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Outstanding performer
What else could we expect from the home hero after having been robbed of a good result last time out in Bahrain due to a faulty DRS? Although qualifying was not up to the mark with the Ferraris being 5 tenths off the pace of Rosberg, Alonso was always quietly confident for the race knowing well the fact that in the past 22 years of racing at Catalunya, nobody has won a dry race from behind 3rd on the grid. It all started with a mega move round the outside of Turn 3 on both Raikkonen and Hamilton. From then on, the race was under his control with Rosberg holding up Vettel in front. In the end, though, it was clear that the Ferrari of Alonso was the outright fastest car and he would have won if no major problem would have occurred. A sublime drive supported throughout by the ardent thousands of Spanish fans ended with a vital 25 points, with Vettel out of the podium positions.
Winners
Another race, another podium. With a hattrick of 2nd places, he is now only 4 points behind Vettel in the championship. His metronomic consistency has made him a strong contender for the championship and his points-scoring run was extended to 22 races, just 2 behind Michael Schumacher‘s all-time record. This was another of those typical-Kimi (since his return) drives, with waiting for the chances when they come and quietly accumulating big points while his main rivals fall by the wayside. He might have even been a contender for the win but for the 3-stop strategy, which didn’t quite work out on this track as it put a lot of load on the left front tyre. Thus, we could see a delta of greater than 1 second with tyres being only 3-4 laps older.
Felipe Massa
It was his first podium this season. Had it not been for the penalty after qualifying, he might have easily made it a Ferrari 1-2. It was a very good drive from 9th to 3rd nonetheless, at a track where overtaking has been notoriously difficult in the past. Although he couldn’t quite match the pace of his teammate – who was on a different level altogether – his pace was at least equal, if not slightly better, than those around him. During the last stint, he tried to close down a 15-second gap to Raikkonen in lesser laps but had to abandon the chase after his tyres lost performance and protecting the final podium place was much more important. Such a drive would give him a lot of confidence going into Monaco and we can expect him to be in the fight for podiums regularly from now on.
Esteban Gutierrez
His performance had been somewhat disappointing until now, with a move into the limelight only after shunting Sutil from behind in China. But in Spain, he stepped up a level and led an F1 race for the first time in his career! This time around, we saw a much more aggressive Esteban who was interested in fighting for positions and was on a mission after being handed a penalty for blocking, after the qualifying. With teammate Hulkenburg having some bad luck, it was his chance to impress the bosses at Sauber. No doubt he would have caught some eyes but still that first point eludes him. He was much happier with the car all weekend and that showed during the race. Next step will be to build on this and score a point as soon as possible.
Losers
Not a common name in this category! But if you are Sebastian Vettel and you don’t finish on the podium, you should consider yourself a loser, isn’t it? On a more serious note, this was a strange race for Red Bull. It all started in qualifying with Webber only managing a lowly 8th after his tyres had gone off in Sector 3 of his final lap in Q3. The race wasn’t too impressive either, with Vettel having to change his strategy mid-race and we know how much that can hurt. As a result, he finished well behind Massa, who started 9th. Although, Pirelli had brought hard tyres more to Red Bull’s liking, the Milton Keynes-based outfit still suffered with high tyre wear and just did not have the pace to match the Ferraris and Raikkonen.
It was a horrific race after locking out the front row. There wouldn’t have been a worse way to make the Mercedes board rethink about their involvement in F1 than finishing 6th and 12th from 1st and 2nd on a weekend when boss Dieter Zetsche was present. The perennial problem of tyre wear is still present and it seems to have aggravated after the latest round of upgrades. Hamilton’s words on the radio that he was overtaken even by a Williams sums it all up. The sport itself comes under question after such performances because nowhere else would you expect at least one of the cars on the front row outside the top 5 without something major happening during the race. The team needs to really sort out the problem quickly (sadly it doesn’t look like so with the problem present since way back in 2010) or the same story will repeat itself.
Williams
12 months earlier, the same team was celebrating Maldonado’s win at this track. What a contrast this time around! Even with the new upgrades, both their cars were eliminated in Q1 and the gloom was not lifted with disappointing 14th and 16th place finishes on Sunday for Maldonado and Bottas respectively. Unlike McLaren, Williams are not complaining about a correlation problem but what exactly has gone wrong is still not clear. Again, they haven’t gone for a completely new concept, so how a car finishing regularly inside the points last year would be limited to bringing up the rear of the midfield is difficult to explain. Claire Williams is clearly not having a good start to her career in her new senior position with not a single point being earned until now. Heads might have to roll soon.
