Alonso wins home Grand Prix in Spain

Fernando Alonso wins his home Grand Prix in Spain

Fernando Alonso changed the record to win the Spanish Grand Prix even though he didn’t start either in the first or second row.

Alonso made a pass around the outside of Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes using the DRS in the lap 13. Soon after he took the lead as Esteban Gutierrez, of all people, was leading the race when others had gone for their first pit stop. Soon after Alonso passed Rosberg, Vettel too made his move and passed Rosberg in turn 7. After that it was a time for Fernando Alonso to consolidate. On the other hand after this it was a downhill drive for Rosberg. Fortunately he finished in points unlike his team mate Lewis Hamilton who started at 2nd position but was one lap down and finished outside points at 12th. An eminently forgettable day indeed for him fortunately he finished in 6th.

Kimi Raikkonen was on another strategy and used 3 stops. He pitted for his third and final stop in lap 46 and was immediately lapping close to a second faster than Alonso and Massa in each sector of the race. Alonso and Massa soon pitted for their final tyre changes and Alonso reeled off a series of fast laps. It then became clear that it would be difficult for Kimi Raikkonen to beat Alonso. So both of them settled into a rhythm and Fernando Alonso won his home Grand Prix in Spain. Kimi finished second.

Felipe Massa of Ferrari finished third. World champion Sebastian Vettel finished 4th ahead of his team mate Mark Webber in 5th. Pole sitter Nico Rosberg was harassed by Paul di Resta, but surprisingly despite being within a second, di Resta could not overtake Nico Rosberg and finished on 7th. At least Force India would be happy of di Resta’s performance as Adrian Sutil finished in 13th.

Jenson Button of McLaren who started down in 14th finished at 8th infront of his teammate Sergio Perez in 9th. Daniel Ricciardo of Toro Rosso albeit down by one lap finished in 10th just ahead of Esteban Gutierrez of Sauber to take the 10th and last point.

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes finished 12th – a ten place drop from his starting position of second. Clearly Mercedes is trying for one lap pace to hog the limelight at the cost of race pace. So Ross Brawn is somehow able to impress his bosses and keep his job. Wily old fox that he is!

It was unfortunate for Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber as he was having a strong race. However an unsafe release in the pits resulted in a collision and the subsequent 10 second stop and go penalty ruined his race.

Final Standings in Spanish Grand Prix

1. Fernando Alonso               Ferrari

2. Kimi Raikkonen                 Lotus

3. Felipe Massa                      Ferrari

4. Sebastian Vettel                Red Bull

5. Mark Weber                      Red Bull

6. Nico Rosberg                      Mercedes

7. Paul di Resta                      Force India

8. Jenson Button                    McLaren

9. Sergio Perez                       McLaren

10. Daniel Ricciardo              Toro Rosso

11. Esteban Gutierrez           Sauber

12. Lewis Hamilton               Mercedes

13. Adrian Sutil                     Force India

14. Pastor Maldonado          Williams

15. Nico Hulkenberg             Sauber

16. Valeri Bottas                    Williams

17. Charles Pic                       Caterham

18. Jules Bianchi                    Marussia

19. Max Chilton                     Marussia

Retirements in Spanish Grand Prix

Jean-Eric Vergne                   Toro Rosso

G. van der Garde                   Caterham

Romain Grosjean                   Lotus

Revised Starting Grid in Spanish Grand Prix

Penalties and Revised Starting Grid in Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying

Esteban Gutierrez was deemed to have impeded Kimi Raikkonen in Q1, during the Spanish Grand Prix qualifying and was handed a 3 place grid penalty. So he demotes to 19th from his16th position.

Felipe Massa who qualified in 6th position was deemed to have obstructed Mark Webber of Red Bull during Q2. Felipe will now start at 9th position.

The Starting Grid for Spanish Grand Prix after penalties:

1. Nico Rosberg             Mercedes
2. Lewis Hamilton         Mercedes
3. Sebastian Vettel         Red Bull
4. Kimi Raikkonen         Lotus
5. Fernando Alonso        Ferrari
6. Romain Grosjean       Lotus
7. Mark Webber             Red Bull
8. Sergio Perez               McLaren
9. Felipe Massa              Ferrari
10. Paul di Resta            Force India
11. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso
12. Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso
13. Adrian Sutil             Force India
14. Jenson Button          McLaren
15. Nico Hulkenberg     Sauber
16. Valeri Bottas           Williams
17. Pastor Maldonado   Williams
18. Giedo va der Garde  Caterham
19. Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber
20. Jules Bianchi           Marussia
21. Max Chilton            Marussia
22. Charles Pic              Caterham

Rosberg leads Mercedes 1-2 in Spanish Grand Prix

Rosberg leads Mercedes 1-2 in Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying

Nico Rosberg bags his second back to back pole in Spanish Grand Prix 2013

Nico Rosberg locked up the all Mercedes front row in Spanish Grand Prix 2013 qualifying with Lewis Hamilton qualifying second. Rosberg was faster than Lewis in all the three sectors.

Championship leader Sebastian Vettel of Redbull will start on third while Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus will start on 4th and in the second row alongside Vettel.

Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and his teammate Felipe Massa are on row three having qualified on 5th and 6th.

Romain Grosjean of Lotus will start on 7th followed by Mark Webber of Red Bull at 8th. Much was expected of Mark Webber after his not so good showing in the previous two Grand Prix. Many had expected that Mark Webber will come out stronger in his battle with Vettel but it seems Webber is unable to match up to him.

Sergio Perez of McLaren qualified on 9th and Paul di Resta of Force India is 10th.
Paul di Resta of Force India could manage to set the 10th fastest time in the Q2 and qualify for Q3. His teammate, Adrian Sutil was about 0.3 seconds slower and finished in 13th. Jenson Button of McLaren finished in 14th and to make matters worse his younger teammate Sergio Perez was about half a second faster than him and finished at 7th position in Q2. After Perez and Button were elbowing each other in the previous Bahrain Grand Prix, this huge mismatch in qualifying should come as a loss of face for Button.

Raikkonen was impeded by Sauber’s rookie paid driver Gutierrez. The result of the investigation will be known after the qualifying.

The Toro Rosso cars made a move upwards as none of their drivers got out in Q1. However, they just couldn’t make to the Q3. Both Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne finished in 11th and 12th positions.


Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez of Sauber qualified in 15th and 16th positions.

Williams made the headlines, albeit for the wrong reasons as both its drivers got eliminated in Q1. Charles Pic of Caterham came up 22nd and last among the drivers. Both the Marussia cars of Jules Bianchi at 20th and Max Chilton at 21st qualified ahead of him. Van der Garde managed to beat his team mate as well as both the Marussia cars and qualified at 19th.

Pastor Maldonado at 18th again got outqualified by his rookie teammate Valeri Bottas who finished at 17th. Both the Willams drivers had driven identical 9 laps in Q1. It must be a strange feeling for Pastor Maldonado as last year at this venue he was on Pole position and had won the race.

We will notify the final grid positions after the investigation of the stewards.

Vettel leads F1 Drivers Championship after Bahrain

Sebastian Vettel leads F1 drivers championship by 10 points after Bahrain F1 Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel who was at 52 points after the Chinese Grand Prix added the 25 points for wining Bahrain Grand Prix and took his points tally to 77. Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus finished second in the Bahrain Grand Prix and added 18 points to his 49 taking the total to 67 points.

Lewis Hamilton with the 10 points from Bahrain took his points to 50 and is now in the third place in the championship. Fernando Alonso who was earlier third at 43 points could only add 4 more points due to his faulty DRS wing and is now at fourth in the championship with 47 points.

Mark Webber who was sixth with 26 points, added only six points in Bahrain as he was overtaken by both Lewis and Perez in the last lap in Bahrain F1 Grand Prix. Mark Webber is now at 5th position with 32 points.

Felipe Massa didn't add to his tally as he finished outside points. His score remains at 30 points.

F1 Drivers Championship after Bahrain Grand Prix

1. Sebastian Vettel Redbull 77 points
2. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 67 points
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 50 points
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 47 points
5. Mark Webber Redbull 32 points
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 32 points
7. Romain Grosjean Lotus 26 points
8. Paul di Resta Force India 20 points
9. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 14 points
10. Jenson Button McLaren 13 points
11. Sergio Perez McLaren 10 points
12. Adrian Sutil Fore India 6 points
13. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 6 points
14. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 5 points
15. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1 point
16. Valeri Bottal Williams 0 point
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams 0 point
18. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 0 point
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia 0 point
20. Charles Pic Caterham 0 point
21. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 0 point
22. Max Chilton Marussia 0 point

Vettel wins Bahrain Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg started the race in pole position, however on Lap 3 Sebastian Vettel overtook him. On lap 5 Alonso also overtook him. But Alonso had to pit soon after in lap 7 as his DRS wing malfunctioned. He changed over to hard tyres. He was among the first to pit due to the DRS problem. However his DRS wing opened again and he had to pit again in lap 9. With no DRS, Alonso’s race may be over. With this there was virtually no competitor for Vettel as he raced on. Later Kimi Raikkonen came in and tried to compete, however, the gap was more than 9 seconds and Raikkonen with older tires decided to back off. Vettel easily kept his lead and won the Bahrain 2013 F1 Grand Prix.

Romain Grosjean hunted down Paul di Resta of Force India to take the third position. Nevertheless the fourth position was also a good news for Paul di Resta whose team mate Adrian Sutil finished out of points in 13th position.

Lewis Hamilton who had started at 9th position due to the 5 place gearbox change penalty had a quiet race, and then towards the end did a bit of neck to neck racing to overtake Mark Webber and finish in 5th position. Surprisingly at the last lap Sergio Perez of McLaren sneaked in and overtook Webber for 6th position. It would be immensely satisfying for Perez as this is the first race he finished ahead of his illustrious team mate Jenson Button who finished in 10th position.

Fernando Alonso who lost the DRS and had to pit one more time, finished at 8th position. It was a very good race without the DRS wing.

Nico Rosberg who had started in pole could only finish in 9th position.

Pastor Maldonado of Williams finished in 11 position and out of points. Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber was 12th. Adrian Sutil of Force India at 13th, Valeri Bottas of Williams at 14th.

Alonso’s team mate Felipe Massa had a contact with Sutil and also had a contact with Webber and finished the race out of points in 15th position.

Daniel Ricciardo of Toro Rosso finished one lap down at 16th, followed by Charles Pic on 17th, Esteban Gutierrez of Sauber on 18th, Jules Bianchi of Marussia on 19th, Max Chilton on 20th and G. Van der Garde on 21st. Jean-Eric Vergne of Toro Rosso was the only retirement in the race.

Final Standings in Bahrain F1 Grand Prix

1. Sebastian Vettel RedBull
2. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus
3. Romain Grosjean Lotus
4. Paul di Resta Force India
5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
6. Sergio Perez McLaren
7. Mark Webber RedBull
8. Fernando Alonso Ferrari
9. Nico Rosberg Mercedes
10. Jenson Button McLaren
11. Pastor Maldonado Williams
12. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber
13. Adrian Sutil Force India
14. Valeri Bottas Williams
15. Felipe Massa Ferrari
16. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso
17. Charles Pic Caterham
18. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia
20. Max Chilton Marussia
21. Giedo van der Garde Caterham

Retirements in 2013 Bahrain F1 Grand Prix

Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso

Nico Rosberg on Pole in Bahrain Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg on Pole in Bahrain Grand Prix 2013

Nico Rosberg of Mercedes scored the second pole of his career as well as the second with Mercedes in Bahrain F1 Grand Prix 2013. Sebastian Vettel of RedBull was close second. Alonso of Ferrari made a mistake in the final lap and  scores the third position. Lewis Hamilton, who was not satisfied with the balance of his car yesterday and today, scored the 4 th position. However, since his gear box has been changed, he gets a 5 place penalty and accordingly drops down to 9th position.

Webber finished at 5th and hence will start at 7th position, as he was slapped with a three place grid position by the Chinese stewards. He should have started on 8th, however due to Lewis Hamilton's 5 place grid penalty, Webber gets bumped up by one position. It should be noted that the grid penalties are applied in the order they were issued.

Felipe Massa who finished sixth now moves to 4th position due to the grid penalties of Hamilton and Webber. Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil of Force India who finished on 7th and 8th now move up to 5th and 6th positions on the starting grid. Kimi Raikkonen moves up to 8th position from his 9th place. Jenson Button who didn't set a time will start on 10th position.

In the Q2, drivers opted for the softer medium compound tyres. Initially some of them drove with the used medium tyres and then later on had to shift to new ones.
Out in the Q2:
Romain Grosjean, despite using a new chassis could not qualify for the Q3 ie. top 10. He qualified in 11th place. He was followed by Sergio Perez in 12 position. McLaren has perhaps realised their mistake in hiring a rookie like Sergio Perez instead of Hamilton and the team principal have even publicly reprimanded Perez. It appears Sergio Perez is destined to meet the same fact as Heikki Kovalainen who later had to shift to Caterham.

Daniel Ricciardo of Toro Rosso came in 13th position as opposed to his team mate Jean-Eric Vergne who came in 16th. Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber came in 14th and Valeri Bottas of Williams scored the 15th position.


Pastor Maldonado of Williams must be a dissapointed driver, as he clocked the same time as his team mate Valeri Bottas, but since he posted the time later than Bottas, Maldonado was judged as 17th and hence couldn't qualify to Q2. Esteban Gutierrez of Sauber came in 18th. Gutierrez gets a 5 place grid penalty from Chinese Grand Prix and hence goes to the back of the grid.

Heikki Kovalainen coming back to the Caterham team, albeit as a test driver, seems to have paid off as for the first time in four F1 races, atleast one Caterham driver is faster than both the Marussia drivers. Charles Pic of Caterham was faster than Jules Bianchi of Marussia with the drivers qualifying at 19 and 20. They were followed by Van der Garde of Caterham and Max Chilton of Marussia in 21st and 22nd positions.

Final Starting Grid positions in F1 Bahrain Grand Prix 2013

1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes
2. Sebastian Vettel Redbull
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari
4. Felipe Massa Ferarri
5. Paul di Resta Force India
6. Adrian Sutil Force India
7. Mark Webber RedBull
8. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus
9. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
10. Jenson Button McLaren
11. Romain Grosjean Lotus
12. Sergio Perez McLaren
13. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso
14. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber
15. Valeri Bottas Williams
16. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams
18. Charles Pic Caterham
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia
20. Van der Garde Caterham
21. Max Chilton Marussia
22. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber

Alonso wins Chinese Grand Prix 2013

Fernando Alonso of Ferrari overtook pole sitter Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes in the 5th lap and registered the first win for himself in the 2013 season.

Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus nursed a damaged front wing to come second. Hamilton took the third position by barely managing to thwart a charging Sebastian Vettel of Redbull. The difference between Hamilton and Vettel was only 0.2 seconds. Kimi Rakkonen was a further 2.1 seconds ahead of Hamilton.

Jenson Button of McLaren would have considered himself to be fortunate as he scored a fifth position ahead of Felipe Massa of Ferarri. The retirements of Nico Rosberg of Mercedes in 21st lap and Mark Webber of RedBull in 15th lap obviously helping the struggling Mclaren. Jenson Button would obviously having more prayers in his lips for some of his competitors not to finish the next race, as it is not known as to how much time McLaren will take to improve their car.

Daniel Ricciardo of Toro Rosso finished a creditable seventh. Paul di Resta of Force India was done in by his own team mate Sutil. However, he managed to recover and finish 8th. His team mate Sutil perhaps had to face his own karma as Esteban Gutierrez of Sabuer ran into the back of Sutil and both of them retired. Gutierrez earned a five places grid penalty for the next race at Baharin.

It is to be seen if Force India can manage their warring drivers and ensure that there is no repeat collision between the two.


Romain Grosjean of Lotus finished at 9th. Last year he was at his erratic best, served a one race ban, however he was fast as well. This year, he has not collided with anyone in the first three races, but there has been a huge gap between Kimi and Romain. If this continues, it will be seen whether Eric Boulier will still retain him next year.

I wish Michael Schumacher were driving in place of Romain Grosjean and Lotus would have been steadily beating the other top teams.

Nico Hulkenberg who moved from Force India to Sauber finished at 10th place. Wonder if he is happy as the Sauber this year has been a far cry from the previous years car.

Sergio Perez who moved from Sauber to McLaren finished at 11th. Jean-Eric Vergne of Toro Rosso finished in 12th ahead of the two Williams cars of Valeri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado.

Jules Bianchi of Marussia was ahead of the Caterham of Charles Pic for 15th and 16th positions and Max Chilton of Marussia finished at 17th ahead of Giedo Van der Garde of Caterham.

Worried by the poor showing of his drivers Tony Fernandes of Caterham brought back Heikki Kovalainen as a reserve driver and he will drive in the FP1 in the next two races to give his feedback. Qing Hua Ma who is the reserve driver with Caterham drove in the First Practice. It is not known how many millions he has brought to the Caterham team to allow him some track time in the car. Last year he was with the HRT team as reserve driver and had driven in the First Practice in several races including the Chinese Grand Prix. Caterham seems to be in deep trouble financially and unless they beat Marussia, they will also lose millions that comes as a bonus for the 10th position.

Final Standings in the drivers championship after Chinese Grand Prix 2013

1. Sebastian Vettel Redbull 52 points
2. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus  49 points
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 43 points
4. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 40 points
5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 30 points
6. Mark Webber Redbull 26 points
7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 12 points
8. Jenson Button McLaren 12 points
9. Romain Grosjean Lotus 11 points
10. Paul di Resta Force India 8 points
11. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 6 points
12. Adrian Sutil Force India 6 points
13. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 5 points
14. Sergio Perez McLaren 2 points
15. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1 point
16. Valeri Bottas Williams 0 points (Best place finish 11th)
17. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 0 points (Best place finish 12th)
18. Jules Bianchi Marussia 0 points
19. Charles Pic Caterham 0 points
20. Pastor Maldonado Williams 0 points
21. Giedo Van der Garde Caterham 0 points
22. Max Chilton Marussia 0 points