Mark Webber became the first driver to convert a pole position into a race win in Formula 1 this season as Red Bull’s Australian driver dominated the first Grand Prix of the European season.
Matadors were not required to wave a red flag in front of the car to make the Red Bull’s charge in Barcelona as the team showed once again that they have the fastest car on the grid. It was not all plain sailing for the Milton Keynes based team however. Sebastian Vettel started alongside his teammate on the front row, but near the end of the race had fallen to fourth with brake problems. He eventually finished on the bottom step of the podium in third after Lewis Hamilton retired with two laps to go.
Vettel’s race once more illustrated that while Red Bull has easily the fastest car, it is not the dominant car that it should be. The team has been plagued with failures this season and have consistently found a way to hamper their own title challenge thus far.
This race was not a thriller by any stretch but it has helped to show a clearer picture of what to expect this year. Red Bull is still the car to beat with McLaren and Ferrari considerably further back in terms of sheer pace. Mercedes have made a large step forward in making Michael Schumacher more confident in the car and he outpaced his teammate for the first time. In the early races Schumacher was unable to hustle the car around the circuit as he did in his heyday but in Barcelona he finally had the confidence to push the car and dictate how he wants to drive the Mercedes.
Barcelona traditionally is a circuit that showcases the car’s performance at the expense of the driver; that is the reason why the grid in Spain can resemble Noah’s Ark-with each team’s cars lining up two by two, and that is how the Red Bulls entered turn one with Webber in front.
It stayed like that until the pitstops when Lewis Hamilton managed to get past Vettel after battling with each other as Hamilton exited the pits. They have Lucas di Grasi to contend with as well and it was three abreast into the turn. Vettel had two options, try and hang it out around the outside and get by Hamilton or run wide onto the Astroturf and concede the position. He took the easier latter option and gave up the position and didn’t challenge the Briton for the remainder of the race.
World champion Jenson Button had a trying day as he struggled with a car ill suited to his requirements to such an extent that he had snap oversteer at times. He fought it out with Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher, with the German emerging ahead. Button lost track position after his pitstop and while he was clearly faster he could not find a way past a revitalised Schumacher.
The seven times world champion outpaced his teammate, Nico Rosberg, all weekend and was in the top eight all weekend. Schumacher defended his position brilliantly from Button even if the Briton failed to see it that way afterwards, “I didn't really know where Michael was on the outside of me, he turned in and if I didn't back out of it we would have crashed. So he didn't really give me a lot of room there. There you go, you'd think with his experience he would know. It wasn't really the right move.” It’s tough to see why Button was incensed as Schumacher only defended the position as any other driver would, it may just be that Button is attempting to get inside Scumacher’s head and unsettle the German. It is highly unlikely such tactics will be successful.
The main action away from the front was with Jamie Algusuari’s Toro Rosso. The Spaniard managed to collect a point after finishing in tenth after an exciting race. He made a great start and was running well before a poor pitstop put him back in the pack, it was here that when lapping Karun Chandhok that he clashed with the Indian after turning into the Hispania driver. The stewards gave him a drive through penalty so a finish in the points should satisfy the increasingly impressive youngster.
Vettel began to suffer from brake issues as the race neared its conclusion and had to make a precautionary pitstop to change his tyres allowing Fernando Alonso through. Vettel was in trouble now though and had to do his best to limit the forces placed on his car, as the race winded down he was in fourth.
Then with two laps to go Hamilton suffered a left front wheel failure that left him as a passenger through turn one heading straight to the scene of his accident. The former world champion finished another promising race without the points haul it deserved. To the hometown crowds delight Alonso was now in second and even with his problems at the end Vettel was able to make it two Red Bulls on the podium as he finished in third.
Webber had a lonely race at the front and won comfortably to put himself firmly in contention for the title after a trying start to the year.
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