Qualifying:
Rosberg claimed his first pole since last year’s Abu Dhabi GP.
"I needed it sooner rather than for later that is for sure. It is one step in the right direction to winning the race this weekend and it was a good day in the office for sure," he said afterwards.
"I just didn't have the pace today," Hamilton conceded. "Nico did a great job today and I don't know if I really had the balance where I liked it. But I did my best and tomorrow there is still a lot to play for."
Sebastian Vettel claimed third in his Ferrari ahead of Valtteri Bottas' Williams, with Carlos Sainz an impressive fifth for Toro Rosso ahead of team-mate Max Verstappen. Kimi Raikkonen qualified seventh in the second Ferrari with Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull), Felipe Massa (Williams) and Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) completing the top 10.
Impressive show by the rookies.
Local hero Fernando Alonso will start from 13th position, in front of teammate Jenson Button.
For the first time this year, neither Lotus made it into the top ten.
Toro Rosso outpaced sister team Red Bull once again.
Renault power units are not bad in pace. All Renault powered cars in Q3.

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Nico Rosberg won the Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana Pirelli 2015 in some style on Sunday, defeating Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton by 17.5s in Barcelona to reinvigorate his world championship campaign. After an excellent getaway from pole, Rosberg never looked back and led from start to finish.
By contrast, Hamilton was compromised by a poor start which saw him drop to third behind the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, and a problematic first pit stop. The Briton fought back to repass third-place finisher Vettel, but on a three-stop strategy to Rosberg’s three, the reigning world champion was too far adrift to challenge the German’s significant advantage in the final stint.

Valtteri Bottas again just missed out on a podium, but did at least split the Ferraris as he consigned fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen to fifth place, ahead of Williams team mate Felipe Massa. Only the top six cars finished on the same lap.

Behind them Daniel Ricciardo won the Renault-powered race, taking seventh, with Lotus’s Romain Grosjean separating him from Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz who completed a late pass on Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat to score points in his first home Grand Prix. The pass in question however is under investigation by the stewards.

Sainz’s fellow Spaniards fared less well. Fernando Alonso was the race’s first retirement as brake failure on his McLaren led to him missing his pit stop mark and almost running down his front jack man. Compatriot Roberto Merhi at least finished his home race for Marussia, albeit in 18th and last place, with Lotus’s Pastor Maldonado the only other retiree.

http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/latest/headlines/2015/5/faultless-rosberg-takes-commanding-win-in-barcelona.html

Barcelona: final results.

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Another so & so GP i guess. Once Lewis pitted 2nd time & Ferrari didn't respond, I knew it would be another 1-2 for the Mercs. Though I was expecting Lewis to push Nico all the way. But I guess it would have been too much to ask.
One Ferrari in front of Bottas, one behind. Didn't see a lot much of back markers unless they were being lapped.

Or maybe it was because of the fact that I watch the 1st of half on a NBC sport network stream which was awful. I mean, there's a GP going on but they are showing the statue of Fangio!! or was that broadcast-ed to all?

Not completely boring as long as Pastor is around.
He said that the car was very good before he had another incident, this time with his team mate.
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/05/1...ash-maldonado/


The only improvement McLaren brought that could be seen was the new paintwork. Look how the marshels are looking on as the car passes.



Latest Championship positions.

P2 finishing 17secs behind P1
P3 finishing 28secs behind P2
P4/P5 finishing 15secs behind P3
P6 finishing 21 secs behind P5

A very boring race. The above numbers says it all. I was happy switching between F1 and IPL which I normally don't.

I expected a lot more from the opening round of European races. Disappointing to see Mercedes further extend their gap to the rest of the grid. Medium or Hard compound didnt matter to Mercedes considering Lewis's fastest lap was on the prime tyre.

I really feel Ferrari (with vettel) should have covered Hamilton and tried to put on a show for the spectators atleast. I wonder why Vettel was so excited for getting third. Kimi made a stellar start and was a pity to see him stuck behind Bottas for 4th place. Shows how important Qualifying is. Bit of a freak accident with the tyre blanket blistering one of this medium compounds.

Alonso's pitlane incident was scary. It couldve turned out to be much worse for the pitcrew and the front jackman. He seemed to be running pretty decently until that happened.

Never thought I would say this but Red Bull finally beat Toro Rosso.

There was no way Ferrari could cover Hamilton in this race. Look at his out laps and compare it with Vettel's. They are 2+ seconds faster each time during the second and third stops.

They could have instead tried something different with Kimi and asked him to push to get ahead of Bottas. But then they might have not had that much pace in hand to make it work.

Wonder how many races are going to be run on Med/Hard tires. Ferrari could not get it to the right temperature for the first few laps and Mercedes were long gone during that period.

Lucky for Rosberg that Vettel managed to hold Hamilton for a while. Poor start from Hamilton coupled with the usual slow stop from Mercedes sealed the deal for Rosberg.

Not having high hopes for Monaco based on this account though.

Boring, boring, boring. From start to finish, it was a very boring race. I did not even watch the whole race. Lap 50 was the limit I could sit infront of the TV. There was not a single bit of excitement - not in the front, not in the middle and not even in the back. As a friend who does not follow F1 said, "bunch of people drive around in circles and once in a while, when someone gets bored, they crash into each other." Even the second part of that statement didnt happen.

Hamilton was delayed by 2s, maybe 2.5s, at his first pit-stop. That meant he came out behind one of the Lotuses (I think Maldonado), which likely further delayed him a bit - he was past the Lotus within S1 itself. That was the reason why Vettel "survived" Hamilton's under-cut at the first pit-stop. If the under-cut had worked, it could've given us a closer fight between Lewis and Nico.

I think Ferrari had a better chance with Kimi to take Bottas' place with a better strategy. I wonder why they didn't try to under-cut Bottas. Hamilton was on the radio saying it was impossible to pass Vettel on track, even though Mercedes had a big advantage in S3. So Kimi not being able to overtake Bottas did not come as a big surprise.

Agreed, the pit stop blunder caused Hamilton the possible chance of a fight. However his car was having massive understeer and Hamilton was wrestling it. Nico on the other hand did not seem to have any of this. Hamilton lost the race in Qualifying.
It was sad to see both McLarens struggle. Alonso's pit "stop" was quite dangerous. Jenson has already given up for this season. I am still not convinced on Honda's approach for this season. No tokens used yet ?

None.


Spain answered quite a few questions :

Mercedes still rule, despite Ferrari 'upgrading' 70% of the car they managed to double the gap to them.

McLaren are still discovering issues that should have been done in testing, although Alonso's retirement was a result of a visor tear off getting lodged in the brake system.

Force India are still in financial trouble, B spec car gets delayed further.

Red Bull have more than Renault's engine issues troubling them. Wonder why Horner is whining so much.

For me the takeaways from the race:

Max. Fuel flow rate issue, still active.
Was it the case that the Circuit de Catalunya simply didn't suit the Ferrari? Or could their relative downturn be linked to the crackdown, issued on the morning of the race by the FIA, on fuel-flow rates and pressure?

http://www.thisisf1.com/2015/05/11/f...-on-back-foot/

New faces in F1 are doing well.
There’s Valtteri Bottas, Felipe Nasr, Max Verstappen, and Carlos Sainz, very much a potential major talents in the making.

The McLaren Honda gameplan is getting more obscure.
No tokens used so far, it is possible that the "big upgrade" is coming. Fernando lost the brake due to a tear-off visor covering the right-rear brake duct when they investigated the car’s rear corner in the garage. How bizarre? Are they running out of excuses, or are they having the worst luck on the grid? Now they talk about improving drivability for Monaco.
Discounting the bad luck that Fernando had and the awful handling of Button's car he complained about, they have clawed back a bit on the reliability front and as shown on the speed traps, the performance of their power unit is increasing gradually.

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/12859579

Pressure rising in Redbull Racing:
Maybe it will lead to Audi or another WAG team entering F1 by buying out one of the teams that are vulnerable.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ma...-bull-drivers/

Pl share speed trap figures for all cars

Speed trap data is nothing significant to assess any sort of form, anyways here it is.

In Bahrain qualifying,
The diff. between Alonso (320.9) & Massa (fastest 335.8) was 14.9 kmph.


In Spain qualifying,
The diff. between Alonso (326.9) & Massa (fastest 334.2) was 7.3 kmph.