Fernando Alonso wins 2013 Spanish GP

Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) won his second Spanish Grand Prix in a race dominated by tyre conservation. It’s Alonso’s third win on home soil, adding to his 2012 European GP title and his 2006 Spanish GP win with Renault in 2006.

In second place was the ever reliable Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus), notching up his 33rd consecutive race finish. Rounding out the podium was Felipe Massa (Ferrari).

The Mercedes AMG front row once again failed to live up to the scrutiny of race day with both drivers finishing well below expectations. Nico Rosberg finished sixth, but Lewis Hamilton finished out of the points in P12.

Red Bull collected enough points to stay ahead in the constructors’ race, with Sebastian Vettel coming home in P4, ahead of teammate Mark Webber, who did well to finish fifth after another poor start. Webber started from P8 but was in the mid-teens by the end of the first lap.

“We were struggling for the range and a bit of pace today, to be honest. The Ferraris and the Lotus were in a bit of a different league and that made it hard for us to compete today,” Webber said after the race. “I think we got the most out of what we had, particularly as by the first corner I was probably 14th or 15th, so to come back with that result was pretty good.

“If you don’t have the pace, then you can’t have the magic strategy. I was happy with how I drove and we got some points, but it wasn’t the result we wanted.”

Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) claimed the final world championship point on offer for P10 making it a double-points success for the Australian drivers. Although, Ricciardo was not overly happy with his race.

“I had a really poor start off the line, with a lot of wheelspin and, to be honest, the first few laps of the race I really struggled with front grip and locking the front brakes,” explained Daniel. “At the first stop, we made quite a few changes in terms of wing settings and tyre pressures and that helped, so the next two stints were quite good and I made a few passing moves, so it was certainly not a boring race.

“But then, towards the end of the race, our pace began to fade again. It wasn’t easy to get tenth, even if we looked on course to get more than the one point earlier in the race, so it’s better than nothing.”

For the second race in a row Jean-Eric Vergne failed to finish, this time he can apportion blame on a pitlane incident with Nico Hulkenberg to the Sauber team for an unsafe release.

There were over 80 pit stops for tyres in this race and while we all like to see the closer racing that’s been brought about with the less than perfect Pirelli tyres, perhaps this has gone a bit too far. Often times you’ve got no real idea who’s racing who because tyre strategies are all over the place. It’s not until all drivers have made their final stops that things become clearer.

One thing is certain it doesn’t make for the greatest spectacle for us viewers. But Fernando Alonso won’t care at all about that, he’ll be happy to bank the 25 points and start preparations for Monaco in two weeks.

2013 Spanish Grand Prix final placings

1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari – 66 Laps (25 pts)
2. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus – +9.3 secs (18 pts)
3. Felipe Massa Ferrari – +26.0 secs (15 pts)
4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing – +38.2 secs (12 pts)
5. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing – +47.9 secs (10 pts)
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG – +68.0 secs (8 pts)
7. Paul di Resta Force India – +68.9 secs (6 pts)
8. Jenson Button McLaren – +79.5 secs (4 pts)
9. Sergio Perez McLaren – +81.7 secs (2 pts)
10. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso – +1 Lap (1 pt)
11. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber – +1 Lap
12. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG – +1 Lap
13. Adrian Sutil Force India – +1 Lap
14. Pastor Maldonado Williams – +1 Lap
15. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber – +1 Lap
16. Valtteri Bottas Williams – +1 Lap
17. Charles Pic Caterham – +1 Lap
18. Jules Bianchi Marussia – +2 Laps
19. Max Chilton Marussia – +2 Laps

Retired/not classified
Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso – 52 Laps (Accident damage)
Giedo van der Garde Caterham – 21 Laps (Wheel)
Romain Grosjean Lotus – 8 Laps (Suspension)

Fastest lap
Esteban Gutierrez Sauber – 1:26.217

2013 F1 world championship – Drivers (top 10)

1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing – 89
2. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus – 85
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari – 72
4. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG – 50
5. Felipe Massa Ferrari – 45
6. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing – 42
7. Romain Grosjean Lotus – 26
8. Paul di Resta Force India – 26
9. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG – 22
10. Jenson Button McLaren – 17

2013 F1 world championship – Constructors

1. Red Bull Racing-Renault – 131
2. Ferrari – 117
3. Lotus-Renault – 111
4. Mercedes – 72
5. Force India-Mercedes – 32
6. McLaren-Mercedes – 29
7. STR-Ferrari – 8
8. Sauber-Ferrari – 5