A Ferrari Fiesta - FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA 2013

Alonso celebrates his 2nd victory at Catalunya

The 2013 Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya, marking the start of this year's European F1 season, saw the local hero,Fernando Alonso, giving the home fans exactly what they wanted in a race that might might have been slow in parts but definitely delivered entertainment in bundles of exciting moments. There were no real surprises in qualifying with the two Mercedes of Rosberg and Hamilton keeping Vettel out of the front row, in third, followed by Raikkonen in 4th and Alonso in 5th. Massa received a 3 place grid penalty for impeding the car of Webber after qualifying in 6th. Jenson Button registered his worst qualifying result of this season which saw him lined up in the 14th place on the grid. Things could be tough if you were a Mclaren fan, hang in there.

Qualifying Result

Qualifying Results: 
1.ROS
2.HAM
3.VET
4.RAI
5.ALO
6.GRO
7.WEB
8.PER 
9.MAS
10.DIR


Alonso showed aggression right from the first lap when he over took Raikkonen and Hamilton in turn 2 and 3, respectively. Ferrari decided to pit their number one driver early and the gamble paid off when Alonso overtook Vettel after the German pitted in the following lap. Meanwhile Massa also had an impressive start and was gaining places very fast once he was able to get past the Mclaren of Sergio Perez. Hamilton was facing technical issues with his brake discs after his major lock up going into the first turn of the race and was losing places at a very consistent rate. The former world champion almost seemed 'dejected' (as pointed out by the commentator) when was asked to drive a conservative race by the team and ended his campaign in a miserable 12th place. On the other hand, Rosberg started dropping down in the order when Alonso snatched the position of race leader. Spectators knew the Mercedes was in trouble with tyre degradation cause then the German went on to lose two more places in a matter of another lap! Ross Brawn will definitely be asking some questions coming Monday morning at the Mercedes office. Raikkonen looked very strong coming into the latter half of the race and justified his nickname of Mr.consistent when he finished the race in second place followed by Massa in 3rd. The result catapulted Ferrari into a strong position to contend for the Constructors Championship (just 18 points behind Red Bull) and brought Kimi 6 points closer to Vettel, reducing the gap between him and the leader to 4 points. Kimi Raikkonen the World Championship contendor! never thought I'd be saying this before the season began, but I guess this just how it is in the 'Big Bad World of Formula 1'  

Race Results:

1. ALO
2. RAI
3. MAS
4. VET
5.WEB
6. ROS
7. DIR
8. BUT
9. PER
10. RIC