F1 - Spanish Grand Prix - Sunday, May 10th 2015


Mercedes' dominant Nico Rosberg ends F1 win drought

By Lawrence Barretto
http://www.autosport.com

Nico Rosberg took his first victory of the season as the Mercedes Formula 1 team secured a commanding one-two at the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona.

The German led away from pole and remained unthreatened for the duration of the race, with his team-mate Lewis Hamilton second 17.5 seconds adrift and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel 27.7s further back in third at the finish.

Rosberg closes the gap to team-mate and championship leader Hamilton to 20 points, with Vettel another 11 adrift.

The result underlined the fact Mercedes remains the class of the field on a circuit where its strong car aerodynamically gave it a larger advantage than normal.

After four exciting races to start the season, the first European race of the season will not go down as a thriller, with the Circuit de Catalunya's layout not conducive to much overtaking.

That meant Rosberg, who had only led 10 laps this season before arriving in Spain, was always going to be favourite for the win after taking pole position and the German duly controlled the race from the front.

Hamilton lost a place to Vettel at the start and after struggling to find a way past, Mercedes called him in to try the undercut.

But a problem fitting the left-rear tyre lost Hamilton three seconds so when Vettel pitted the next lap, he easily came out in front of the reigning world champion.

When Hamilton was told he had to pass Vettel on track, he responded: "I can assure you that's pretty much impossible. Find another solution."

When the Briton pitted for the second time, taking on the hard tyres after two stints on the mediums, it became clear he was on a three-stop strategy.
In contrast, Vettel stayed out to suggest he was on a two-stopper. When the German pitted with 26 laps to go, he rejoined behind Hamilton, who was pushing hard to try to build a gap to enable him to pit and rejoin ahead of Vettel.

And it worked out, with Hamilton exiting the pits after his third stop, and on fresher medium tyres, well clear of Vettel.

Hamilton traded fastest laps with Rosberg in the closing stages but the deficit to his team-mate was too great to close down in the remaining laps and he finished second to secure a 14th one-two as a pairing for Mercedes.

Valtteri Bottas finished fourth for Williams, ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and the other Williams of Felipe Massa.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo continued his solid run in the points this season with seventh, albeit it a lap down, ahead of Lotus's Romain Grosjean, who scored points for the third successive race despite a gearbox problem and overshooting his pitbox and scattering his crew, who were unhurt.

Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz Jr finished ninth, after banging wheels and passing Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat on the final lap. The Russian completed the points-finishers.

Max Verstappen was 11th in the other Toro Rosso, ahead of Sauber's Felipe Nasr, whose team-mate Marcus Ericsson was two places adrift in 14th. Both Toro Rossos swiftly fell back from their row-three qualifying positions.

Force India, which is expecting to have its updated 'B-spec' car in Austria, ended a difficult weekend with Sergio Perez 13th and Nico Hulkenberg 15th respectively.

McLaren's wait for its first points of the season continues, with Jenson Button - making his 100th start for McLaren - 16th while his team-mate Fernando Alonso retired with brake problems after a spell running seventh on an alternative strategy.

Bad luck continued for 2012 Spanish GP winner Pastor Maldonado, who ran as high as seventh. He retired having driven much of the race with a broken rear wing.

The Manor-run Marussias brought up the field, with Will Stevens three laps down in 17th and Roberto Merhi 18th, a further lap behind.

RESULTS - 66 LAPS:
PosDriverCarGap
1Nico RosbergMercedes1h41m12.555s
2Lewis HamiltonMercedes17.551s
3Sebastian VettelFerrari45.342s
4Valtteri BottasWilliams/Mercedes59.217s
5Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1m00.002s
6Felipe MassaWilliams/Mercedes1m21.314s
7Daniel RicciardoRed Bull/Renault1 Lap
8Romain GrosjeanLotus/Mercedes1 Lap
9Carlos SainzToro Rosso/Renault1 Lap
10Daniil KvyatRed Bull/Renault1 Lap
11Max VerstappenToro Rosso/Renault1 Lap
12Felipe NasrSauber/Ferrari1 Lap
13Sergio PerezForce India/Mercedes1 Lap
14Marcus EricssonSauber/Ferrari1 Lap
15Nico HulkenbergForce India/Mercedes1 Lap
16Jenson ButtonMcLaren/Honda1 Lap
17Will StevensMarussia/Ferrari3 Laps
18Roberto MerhiMarussia/Ferrari4 Laps
-Pastor MaldonadoLotus/MercedesRetirement
-Fernando AlonsoMcLaren/HondaBrakes

DRIVERS' STANDINGS:
PosDriverPoints
1Lewis Hamilton111
2Nico Rosberg91
3Sebastian Vettel80
4Kimi Raikkonen52
5Valtteri Bottas42
6Felipe Massa39
7Daniel Ricciardo25
8Romain Grosjean16
9Felipe Nasr14
10Carlos Sainz8
11Max Verstappen6
12Nico Hulkenberg6
13Sergio Perez5
14Marcus Ericsson5
15Daniil Kvyat5
16Fernando Alonso0
17Jenson Button0
18Roberto Merhi0
19Will Stevens0
20Pastor Maldonado0

CONSTRUCTORS' STANDINGS:
PosConstructorPoints
1Mercedes202
2Ferrari132
3Williams/Mercedes81
4Red Bull/Renault30
5Sauber/Ferrari19
6Lotus/Mercedes16
7Toro Rosso/Renault14
8Force India/Mercedes11
9McLaren/Honda0
10Marussia/Ferrari0