Spanish GP Thread - Contains Spoilers of Race/Qualifying

[Fernando]

F1 returns to its spiritual home of Europe this weekend, with the now traditional opener of this phase of the season at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain.

Following four flyaway races, this race is poised to be the first time any major upgrade packages are brought to the new-for-2014 cars due to the proximity to the teams' bases.

The 2014 Spanish GP in a nutshell

Track: Circuit de Catalunya. Permanent circuit.

Race start time: 1pm UK time Sunday (2pm local).

Laps: 66.

Track length: 4.655 km.

Tyre allocation: Hard (orange) and Medium (white).

DRS Zones: Two with separate detection points (Pit Straight and between Turns 9 and 10).

Driver steward: Danny Sullivan.

Lap record: Kimi Raikkonen - 1:21.670 (Ferrari; 2008).

2013 pole: Nico Rosberg - 1:20.718 (Mercedes).

Form guide

Fernando Alonso took his second win on home soil last year meaning he and Kimi Raikkonen (two) are the only multiple winners currently on the grid. Both though are a long way behind six-time victor Michael Schumacher in the overall victory tallies. Of the other current F1 drivers, Jenson Button, Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel and Pastor Maldonado have all stood atop the podium in Spain.

2013 result: 1. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari); 2. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus); 3. Felipe Massa (Ferrari); 4. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull); 5. Mark Webber (Red Bull); 6. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes); 7. Paul Di Resta (Force India); 8. Jenson Button (McLaren); 9. Sergio Perez (McLaren); 10. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso).

Last five winners in Spain: 2013: Fernando Alonso (Ferrari); 2012: Pastor Maldonado (Williams); 2011: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull); 2010: Mark Webber (Red Bull); 2009: Jenson Button (Brawn).

Tyre allocation

For the second time this season, after Malaysia, Pirelli are bringing the hardest two tyres in their range to the Spanish GP. The orange-marked hard tyre will serve as the weekend's 'prime' rubber and the white-marked medium the 'option' choice.

'The Montmelo circuit is well known for putting high-energy loads through the tyres, while ambient temperatures can also be notable at the Spanish Grand Prix,' Pirelli explained. 'Tarmac roughness is quite high, and the tyres on the left-hand side are particularly stressed.'

Sky Bet odds

After the first victory hat-trick of his F1 career, Lewis Hamilton unsurprisingly remains the overwhelming favourite to make it four in a row at Barcelona. Sky Bet are offering odds of 4/7 that the Briton does so, with his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg more enticingly priced at 9/4 to end Hamilton's winning run.

Fernando Alonso is 14/1 third favourite to win on home soil again, but Red Bull at priced shorter than Ferrari (9/1 v 12/1) to become the first non-Mercedes victors of 2014.

Source:SkySports.com

[Guest]

Looking forward to this, been a long three weeks.

Apparently, it's upgrades galore for free practice. Renault have upgraded their engine package (although they've admitted they won't be at full power until Canada) & with RB's aerodynamics, I can see them closing the gap significantly this weekend, with the help of the track's long corners & design. Vettel has reverted to an old chassis for this weekend, therefore it will be interesting to see how he compares with Ricciardo. Sauber have got a new light-weight chassis, Ferrari have also got new front & rear wings & new engine software package & Lotus have further improvements on engine mapping & a new cooling and bodywork package.

Hopefully by Sunday evening, Hamilton can finally lead this year's drivers world championship.

[sportform]

It is going to be interesting to see if what/ any cars have improved for being in Europe and getting upgrades from the last race.

[AlciG]

There's one thing I really want this weekend..

Hearing the sentence: "Sebastian, Daniel is faster then you."

[Guest]

Vettel's had a terrible start to the weekend, playing catch-up from now on. Ricciardo should have the edge or has the platform & more setup time to do so.

Mercedes still way out in front really, even with the circuit not being solely about power. As I said before, Renault are confirming that their engine units cannot be used at 100% until Canada. Ferrari look to have made a small step of improvement but nothing significant.

[mystiroakey]

LH smashed practise-- 1.6 ahead of Alonso in the ferrari.

is that an improvement??

I suppose we will see in qualy.

[CaledonianCraig]

The way I see it all of the teams have brought improvements to their cars here so largely any steps forward are cancelled out by other teams improvements as well.

[GSC]

Terrific Senna piece by the beeb. Chilling

[Guest]

Maldonado   

[bogbrush]

No improvements matter unless they are in the engine department. They aren't, so all it affects is the running order of the losers to Rosberg / Hamilton.

[GSC]

There are engine improvements but not enough yet.

Grosjean putting the Lotus up there is testament to that

[GSC]

Yawn fest at the top again.

Great effort from Bottas and Grosjean

[GSC]

Can see it in Nikos body language. He knows he doesn't have the pace

[dyrewolfe]

I wouldn't say it was a yawn-fest.

I thought it was an interesting duel for pole between Hamilton & Rosberg. Nico's final lap was 8 tenths quicker than Lewis' previous best, but then Lewis managed to go 1.5 tenths quicker than that. Pretty tense stuff.

Another great job by Ricciardo to get 3rd. Absolutely amazing laps from Bottas and Grosjean to get 4th and 5th.

Ferrari still looking pretty poor, as are McLaren...very disappointing.

Is it just me or is anyone actually starting to feel a bit sorry for Vettel? This is turning from a dodgy start into an extended run of bad luck / technical problems...

The outcome tomorrow may not be in much doubt, but there should still be some interesting tussles in the top 10.

[dyrewolfe]

Can see it in Nikos body language. He knows he doesn't have the pace

1.5 tenths - not much in it, in terms of quali times.

I think any driver would be cheesed off if they had been out-qualified by their team mate in 4 out of 5 races. Especially as this is the first season he's had a title-winning car. He's obviously desperate to keep Hamilton reined in. Will be interesting to see if he can stay with Lewis tomorrow and give himself a chance of winning.

[mystiroakey]

Thank you 4G. Got to watch that on the train..

This is one of LH's worst tracks. So great performance.

He has been flawless so far this year and should now get optimum strategy from finishing in pole. As long as he stays first that is.

[Guest]

No don't feel sorry for Vettel at all. He had that arrogant grin plastered on his face for four years, collected four WDC, while Webber endured torrid bad luck. Yeah, Webber wasn't that great admittedly but, it's nice to see the problems now reverting to the other side of the garage.

The track is boring but the Championship is not a yawn-fest, it's quite fascinating the inter-team battle at Mercedes & the psychological turmoil that Rosberg is enduring after being beaten again.

At the end of the day, anything can happen tomorrow. Lewis could DNF, Rosberg gets gifted the win & then leads Hamilton by 29 points. That would be incredibly tough on Lewis to claw back, even upto this point he still hasn't closed the deficit from his DNF in Australia. That's how important it is to avoid a DNF & why this Championship is so intriguing.

[GSC]

When the most intriguing thing about a Championship is a guy might have a DNF, it's not that intriguing

[mystiroakey]

I have this sinking feeling that rosberg could win the championship without actually beating Lh in any race. 

There clearly isn't enough of a gap between 1st and second in the points scoring.

Bernie should have stuck with his medals scoring idea.

[Guest]

I have this sinking feeling that rosberg could win the championship without actually beating Lh in any race.

Yeah, I share that worry. You have to accept DNF's will probably be the decisive factor, when you have one dominant car. It could be like the 1989 season, whereby Senna won like double the amount of races that Prost did but Prost won the title because Senna endured numerous DNF's & a DSQ.

[mystiroakey]

aye John. I remember that like it was yesterday. It was the schuy years that are hazy.

In regards to Vettel. I suppose if it is just bad luck why not do it in a year you cannot win.

Riccardo 1 second down... Great 3rd spot but tough to gauge without Vettel finishing

[GSC]

Ultimately Rosberg benefits most. Worst case scenario if you finish is 2nd

[bogbrush]

I don't feel sorry for Vettel, like I never feel sorry for any of them.

What's really uncomfortable now is that because these two drivers are able to trounce anyone else so easily there's no question whatsoever that the car is simply untouchable; at least in previous years Webbers performance showed that the RB was a very good car but not enough on its own to leave everyone standing.

Hamilton is rightly being lauded, but he'd prefer not to have Nico stuffing it up everyone's nose that this is a Mercedes competition.

[Guest]

Anyone else see the rumour about Alonso wanting to join Mercedes next year? Apparently, there is some truth to the story from some sources. Doesn't surprise me if it's true, he's not been given a chance by Ferrari & time is running out on his career & his faith in the Italian outfit. He's played second fiddle to Vettel for years & now it looks like he's playing the same game with Hamilton/Rosberg, in what could be a dominant team for a number of years. If you can't beat em', join em'.

[Fernando]

It's not a surprise. That being said be interesting to see who they would replace at Mercedes if did join. Let's face it they like their Germans there.

That being said i suspect it's BS & Vettel will end up there sooner rather then later.

Apparently Ferrari made an offer to Adrian Newey. Double his money at RB and complete control of the Aero department and the people he wants around him.

[lorus59]

The Merc seems very reliable so I expect Hamilton to win every race this year. The title sewn up about 5 races from the end and it will be interesting to see if the people who moaned about Vettel winning so much will have the same opinion about Hamilton.

[Guest]

If Hamilton won every race from Spain n Rosberg came second, up until five races from the end, I'm pretty sure Hamilton still wouldn't be champion. 100 pts would still be available + throw in the 50 pts in Abu Dhabi makes it even more of a certainty this title will more than likely go further than you think. Only DNF`s on one side of the garage, brings this title to a premature end.

As for your Vettel/Hamilton comparisons, yeah, I`m sure there will be moaning & negative talk from certain fans, its to be expected. Whatever sport you are involved in or watch, nobody likes a dominant individual or team over time because it becomes predictable & boring.

[GSC]

I'm not sure you can dismiss the Vettel hatred so easily. The Merc is more dominant than any RB

[mystiroakey]

and LH is twice the driver of vettel and Rosberg is twice the driver of webber.

its not a good mix..

But ok if you are a LH fan, and also very sceptical about how good Vettel was- because riccardo is showing him up big time

There is no vettel hatred(from many that question him - we have just never seen him perform in a worse car or as a level pegging or no 2 driver..(basically not a no.1)

[GSC]

That's a somewhat biased view

[mystiroakey]

No its not its a sceptical view.

Vettel hasn't shown us anything ever in a lesser car

[mystiroakey]

Trust me on this GSC- This season will tell us more about vettel than the last 4- If he can start actually racing(the way only Alonso and LH seem to be able to do) in a lesser car then fair play- a deserved 4 time world champ..

But if doesn't- its all on webber being a shocking driver and Adrian Newy being a top engineer.

[lorus59]

Didn't he win in a Torro Rosso? I don't think it was a dominant car.

[mystiroakey]

one off race - almost every driver has won the odd race when the big boys all go out- and red flags and yellow flags and rain etc.

Just look at how many times LH or alonso(and even kubica- my pick for the new top driver before his accident) has performed in a lesser car.

[lorus59]

He got pole and won, I would not call that a fluke. If he had inherited the lead due to accidents/car failures you could call it a fluke.

[mystiroakey]

so sorry you are saying that he performed once in a lesser car(But actually it was due to on the day because i remember the race- it was a flood in qualy and the race and many in the top cars messed up)- you dont remember the race- you have got all this from wiki- yet LH and alonso have won like 30 plus races and 80 odd podiums without being in a top car!

[mystiroakey]

Anyway- As said he has this season to prove if he really is a quality race driver- lets see what he does. I am not saying he is rubbish and i am not even counting him out as one of the top 5- but what i am pretty certain off as are almost everyone else- replace vettel with lewis or alonso- or even a lesser driver and they would have also won 4 on the spin!!

[lorus59]

I do remember the race, I have been following F1 since the late 70s and went to Monaco in 1980. The fact that it was wet showed that he was a top driver. I don't deny that Hamilton and Alonso are great drivers but I think Vettel deserves to be included in their class.

[mystiroakey]

this season will show if he is in there class- not the last 4 - thats the point.

RB are the second best car proved by riccardo- vettel needs to be picking up 3rds like he used to pick up wins.. Then we will see.

[GSC]

Yeah and the McLarens Hamilton had were hardly shoddy cars, both Mercs have been at least competitive.

Had the best car 07 and 08. Cars make the vast majority of the difference, the whole Vettel had a great car thing is silly, nobody wins consistently without a great car in this era

[mystiroakey]

do you think he is up there with lewis and Alonso?

do you think he has to prove to the world that he can compete with alonso?- with to be fair quite similar equipment- that is the interesting battle for me

We know alonso and LH have matched each other and ended up costing Mclaren the title by doing so.

Is vettel up there in a similar or lesser car- LH and alonso have proved that. Vettel has proved he is a great front runner- but not much else yet.

He needs to prove it not just others talk it.

[Fernando]

Hamilton is 1 time WDC who should be a 2 times WDC. He only has 1 because a rain shower after he nearly choked it away again. Hamilton isn't even in Alonso's class frankly. You have Alonso at the top, Next down is Hamilton/Vettel/Kimi. If proving yourself in an average car is the cost does this make Maldonado top class since he won a race in an average Williams?

Be interesting to know your thoughts on Schumi since he's cars for 90% of his career were dominant as well.


Vettel didn't have a dominant car for his 1st title. He was 3rd going into the final race. RB/Mclaren/Ferrari shared a fair few wins between them.

But someone how i doubt Sebastien cares that someone thinks he's not great whilst he counts his money and shines his world titles.

[GSC]

Easily. The teammate thing is silly. Who have Hamilton and Alonso faced outside of 1 year? Button and Kovalainan? Post accident Massa, Grosjean? None of those are particularly above Webber before he went into retirement mode last year.

As for proving, he's a 4 time world champion. Frankly it's a bit sad to say he needs to prove anything. I've yet to see Hamilton win a race in anything close to the level of a Toro Rosso, does he need to prove that?

[mystiroakey]

Hamilton, vettel and alonso have all both got there best no.2's at the moment(bar the initial hamilton alonso)- that is the only thing that is really making this season still exiting.

At the end of it - it will tell us a lot.

[GSC]

Ultimately these days, the best car wins the title.

Put Chilton in a Merc and he'd be 1st or 2nd minimum

[mystiroakey]

we know that? as said give that last 4 years RB to any other top driver and they would have won 4 titles.

That is why its interesting to see what vettel can do in a lesser car

[GSC]

Give this years Merc to any driver and they could win the WDC.

Doesn't lessen the achievement any, by the same vein it doesn't lessen Vettels. Likewise Hamilton had the best car for his WDC. Only Alonso has really competed with a lesser car in the Ferrari.

[GSC]

Really im wondering where the Hamilton outperforming a dump car talk is coming from. He got beat by Button when McLaren delivered a bad car.

[Fernando]

In other news Vettel has a 5 place penalty for changing his gearbox So he'll start from 15th.

[mystiroakey]

He had a lot of issues in that one season. Yet has always maintained a top 5 throughout. 

I take it you do not rate Lh as a top driver then..that's what this nonsense is about I take it?

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