2013 Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – Fernando Alonso Shows Barcelona Brilliance
Qualifying Mercedes scored a blinding front row lockout after seemingly sandbagging all the way through practice. Out of nowhere both drivers turned up the heat and Rosberg blitzed pole position with Hamilton taking second along side him. Vettel took third, losing time to the Mercedes cars in the last sector, which also hampered Webber as he struggled with tyres and could only get eighth despite being happy overall, though was later promoted to seventh. Raikkonen was on form and took fourth, feeling that their race pace will exceed their qualifying performance, whilst Grosjean made a mistake into turn one on his final run and backed out to save his tyres, ending up in seventh place, promoted to sixth. Ferraris qualifying pace still remains below where they would like, with Alonso taking fifth place much as hed expected. Massa put in a good lap for sixth, but was later demoted three places for impeding Webber so started from ninth place. Sergio Perez surprised many by getting into Q3 and taking ninth place with promising looking pace, and will start from eighth. Button had a woeful Q2 and couldnt get any grip, failing to get through to the top ten and ending up in 14th place. Di Resta was pleased with the top ten as he took tenth though felt he didnt get the maximum from the car, and Sutil finished in 13th after catching traffic at the end of Q2. Torro Rosso recaptured strong midfield form, taking 11th Ricciardo and 12th Vergne with a few hundredths between them, and whilst they werent entirely happy with their overall pace they took a strong strategic position for the race. Saubers struggles continued, and other teams clearly developed faster since Bahrain, as Hulkenberg failed to threaten Q3 despite what he called a perfect Q2 lap, and Gutierrez backed him up in 16th, though four-tenths slower. Williams showed no improvement despite their upgrades, with Bottas 17th and Maldonado 18th, a long way from their 2012 front row start. It was a change of dynamic as a pleased Van der Garde took 19th in the updated Caterham, just a tenth ahead of Marussias Bianchi in 20th who struggled with balance. Chilton was close behind in 21st also with balance concerns, and Pic brought up the rear in 22nd as he struggled to find the right set up.