The 2013 Spanish Grand Prix was all about saving tyres, meaning drivers had to work extra hard to secure a good result at Barcelona. While some drivers struggled on their tyres, some managed the Pirelli tyres and other things well to give a head start to their European campaign. One of them was Fernando Alonso, who secured his 3rd victory in front of his home crowd having started the race from 5th place. His teammate Felipe Massa was equally impressive as he occupied the final spot on the podium, having started down in 9th place after his penalty. Kimi Raikkonen, Paul di Resta and Daniel Ricciardo also impressed at Circuit de Catalunya. We give our ratings to the drivers who impressed us most during the Spanish Grand Prix and publish the views of fans who voted across on our Facebook, Twitter and Google+ page.
Fernando Alonso – 10/10Fernando Alonso proved why most F1 enthusiasts, journalists and others consider him the best driver on the grid after the Spaniard took a comprehensive victory on a four stop strategy in Spain. At the start of the race, Alonso jumped Kimi Raikkonen and slow starter Lewis Hamilton to move into 3rd position. He then undercut Sebastian Vettel during the first round of pit stops to move into 2nd place and in touching distance of pole sitter Nico Rosberg whom he eventually overtook on the following lap. From there, he continued on his strategy to take his 32nd career victory and 3rd in his home country Spain. After the race, he was taken to the Stewards for waving his national flag on his in-lap but the Spaniard escaped without any trouble.
Felipe Massa – 8/10
Felipe Massa continued with his renaissance in 2013 after taking the final spot on the podium in Barcelona. The Brazilian driver qualified in 6th place on Saturday, just one-thousandth of a second shy of his teammate Fernando Alonso. However, he was forced to start from 9th on the grid after he incurred a 3 place grid penalty for impending Mark Webber in qualifying. In the race, however, he only moved forward, overtaking Perez, Grosjean and Webber to move into 6th place by end of lap 2. He then chased Lewis Hamilton, who was struggling with his tyres and brake balance to move into 5th place. He continued to move up the field and passed Raikkonen but eventually fell behind the Finnish driver. Nevertheless, Massa would be more than happy with his first podium of the season.
Kimi Raikkonen – 8/10
Mr. Consistent Kimi Raikkonen made four podiums out of five races with an impressive show at Barcelona. Raikkonen improved from his poor qualifying in Bahrain after starting the Spanish Grand Prix from fourth place. At the start of the race, he did lose a place to Alonso, but overtook Lewis Hamilton in next few laps. He then lost a place to the other Ferrari of Felipe Massa, but eventually passed the Brazilian driver. During the second round of pit stops, Raikkonen jumped championship leader Sebastian Vettel who was on a four stop strategy to move into second place and just four points behind the German in the drivers standings. After the race, the Finn described his result as disappointing as he could only finish second. Respect.
While Di Resta wasn’t as impressive as he was three weeks ago in Bahrain where he narrowly missed out on a podium finish, the Scottish driver put on a spectacular show to finish in 7th place, just a few car lengths behind Nico Rosberg. Di Resta, who started the race from 10th on the grid, moved into 8th after his first stop but then lost ground to Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo who emerged as a strong rival to Force India in the midfield battle for 5th at Barcelona. But he fought his way back to 7th place to bring home 6 championship points for the Anglo-Indian team. He is now level with Romain Grosjean in the drivers championship with 26 points.
Esteban Gutierrez – 7/10
Esteban Gutierrez put on a great drive from 19th on the grid to finish 11th after switching late to a four stop strategy in Spain. During this course, he led a Grand Prix for the first time and finished just 0.3 seconds behind Daniel Ricciardo and 10th place. Had he passed the Australian driver, he would have become the first rookie of the season to score a championship point. Still, he managed to silence his critics as his countryman Sergio Perez did in Bahrain last month.
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