F1: Spain - Fernando the Man!

So, the 2013 Formula 1 season depicts its second double-winner in Fernando Alonso!

This race, unsurprisingly had question marks over whether Mercedes could continue their excellent qualifying form having already taken pole position in three of the five races so far this year.

However, once again the race-pace proved to be their undoing as yet again the operating temperatures required to keep the rear tyres under control were seemingly much harder to control for those guys than it was for the majority of the other teams...



Fortunes elsewhere were not much better, for the likes of Romain Grosjean & Giedo Van Der Garde were forced out early on with retirements and Jensen Button suffering setbacks with a disastrous start pushing him backwards from his grid place of 14th to 17th by the end of lap one. It was, maybe, a testament of the tenacity of McClaren that this was not a sign of things to come as Button managed to claw his way back up into the top ten positions leading his McClaren team-mate, Sergio Perez who outqualified him on the Saturday.

Much then, leaves to be desired from the tyres that Pirelli provided and as such they have vowed to make sure that an improved number of pitstops will be required from the British GP at Silverstone onwards. Some could say "but what about Monaco?" but I say as it's a street circuit, overtaking will be at a premium so, whilst teams will be defending their positions in the race, I don't think it will be to the stage of recent races where we've seen massive tyre degradation.

The gauntlet was thrown down by Alonso the moment he picked up that third place passing both Raikonnen & Hamilton in one corner at Turn 3, it was a statement of intent from Alonso that as this was his home GP, he was going to take no prisoners and do his best to try and steal the win for his home fans.

The first round of pit-stops saw Esteban Gutierrez temporarily lead the race ahead of Rosberg and it wasn't until those stops resolved themselves that Alonso slotted back into third place ahead of Vettel thus winning his precious track position in his push for the podium. Gutierrez drove an impressive race and would have won driver of the day for me were it not for Alonso's commanding presence (and subsequently my Driver of the Day) at the sharp end of the grid the moment he passed Rosberg, a manoeuvre that ultimately saw him take the chequered flag.


Fernando Alonso

His presence and tactical nous with his team allowed him to gain valuable ground at just the right times leaving him pushing for that podium only to then benefit on lap 14 by a pitting Gutierrez that allowed him to pull away the moment he passed Rosberg and begin another attempt at taking off like the proverbial scalded cat as Vettel is often akin to doing when fortune favours him.

It was a day that saw the conditions favouring Ferrari in a dry race that once again, like the four races before it, yielded no safety cars and allowed the racers to race their own strategies yet somehow, it did not seem as fluid given the four stops that most of them had to adapt to because of the tyres.

Next up it's my all-time-favourite track; Monaco, so we'll see if the man I've tipped for this year's title can get back on track or whether Alonso will be able to turn this into the start of his push for the 2013 title, now that he is at the sharp end of the championship in 3rd place, 17 behind championship leader Sebastian Vettel.

Peace out!


The Lanky Penguin