A look at the Spanish GP

[Dare]

Kimi Raikkonen looks forward to a post-race balloon, a gift from PF1
Another belter of a race, the fifth winner in five races, but the Pirelli malcontents are beginning to grow...

Star of the Race
Pastor Maldonado, Williams, 1st
Five races, five winners and joyously one of them is now Pastor Maldonado. There could be no more popular winner than a Williams driver on the weekend of Frank's 70th. (Even though EJ and the BBC had celebrated Frank's 70th in China.) And he didn't put a foot wrong either - this wasn't an inherited win, like a 'Panis at Monaco' - this one was sweated out. Obviously he got lucky in that he didn't have Lewis Hamilton to contend with from the start - because if the engineer in charge of Lewis's fuel replenishment in Q3 had been keeping an eye on it, then Lewis would still have been on pole. In fact, there's a bit of banter in the PF1 office now that former Williams man, Sam Michael, could be the new McLaren Albatross. Last season when he was with Williams they were dire, this season he's left and they're winning races, while the team he's moved to are dropping wheel nuts and running out fuel in qualifying. There's no science to back up this theory and the contrast in fortunes is probably more to do with Renault engines, Mark Gillan and Mike 'Prontaprint' Coughlan arriving at Williams, but it's a thought.

Surely there will be no more questions now about the validity of the investment in Williams from the Venezuelan state oil company. And with no official visit to the UK from premier Hugo Chaves scheduled any time soon, the sound of the Venezuelan national anthem ringing out followed in quick succession by God Save The Queen is going to be an interesting combination confined to GP weekends.

Overtaking Move of the Race
Lap 40: Lewis Hamilton on both Toro Rossos
Schumi might not like the Pirellis, and Mark Webber's getting a bit brassed off about them now, but the differing rate of degradation provided for overtakes in places we'd never seen at Barcelona before - way beyond the remit of the DRS. Lewis got past Bruno Senna into Turn 11, Kamui's favourite overtaking spot was Turn 10, (with a little tyre kiss thrown in for good measure), Sebastian took P5 off Nico Rosberg uphill into Turn 9, but Lewis drove past both Toro Rossos one on the inside of Turn 3 and one on the outside of Turn 4 on the same lap. Epic.
Lewis had every right to be hacked off by the stewards, but his pace on Saturday was phenomenal. If Barcelona is supposed to be the universal track where a good lap time bodes well for all kinds of circuits, then to be almost half a second quicker shows that the team have taken a significant stride forward.

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 2nd
No more damage limitation for Fernando Alonso, with the updated F2012 we're into pace exploitation. How great a job he did was evident from how far back his team-mate was. Perhaps Felipe will soon join the Schumi chorus.

Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus, 3rd
You can imagine Kimi Raikkonen spending the whole season disappointing himself. At this rate, though, he could disappoint himself all the way to a second driver's title. This race he disappointed himself by not catching Alonso in time and finishing third. In Bahrain he disappointed himself by picking the wrong side of Vettel to overtake and finishing second. In qualifying he disappointed himself by not going quicker. He is the Eeyore of F1. His cup overfloweth. Somebody should buy him a balloon.

Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 4th
The ying to Kimi's yang is Romain Grosjean, the man with the biggest neck in F1 since Justin Wilson. Romain survived more contact en route to a fortunate P4. He had a contact with Sergio Perez on the opening lap that could have ripped his front wing off or spun him round in front of the field but ended up giving him nothing but a bit of lost impetus and a slightly less-than-showroom Lotus. On Lap 12 he caused an avoidable collision with Bruno Senna that lost him some more wing parts but should have been investigated by the race stewards and also should have resulted in a drive-through (maybe harsh on a first offence but given that he'd already ruined Perez's afternoon it should have been automatic).

Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber, 5th
He bounced off both Button and Rosberg on his way to P5 after a disastrous opening lap of the race. A great recovery.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 6th
A race that had everything for Seb apart from a hatful of points - great overtakes, lots of pit-stops, a drive-through penalty and a new nose for a reason he didn't fully understand. Or was prepared to reveal.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 7th
An afternoon spent getting to know the W03's tyre deg a bit better without the anxiety of working out where his team-mate was in the process.

Losers

Race Stewards
Like football referees we ought to have them named very prominently so we can see who's making the race-deciding decisions. There also should be some formal process for them to explain their decisions. It's not like they have to make split-second verdicts, they get the luxury of replays and post-race analysis and still they come up with a load of rubbish.
Take this race. Why was Lewis Hamilton sent to the back of the grid after qualifying when it was his second lap time in Q3 they should have thrown out? We're here for the show and at least Lewis provided something to watch. With one minute left on the clock in Q3 only two cars had set a time! Fans don't fill the grandstands to see great tactical uses of the rulebook - as demonstrated by Vettel sitting for a minute at the end of the pitlane at the start of Q3 to make sure he was first in the queue. Hamilton put in two attempts at pole, some cars only tried once, two didn't even bother setting a lap time and one was on the back of a lorry. Did the Sauber have enough fuel in or did they not bother checking because it didn't get into Q3?
Hamilton wasn't allowed to keep pole which was the correct decision, but if you infringe on your fastest lap, such as cutting a chicane or going too much off track, you lose that time. Hamilton clearly had enough fuel in for his first run. But he wasn't sent back to P6, he wasn't even relegated to P10 for being thrown out of Q3, he went to the back of the grid. That has to be either stupidity or prejudice, because there's no logic to it.
Now take Lewis's actions at the Hungaroring last year. He spun the car on track and flicked it round to point the right way just as Paul di Resta was coming through. Di Resta had to swerve his Force India to avoid the McLaren and the result was a drive-through penalty for Lewis. In this race Sergio Perez was pushed off track by Grosjean. He then angled his Sauber straight back to the track and rejoined just in front of Hamilton who had to throw his car off the circuit, picked up dirt and dust on his tyres and then got passed by BOTH Marussias into the next corner. That's surely an easy drive-through penalty - exactly the same offence, except in 2011 Lewis didn't make Paul di Resta lose any places. This race? Nothing for Perez. And it's not like you needed special footage to see the incident, it was on the race broadcast.
This is why we need permanent professionals making clear, consistent decisions.

Qualifying Rules
Surely they have to ditch the rule that says drivers who don't complete a timed lap in Q3 can still choose their tyre for the race. Drivers in Q3 who don't complete a lap within 107% of the pole time should be made to use the tyres they used for Q2

Mark Webber, Red Bull, 11th
As Mark predicted on Saturday, races from the middle of the grid at Barcelona suck and to finish 11th after starting 12th - with two of the cars in front dropping out - is an indication of the afternoon he had. It also looks like Mark Webber has joined the 'I Hate These Pirellis' club with his post-race comments. "If you push you have to pit." Meaning the moment you try and use the car's pace, the tyres run out. "It's good for the fans if they like it, but it makes it more challenging for us in different ways." And you could see from his expression it wasn't a challenge he enjoyed.

Michael Schumacher, Mercedes, DNF
It would be interesting to see if Michael has another view of his crash into Senna at the end of the season. His immediate reaction was that of a motorist trying to shift the blame of an accident that from the outside looked clearly his fault. It's true that Senna moved across a little under braking but the problem seemed more that although it was Senna's braking zone, it wasn't Michael's.

Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 15th
Having redressed the early season deficit to Alonso, the contrast in performance between the two Ferrari caballeros was painfully obvious again. Felipe was mystified as to why he and Vettel should get a drive-through penalty when the cars around them didn't. They were all in a train together so a couple of drivers must have escaped that penalty by the skin of their teeth.

The BBC Forum
Always great value, the post-race forum was as good as ever. Before things took a more serious turn in the paddock, Eddie Jordan damaged his foot tripping over a cable in the Williams motorhome. After being given some first aid by the McLaren physio, David Coulthard managed to borrow a Force India trolley and EJ was wheeled down the paddock despite his protestations that it was turning into a panto. No, it wasn't. They bumped into Lotus reserve driver Jerome D'Ambrosio.
Jake Humphrey: "Eddie's hurt his ankle that's why we're wheeling him up and down the paddock."
Jerome D'Ambrosio: "Or is it the age?"
Eddie Jordan: "You'll never drive for me that's for sure!"
Or even push the trolley

by Andrew Davies for Planet F1

[lkjohnson1950]

About the Red Bull wings, Speed had some footage of bits of rubber wedged into one particular front slot almost totally blocking it, as well as footage of Webber almost losing it when the front of his car washed out mid corner. Vettel's was changed as a precaution, I think. Alonso is obviously getting something from the Ferrari that Massa can't. I think the car is tailored more to Alonso and Massa has to adapt to it, much the same as Webber last season. I also think Massa has developed a bit of a mental block being so clearly the #2. I don't buy the idea that Ferrari is way off the pace. They are having some problems with qualifying, but their race pace has been pretty good at most of the races. Kimi is a top flight driver, he will be disappointed with anything but a win. And personally, I think the new aero rules have affected the results much more than the new tires.  The gap in down force between RB and the mid pack is much smaller. McLaren is making silly mistakes and really needs to get their support team up to the level of their designers and drivers.

[cosworth151]

I watched the race on Sky. When they changed Vettel's front wing, Brundle pointed out that one of the small wings on the left side was flapping free. It was very noticeable on the replay.

[Jericoke]

I watched the race on Sky. When they changed Vettel's front wing, Brundle pointed out that one of the small wings on the left side was flapping free. It was very noticeable on the replay.

BBC figured it was the rubber jammed in, or else something not visible.

I was wondering if RBR has designed two noses, one for the first half when the cars are full of fuel, and one for later when the cars are lighter.

Is that allowed - using two different designs during a race?  Are changed parts required to be presented for scrutineering?

[John S]

Blimey Dare your post race analysis is amazing, such flowing and incisive comments on the whole damn race,    I take my hat off to you.  
Did you have a weekend vacation from work?    

Pastor has proved he's not just the pay driver in the Williams team, what a drive from him   , and no doubt it has gone down well in Venezuela so Frank may keep his sponsors for another year.

Not much more I can add as you seem to have covered it all Dare. - Oh there is one thing Kamui's overtake on Jens was way above the lewis pass on the two STR's, a McLaren should not be troubled long by the 2nd string Red Bull cars. Kobayashi's move however was solid gold, and in a car that at best is evens with Mclaren or more probably perhaps inferior.  

The other thing I would mention is that the top runners finished pretty much in starting grid order, in fact the top 9 (save for Lewis) finished in pretty much their quali position after allowing for Schumi and Perez crashing out. So much for the Spanish GP being changed by the DRS overtakes, the show might be more watchable but the finishing order looks surprisingly similar to races of old.  

  

[lkjohnson1950]

I believe the winner of every race this season has started on the front row except Alonso. Makes saving a set of tires for the race look a bit unproductive.

[el_duko]

Kimi Raikkonen looks forward to a post-race balloon, a gift from PF1
Another belter of a race, the fifth winner in five races, but the Pirelli malcontents are beginning to grow... ETC

Credit where credit's due, this was all written by Andrew Davies for Planet F1.

http://www.planet-f1.com/driver/3260/7755307/Spanish-GP-Winners-and-Losers

[John S]

Kimi Raikkonen looks forward to a post-race balloon, a gift from PF1
Another belter of a race, the fifth winner in five races, but the Pirelli malcontents are beginning to grow... ETC

Credit where credit's due, this was all written by Andrew Davies for Planet F1.

http://www.planet-f1.com/driver/3260/7755307/Spanish-GP-Winners-and-Losers

As you say el_duko credit where credit's due, and that is obviously to Andrew Davies and Planet F1. Must say it's a jolly good summation of the Spanish GP. 

I thought it looked a little too verbose for our Dare's work,   which is why I suggested that it must have taken him most of the weekend.   



 

[F1fanaticBD]

Still great job Dare for posting it..

Though I definitely agree with you John, it was way too not Dare, the redneck Kentucky kid we know..

[Cam]

Hamilton clearly had enough fuel in for his first run. by Andrew Davies for Planet F1

How does he know that? He could just have easily been short on the first run as he was on the second.

[F1fanaticBD]

Hamilton clearly had enough fuel in for his first run. by Andrew Davies for Planet F1

How does he know that? He could just have easily been short on the first run as he was on the second.

Making me a bit confuse Cam, if you are short in the first run, how on earth you could make the second run?

[Jericoke]

Hamilton clearly had enough fuel in for his first run. by Andrew Davies for Planet F1

How does he know that? He could just have easily been short on the first run as he was on the second.

Making me a bit confuse Cam, if you are short in the first run, how on earth you could make the second run?

Hamilton didn't run out of fuel.  he didn't have enough fuel for a sample.  It's no big deal to run around the track once, set a blistering time 'underfueled' (i.e., enough fuel to run the lap and return to the garage, but not provide a sample), and then run around again with more than enough fuel for a sample (which makes me wonder... why doesn't that happen more often?)