Spanish Grand Prix review
Once again it wasn’t the best of races to watch in Formula One, but Red Bull’s Mark Webber won’t care as he dominated the Spanish Grand Prix to take a lights-to-flag victory yesterday.
The home favourite Fernando Alonso came second in his Ferrari while Webber’s teammate Sebastian Vettel took the final podium spot finishing in third. Webber was untroubled from pole position and picked up the third win of his career, adding to the German and Brazilian Grand Prix he won last season.
It was a nice Sunday drive for Webber as he was able to cruise to the chequered flag having built up a major gap. “It was a special victory. The first one is good but this one is right up there with it. I had to work very hard yesterday, not that you don't ever when you are at the front in Formula One. But it was a crucial pole. I felt very good in the car. The car wasn't easy at the start but it was always nice to see the gap going away and that helps. It gave me good confidence from there and off we went. I was just getting ready for a clean pit stop and making sure the tyres were getting to the back part that first stop as well,” said the Australian.
The Red Bulls were certain to run away with the race after securing another front-row lockout in qualifying, but McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton kept up with the front duo and nipped in front of Vettel after the first round of pitstops and looked good for a large haul of points, only to suffer a puncture on the penultimate lap in turn three and crash into the barriers. It was a case of another tyre issue for Hamilton to contemplate as his championship chances were slightly dented.
That meant Alonso was promoted to second after having a quiet race. The Spanish fans were not too bothered, all 90,000 of them, as their favourite Spaniard coming second felt like a race win.
“Well, now I feel extremely happy after the result. When you gain two positions in the last part of the race and unexpected positions as well it feels great and you do have a fantastic feeling. Overall the weekend has been so-so for us. I think in terms of results it was a fantastic weekend for us, so we need to be satisfied,” said Alonso.
Vettel could have won nearly all of the races this season, but due to poor reliability, he is not top of the drivers’ standings. Once again his car let him down, and in the remaining few laps he had to nurse it home because his brakes had failed. His team had told him to retire, but the young German ignored these calls and managed to get the car to the finish, albeit driving extremely cautiously and dabbing the brake pedal. Like Alonso, he benefited from Hamilton’s misfortunes and picked up a podium.
“Well, a lot of things went wrong today. Then 15 laps from the end I lost the front left brakes and the last ten laps I was lucky as there was so much gap to the back to Michael. I was able to bring the car home. I don't know how to feel. Third is not a bad position and I think we had a horrible, quite bad race, with a lot of things happening we didn't want to. It is good to take some points but we need to work and keep pushing. Mark had a race without any problems but for me it was the other way around, so difficult,” said Vettel.
Finally, after four races, Formula One fans saw the real Michael Schumacher return to some kind of form, achieving fourth position in his best result since his comeback. He got the jump on Button in the pitstops after they nearly collided in turn one. This left the Briton fuming with the German’s driving. “I didn't really know where Michael was on the outside of me. He turned in and if I didn't back out of it we would have crashed. So he didn't really give me a lot of room there. There you go, you'd think with his experience he would know. It wasn't really the right move,” said Button.
He may not have had the best car underneath him, but Schumacher’s racecraft was still intact, and he kept a very frustrated Button behind him for the majority of the race. The 2010 world champion could not find a way past the 41-year-old as he parked his car in the right place to block off any attempt at an overtake. “It was quite an entertaining race right from the start, even if we knew from the beginning that there would not be a chance for us to compete for a podium place if everything goes as normal. Still it was exciting for me to manage to keep the position that I gained,” said the seven-time world champion.
Button still leads the drivers’ championship with 70 points. Alonso, yet to reach the heights of his first win of the season in the opening race in Bahrain, stands in second position with 67 points, while Vettel is in third with 60 points, with Webber in fourth on 53 points.
Next up on the calendar, a special place in Formula One drivers’ hearts, the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday.
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