Welcome to our regular review feature, where this time we take a look at the ups and downs of the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona. Hardly the most exciting of races, although there were a number of interesting points.
Contributors this week are Lita, Braden, Dylan and myself –Steve – so let’s crack on and see what the team have to say.
Steve: The Spanish Grand Prix – Barcelona usually provides a procession, and I didn’t think this was much else, but let’s begin with the man who was – for me – the star of the race: winner Felipe Massa.
Lita: Well I predicted Massa to win the championship this year so I'm not that surprised that he's doing so much better. Raikkonen just doesn't seem to have the drive this year at the moment.
Dylan: As with Bahrain, I could not fault Massa’s drive. Despite his team trying to barbecue him, which he himself admitted he didn’t even notice, he simply did what was needed and scored a back to back win.
Braden: Massa looks to be easily beating his highly touted team mate. It comes as a small shock as I do not rate either driver highly, but I still rate Kimi ahead of Felipe.
Steve: Indeed, I’m having to eat humble pie myself – Massa looks the business at the moment. What about the controversial first corner stuff?
Lita: I believe it shows Massa's guts, basically. Massa could have easily given the position up, but he stuck to his guns and just smacked Alonso aside with a massive statement that simply said, 'no'.
Steve: I thought it was good, honest racing by the pair of them. Credit to Alonso for trying, and for Massa in holding station. Now, here’s where we get accused of pandering to the hype, but what about Lewis Hamilton? Can the lad do any wrong? What is going on at Mclaren?
Lita: I would say that Hamilton might actually be better than Alonso. He's showing that he's the kind of driver that can just do it, rather than
sit back and settle for the position he has. He wouldn't have gone for Raikkonen at the start otherwise.
Dylan: How can you fault Lewis Hamilton, very much I the Alain Prost, Nick Heidfeld mould, fast, smooth, consistent, but can a season of second places win him the championship?
Steve: I’m of the opinion that, quite simply, Hamilton is quicker than Alonso.
Braden: How comfortably Lewis Hamilton is settling into F1. Not only is he gaining respect for podiums, but he is now beating his double World Champion team mate! Something is going on in that head of Alonso and I think he needs a psychiatrist for help on that one.
Dylan: Alonso looks shaken. I don’t know how to put this, but it leaves me with so many questions about his two championships at Renault. How good was that car? How poor was Fisichella if a rookie can match Alonso but Fisi can’t?
Steve: That is something that has crossed my mind, too. I don’t doubt Alonso’s prowess, but there is this underlying question….
Dylan:……is Lewis just that good that he is able to instantly match a double world champion after just a few months behind the wheel of the worlds most advanced race cars?
Steve: Exactly my point.
Dylan: Now matter how you look at it though, Alonso should be worried.
Steve: Some reports say he is, but how much of that is true I don’t know. Now, skipping down the order a bit, but it is impossible not to be heartened by Sato’s drive to eighth place. Yes, their were many retirements, but they also benefited the cars behind him – which included the two Honda’s! Super Aguri have come a long way in little over a year.
Braden: My stars of the weekend go to Super Aguri. How fantastic was it to see the minnow get a point! I was a little disappointed it wasn’t Davidson as I like the fellow, but I reckon they should have put them on the podium as a stunt – everyone but the political people would have loved it.
Lita: Fair play to them, well done Sato! It's great to see them finally getting rewarded for their efforts.
Dylan: I applaud Taku for the first point for Super Aguri in what was a very well paced race, sticking with the Renault of Kovalainen and the Williams of Rosberg as best he could.
Steve: It seems that everyone has taken to Aguri – the spirit of Minardi appears to linger there rather than at Toro Rosso or Spyker. Who else took your eye in Spain – I thought Rosberg did well, and Kovalainen was mighty in the middle section.
Dylan: I can’t overlook the drives of DC, and Rubens though. DC for simply nursing the car to the line, something the ‘new breed’ of driver seems incapable of even attempting these days.
Steve: Red Bull had a good race indeed- with one car at least.
Braden: How unlucky is Mark Webber? I mean yes most drivers this season have had some failures, but so far Mark has had one in every race and only managed to finish the Malaysian GP – even with a technical problem going on once again! Poor guy, hope he gets some luck back soon!
Lita: Honourable mentions to DC and Rosberg for finally getting some good results, they definitely deserved them.
Dylan: A final mention to Rubens who was solid in 10th again sticking to the Renaults, despite having an obviously ill handling car.
Steve: Some fine drives all down the field when you look at it – the Spyker pair deserves a mention for getting their cars home again, too. So what about those who had a less than illustrious race?
Lita: Idiots of the day - Button/Barrichello. A combination of them because I believe they're all to blame. The pair collide during the race and it costs Button - although what it cost them I don't know since Barrichello only finished 10th. Point is,
they're team-mates, they shouldn't have collided, and it's not like it was over points. I could have criticised Wurz over hitting Ralf, but there's nothing he could have done about it, here they could have done something about it.
Dylan: For the worst performance I have a split decision. Ralf Schumacher has again unimpressed for the fourth race in a row, but the way Button came out of the pits, straight into his team mate, Ruben’s rear tyre was priceless, and proved a much needed comic relief moment in what was a dreary race, though the BMW-Sauber team did their bit with the farcical pit stop of Heidfelds.
Braden: My idiot of the day goes to Jenson Button. Barrichello gave him plenty of room into Turn One so that they could both make it round safe, but Button obviously unhappy with being behind Barrichello decides to make life interesting! Well he did his job and made the entire Honda team and executives have heart attacks.
Steve: I can’t add anything to that – the last thing you do is collide with your team mate! Star of the day, then – I give it to Massa for a faultless performance.
Braden: Super Aguri.
Lita: I was going to give it to Massa for a great performance, but it's going to Sato for his efforts. He kept his head about him, got into the points and held off Fisichella to take Aguri's first championship point. Well done to him!
Dylan: But the absolute star of the day was the Toyota mechanic who performed a brilliant manouvre to stop the stray BMW wheel nut, and then kindly return it to the BMW garage, of course after Nick had exited the pits, you don’t want to be seen as helping the opposition now do you.
Steve: Quite! Any final words – how is the title battle looking?
Dylan: Looking at the top two teams, Massa seems to have Kimi’s measure right now but reliability, something Ferrari have not needed to worry about too much in recent years seems to be the biggest issue in that team at the moment, and how to improve it.
Steve: It’s certainly an issue – when was the last time a Ferrari broke down after nine laps? Well, that concludes our review of the Spanish Grand Prix – Monaco is the next stop, and we will be watching the action on the streets as closely as ever. Thank you to Braden, Lita and Dylan for your contributions.
Now the part that has you chomping at the bit, straining at the leash and foaming at the mouth in anticipation – Ladies and Gentleman, I give to you…….
Brades Grades:
Drivers:
Felipe Massa – A+
This week no one can fault Felipe for his drive at Spain, other than the first corner incident with Alonso (which was a racing incident only). All weekend he was fast as or faster than his team mate Kimi and after he put the car first on the grid, it was going to be tough to beat him and Ferrari’s pace.
Lewis Hamilton – A
Another superb race from the rookie and another race in which he beat his more accomplished team mate. Apart from Qualifying, Hamilton was pretty much always faster than Alonso at his home weekend and showed that he is a star of the future. Even in qualifying he more than likely would have ended up in front of Alonso or just behind him, given the comparison in fuel loads.
Fernando Alonso – B-
A very poor race for a World Champion and Alonso will know it. He can whine all he wants about Massa not yielding, but he was still outclassed by both his team mate and Massa. After starting second on the grid many would expect him to lead the race, especially at his home event, but the first corner ruined all hope of winning the race.
Robert Kubica – A-
In comparison to his previous few races, this was a fantastic race for Kubica. He managed to make it to the end of another GP without a single failure on his car. The only disappointing thing in his weekend would be his slow middle stint race pace in comparison to David Coulthard.
David Coulthard – A
Yet another great race for the great Scot. This time instead of charging from the back of the grid, he started high up and was able to make light work of the Renaults, Red Bulls engine supplier. In the end DC could not catch Kubica as he had lost his seamless shift gearbox, as well as losing third gear and he did a fantastic job to prevent Rosberg from catching and passing him.
Nico Rosberg – B+
Spain was a good performance from Rosberg that saw him in the points yet again and showed that he does have some genuine talent. One disappointing thing on the weekend for him was the lack of qualifying pace in the Williams. This did not give him the chance to get an even higher spot – especially since there were two dropouts from the top 6.
Heikki Kovalainen – A
Heikki finally put together a complete race and showed the true pace that everyone has been raving about. The shame was that his finishing position was compromised by Renault’s fuel glitch that made him and Fisichella make an extra stop over everyone else. However the future looks bright for this young Finn.
Takuma Sato – A+
Spain was a fantastic race by the Kamikaze driver from Asia. Once shamed for his many dangerous driving tactics, Taku hit back at his critics by making a big statement and giving Super Aguri its first ever Formula One points. His accomplishment, although blighted by retirements ahead, was made more impressive as he finished in front of Fisichella and was able to hold him off.
Giancarlo Fisichella – C
Giancarlo’s race was not only ruined by the Renault teams’ fuel rigs, but also his lack of direction on the race circuit. On the first lap, Fisi was seen going off the circuit and rejoining down in around 14th position. This severely compromised his race and any chance he had of getting a point. Compounding this disappointment was seeing a Renault powered Red Bull a long way down the road, as well as the Super Aguri just in front at the end.
Rubens Barichello – B-
This weekend was a fairly decent one for Rubens when compared to the previous three races. This time he managed to not have any reliability issues, plus he managed to make a top 16 qualifying position for once. This gave him a great position for the race which helped him into Hondas best position all year; however the team still lacked any decent race pace.
Anthony Davidson – B+
Relatively invisible the entire weekend, Ant Davidson managed to create a good position for him after a some what difficult race. Although he was outshone by his team mate, he was able to beat the factory Honda of country mate Button home, which would have given him great joy. His practice position of 6th in one session also showed how much talent Davidson has, even if it was a low fuel run.
Jenson Button – D+
Spain was an absolutely woeful race for Jenson in which he was being beaten by his team mate quite easily again. This was compounded when both Hondas almost took each other off the track after Button exited pit lane. After losing his front wing, Jenson was forced to make another pit stop which put him dead last of the competitive cars. Button will be hoping for a lot more at his pseudo home in Monaco.
Adrian Sutil – B+
Sutil was one of the drivers of the weekend for me, especially after he comfortably beat his more experienced team mate again. Although I am starting to get sick of saying that, I might have to bring him down a notch because it is become regular. His race pace and practice pace at stages was something to look and smile about because it showed that he is a talented driver that could do good things if in the right machinery.
Christijan Albers – C-
Albers suffered yet another disappointing GP weekend at the Spanish GP. In almost every session he was beaten by his team mate and during the race he did not show too much race pace, before having to make a drive through for ignoring the blue flags. He will be looking for a better effort in Monaco or he could start to find himself under a bit of pressure.
Nick Heidfeld – C+
Some say it was about time Nick Heidfeld had the bad luck of BMW and that came this weekend. After qualifying behind a Toyota for the first time this season, Nick was shown up by his young team mate during the race before it all went horribly wrong. During his second pit stop, the front right tyre man did not get the nut tightened before the controller let Heidfeld go. This forced Nick to continue around the track slowly so that the tyre did not fall off. Not long after this his gearbox packed up and that was the end of his race.
Ralf Schumacher – C-
Unfortunately for Ralf his race was compromised on the first lap when he slowed in front of Wurz who went on to hit his rear. This forced Ralf to pit for repairs and he then found his car quite uncompetitive. However Ralf was very uncompetitive yet again in all aspects of the GP weekend and his immediate future is in serious doubt when compared to his team mate (who is also not highly rated as a complete F1 package). Ralf had to retire early once the damage inflicted on the first lap caused the car to fail.
Vitantonio Liuzzi – C
This weekend was yet another uninspiring race from Liuzzi, but he did manage to beat his team mate in qualifying and show who was boss on the race track. His race pace was at an acceptable level and his qualifying performance was one of his best yet, but it still hasn’t changed my opinion of his driving. He was another one of the retirements after suffering a hydraulics failure.
Scott Speed – D+
Scott Speed was unfortunate to have problems in qualifying, but this was not the only disappointing facet of his weekend. He did manage a relatively good time in Practice 2, but his race pace wasn’t up to an acceptable level, before he retired with a blown tyre.
Kimi Raikkonen – C+
One of the major disappointments of the weekend was Kimi’s pace in not only the race but qualifying. Although he was around 1 or 2 laps heavier than Massa, his qualifying pace reflected around 4 laps heavier, which was a disappointment for him. Then after an uninspiring start to the race, reliability problems once again hurt his race and he was forced to retire after just 9 laps.
Jarno Trulli – B+
Jarno was one of the good performers on the weekend in comparison to where the car should be. He managed to not only put the car into the top 10, but due to his qualifying expertise, he was able to put the car in between two BMW’s. It was a very impressive effort that unfortunately went unrewarded as he retired early with fuel line problems.
Mark Webber – B-
Some consider Webber to be the unluckiest driver in F1 and after being a Webber fan since his debut, I am of that belief. Once again Mark had another failure after showing great pace in practice. Not only did he have a failure in the race very early, but he had the same failure in qualifying which put him 19th on the grid. He also had a failure of a different kind in the Saturday morning session. All in all a poor weekend for Webber that was not his fault at all.
Alexander Wurz – C-
This may seem a slightly harsh rating on Wurz, especially since the accident wasn’t his fault, but he did not show anything in qualifying. Now I am again unsure if there was a problem for him, but someone of his calibre doesn’t usually have bad results in qualifying. His race start was not as he would have hoped and in the end he would have wished he had started better as he ran up the backside of Ralf in a completely unavoidable accident.
Teams:
Ferrari – D
The Spanish GP was one of the worst weekends that Ferrari has had in recent memory. The first two thirds of the GP weekend ran to plan as they experienced absolutely no problems, but come race time they had an unusual reliability problem which Ferrari don’t ever seem to get. Then they had a bad first pit stop with Massa, where the fuel spilt out and caught alight and luckily did not affect Massa’s race. Over the years I have been watching I can’t remember a Ferrari pit stop that has ever gone wrong, let alone to the scale of Sundays bungle.
McLaren – B
Although they managed to get two cars to the finish line and grab some vital constructors’ points, McLaren would be disappointed by this effort. After it looked like they had gained some ground in Malaysia, the last two GP’s they have had nothing in the race to match the Ferrari’s, but the only thing helping them is the reliability woes Ferrari are starting to suffer.
BMW – E-
Yet again BMW come away from a Grand Prix weekend with only one car finishing. At some point you have to wonder exactly how fragile the BMW is and wonder when they will walk away with no finishers. Not only did they have the regular reliability woes, but they also had a car controller a the pit stop of Heidfeld that ruined his race and made BMW’s pit crew look like Amateurs.
Red Bull – B-
Spain was just another sign of the fast improvement that Red Bull is making. After struggling for race pace at the first GP, they are making quick gains on BMW which have seen them behind by around about 0.3 seconds a lap. They are still however plagued by reliability issues, mainly to Mark Webber.
Williams – B+
Although Alexander Wurz had problems in qualifying and was out very early in the race, the Williams team can still be proud. After a season which yielded barely a point, Rosberg seems to be racking them up non-stop in a car that is leading the 7 remaining cars including the factory Toyota team.
Renault – D
Renault is another team that had debacles in the pits. This one wasn’t to do with the crew attending the cars, but the electronically controlled fuelling rig which they were using. The rig in question was under delivering fuel to the cars, forcing both of them to do an extra stop and compromised their races completely.
Super Aguri – A+
Some people may be appalled, some people may be happy, but I feel this minnow deserves this rating. So what if they are using the Honda chassis from 2006, they are putting it to good use ahead of the factory Honda team and for a team that did not exist two years ago, a point so early on is a fantastic result.
Honda – C-
Surprising to many Honda had actually made some slight ground on its competitors this weekend, but they still lack decent race pace when compared to its closest rival in Super Aguri. Add to this the fact that Jenson Button almost took his team mate and himself out of the race and you get the grade above.
Toyota – C-
Toyota would be devastated after what looked to be a promising and point gaining weekend ended in a double retirement. Jarno stalled on the grid thanks to a drop in fuel pressure before the fuel pressure problem caused his car to die completely. Ralf’s problems were mainly due to the accident on lap one, but they would not have existed if he had been able to qualify as high as his team mate.
Toro Rosso – D+
Although Toro Rosso is a minnow of the sport they will still be disappointed walking away from a GP with no finishers. One was not the fault of the team as Scott Speed’s tyre blew up after starting from last on the grid when he was restricted in qualifying due to technical problems. Liuzzi then suffered his own reliability problems in the race as his hydraulics died on him very early on.
Spyker – C
The Spanish GP was a good race for Spyker compared to the Bahrain GP four weeks ago. They managed for once to bring both cars home with no damaged and gain some credibility back after numerous failures. They are still along way behind the competition and will be getting edgy while waiting for the new car to arrive.
Written by Steve, Lita, Dylan, Braden on Wed, 16 May 2007 11:23:14
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