Jack Leslie F1: 2014 Spanish Grand Prix in pictures

The 2014 Spanish Grand Prix was dominated once again by the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which hosted the first European round of the year, always produces stunning and interesting photography. Here is the race weekend in pictures:

All images in this piece are courtesy of my photography partners Octane Photographic. You can see more of their work right here.

Friday

Sebastian Vettel suffered a disastrous Friday after his RB10 broke down mid-way through the first session. He was eventually forced to miss practice two due to the problem.

Lewis Hamilton got his weekend off to a positive start after setting the fastest time in both Friday practice sessions.

Giedo van der Garde was one of two reserve drivers who took to the circuit in first practice. He replaced Esteban Gutierrez at Sauber, while Felipe Nasr drove instead of Valtteri Bottas at Williams.

Marussia were happy with the steps forward made on Friday, with the team edging further away from Caterham.

Both Friday practice sessions were relatively busy, with plenty of upgrades to test. It was also the first time that the drivers had driven the 2014-spec cars at the circuit, as it wasn't a venue for pre-season testing.

Saturday

McLaren suffered mixed fortunes in qualifying. Jenson Button made it through to Q3, while Kevin Magnussen failed to set a time in Q2 due to a problem with his Mercedes engine.

Sebastian Vettel progressed to the top 10 shoot-out but he parked his car on his out lap after a gearbox issue. He was eventually handed a five-place grid penalty, as the problematic unit had to be changed.

Despite looking to have the upper hand on Saturday, Nico Rosberg missed out on pole position to Hamilton by just under two tenths of a second.

Kimi Raikkonen had a more encouraging qualifying session. The Finn's best Q3 lap was one tenth faster than Fernando Alonso's and was good enough for sixth on the grid.

Pastor Maldonado crashed out of Q1 after running wide and spinning at the exit of turn three. In contrast, his team-mate Romain Grosjean qualified in fifth place.

Sunday

Hamilton held on to his lead into the first corner, with Rosberg just managing to hold off Valtteri Bottas.

The midfield battle was close in the early laps. In this picture, you can see Magnussen climbing over the kerbs and Vettel attempting to make up ground.

Marussia's improvements meant Jules Bianchi was able to battle Adrian Sutil in the early stages of the race.

A poor first lap saw Button drop to 13th place, while Vettel made steady progress up the order after narrowly avoiding a collision with Magnussen at turn 14.

Hamilton soon established a clear lead at the front of the field, but Rosberg would eventually close to within six tenths by the chequered flag.

The final few laps saw Vettel battle with Bottas for fourth place. The four-time champion eventually found his way through.

Alonso and Raikkonen also duelled in the closing stages, with the home hero overtaking his team-mate to take sixth.

Hamilton took his fourth win in a row and his first at the 2.9 mile circuit, snatching the championship lead from his team-mate.

The Brit was clearly ecstatic when celebrating with his team after climbing out of his Mercedes W05.

Hamilton, Rosberg and Ricciardo posed for the podium picture after the race....

... before spraying the celebratory champagne.

Catch up on the on-track action with my Spanish Grand Prix weekend report. For driver reaction, go here.

12 May 2014

2014 Spanish Grand Prix in pictures

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