Google+ Jack Leslie F1: 2014 Spanish Grand Prix Weekend Report

9 May 2014

2014 Spanish Grand Prix Weekend Report

Round five of the 2014 Formula 1 season took place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain.
© Octane Photographic
It was the first European round of the year, meaning there were plenty of upgrades and developments taken to Barcelona, and followed a three week break after the opening four fly-away races.

The challenging 2.9 mile track has a mix of everything, which makes it the perfect testing venue. However, for the first time in many years, F1 headed to the country without any pre-season running at the circuit after opting to instead complete the final eight days of testing in Bahrain.

For a look at the goings-on from the circuit on Thursday, go here. Also be sure check out my in-depth race preview and track guide. Take a look back at some of the most memorable Spanish Grand Prix moments with my F1 Flashback.

Here is my weekend report for the fifth round of the F1 season in Spain, which will be updated after each session.

FP1
Lewis Hamilton's Spanish Grand Prix weekend got off to a positive start after he topped the opening practice session. The Brit's best lap of 1m27.023 was set in the closing stages and on the hard compound tyre.
© Octane Photographic

It was a busy start to the session with all 22 drivers setting a time in the opening 30 minutes. Jenson Button held the top spot for most of first practice before dropping to second place, just under nine tenths down on Hamilton's best time, by the chequered flag. 

Daniel Ricciardo was third for Red Bull, but his team-mate Sebastian Vettel was down in 20th and only managed for laps after an electrical failure cut short his session (and his day) with just over one hour to go. Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg rounded out the top five.

Kimi Raikkonen, Kevin Magnussen, Pastor Maldonado, Sergio Perez and Felipe Massa completed the top 10. Reserve drivers Felipe Nasr replaced Valtteri Bottas and finished 13th, while Giedo van der Garde drove Esteban Gutierrez's car and was 18th. The Dutchman suffered a scary brake failure at turn one and narrowly avoided the barrier.

FP2
In comparison to the first session, it was a relatively quiet start to second practice for the Spanish Grand Prix. Marcus Ericsson was the first driver to take to the track and set a lap time, but he didn't hold the top spot for long.
© Octane Photographic

Hamilton and Rosberg were fastest after the first runs and extended their advantage once they switched to the medium compound Pirelli tyre for qualifying simulations mid-way through the session. 

Teams then moved on to race runs on the option tyre in the closing stages, meaning Hamilton remained at the top of the timesheets with a 1m25.524, four tenths faster than Rosberg and one second quicker than Ricciardo in third.

Alonso and Raikkonen completed the top five, with Magnussen, Button, Massa, Maldonado and Kvyat next up. Hulkenberg was 11th with Vergne in 12th. The Frenchman's session came to a slightly early end after he lost a right-rear wheel at turn one, which he was handed a 10-place grid penalty for. Vettel was forced to sit out of the session due to a damaged wiring loom caused by an electrical issue in practice one.

FP3
Rosberg set the fastest time in the third and final practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend. The German driver's quickest lap, a 1m25.887, was set on the medium compound tyre.
© Octane Photographic

Hamilton failed to complete a time on the option Pirelli rubber after backing off and pitting in the final sector. The Brit held on to second place, just under nine tenths behind his team-mate, with his best lap on the hard tyre, ahead of Alonso, Massa and Grosjean.

Magnussen, Ricciardo and Button were next up, with Maldonado making it two Lotus cars in the top 10. Vettel completed the most laps of anyone in third practice after missing most Friday's running. Raikkonen was down in 14th for Ferrari.

Sutil finished the session in 17th and complained that the Sauber C33 felt completely different to how it did on the previous day. Chilton was five tenths faster than Bianchi, but his session ended slightly early after beaching his car in the gravel at turn five. He wasn't the only driver to make a mistake though, with plenty of slides and off-track excursions. 

Qualifying
Q1
The first 18 minute qualifying session saw the slowest six drivers eliminated from the fight for pole position. It was a relatively quiet start, with the struggling Gutierrez and Sutil the first drivers out on track for Sauber.
© Octane Photographic

The red flag emerged after just four and a half minutes thanks to Maldonado finding the wall at the exit of turn three, severely damaging the front-right corner of his Lotus E22. There was a rush to take to the circuit when the session resumed, with Rosberg soon moving to the top of the timesheets.

After a brief trip across the grass at the exit of turn five, Hamilton jumped to second place with his first timed lap. Vettel and Ricciardo were third and fourth on the hard compound tyre, with Massa in fifth.

The majority of the drivers switched to the option compound Pirelli tyre in the closing stages. Kvyat was sixth, ahead of Hulkenberg, Vergne, Bottas and Button. Raikkonen and Alonso were 11th and 12th on the prime tyre, with Grosjean just making it through to Q2 in 16th. Sutil, Chilton, Bianchi, Ericsson, Kobayashi and Maldonado ended the session in the drop-zone.

Q2
The second session saw 16 drivers battle for a place in the top 10 shoot-out, with Hulkenberg being the first driver to take to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the medium compound tyre.
© Octane Photographic

The German driver opened the timesheets with a 1m27.863 but he didn't hold the top spot for long. Massa and Raikkonen briefly led before Rosberg moved to the front, beating Hamilton by just under two tenths of a second.

Magnussen and Vergne both failed to set a lap time in the session. By the chequered flag, it was the Mercedes duo of Rosberg and Hamilton who set the pace, with Ricciardo, Massa and Vettel completing the top five.

Grosjean made it through to the final session for the second consecutive race, with Raikkonen, Bottas, Button and Alonso completing the top 10. Hulkenberg, Perez, Kvyat and Gutierrez were eliminated in Q2, with Magnussen and Vergne failing to get a time on the board. The latter will start last due to his 10-place penalty.

Q3
The top 10 shoot-out got off to a quiet start under the scorching Spanish sun. Rosberg was the first driver to emerge from the pit lane and he was swiftly followed by his team-mate. 
© Octane Photographic

Just as the two Mercedes drivers were starting their first laps, the session was red flagged after Vettel stopped at turn three. The four-time champion reported to the team that he had "no drive" after a gearbox problem. When the session resumed, it was an eight-minute fight for pole. 

The two Silver Arrows cars were the first out on track once again, followed by Alonso and Ricciardo. Hamilton held the top spot after the opening runs before pitting for a fresh set of tyres. 

The Brit was briefly displaced by his team-mate before reclaiming pole on his final run. Rosberg took a clear second place, two tenths down, two tenths down, with Ricciardo claiming third. Bottas jumped up to fourth with his final lap and Grosjean completed the top five. 

Raikkonen and Alonso were sixth and seventh for Ferrari, with Button, Massa and Vettel rounding out the top 10. The latter was then given a five-place grid penalty after Red Bull decided to change his gearbox. 

Results:
Pos  Driver                Team/Car              Time       Gap
 1.  Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes              1m25.232s
 2.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m25.400s  +0.168s
 3.  Daniel Ricciardo      Red Bull            1m26.285s  +1.053s
 4.  Valtteri Bottas       Williams            1m26.632s  +1.400s
 5.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus                1m26.960s  +1.728s
 6.  Kimi Raikkonen        Ferrari               1m27.104s  +1.872s
 7.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m27.140s  +1.908s
 8.  Jenson Button         McLaren            1m27.335s  +2.103s
 9.  Felipe Massa          Williams           1m27.402s  +2.170s
10.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull*                     
                           Q3 cut-off time:      1m27.602s  **
11.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India         1m27.685s  +1.597s
12.  Sergio Perez          Force India          1m28.002s  +1.914s
13.  Daniil Kvyat          Toro Rosso            1m28.039s  +1.951s
14.  Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber              1m28.280s  +2.192s
15.  Kevin Magnussen       McLaren     
16.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso**
                           Q2 cut-off time:      1m28.472s  *
17.  Adrian Sutil          Sauber                1m28.563s  +1.799s
18.  Max Chilton           Marussia             1m29.586s  +2.822s
19.  Jules Bianchi         Marussia          1m30.177s  +3.413s
20.  Marcus Ericsson       Caterham           1m30.312s  +3.548s
21.  Kamui Kobayashi       Caterham          1m30.375s  +3.611s
22.  Pastor Maldonado      Lotus-Renault
*5-place grid penalty for a gearbox change
**10-place grid penalty for losing a wheel in FP2. 

The Race
The 2014 Spanish Grand Prix was the 44th in F1 history and the 24th to take place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Rain soaked the circuit on Sunday morning, sparking excitement in the GP2 and GP3 races, but the sun soon emerged and dried the track surface. Mercedes dominated in qualifying, but could anyone take the fight to Hamilton and Rosberg? Read on to find out.
© Octane Photographic

The revs rose, the lights went out and the fifth round of the season - the first in Europe - got under way. Off the line, it was a strong start for Hamilton with Rosberg having to fend off the challenges of Bottas. 

It was a clean first two corners with Grosjean, Raikkonen, Alonso, Massa and Hulkenberg holding on to their grid positions. Vettel lost a place to Sutil on the run to turn eight and dropped to 16th. He wasn't the only driver to lose positions, with Button dropping to 13th.

The Brit went side-by-side with his team-mate through the final sector. Magnussen took to the run-off area at turn 13 and lost a position to Vettel, who cut across the McLaren's front wing at the chicane. At the end of the opening lap, Hamilton's advantage was 1.1 seconds.

The Brit extended his lead by half a tenth on the second lap, as the Ferrari duo battled further back. At the back of the pack, Maldonado and Ericsson collided at the 12th corner but both were able to continue after a trip across the grass. 

As the two Silver Arrows cars raced off into the distance in the early laps, Bottas started to come under significant pressure from Ricciardo. Despite being told to drop back to conserve his tyres, the Aussie attempted a move into turn one on lap seven. 
© Octane Photographic

Vettel started to make his way through the field and moved up to 13th on lap nine after passing Gutierrez around the outside at turn 10. Meanwhile Maldonado was handed a stop/go penalty for his earlier collision. The gap from race leader Hamilton and Bottas in third was 16.7 seconds by the 12th tour. 

On lap 13, Vettel became the first driver to stop for a fresh set of tyres. He moved on to the hard Pirelli compound and emerged just behind Chilton. There was movement up ahead with Magnussen displacing Gutierrez for 13th. Red Bull Racing pitted Ricciardo at the end of lap 14 for a new set of the medium compound, with Grosjean and Massa taking to the pit lane on the following lap. 

Alonso was the lead Ferrari to pit but traffic meant he couldn't move ahead of Raikkonen. Hamilton was the first Mercedes to stop on lap 18, with the Brit emerging in clear air. His team-mate stayed out until the end of lap 21 before taking to the pit lane for a set of hard compound tyres. 

Rosberg emerged behind Hamilton, who completed the second stint on the medium Pirelli rubber. Raikkonen attempted to overtake Grosjean on lap 26 but he couldn't make the move stick. However, he perfected the move on the next tour to take fifth. Vettel had quietly moved into the top 10 after the first pit stop sequence and soon latched on to the back of Massa's Williams FW36. 

The Brazilian driver took to the pits for the second time on lap 29. At the front of the field, Hamilton held a 4.5 second lead over Rosberg but the 2008 world champion wasn't completely happy with the handling of his W05. Vettel moved up another position after passing Grosjean in the second stops.
© Octane Photographic

Kobayashi retired from the race with a brake problem. Vettel moved ahead of Massa, before following Alonso past Magnussen later in the lap. Hamilton switched to the prime tyre on lap 43, with Rosberg taking to the pit lane for a set of options two laps later. 

Like Bahrain, Hamilton and Rosberg were on different tyre compounds for the final stint. The gap between the leading duo was just two seconds by lap 53. Further back, Alonso stopped for the third and final time with 12 laps to go and emerged behind Vettel.

The Red Bull driver swiftly closed in on the leading Ferrari and displaced Raikkonen for fifth place at turn 10 on lap 56. Hamilton's advantage was down to 1.2 seconds by lap 59, with Rosberg gaining through traffic. Further back, Alonso moved ahead of his team-mate with three laps remaining at turn four.

Vettel was also on a charge and passed Bottas at turn 10. Hamilton locked up at the same corner and lost over half a second to his team-mate. The Brit just managed to hold on to first place to score his first race victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and his fourth win in a row.

Lewis Hamilton wins the 2014 Spanish Grand Prix

The Brit snatched the championship lead from his team-mate after a dramatic and thrilling fight in the closing stages, despite being on the slower tyre compound. He wasn't happy with the balance of the car throughout the race but did just enough to score the victory.
© Octane Photographic

It was another strong drive from Rosberg, helping the Mercedes team to score another 1-2 finish. However, as in Bahrain, he couldn't find a way past his team-mate and had to settle for second place. Ricciardo completed the top three, scoring his first official podium of 2014 after his Australian Grand Prix exclusion.

It was an impressive and controlled drive from the Aussie, who finished 49 seconds behind the two Silver Arrows. Vettel stormed through the field from 15th on the grid to take fourth, proving that Red Bull Racing has the second fastest car. He completed some great overtakes en route to a top five finish.

Bottas was fifth for Williams. He had a strong start but ultimately didn't have the pace to stay ahead of the two RB10s. Alonso moved up to sixth late in the race after stopping three times, with Raikkonen in seventh. Grosjean scored the Lotus team's first points finish in eighth, with Perez and Hulkenberg completing the top 10.

McLaren failed to score a point for the third consecutive race with Button and Magnussen in 11th and 12th. Massa slipped to a disappointing 13th, with Kvyat and Maldonado next up. Gutierrez, Sutil, Bianchi, Chilton and Ericsson rounded out the classified finishers. Kobayashi and Vergne were the only retirements.

Results - 66 laps:
Pos  Driver             Team/Car                  Time/Gap
 1.  Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes              1h41m05.155s
 2.  Nico Rosberg       Mercedes                   +0.636s
 3.  Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull                +49.014s
 4.  Sebastian Vettel   Red Bull              +1m16.702s
 5.  Valtteri Bottas    Williams              +1m19.293s
 6.  Fernando Alonso    Ferrari                 +1m27.743s
 7.  Kimi Raikkonen     Ferrari                     +1 lap
 8.  Romain Grosjean    Lotus                     +1 lap
 9.  Sergio Perez       Force India             +1 lap
10.  Nico Hulkenberg    Force India               +1 lap
11.  Jenson Button      McLaren                  +1 lap
12.  Kevin Magnussen    McLaren                 +1 lap
13.  Felipe Massa       Williams                 +1 lap
14.  Daniil Kvyat       Toro Rosso               +1 lap
15.  Pastor Maldonado   Lotus                    +1 lap
16.  Esteban Gutierrez  Sauber                 +1 lap
17.  Adrian Sutil       Sauber                +1 lap
18.  Jules Bianchi      Marussia               +2 laps
19.  Max Chilton        Marussia                +2 laps
20.  Marcus Ericsson    Caterham               +2 laps

Retirements:
     Kamui Kobayashi    Caterham               34 laps
     Jean-Eric Vergne   Toro Rosso              24 laps

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