Jack Leslie F1: 2013 Spanish Grand Prix Weekend Review

The European season kicked off in the usual way, returning to the Circuit de Catalunya for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Returning to the well-used track gave teams the perfect opportunity to access their progress; they last tested there back in early March. It is a crucial weekend for teams to kick start the development race and start the European stint on the right foot.

Pirelli announced prior to the race weekend that they would bring a tweaked hard tyre compound to allow for greater choice in race strategy and lower levels of performance, coupled with better durability. One extra set of “prototype” tyres were also given to teams to use on Friday.

Whilst team members had been busy back at the factory preparing and finalising their upgrade packages, even starting work on their 2014 cars, drivers were able to relax and take some time out. Refreshed and ready, they walked into another unknown race weeken.

For a look at the Circuit de Catalunya, check out my Spanish Grand Prix Preview for a track guide, a look back at past races and an informative fact file. The drivers were busier than ever on Thursday, check out the Thursday Snap Shot for a look at what the drivers and teams got up to.

Here’s the JLF1 Blog’s weekend review of the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, with news on every session. The article is updated throughout the race weekend with all the latest track action reports.

FP1

After three weeks off, Formula 1 cars returned to the track for some practice action. With new upgrades to trial, dry weather was of huge importance to both the teams and drivers.

However, that dry weather was un-seasonably absent as rain clouds hovered over the Circuit de Catalunya. Track conditions were wet at first but gradually dried out, giving a few laps of slick running to teams in the closing stages.

By the sessions end it was Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari who was out front with a best lap of 1m25.252. The home favourite completed 20 laps and finished two tenths ahead of his team-mate Felipe Massa, true domination from the iconic team.

Jean-Eric Vergne was third after becoming the first driver to test out the track on slicks, even suffering an off track excursion in the process at the chicane. Grosjean and Sutil rounded out the top six; the former also suffered a spin early in the session.

They were not the only ones to suffer in the tricky conditions; Felipe Massa took to the gravel trap at turn seven when trying to contend with the damp track. Lewis Hamilton looked to go faster on his final lap but he was held up by one of the Red Bull’s, ending the session in sixth. Speaking of the Milton Keynes squad, Vettel finished 19^th and Webber’s best time was good enough for 20^th after limited running.

McLaren failed to show a presence at the top of the time sheets and both their drivers completed six laps a piece. Button failed to set a lap time and propped up the results, with Perez ending the day in 13^th. The limited running was costly for the team, who took a more cautious approach when testing their updates was perhaps more crucial for them.

FP2

Dry and sunny conditions came as welcome relief to many as the green light went out to kick off second practice.

It was a more straightforward session that saw teams start with qualifying runs, before completing a race simulation to close the session. After the lack of running in the first session, the final Friday session was contrastingly busy. Sebastian Vettel edged out home hero Fernando Alonso to top the time sheets with a best time of 1m22.808, just 0.017 clear of Alonso.

Mark Webber finished the session in third and was just under a tenth slower than his team-mate. Raikkonen, Massa and Hamilton were well within half a second of the triple world champion and the trio all completed well over 30 laps. Toro Rosso impressed in ninth and 11^th, mixing it with the Force India duo.

The Silverstone based squad had both drivers in the top 10 but Paul Di Resta suffered a scary tyre delamination as he entered the pit straight. This cut short his session and abruptly ended his race run. Both McLaren's completed well over 30 laps each but they both missed out on the top 10, Button ending the 90 minute session in 12th and Perez trailing him in 13th. They were 1.5 and two seconds slower than the leading Red Bull respectively.

Romain Grosjean was left scratching his head after finishing the session in 18th, just behind 2012's race winner Pastor Maldonado. Giedo van der Garde set a best time that was faster than both his team-mate and the two Marussia's, Caterham bringing a number of upgrades to Spain including a new vanity panel for the front wing.

FP3
Felipe Massa topped the final practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, setting a best time of 1m21.901 to go fastest after a flurry of lap times in the closing stages.

The Ferrari driver, like the majority of the field, moved to the medium compound tyre late on to attempt a qualifying run. Kimi Raikkonen narrowly missed out on the top spot and had to settle for second, just 0.009 seconds down on Massa, with Mark Webber, Romain Grosjean and Sebastian Vettel rounding out the top five.

The dry conditions came as a welcome relief to many despite grey clouds looming in the distance. It was a fluctuating session, taking time to warm up before cars emerged for some serious running. Aero paint was in high demand as teams made up for lost time to evaluate their critical upgrades.

Alonso made an appearence a the top of the timing screens on numerous occassions but slipped to sixth by flag fall. Di Resta, Sutil, Hamilton and Vergne rounded out the top 10, the Frenchman looked to be on good form. Rosberg and Button missed out on a spot in the top 10, McLaren struggled throughout the session and lost crucial running time on Sergio Perez's car thanks to a dislodged brake duct and power steering problems.

2012 race winner Maldonado was down in 15th, two spaces ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas. Charles Pic concluded as the fastest of the back-markers but Bianchi was not far behind, Chilton and van der Garde rounded out the session runners.

Qualifying
It's safe to say that qualifying is decreasing in importance, but the Circuit de Catalunya demands a good grid slot more than most due to the limited overtaking possibilities. That meant all eyes were on the track to see who would come out on top.

Q1
Spanish sunshine bathed the Circuit de Catalunya for the first 20 minute qualifying session, where the slowest six drivers were eliminated.

It was a quiet start to the session as the main championship players waited for the slower teams to kick off the track evolution, an important factor at the venue.

After waiting five minutes to get a time on the board, the cars emerged to create what was a very busy track. With that came traffic problems and there were a number of radio complaints. Raikkonen and Grosjean took turns at the top before Alonso bettered the Lotus duo.

Rosberg put his white-ribboned medium tyres to good use and went fastest with four minutes of the session remaining. By the chequered flag it was his Mercedes team-mate who had set the fastest time, a 1m21.728. Rosberg maintained second, ahead of Vettel, Raikkonen and Alonso. The middle of that trio lost time in the final sector after being blocked by Esteban Gutierrez. Webber, Massa, Grosjean, Di Resta and Vergne rounded out the top 10, whilst Sutil, Hulkenberg, Perez and Gutierrez just made it through to the second session.

What a difference compared to last year. The 2012 Spanish Grand Prix race winning team had a double knockout in the first session, Bottas setting the 17th fastest time. Maldonado was next up, whilst van der Garde was the top backmarker. Bianchi and Chilton out qualified Charles Pic who rounded out the 22 runners.

Q2
Almost mirroring the opening session, the drivers played a waiting game and the first time only arrived after five minutes of the session had been wasted.

The two Sauber drivers kick started the 15 minute session, with Hulkenberg bettering the previous effort from Gutierrez. Kimi Raikkonen soon blasted that time, going one second faster than the mid-field runners.

Alonso topped the table with five minutes of the session remaining, meanwhile Jenson Button went 15th with his first effort after a scruffy lap. The second runs arrived soon after, with Vettel improving to a provisional first place. The top six decided to stay in the pits due to the significant margin to the trailing field.

Webber went fourth fastest when he crossed the line, with Gutierrez staying 10th. He was swiftly displaced in the top 10 by first Di Resta and then Ricciardo. Sutil and Hulkenberg just missed out on the cut off. Hamilton advanced from 13th to first with what was a stunning lap time, cementing Mercedes as a contender for pole position.

By the sessions end Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso topped the time sheets with Raikkonen and Webber following closely behind. Rosberg and Perez made it through to the final session, as did Massa, Grosjean and Di Resta. The two Toro Rosso's just missed out on the top 10 shoot out with Ricciardo in 11th and Vergne in 12th. Sutil could only manage 13th, ahead of a disappointed Jenson Button. Hulkenberg and Gutierrez rounded out the runners in the 15 minute session.

Q3

The final 10 minute shoot out proved to be as dramatic as ever, with the stakes being even higher at the Barcelona circuit.

Drivers ran split schedules with some choosing to complete two runs and some just going for one timed lap. Kimi Raikkonen was the first to set a lap time but he was displaced by Rosberg, Alonso and his team-mate Romain Grosjean.

Felipe Massa managed to provisionally hold third after the first qualifying stints. With just a few minutes remaining Vettel emerged on track, closely followed by Raikkonen's Lotus and Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes.

The session built to a crescendo, with the usual frantic final few minutes. With just one chance to nab pole, it was definitely all to play for. Vettel was the first to cross the line, setting the second fastest time. Raikkonen lost time as his final lap went on and rose to third. Rosberg improved his time by a tenth of a second to stretch his advantage, with Hamilton slotting in second on the grid. Alonso could only manage fifth, Webber went eighth and Massa could only set the sixth fastest time.

Rosberg took pole position for Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton qualifying second and making it a Mercedes front row. Vettel and Raikkonen set the third and fourth fastest times, with Alonso and Massa filling out the third row.

Grosjean failed to emerge for a second run and dropped to seventh, with Webber, Perez and Di Resta rounding out the top 10. Post-qualifying, Massa and Gutierrez were deemed to have blocked Mark Webber and Kimi Raikkonen during qualifying and were given three place grid penalties.

Pos Driver                Team/Car              Time      Gap
 1. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m20.718s
 2. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes              1m20.972s  + 0.254s
 3. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m21.054s  + 0.336s
 4. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m21.177s  + 0.459s
 5. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m21.218s  + 0.500s
 6. Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m21.219s  + 0.501s ^
 7. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m21.308s  + 0.590s
 8. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m21.570s  + 0.852s
 9. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes      1m22.069s  + 1.351s
10. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m22.233s  + 1.515s
Q2 cut-off time: 1m22.019s                                       Gap **
11. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m22.127s  + 1.126s
12. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m22.166s  + 1.165s
13. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes  1m22.346s  + 1.345s
14. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.166s  + 2.165s
15. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari        1m22.389s  + 1.388s
16. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari        1m22.793s  + 1.792s ^
Q1 cut-off time: 1m23.218s                                       Gap *
17. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault      1m23.260s  + 1.532s
18. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m23.318s  + 1.590s
19. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault      1m24.661s  + 2.933s
20. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth     1m24.713s  + 2.985s
21. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth     1m24.996s  + 3.268s
22. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault      1m25.070s  + 3.342s
107% time: 1m27.448s

^ Gutierrez and Massa both given three place grid penalties for blocking during qualifying.

The Race
With the European season returning with a bang, there were plenty of questions waiting to be answered before the Spanish Grand Prix. Could the Mercedes drivers tackle their tyre woes to maintain track position? Would Fernando Alonso make his trademark flying start to take the fight to the "Silver Arrows?"

The Circuit de Catalunya is not usually renowned for its overtaking potential, but with two DRS zones the chances improved. However it proved to not be as powerful as first thought, particularly on the back straight. Pirelli predicted a three or four stop race, not what they wanted but it proved to be spot on.

The sun was out, the grandstands were packed and it was a sea of red as Alonsomania took control. Could the Spaniard advance up the order, read on to find out...

The revs rose, the lights went out and the 53rd Spanish Grand Prix was go, go, go! Off the line the two Mercedes drivers got clean starts and there was plenty of jostling behind. With the Circuit de Catalunya having the longest run from the grid to turn one, Vettel managed to use the slipstream to pass Hamilton for second. Alonso made a good start and advanced on Raikkonen before passing Hamilton for third around the outside at the third corner in what was a stunning and committed move.

Perez made a strong start for McLaren to move into the top six, whilst up ahead it was Vettel who was harrying Rosberg for the lead as they went into the third sector.Jenson Button had a disastrous first lap after the slow warm-up lap meant he could not get enough heat into his tyres, dropping him to 17th.

The cars crossed the line to end lap two and Rosberg had eked out a small lead over Sebastian Vettel. Alonso, Hamilton and Raikkonen were trailing close behind and Felipe Massa was latching on to the back of that queue. DRS was enabled on lap three, giving the drivers a double overtaking aid over the course of the 2.9 mile lap.

Things soon settled down on by the lap six mark as drivers found a rhythm and started to concentrate on tyre conservation. Hamilton began to drop back from third placed man Alonso and reported a brake imbalance, causing Raikkonen and Massa to bunch up behind him.

DRS help enabled Kimi Raikkonen to get the jump on the ailing Mercedes at the tight turn 10 hairpin. Meanwhile Mark Webber was the first of the leaders to take to the pit lane at the end of lap seven, giving away his four stop strategy. A new lap and another lost position for Hamilton after Massa sailed around the outside for fifth place, before the Brazilian pitted for the first of four times.

Sutil and Maldonado also made their way into the pit lane, as did Romain Grosjean who crawled in with a technical problem. Alonso and Hamilton debuted in the pit lane to get their first helping of fresh rubber. Rosberg, Vettel and Raikkonen reacted on the following lap but stopping later proved to be the wrong call. Massa made the jump on Raikkonen and Vettel lost out to Alonso.

Gutierrez led the race for a few laps, out of sequence due to the leaders early pit stops. The leaders vied for position behind and Alonso used DRS to good use and sailed past Rosberg for the provisional lead, much to the crowds relief. Vettel and Raikkonen soon displaced the German as he dropped down the order. Hamilton also dropped down the field too, getting passed by Daniel Ricciardo. It was something that the Brit would have to get used to.

Alonso was beginning create a commanding lead as the lap count moved in to the 20's. However drivers started to complain about their second set of tyres, with the pit stop window for a four stopper moving into sight. Massa was the first to stop and he was followed in by Mark Webber. Ferrari brought in Fernando Alonso a lap later for a fresh set of hard tyres, emerging in clean air and giving him the undercut on his nearest rivals.

Giedo van der Garde suffered a loose wheel after his second stop, the left rear eventually breaking free at turn 10. The Caterham team were fined for the mistake post-race. The focus at the front of the field was the yet to stop Vettel and Raikkonen. They started to bunch up but the latter was released when Vettel pitted, the "Iceman's" different strategy started to become clear.

Despite high hopes, Mercedes continued their downward spiral. Rosberg had dropped down the field and Hamilton lost out hugely in his second stint, moving on to his third on lap 26. Their struggles were even more evident when he was overtaken by Pastor Maldonado, radioing his team to say "and now I have been overtaken by a Williams." He was in disbelief.

As the half way mark of the race closed in, the top four were separated by 16 seconds as differing strategies commenced. The "T" word was mentioned far too much over team radio, to the frustration of many. Raikkonen and Vettel's battle resumed after everyone had completed their second stops, the Finn shot past his good friend thanks to DRS and differing tyre calls.

Like the first four races, it proved to be a waiting game. Strategies were split, drivers were on differing tyre compounds and the final order could not be seen until the chequered flag. Hulkenberg damaged his front wing after tagging one of the innocent Toro Rosso's in the pit lane, a strange incident which gave the German a stop-go penalty. As he emerged from his repair job Ferrari made the risky move to double-stop their drivers. It worked well and the two emerged in clean air.

However that clean air soon disappeared and he was once again staring at the back of Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus. The two were on differing strategies and Alonso was soon past him on his fresher tyres. Jean-Eric Vergne suffered a high speed tyre delamination on the run to turn four, he dropped down the field but managed to make it to the pit box.

The field continued to spread out as the leaders closed in on their final pit stops, Alonso and Raikkonen were split by eight seconds on lap 44 with the margin to Raikkonen and Massa also stretching to a similar amount. Strategies became clear and the race was somewhat decided due to the top four all having one stop left to go.

Raikkonen pitted for the third and final time on lap 46 as he went for a three stop strategy, the only one of the leaders to do so. Alonso pitted for his last stop four laps later, moving on to the hard tyres. He emerged in clear air and way ahead of Raikkonen's Lotus. Mercedes failed to make a three stop strategy work for Hamilton and he had to pit on lap 51, falling a lap down on the leaders. Massa and Vettel arrived in their pit boxes a lap later and emerged well behind the leading two. Jean-Eric Vergne retired soon after due to damage to the rear of his car.

With 10 laps remaining, Alonso was coasting at the front of the field. Raikkonen started to fall back as he tried to keep his tyres alive due to pitting a few laps earlier. With the chequered flag closing in, the end result started to become very clear. Nico Rosberg and Paul Di Resta were involved in a last gasp scrap for sixth place, with Button holding stations ahead of his team-mate in eighth.

Home hero Fernando Alonso wins the Spanish Grand Prix

He had looked strong from the off and his mid-race performance catapulted him into the lead. The crowd erupted into celebration as their number one driver crossed the line to take the chequered flag. The Spaniard had a strong start to move ahead of Raikkonen and kept in touch with the leaders early on. However it was his amazing turn of speed in the mid-point of the race that moved him to the front of the field and from there it he made it look easy.

Kimi Raikkonen was one of just a handful to make a three stop strategy work, proving that the Lotus E21 continues to be easy on its tyres. It was an impressive showing of consistency as he crossed the line to take yet another podium finish. Felipe Massa was a popular returnee to the podium after an impressive second and third stint, moving him ahead of the ailing Vettel.

Red Bull Racing struggled with higher tyre wear and Vettel dropped to fourth after challenging for the lead early in the race. He finished nearly 40 seconds down on the leader, crossing the line ahead of his team-mate. Webber had a quiet run to fifth after advancing through the field. He had a poor start but his recovery drive was commendable.

Nico Rosberg managed to fend off Paul Di Resta for sixth, but it was a remarkable drop of form for the Mercedes driver. His team-mate fared little better, finishing a lap down in 12th place. It had looked so promising early on but both "Silver Arrows" dropped down the order due to high tyre wear and a far from suitable balance.

Button managed to finish eighth, which was a good result seeing as he crossed the line in 17th place on lap one. Perez followed him across the line to take a double points finish for McLaren, a better than predicted finish for them. Daniel Ricciardo fended off the advances of Esteban Gutierrez to take the final point for Toro Rosso.

Hamilton had a dire race weekend to finish 12th, ahead of a similarly dejected Adrian Sutil who had trouble in one of his early pit stops. Williams continued to struggle, with Maldonado finishing 14th and Bottas in 16th. Nico Hulkenberg split them in 15th despite making six pit stops, one of which was for a stop-go penalty. Charles Pic recovered from a poor qualifying to finish top of the back-markers, with Bianchi trailing not too far behind. Max Chilton had a poor showing for Marussia and finished some distance behind his team-mate.

Vergne retired with damage to the rear of his car with 14 laps of the race remaining. Van der Garde also failed to finish the race, with Grosjean also having to watch from the sidelines after an early issue.
Classifications:

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                  Time/Gap
 1.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari               1h39m16.596s
 2.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault             + 9.338s
 3.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari                  + 26.049s
 4.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault         + 38.273s
 5.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault         + 47.963s
 6.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes               + 1m08.020s
 7.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes   + 1m08.988s
 8.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes       + 1m19.506s
 9.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes       + 1m21.738s
10.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         + 1 lap
11.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari             + 1 lap
12.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes                   + 1 lap
13.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       + 1 lap
14.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault           + 1 lap
15.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari             + 1 lap
16.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault           + 1 lap
17.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault           + 1 lap
18.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth         + 2 laps
19.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth         + 2 laps
Retirements:

Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         52 laps

Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault           21 laps
Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault               8 laps

The race could not quite match the drama and excitement of the previous four rounds, but it was certainly a dominant showing by Ferrari, an emotional victory for Alonso and Raikkonen cementing himself as a true title challenger.

GP2
It was another dramatic GP2 race weekend, with Marcus Ericson kicking it all off on Friday with pole position. He failed to transfer that into a race victory and it was series rookie Robin Frijn's who took the race win after a strong start and sharp strategy. Felipe Nasr finished second in the feature race and despite finishing third on the race track, Jolyon Palmer was given a post-race penalty which gave Frijn's Hilmer team-mate Jon Lancaster third.

The sprint race was won by Stefano Colleti after the Rapax driver made the most of maintaining his tyres. Frijns finished second for Hilmer and Nasr ended his race weekend with another podium in third. It was a chaotic end to the race after a rather tame start, with numerous incidents and some questionable driving on show.

GP3
Tio Ellinas got his GP3 campaign off to the best possible start with a win in race one, holding off series returnees Patric Niederhause and Conor Daly. It was an exciting start to the new season with the new GP3/13 car making its debut.

Race two marked the 50th race of the relatively new series, with Aaro Vainio making a fantastic start to take the lead. He led home his Koiranen GP team-mate Kevin Korjus in what was a dominant showing, with Patric Niederhauser again finishing on the podium.

10 May 2013

2013 Spanish Grand Prix Weekend Review

Home hero Fernando Alonso wins the Spanish Grand Prix

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