After Race 5: Spain

The Formula 1 circus kicked off its ever-shortening European schedule with Nico Rosberg finally getting his first W of the season as he continued his rather odd record of finishing every race in the same position he qualified.

Source: Mercedes AMG Petronas

If I may digress for a moment in this edition of F1 Power Rankings…

On a personal note, I actually watched the entire Spanish GP weekend on Monday (from FP1 through to Ted’s Notebook post-race) because I was attending the Formula E Monaco ePrix. Amidst a stunning backdrop – where F1 will head to in less than two weeks on the classic Monaco Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500 weekend – it was a remarkably accessible weekend. Free tickets, an accessible paddock, test-driving a Renault Twizy on the Monaco hills, and the chance to get up close to the drivers on the Friday before the race day (with all the action taking place on the Saturday) reflects glowingly on the new series.

It was almost access all areas - for anyone - in the Formula E paddock
Source: my own personal photography - Blayne Pereira (please credit if using)

1. Lewis Hamilton (no change)

There was a lot of chatter about Hamilton’s off-field activities in the three-week gap before the Spanish GP, most notably his trip to Las Vegas to see Floyd Mayweather maintain his undefeated record against Manny Pacquiao. Was the criticism substantiated with Rosberg finally getting the better of his team-mate? Probably not; Hamilton’s finished in the top-two in the last twelve races, winning nine of them. He remains the man to beat.

2. Sebastian Vettel (no change)

Much was made about Ferrari’s strategy call on Sunday but third was probably the best they could have hoped for. Hamilton would’ve likely netted the undercut after his second stop, so the Scuderia did the right thing by trying a different strategy. Ferrari were well beaten but at least Vettel helped disrupt Hamilton’s momentum.

Source: Scuderia Ferrari

3. Valtteri Bottas (up five spots)

For the second race running, Bottas managed to fend off a Ferrari and break-up the dominant Mercedes-Ferrari quartet. After a slow start to the season, his back problems are firmly behind him.

4. Carlos Sainz (up one spot) & 5. Max Verstappen (no change)

Sainz just edges Max Verstappen to an outright fourth spot in this week’s F1 Power Rankings after he got the better of his teenage team-mate in both quali and the race. The STR duo starred on Saturday, locking out the third row of the grid for the team’s best qualifying effort since Monza 2008 (Vettel pole, Sébastien Bourdais 4^th). Both fell back in the early stages as they struggled when laden with fuel but Sainz especially came alive in the closing stages, taking advantage of the leaders lapping the midfield to use his DRS. Thankfully he retained his points for P9 – after Daniil Kvyat locked his brakes and ran into the Spaniard it was clearly a racing incident.

Carlos Sainz gets ready for his first F1 home race
Source: Scuderia Toro Rosso

6. Romain Grosjean (down two spots)

It’s a two-place drop for Grosjean despite ultimately scoring what was probably the best possible result for the team in P8. A rather scruffy move on Sainz in the early stages saw him run wide at T1, and then get a little bit too close to Pastor Maldonado – contact which almost certainly caused the Venezuelan’s rear wing endplate to fail. A catastrophic overshoot during his second pit-stop could’ve been even uglier and Grosjean apologised profusely on his in-lap.

Complete with 'Mad Max' sponsorship, Grosjean's chassis exploded in free practice
Source: F1 (Twitter)

=7. Kimi Räikkönen (down four spots) & Nico Rosberg (up eight spots)

Räikkönen will leave Catalunya miffed after Vettel was effectively given all the aero upgrades as Ferrari weren’t sure what was working out of their new parts. He slumped to P7 on the grid before a scintillating first lap saw him execute a couple of superb moves on the Toro Rosso boys… but that was as good as it got, as the Kimster.

For the neutrals, Rosberg’s win is just what the championship needed. Having been decimated by Hamilton in the last dozen races, he’ll hope that he’s mentally turned the corner and will look to clinch a Monaco hat-trick next time out (…although I wonder how many times last year’s qualifying session will be mentioned).

It's not quite visible here, but Mrs Rosberg's baby bump combined with the over-enthusiastic photographers and the gating almost didn't end too well...
Source: Mercedes AMG Petronas

9. Daniel Ricciardo (down one spot)

Having been outqualified by Daniil Kvyat, Danny Ric was rather anonymous in the opening third of the race before he finally moved up to P7 – a position which he never relinquished in the final 45 laps.

=10. Fernando Alonso (no change) & Felipe Massa (down three spots)

It was a rather gloomy scene at McLaren – with Jenson Button especially bemoaning the team’s lack of, well, everything. Alonso was running inside the top ten on an alternate strategy until a bizarre failure caused by his visor tear-off hampering his brake ducts. Kudos to the savvy front jackman who leaped out of the way as a brake-less Alonso came steaming into his box. Massa had a largely anonymous weekend, and the pendulum has firmly swung to his young Finnish team-mate.

Incredibly, McLaren's new paint job is a kilogram lighter than the previous car(!)
Source: McLaren

12. Felipe Nasr (down two spots)

I could quite easily copy and paste the same thing for the Sauber and Force India quartet. None of them had anything noteworthy to write home about, occupying positions 15-18 on the grid and finishing collectively three spots higher thanks to the DNFs of Alonso and Maldonado and Button’s woes.

13. Daniil Kvyat (up two spots)

Difficult again what to make of Kvyat’s weekend; he again makes steady progress up the F1 Power Rankings – although that’s also in part down to others falling (i.e. Force India, Sauber). A good effort in quali evaporated with a poor opening lap and he spent the first third of the race working his way back up to P9, a position which he more or less held onto until the final lap, when Sainz got the better of him.

14. Sergio Pérez (down two spots)

15. Will Stevens (no change)

16. Marcus Ericsson (down three spots)

17. Nico Hülkenberg (down four spots)

As mentioned above with Nasr and Kvyat, the massively underwhelming performances of Sauber and Force India have seen a collective slump down this week’s F1 Power Rankings. Ericsson moves clear of The Hulk by virtue of having a better overall weekend, and the group sandwich Will Stevens, who once again comfortably outperformed his team-mate (despite falling behind him at the start).

18. Pastor Maldonado (up two spots)

Yet again, we can only wonder “what might have been?” with Pastor. He was a man on a mission in the opening stages with some superb overtakes before the contact with Grosjean, which effectively ended his charge. He did well to continue with the damage as long as he did.

Source: Reddit

19. Jenson Button and 20. Roberto Merhi (both down one spot)

At the risk of repeating myself; rather like the Sauber and Force India lot, this duo struggled all weekend. Button was especially vocal about how bad the McLaren was while Merhi again consistently brought up the rear. Whether it’s due to his weight or otherwise, his days in F1 could well be coming to an end sooner rather than later… Will he really be on double duty in Monaco with F1 and FR3.5 both racing at the circuit?

All views expressed in this blog are my own and no copyright infringement is intended.