2013 Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – Fernando Alonso Shows Barcelona Brilliance
The Midfield Torro Rosso were pleased with their improved pace this weekend, but despite racing hard and showing some excellent pace at times they only came away with a single point thanks to Ricciardo taking tenth. Vergne collided with Hulkenberg in the pit lane on lap 35, and then suffered a tyre delamination on lap 38. Whether this was a result of the collision is unclear, but he dropped down the pack and later retired due to damage on the floor and rear wing. Gutierrez managed to overcome another qualifying mistake that demoted him to 19th on the grid to drive a solid race, which included the fastest lap in the closing stages, finishing in 11th just outside the points. Shading his teammate Hulkenberg, who attempted a three-stop race then moved to a four, before colliding with Vergne due to an unsafe release in the pit lane which saw him given a 10-second stop-go penalty, relegating him to 15th overall. Despite starting on the front row, Lewis Hamilton slipped into the midfield in his Mercedes as the tyres simply failed to work. Struggling with balance and grip, Hamilton was unable to deliver any points and was clearly irritated after the race. Adrian Sutil had a good car under him as demonstrated by his teammate Di Resta, and made an excellent start to make up five places on the first lap. However pit stop gremlins returned to haunt Force India at Sutils first stop on lap 9 as there was a wheel nut problem that delayed him massively, and by the time he went back out his chance of points was gone. Maldonado struggled for pace and picked up a penalty for speeding in the pit lane, only managing to beat Hulkenbergs penalised Sauber to the flag for 14th, though he did race Hamilton along the way. Bottas limped home in 16th, demonstrating that Williams have a lot of work to do and the three-week break has yielded little progress as they raced the leading Caterham. The Tail End Charles Pic, after a disappointing qualifying, took 17th to win the battle at the back of the grid, just behind Bottas Williams, and was very pleased with his car and the tyre management as he demonstrated their new package working well and delivering clear, race-day results. Van der Garde was having an equally strong race, tackling the Williams and even Buttons McLaren early on, but then after his second stop a wheel nut failed to tighten fully and released the wheel part way around the lap. He made it back to the pits, but the team retired the car due to damage on lap 22. Jules Bianchi picked up damage on the first lap, making an early pit stop for a new nose and then played catch up for the rest of the race. He was unable to push as hard as required to make more of the result due to tyre wear, and finished 18th. Chilton had a poor start and then pit stop problems that hampered him, and finished a disappointing 19th after looking stronger here. Marussias upgrades had an impact though, and with more luck they may overtake Caterham again in Monaco.