FORMULA 1 - 2014

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Spanish Grand Prix: Hamilton fends off Rosberg as Mercedes assert supremacy

Lewis Hamilton won the Spanish Grand Prix to chalk up his fourth victory in a row and wrest the Formula 1 championship lead from ‘gutted’ German teammate Nico Rosberg, as Mercedes asserted their supremacy over their rivals.

In what was also the fourth successive Mercedes one-two, and fifth win in five races for the dominant constructor, Hamilton took the chequered flag a mere 0.6 of a second ahead of his rival.

In a nail-biting finish to what had been a largely uneventful race, Rosberg piled pressure on Hamilton by slashing the Briton’s lead over the last six laps and looming close in his mirrors.

Hamilton, who now has 100 points to Rosberg’s 97 after his 26th career victory and leads the standings for the first time since 2012 when he was at McLaren, sounded increasingly anxious in radio traffic but held on for his first win in Spain.

The 2008 world champion said afterwards, “A big thank you for my team, they have done an incredible job this year. The support here is the best I have ever had and my first win in Spain means everything to me.”

Hamilton added, “I was not upset, I was not fast enough today, Nico was quicker, I struggled with the balance and needed to rely on my engineers. I was moving my settings up and down and fortunately I was able to keep Nico behind.”

Rosberg, who declared himself “a bit gutted” to finish second again and whose subdued body language alongside Hamilton on the podium more than confirmed that description, felt that “he would have got past with one more lap”.

He summed up his afternoon, “I think one more lap and I could have given it a good go! Unfortunately that was it and I am bit gutted but still, second place, second in the championship and many more races to go. I will go to Monaco to go one better and try and repeat the win from last year.”

Daniel Ricciardo was third for champions Red Bull in the first podium finish of his F1 career after being stripped of his second-place for a fuel irregularity in his home season-opener in Melbourne in March.

“We did not have the pace on Mercedes…it is really nice to be on the podium and I am sure I will get to keep it this time,” said the smiling Australian, who had started third on the grid. “A lonely third was not a bad result in the end”.

Ricciardo, as the best of the rest, crossed the line a massive 48.3 seconds behind Rosberg with Mercedes again in a class of their own and lapping all but four cars.

Quadruple world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel, who started 15th after a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change, ended a weekend of setbacks with a strong fourth place, “Definitely, it was more fun than the last race when I had to let people by. All in all it was the maximum we could do.’

“The start was bad, I lost a place but was able to get it back towards the end of the lap. I was stuck in the train and could not really feel how far we could go today but once I went on the Hard tyre we could catch people a bit and we realised we had the pace. I think fourth was the best we could do today,” concluded Vettel.

The 26-year-old German had arrived at the first European race of the season with a different chassis to the previous four grands prix, in which he had made just one podium appearance, but Red Bull remained an age away from Mercedes.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was one of those passed by Hamilton, finishing seventh and just behind Spanish teammate Fernando Alonso – last year’s winner – in sixth.

“It was tough,” said the Spaniard. “Nothing surprised us, we had very low grip throughout the race. We struggled with the start and did not make any places on the first corner and we were stuck in traffic for 90% of the race. We are in a similar position [as before Barcelona] unfortunately.”

“The gap this year is amazing from the Mercedes, 40 seconds, so fair play and we need to raise our game because Mercedes are showing the potential of these cars,” warned Alonso.

Finland’s Valtteri Bottas took fifth place for Williams, while Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa sank from ninth at the start to 13th at the finish.

Bottas told reporters after the race, “I’m really happy for us – 10 points is very good. All the time we were in the points and today we got the maximum out of the tyre strategy and me from the car. It was a shame in the end that Vettel came so quickly but we got the points.”

Frenchman Romain Grosjean handed Lotus their first points of the season, with eighth place, ahead of Force India’s Mexican Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg in ninth and 10th respectively.

Grosjean said of his first points scoring afternoon of the season, “It was not one of the easiest races I have had in my career. We had thousands of problems during the race but it was good to fight with … Ferrari.”

“I think the guys deserve a beer tonight, they have worked so hard and it is good to be back in the points. The start of the season has been more difficult than I could have [imagined] in my nightmares but everyone is working hard to succeed. We will try and take the momentum from this race into Monaco,” ventured the Frenchman.

Only two drivers retired, Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne and Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi, in a 66 lap race that testified to the surprising reliability of the cars in the new V6 hybrid turbo era.

Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado, who crashed in Qualifying and started last for Lotus, was handed a five second stop/go penalty for causing a collision with Caterham’s Marcus Ericsson.

A final word to Mercedes Executive Director (Technical) Paddy Lowe: “Lewis and Nico racing is exactly how we want it. Those guys were racing each other right to the ragged edge, each one trying to find the weakness of the other. Every single lap was a racing lap for both guys and I think the fact we saw 0.6 of a second between them on the 66th lap shows just how close it was throughout.”

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Ferrari remember Schumi’s first grand prix win as a red

Gathered around a pit board specially prepared for the occasion, Scuderia Ferrari wanted to remember Michael Schumacher’s first win at the wheel of a Prancing Horse car, which happened at the Catalunya circuit back in 1996, when the race was run under a torrential downpour.

This special message fits in with what Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo had to say on Friday, when he recalled the German champion’s brilliant drive, as a way of “staying close to his family and to look back at all the great things Michael has done in the past.”

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Irritated Button rues pit stop gamble

Jenson Button believes his race was ruined when McLaren decided to haul him into the pits ahead of his scheduled stop, during Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

The 2009 World Champion added that he couldn't get heat into the tyres during the early parts of the race, and eventually had to settle for a disappointing 11th place.

"I got a bad launch and on the first lap struggled to get any heat into the tyres," Button told Sky F1.

"I then pitted behind one Force India to get the jump on the other one, but I then had to sit in the box because another car came along behind me. I then came out in front of Lewis but had to let him through even though he was slower than me - which was the first time I've seen that this year.

"The car did feel a bit better in the race, we just couldn't do anything with it. We've made progress, the first lap made all the difference and it's so difficult to overtake around here.

"The start and the first lap cost me a lot of time and my second pit-stop compromised my strategy.

"During the first two stints, it felt like we were making progress, because we were faster than the cars in front.

"But we gambled on taking the second stop early, thinking we could jump one of the Force Indias, but Daniil [Kvyat's] Toro Rosso followed me in, and caused my release to be delayed by a few seconds while he came past me in the pit-lane.

"Then I came out of the pits just in front of Lewis [Hamilton], who was lapping me. He was running old tyres, while I was on fresh rubber; I had to let him past, but it delayed me a bit more."

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Rosberg: I don’t enjoy coming second to Lewis

Championship leader Nico Rosberg declared that is had to be game on and with everything to play at the Spanish Grand Prix despite Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton trumping him after pulling out an ace in qualifying.

In the battle of the minds between Formula One’s runaway title contenders, Hamilton landed another big psychological blow at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The Briton’s fourth pole in five races left him perfectly placed to take a fourth win in a row and seize the overall lead from Rosberg, who had been fastest in final practice at a circuit that saw him beat everyone in qualifying last year.

“I don’t particularly enjoy coming second to Lewis. I am of course disappointed but in the end it was a good lap from me, so Lewis just did a better job and that’s just the way it is,” declared Rosberg. “Anyway, it’s still all to play for [in the race]… all it takes is a good start tomorrow and then I’m in the lead again.”

Hamilton’s pole will still have stung, with the German well aware that the Circuit de Catalunya is not a track that has favoured the 2008 champion in the past.

“Obviously it gives him momentum and momentum is a part of the sport,” said Rosberg, winner of the season-opening race in Australia and second in the rest, of Saturday’s setback.

“The mental is part of it and that does give the momentum. I just need to stay on it, stay strong – which I am – keep pushing and try and turn it around to my favour.”

Hamilton also rubbed a little salt in the wounds by emphasising how he had been wrestling with the car’s handling and how much faster he might have gone.

“I lost a bit of pace today, so I’m really even happier knowing that I dropped a bit of pace but was able to get back at the front,” he said.

Hamilton had been fastest in Friday practice but a few very minor tweaks, just half a millimetre here and there, made overnight to improve the car had the opposite effect.

He was heard on the radio during the first phase of qualifying complaining that they had made the car worse and there was little he could do about it.

“In Q1 you saw I was half a second off Nico, just struggling to put a lap together. But at the end I just did it by the skin of my teeth,” he said.

In China last month, Hamilton dominated all the way through qualifying and he said Saturday’s pole was perhaps more satisfying.

“When you’ve been on the back foot and clearly your team mate’s got the upper hand but you manage to pull out an ace card just for that last lap, it’s a great feeling,” he said.

“But still deep in the back of your mind you know ‘I wasn’t quick enough today’.”

In Bahrain, the third round of the season, Hamilton and Rosberg duelled for the lead in the most thrilling race of the campaign so far.

While neutral spectators hoped for a repeat of that wheel-banging scrap on Sunday, Hamilton said he would do his best to prevent that from happening.

“I am ready for whatever but we’re going to work as hard as we can to make sure that is not the case,” he smiled.

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Ricciardo pleased with Spain podium

Daniel Ricciardo admitted that third place was about as much as he and the team could have hoped for at the Spanish Grand Prix, after finally finishing on the podium for Red Bull.

After locking out the front row once again, Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were a class apart at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Ricciardo, starting from third on the grid, lost a place to Valtteri Bottas early in the race, but after some blistering laps during his second stint of tyres, the Aussie was able to get the position back from the Williams driver, who was on a two-stop strategy instead of a three-stopper.

The Red Bull driver was famously stripped of the second place finish he recorded in Australia after the fuel flow limits on his car exceeded the allowed limits, and he added that he was pleased to finally get the podium for his new team, even though he was never in line to challenge the top two.

"We did not have the pace on Mercedes," Ricciardo added after the race.

"We had a pretty comfortable third place and it is really nice to be on the podium and I am sure I will get to keep it this time!

"I just had to make the tyres last.

"Mercedes were a long way ahead. Coming into the race we knew a boring one would be good for us."

Nevertheless, the Aussie rued the fact that he was unable to make a better start and perhaps split the Mercedes duo at the front of the pack.

"I didn't get off as well as I would have liked at the start but then it was just about the strategy. I was maintaining focus and even though I had a big buffer to fourth place I wanted to maintain intensity and not get complacent.

"I think we need a lasso onto the back of the Mercedes and let them tow us along. It is a massive gap but I am sure we will get there. We all know what Mr Newey is like, as well as the 600 other people at the team."

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Marko: Mercedes and Ferrari try get our top people including Newey

World champions Red Bull have not denied reports Ferrari made yet another move to poach ace designer Adrian Newey.

“We’re used to these permanent poaching attempts from both sides,” Helmut Marko told Bild am Sonntag, referring not just to Ferrari. “Mercedes and Ferrari don’t just try to get our top employees; they are trying at every level.”

However Newey declared two years ago, “They’re a great team and just like many drivers end up succumbing to Ferrari’s romance, engineers aren’t completely callous, but I won’t be going to Ferrari. One reason is that my family [with four children] is in England.”

“And being involved with Red Bull from the start has been hugely rewarding. I have no desire to work for any-one else in F1,” added Newey.

In reality, Red Bull and Ferrari have a more immediate problem even than a tug-of-war over Formula 1′s most sought-after and highly paid engineer.

At the Circuit de Catalunya, a layout expected to play into the hands of Mercedes’ rivals, Lewis Hamilton was a clear second faster than any other qualifying pretender.

Not only that, world champion Sebastian Vettel is having one of the worst grand prix weekends of his formerly glittering Formula 1 career.

Despite having switched to a new RB10 chassis for the Barcelona weekend, the German has struggled simply to get his new Red Bull to run in Spain.

“It’s getting a bit boring,” Vettel said on Saturday. “We’ve had all sorts of problems this year.”

Boring perhaps, but the quadruple title winner is at least retaining his sense of humour. Asked if his 2014 travails are a good test of his mettle, Vettel replied: “Well, I haven’t been tested on the track much so far!

“If you compare my salary with the number of laps I’ve done, then I am the best paid driver,” he commented to Auto Motor und Sport.

Vettel sat out most of Friday and his car also broke down in Qualifying. he added mischievously, “I’d say I’m well rested for the race.”

Gerhard Berger, once Vettel’s boss at Toro Rosso, also thinks that motivational issues may be creeping into the 26-year-old’s struggles.

“Firstly he knows that he has no chance with this Renault engine,” said the former McLaren and Ferrari driver. “And certainly after always being at the front for four years and giving everything, in this situation you could find that your batteries are getting low.”

But Red Bull’s Marko thinks the that real problem is simply Mercedes’ increasing dominance, “We are one second from them. In the race we won’t see Mercedes. We are making small steps forward, but so are they. We need a quantum leap, otherwise for us the year is over.”

It is believed Red Bull wants to introduce substantial fuel and engine modifications in time for its home race in Austria next month, but this might require a relaxation of the engine ‘freeze’ rules.

“The rules are clear, and we stick to them,” Mercedes Formula 1 Chairman Niki Lauda, clearly ruling out cooperation to help struggling Renault, insisted.

So for now, Marko has admitted that he is hoping for Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s lonely battle at the front to come to blows.

Lauda, meanwhile, is taking delight in Mercedes’ current situation, “I was really concerned that our lead would be smaller on an aerodynamic track like Barcelona. But we are even further ahead of Red Bull than before.”

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Thank you Mercedes-Benz!

Formula 1′s brilliant technical revolution in 2014 has been largely overlooked by the blinkered folk in the F1 Paddock but finally Mercedes-Benz has made the obvious connection that has previously been left unsaid. The Stuttgart firm has recognised that the new powertrain is far more than simply an Internal Combustion Engine. The engine is a hybrid. The team has decided to rename the F1 W05 racing car the F1 W05 Hybrid and will carry the Hybrid branding featured on series production Mercedes-Benz cars prominently on the engine cover.

“Mercedes-Benz has been at the forefront of automotive innovation since the invention of the first automobile by Gottlieb Daimler,” said Toto Wolff. “This pedigree includes over a century of motorsport involvement, which has provided a testing ground for some of the brand’s most significant breakthroughs. What we are seeing in Formula 1 today is the next generation of innovations that will eventually find their way from the race track to the road. Mercedes-Benz is leading the way in promoting the positive new direction the sport has taken.

During the early development phases of KERS in 2007, the system weighed in at over 100 kg and worked at a thermal efficiency level of 39 percent. By the end of the 2012 season the units weighed just 24 kg and were capable of 80 percent thermal efficiency levels. In other words, Formula 1 development enabled a twelve-fold increase in power density from KERS systems: the impact of which has filtered down into Hybrid systems used by the everyday motorist.

The perfect example lies in the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Coupé Electric Drive: with lessons learned during development of the high-power-density F1 KERS Hybrid flowing directly into the technology at the heart of this ground-breaking vehicle. The battery solution for the all-electric supercar was developed with Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP) in Brixworth, delivered 740 hp, an incredible 1,000 Nm of torque and set a new benchmark for energy density. All of which added up to a 7:56 record lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife!

This rate of development has historically come as something of a by-product to the ultimate goal of faster lap time. For 2014, however, this has fundamentally changed.

“Formula 1 is the pinnacle of automotive innovation. As such, it has a responsibility to push the boundaries of technology,” explains Toto. “The new regulations not only encourage this innovation but also align the sport with the direction in which the automotive industry is heading. As a works manufacturer team, we are perfectly placed to reap the rewards of aligning our racing activities with the future technology path for series production. Formula One always has been about pure racing – and it still is today. At the same time, we’re now back at the cutting edge of technology and pioneering new solutions. That’s a huge positive step for the sport.”

Yes! Finally someone is singing a positive song about F1 technology…

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Mercedes: We have two incredible drivers

Lewis Hamilton achieved his fourth victory of the season today with Nico Rosberg finishing just 0.636s behind in second place.

Mercedes AMG Petronas took the first one-two finish for a team at the Spanish Grand Prix since 2009

Today’s result marks a fourth consecutive one-two finish for the team; a feat last achieved by Mercedes-Benz in 1955

Lewis began the race on option tyres, stopping for a second set of options on lap 18 and primes on lap 43

Nico also started on options, switching to primes on lap 21 and then back to options on lap 45

Lewis Hamilton: It’s fantastic to get my first win here after eight attempts and it’s really difficult to put that feeling into words right now. We have our bosses from Mercedes-Benz here today and it’s great for the team that we were able to give them a one-two finish. In all my career, I’ve never before had a car or a performance gap like this. Nico drove a fantastic race and I struggled to keep him behind, but I just managed it at the end. I had the same problems with the car this afternoon that I found yesterday in qualifying: I couldn’t attack the corners properly because of snap oversteer and that’s where Nico was catching me. I’m just so proud of this team: we are looking very strong and I’m enjoying every moment and every step of the way. There’s still a long way to go this season, though, so we are staying humble, getting our heads down and working hard. I still have a bit more time to find from the car because it’s very, very close with Nico, so I have to keep working on that. But it’s a great feeling to be leading the championship.

Nico Rosberg: The race was so close at the end today and with one more lap, I could have tried to overtake Lewis for the first time. My start was bad. It is a weakness that we have and we will try to improve. Once it was clear that I was in second place, we chose to go with the slower strategy using the prime tyres in the middle stint to get a shot at Lewis at the end when I was on the options. It was very close but not quite close enough so naturally I’m disappointed but I can take a lot of positives from this weekend. We have an amazing car and my pace was really strong here so I just need to find an extra little edge to capitalise on. The next race is Monaco which is not only my home race but has some great memories from my victory there last year.

Toto Wolff: That was a fantastic afternoon of sport. We have two incredible drivers who are capable of fighting until the last corner of the last lap to achieve success. That was the case again today and they were incredibly closely matched in spite of running different strategies in the race. Their battle is so intense and so close that I am sure it will carry on all the way to the final race. We will savour this victory tonight and enjoy our success – but from tomorrow, our focus is on Monaco. We had a very strong result there last year and our target will be to improve on that this year.

Paddy Lowe: Both cars made a great start and got through Turn One cleanly without incident. From then on, it was all about some incredibly close racing between two drivers, with an hour and a half of constant work between them and their engineers to try and find any possible edge. It’s great to watch both sides of the garage working so well to get the best for their driver. Lewis and Nico both delivered great drives and to see a gap of 0.6s after 66 laps of flat out racing just about sums it up. I would like to thank all the team in Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart for the huge effort that went into creating such a competitive car at this pivotal and very difficult race of the season. We are now looking forward to Monaco which brings some very different challenges for us to tackle.

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Lotus: Very happy to score our first points of the season

Romain Grosjean celebrated his 50th Grand Prix start by scoring the first points of the season for Lotus F1 Team thanks to an eighth place finish despite racing with a power unit issue for much of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Pastor Maldonado finished fifteenth, making seven places during the course of the 66 laps from his back of the grid start.

• Romain started from fifth position on scrubbed medium tyres, changing to scrubbed medium tyres on lap 15, and making his final pitstop on lap 34 for scrubbed hard tyres.
  
• Pastor started from the back of the grid (22nd) on new medium tyres, changing to new medium tyres on lap 15, which included his five second stop/go penalty, and stopping again on lap 37 for new hard tyres.
  

Romain Grosjean: “It’s been a tough battle for us to get points this season and that was certainly one of the hardest races I’ve contested in a long time. I did everything I could to drive around the power unit issues, which really made things difficult when battling the other cars. It’s good for all the crew at the track and at Enstone to finally get a reward for all their hard work. There are still a lot of areas where we can improve and certainly the car wasn’t as quick today as it was yesterday, with the different track conditions as well as the other issue. It’s Mothers’ Day in Switzerland so this one’s for my mum!”

Pastor Maldonado: “We made a step forward in terms of pace with the car this weekend, it was much more competitive than 15th but the lack of top speed meant we weren’t able to attack even if we had a quicker car than others around us. We need to keep working on that and to be faster on the straights. Today’s result is a bit disappointing but my race had been already compromised by starting at the back the grid. At least we saw the chequered flag and collected more data for the team to keep on developing the car.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: “We are very pleased for the team and for Romain to have scored our first points today. It’s certainly been a long road to get to this place. It’s not all a sweet taste as we were expecting to have finished further up the grid. We had some issues with the power unit again so we need to keep working with Renault Sport F1 to ensure we can keep fighting for as many points as possible. We have two days of testing coming up and our target is to carry on making improvements in performance and reliability.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “We’re obviously very happy to score our first points of the season and we were enjoying a very good first stint in front of both Ferraris but unfortunately Romain’s power unit developed a problem which cost him a step in power for the rest of the race. Given the circumstances, Romain did an incredible job, battling right to the chequered flag. We always knew Pastor would have a difficult race from the back of the grid but he did everything he could to make seven places to finish in fifteenth. We have plenty more in terms of development for the car which we hope to harness with improved reliability.”

Simon Rebreyend, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: “It is very positive to score the first points of the season. It shows the rapid progress we have made as a team. Unfortunately Romain was not able to hold off the Ferraris as a calibration issue caused a loss of power from the first part of the race – we need to look at what we can do to correct this in future races. Pastor’s race was always going to be hard but we made the best of a bad situation and at least we showed both cars have the pace to be in the top ten.”

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Marussia: Overall a good race for the team

The Marussia F1 Team’s Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton drove an excellent race in today’s Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana Pirelli 2014, confirming the improvements to the MR03 package introduced for the start of the European season.

The pair ended the 66 lap race in 18th and 19th places respectively, displacing the single remaining Caterham car along the way and matching the Sauber team – and in the latter stages of the race, Force India – for pace.

The Marussia F1 Team continues to hold 10th place in the Constructors’ Championship and Max Chilton’s record remains intact, having seen the chequered flag on 24 occasions in 24 races.

Jules Bianchi: “It was a good race today in which we saw clear signs of our improvement. I was able to get ahead of my team-mate at the start, which was my first objective, and to stay ahead of the Caterhams which was the next. Our other objective was to take the fight to Sauber and while we were able to match their pace, the gap to them ahead was too great to be able to take a position from them. That time will come, I’m sure and maybe a race like Monaco will give us a better opportunity. I am happy for the Team that there is some reward for all the hard work, now we have to keep pushing and keep up the momentum.”

Max Chilton: “I’m really pleased that we’ve seen a good step forward here and we’ve been able to lift our performance versus the cars around us. We’ve definitely gained a really strong advantage on the Caterhams and the Saubers are now in our sights, so well done to the Team. On a personal note it’s also great to keep my finishing record alive and that’s 24 out of 24 now. I’m really excited for Monaco now. It’s a race I did well at last year and one that always presents a few opportunities. With the improvements we have we could have an interesting race.”

John Booth, Team Principal: “Overall a good race for the Team today and one where it’s great to be back looking forward to our next set of competitors, as opposed to the cars behind. We planned for a two-stop strategy and after a good start by both cars Jules was away working to build the gap to the cars behind. Unfortunately Max got stuck behind Kobayashi in the first stint and in order to try to leapfrog him, we decided to try a three-stop race with Max. In the end, Jules’ two-stop strategy worked pretty much as planned and his pace at the end of the race on the prime tyre was very good. It is clear however that we need a few more tenths for us to stay with the back of the midfield pack. The three stop approach for Max was not as effective as the two-stop but it did achieve the objective in respect of Kobayashi. Unfortunately he ended up behind Ericsson on one of his middle stints, which ultimately meant that the gap to Jules at the end of the race was bigger than it should have been. We move on from this race to the test this week. Through most of the weekend we have been identifying areas where we can see room for improvement and we are pleased that the test will provide us with the opportunity for both drivers to explore these set-ups and hopefully pull a few more tenths out of this package. This will make a huge difference going forwards.”

Claudio Albertini, Head of Customer Teams Power Unit Operations, Scuderia Ferrari: “The start of the European season coincided with a particularly challenging race weekend, especially in terms of reliability. Therefore, the outcome of the Spanish Grand Prix has to be welcomed, considering that both Jules and Max once again saw the chequered flag. In terms of performance, there was a step forward, evidenced by the difference in performance compared to our main opponents, but it is clear that there is much work to be done and, on this front, we know that the contribution we can make is very significant. Each kilometre is important to gain experience for the development of the power unit and, in this sense, the two days of testing that will take place at this track next week will be a big help. Our goal is to put the team in a position to be competitive against those teams ahead, albeit everyone is developing at the same time.”

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Sauber: This result is obviously not satisfactory

The Spanish Grand Prix produced a difficult ending for the Sauber F1 Team’s drivers. Esteban Gutiérrez finished the race in P16, while Adrian Suitl was 17th.

The new package was not yet working well in all areas. However, the team was able to reduce the gap in relation to the lap time to the competition. During the Barcelona test on Tuesday and Wednesday the team will work on optimising the package.

Esteban Gutiérrez: “Obviously, we cannot be happy with this result. It is not where we want to be. It was a good start, and I managed to gain some positions. After that I just kept dropping back. During the race it was very challenging to keep the tyres alive and to have good speed on the straights. I was trying to defend my position. Nevertheless, we should not lose our motivation. We have the test this week and we need to have the right programme to get things sorted out.”

Adrian Sutil: “The race was not very exciting for me. Unfortunately, the performance of my car was not good and I was struggeling with the grip. Both stints with the medium tyres were difficult, I think the hard tyres worked better. At the end we were running out of laps. It was a disappointing race for me. We still have a huge problem with the grip level, especially while turning into the corners. We still have to work on this. Now we have to look forward and do better during the upcoming races.”

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “This result is obviously not satisfactory. We came to Barcelona with a development package, and we can see that the gap to our direct competitors is smaller than before. Now it’s about further optimising this package. There are still a number of points which are not as good as they could be. On top of that, we have to get a more profound understanding of how to best use the tyres.“

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “For sure, this result is not great. Nevertheless, the gap to some of our direct competitors’ lap times was about half a second, while in the past it was over a second, and this is motivating. So from a performance point of view we were closer, but not close enough. Initially we planned a two stop strategy with both cars, but then we switched to three for Esteban. The car’s balance was not as good as it should be, but I guess we know what we have to do, and we will have the chance to work on this during the test on Tuesday and Wednesday. We have a number of new parts which should allow us to get more out of the package.”

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Williams: Our upgrade package clearly worked

Valtteri Bottas finished fifth and Felipe Massa 13th in the Spanish Grand Prix. Both cars made good starts with Valtteri making his way into third position but Felipe was caught up behind a slow starting Ricciardo and finished the first lap in eighth, behind Alonso.

On different strategies both cars pushed hard with the team collecting another 10 points to move up to fifth in the Constructors’ Championship.

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: The car was the third quickest yesterday, as it was today, so overall we are pleased to be there. We came here with an upgrade package and it’s clearly worked. Valtteri did a good job to make a two-stop work. We tried a different strategy with Felipe to try and release him, but unfortunately his race didn’t quite work out, so we all need to look into every aspect to make sure we are in the best shape with Felipe for Monaco. We are very positive for the future though.

Valtteri Bottas: Today we did our best. The strategy was correct and the team did really well in the pitstops, I made no mistake on the track so we made the maximum of what was on offer and got some good points from it. It’s pleasing to be in the points and it equals my best ever result. It was a shame Vettel was so quick at the end, I tried to defend, but he had fresher tyres. The atmosphere in the team is fantastic, we are all pushing forward and points feed that hunger.

Felipe Massa: I made a good start and could have made more positions, but Ricciardo was in front so I couldn’t do anything. The three-stop strategy would have worked had the first stint been clean, but I had cars in front which damaged my tyres a lot. This meant that rather than pulling away from them and having clean track, when they pitted they had the advantage. This happened again at the start of the second stint, so things just didn’t go my way.

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Caterham drivers report from the Spanish GP

Caterham drivers and team report from the Spanish Grand Prix, Round 5 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya.

Kamui Kobayashi: “My start was pretty good and I was up to 18th by the end of lap one having passed Chilton, but I couldn’t keep Maldonado or Vergne behind me and lost places to them by lap five so just focused on my own race. The car felt ok but I still had the same traction issues as we’d had all weekend so it was still a bit of a handful, but the deg levels on the first set of medium tyres that we’d started with were good so we could run a very long first stint, finally boxing on lap 23 for another set of mediums.

“The car felt better on the second set of tyres and I was able to make up some time to Bianchi ahead, but then on lap 34 I had a pretty scary moment going into turn one when the left front brake failed and I was just able to keep the car out of the wall. That was the end of my race and the end of a difficult weekend. We clearly don’t have the performance we’re targeting, but changes have been made to help us sort this out and the whole team is working harder than ever to make progress, and we have two days of testing here to help us learn more about the new parts we brought to Spain, so we’ll aim to fight back in Monaco next week.”

Marcus Ericsson: “I was pleased with how I got off the line and was with Kamui in 19th but then Maldonado hit me pretty hard as he tried to pass going into turn 13. His move risked putting both of us out of the race, but luckily the car was ok and I was able to continue, even though that had put me back to 22nd.

“My pace in the early laps was ok but the car balance wasn’t great so I couldn’t really do anything to stay with Chilton who’d got past when Maldonado made contact with me. In the high speed corners it was understeering too much but it was the opposite in the low speed turns, oversteering a lot which, combined, meant I just couldn’t push anywhere.

“We did a long stint on the second set of mediums, pushing them to lap 40 when we made the second stop, switching to a set of new hards to run to the flag. From that point my focus was just making sure I could get to the end and bring a tough race weekend to a close. For me it’s another Grand Prix under my belt, another chance to learn and as hard as it’s been, I know we can improve so I’m as positive as ever and excited about racing in my first F1 race in Monaco in a couple of weeks.”

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Force India: We’ve scored points in every race so far this year

Sahara Force India secured another double points finish in the Spanish Grand Prix with Sergio Perez finishing in ninth place just ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in tenth.

Sergio Perez: “It was quite a hard afternoon, so to come away with two points is not too bad. I had pretty strong pace in the race and my tyre degradation was okay so I think we probably could have been a bit more aggressive with the strategy. Maybe if we had stopped earlier I could have jumped ahead of some more cars because my pace was good, but it was just so difficult to overtake. We knew this track would be a tough test for us, so this result is more or less what we expected here. Maybe P7 or P8 was achievable today, but we should feel quite happy to keep up our run of points.”

Nico Hulkenberg: “It was a case of damage limitation today. We knew from the early practice sessions that this wasn’t going to be our strongest track so to get two cars in the points is a positive result. The tyre degradation was high and the car was not so easy to drive, but I think everybody was struggling in the final part of the race. I thought we would need to make a third stop, but fortunately the tyres held on and I was able to score a point. We will use all the data we got over the weekend to improve for the next few races where we hope to be a bit more competitive.”

Vijay Mallya, Team Principal and Managing Director: “There were few surprises in this afternoon’s race and our final result of ninth and tenth is a fair reflection of the pace we have shown during this weekend. As I said yesterday, this circuit was never going to play to our strengths and yet we still managed to secure a double points finish. It means we’ve scored points in every race so far this year and this keeps up our momentum in the championship. Like everyone, we suffered with high tyre degradation and it was tricky to make the right decisions on when to stop. We felt we were quite aggressive with both car strategies, but in hindsight we probably could have pushed the limits even more. We now head to Monaco with 57 points and sitting in a strong fourth place in the championship.”

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Team bosses rubbish Alonso to Mercedes reports

Mercedes appears to have closed the door on Fernando Alonso ever being part of the team amid several reports in the Barcelona paddock which suggested that the increasingly-frustrated Spaniard may have looked into whether there could be a place open at the dominant Brackley team for 2015.

That interest would be despite Alonso’s ongoing Ferrari contract, and also the fact that Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton are similarly fastened to Mercedes beyond this year.

And Niki Lauda, Mercedes’ outspoken chairman, promptly dismissed the speculation as “bullsh*t”, according to the Salzburger Nachrichten.

Team boss Toto Wolff added: “We think long-term – we are not interested in one night stands.”

The door to silver pastures would seem to be firmly shut to Alonso. Not only that, the Spaniard – earlier with the easy upper-hand on new Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen – has been soundly outpaced by the Finn at home in Spain this weekend.

Europa Press quoted Alonso as saying: “I’m more worried about the 1.8 second gap to Mercedes.”

Raikkonen, too, was not celebrating his Sunday triumph, “It gives me no satisfaction to be ahead of him [Alonso]. “What I want is to be fighting for the top positions.”

“Of course it’s nicer to be in front of him than behind, but whether you’re sixth or seventh doesn’t make much difference,” Raikkonen added.

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Toro Rosso: We struggled during the whole weekend

Toro Rosso drivers and team report from the Spanish Grand Prix, Round 5 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya.

Daniil Kvyat: “To be honest it was quite a difficult race today. We lacked pace, even though I must say that the first stint was quite positive and it seemed possible to even fight for some points. In the end, tyre wear was quite heavy and together with the lack of pace, it turned out to be a tough race. The opening lap was okay and there were lots of battles, in which I managed to overtake a few cars on the outside line and by the end of the first stint I even managed to close in on both Force India cars. But unfortunately it was not enough and even when I put on a fresh set of option tyres for the last stint and overtake a couple of cars towards the end of the race, it was not possible to make it into the points today.”

Jean-Eric Vergne

• Race Position: DNF

“Somebody has asked me if I feel a bit persecuted by bad luck at the moment. It might look like this, but this is part of the game. I always do all I can, my team is working really hard and problems can happen. For the ten grid positions penalty I don’t blame anyone. When I crash the car it’s the team that pays my mistake, so this is part of racing. Today I was really determined in having a good race, against all odds. The first stint was quite difficult as I had a front left brake problem which caused front locking, but the pace was really looking strong on the option tyres, until an exhaust problem put an end to my race. I’m still very positive that I will have my chance. I drive a Formula One car and I enjoy doing it, no matter what! This race weekend is now behind my back, we have the test session here next week and Monaco is just around the corner. My team and I will once again put all our efforts together to have a good weekend there.”

Franz Tost (Team Principal): “We struggled during the whole weekend here in Barcelona, without being able to achieve the pace that we were expecting. In both qualifying and the race we couldn’t build up the speed to go into Q3 and to finish in the points today with Daniil. As for Jean-Eric, unfortunately we had to call him in soon after his first pit stop because of a problem to the exhaust system. Now we will work very hard to prepare the car for a better performance in Monaco.”

Ricardo Penteado (Renault Sport F1 track support leader): “It was a hard race all round as Daniil struggled to get the pace from the car, while JEV started with a known issue with his exhaust. We hoped to get to the end but the team decided to retire when the numbers showed it would not be safe to do so. Although the overall result is disappointing we have made progress in energy and fuel management with the new software improvements and the next round will come very shortly in Monaco.”

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HAAS VISIT TO LOTUS MAY BE PRELUDE TO ENSTONE BUYOUT

Paddock reports are in high gear surrounding the future of Lotus, the Enstone based outfit once Ayrton Senna’s first team, Toleman, which subsequently became title winning Benetton and Renault.

More recently Kimi Raikkonen won races in the current black and gold Lotus guise,but Raikkonen departed after bitterly revealing he was not being paid, and reports of financial trouble have struck again, despite the millions brought to the team by the well-connected Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado.

Lotus appeared to have been left stranded as the team that has not paid disgruntled engine supplier Renault so far in 2014, after fellow customers Toro Rosso and Caterham insisted all their invoices are up to date.

But a Lotus spokesman said in Barcelona: “We have an agreement with Renault for the payment of our power unit for 2014. We are 100 per cent up to date with our agreement.”

Nevertheless, the report mill was already shifting gear, as reports on British television Sky emerged that Gene Haas – Formula 1′s next team owner – is set to visit Enstone.

Some have suggested the Californian may have listened to the critics and acknowledged that basing his new team in the United States might not be a good idea.

One such critic is Toro Rosso team chief Franz Tost, who said in Spain: “I would not like to do that to be honest.”

“Getting highly-skilled technical people to Italy is one of the main problems for Toro Rosso! These people prefer to stay in England, where the best infrastructure for Formula 1 exists,” he told Formula 1′s official website.

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Furious Raikkonen wants answers over strategy

A furious Kimi Raikkonen refused to continue his post-race interviews when he was questioned on his strategy for the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Finn has demanded an explanation as to why the team seemingly gave priority to team-mate Fernando Alonso, despite Raikkonen being ahead on the track. He was passed by Alonso in the closing laps as his tyres began to fade, whilst the Spaniard, who had pitted before him, switched to a three-stop strategy and used his fresher tyres to claim sixth whilst Raikkonen settled for seventh.

After the race, Raikkonen asked over the radio "who made these calls?"

When asked if he felt he was being treated a number two driver, he replied: "No, but obviously I want to clear up a few things and that's all. "Obviously there was not much between it, I ran out of tyres a little bit in that lap or two.

We still finished far away from the others or where we want to be, so it did not make much difference, two or three stop."

Clearly angered, Raikkonen turned his attentions to the future and he says he's confident Ferrari will get back into podium contention.

"It's disappointing for Ferrari but there was some good points from the weekend compared to the last weeks. We are not happy where we are as a team and we know we have a lot of work to do to catch up. In the future we know the areas where we are lacking, but it's not easy to catch up on each thing in F1."

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MASSA SAYS WILLIAMS ARE NOW THIRD IN PECKING ORDER

Williams is eyeing the next scalp, after out performing fellow Mercedes-powered McLaren at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Grove based team’s next target is Force India, according to top engineer Rob Smedley.

“The glass is more than half full,” Smedley, who switched from Ferrari at the end of last season, was quoted by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport on Sunday.

“Our car is now third fastest,” he insisted, referring to dominant pacesetters Mercedes and reigning world champions Red Bull.

Driver Felipe Massa, who also moved from Ferrari to Williams for 2014, agrees with his former race engineer and friend Smedley, predicting that the British team can now hold off grandee McLaren’s charge for the rest of the season.

“We can fight against Force India and McLaren,” he is quoted. “Against Ferrari it will be harder, because they have more resources, but it is not impossible.”

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Mateschitz renews attack on new era Formula 1

Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull’s low profile team owner, has renewed his attack on the new face of Formula 1.

Mateschitz has already been highly critical of the sport’s radical new rules for 2014, featuring turbo V6 engines and restrictions on the use of fuel.

Now, he has told Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper: “We have a plethora of regulations, restrictions, rules, penalties.

“It used to be about ‘who is fastest wins’. To say that I am sympathetic to the displeasure of the fans is an understatement. As it is now, the driver can no longer go to the limit,” said Mateschitz, who turns 70 next week.

However, despite making a rare visit to a grand prix paddock on Sunday, where FIA president Jean Todt was also spotted, Mateschitz said that he would not be pushing for rule changes, “As that would be useless”.

He also played down suggestions that Red Bull could be moving to buy shares in the sport in order to exert their influence as owners.

“No. I believe our expertise lies elsewhere,” Mateschitz is quoted by Speed Week.

Meanwhile, Mateschitz praised the comeback of world champion Sebastian Vettel on Sunday, who many had written off as only a great driver when at the wheel of the best car.

“He drove like a world champion,” the energy drink mogul said on Sunday, “but for me this is no surprise. His driving had never gone down, he was just having bad luck. Those people who put him in a crisis should not always be believed.”

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Mattiacci: We have to step up a gear immediately

It has become something of a tradition that Ferrari president attends the first two days of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend (the European F1 season opener), has a high profile presence as he soaks in practices and qualifying, then berates his under performing team before departing without attending the race, as he did last year and Fernando Alonso went on to win that race.

Fast forward 12 months and the team’s performance relative to the pace setters (Mercedes) is worse than in 2o13, and this time around not even Alonso could do anything to alleviate the Maranello crisis which exploded last month with the firing of team principal Stefano Domenicali and immediate appointment of Marco Mattiacci to the sport’s hottest seat.

The inexperienced Italian, a month into his job – which has entailed “analysing and evaluating the team and its working methods” – did not take long to figure out he has a mammoth task on his hands, “We are all aware of the situation in which we find ourselves and that we have to step up a gear immediately. At the same time, we are practical people who believe in hard work and we have set ourselves challenging goals.”

“I like to talk facts and we have two extremely motivated and combative drivers, as well as a cohesive working group, all of whom fully share and support the idea of delivering a new winning cycle,” declared Mattiaci.

In a press release after the Spanish GP weekend where Alonso and Kimi Raikonen finished sixth and seventh respectively, Ferrari said, “While Spain clearly showed up some of the weak points in the F14T, it is equally clear that the engineers in Maranello are working methodically and without panicking on both the short term and on establishing a development programme for future races.”

“Therefore the two days of testing at the Catalunya circuit will be useful for moving forward with the update plan, alongside the work going on behind the scenes in Maranello, hoping that this work on two fronts from the entire time will pay off in double quick time.”

Raikkonen is slated to complete two days in Barcelona at the wheel of the Ferrari F14T.

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Todt says cost saving suggestions by teams are a joke

FIA president Jean Todt has labeled as “a joke” the initial cost-saving proposals put forward by Formula 1 teams.

The powerful ‘Strategy Group’ teams vetoed Todt’s plans for mandatory budget caps beginning next year, instead arguing that costs can be alternatively reduced through the sporting and technical regulations.

Todt, however, said whilst attending the weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix that the teams’ initial proposals were “ridiculous”.

“We know they have budgets of between 100 and 400 million and the proposal they seem happy with is to reduce by two million,” he said. “What was proposed was a joke.”

Todt said his aim is to see teams’ annual spend reduced in the order of 30 to 40 per cent, “We will meet all of the people again. Hopefully they are sensible people and they come up with some sensible suggestion.”

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Alonso rules out Mercedes move

Despite coming within three seconds of being lapped by Mercedes in Spain, Fernando Alonso has denied he's interested in swapping teams.

Ahead of Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, French publication L'Equipe reported that Alonso is seeking a way out of his current Ferrari contract, which expires in 2016.

It has been widely reported that the double World Champion is frustrated by Ferrari's lack of success as he faces yet another season without a chance of Championship glory.

That was highlighted in Spain on Sunday where, a year on from winning the Barcelona event, Alonso finished sixth to the Mercedes drivers, just three seconds away from being lapped.

Alonso, though, is adamant he's not looking for a possible move to the Brackley team and a partnership with old team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

"No," was his emphatic answer when asked by Sky Sports F1 if he wanted to move to Mercedes.

Pressed by Natalie Pinkham about whether he deserved a better car than what Ferrari have handed him, the Spaniard was diplomatic in his answer.

"I think we need to work better and have a better car at Ferrari. We have the potential, we have the talented people, so we can do that together.

"We can do it this season - it will be tough as we are so far behind, not just us but everyone, but we are in the fifth race of the Championship.

"Our job is to make things hard for Mercedes because when they have a big gap they don't stress the mechanical side so we need to do better."

Meanwhile, Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff insisted, that while flattered by reports that Alonso is keen to join his team, the Championship leaders have no plans to change the line-up of Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

The Austrian told Sky Sports F1 ahead of Sunday's grand prix: "It makes us very happy, and it is very flattering, that good drivers want to join us, but we are very happy with Nico and Lewis.

"We like to have long-term relationships, we are not out there for one-night stands.

"If you have a solid marriage, and we have a solid marriage, then you do not flirt at all.

"Some of the things were probably quoted out of context, I think he is a very decent and very, very strong race driver, but our two boys are on the top of their game and I wouldn't change them for the world.

"We are very happy with our drivers and there is no wish to change that situation whatsoever."

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'Lewis Hamilton is unbeatable'

Although Niki Lauda feels Lewis Hamilton is "unbeatable" at present, he says when Nico Rosberg can beat him he will be free to do so.

Hamilton race-winning streak continued in Barcelona on Sunday when he added a fourth consecutive victory to his tally.

It is the first time the British driver has achieved four on the trot and means he now leads the Championship by three points over Nico Rosberg.

"Lewis Hamilton is unbeatable," Lauda told the Daily Mail. "It's very simple. Because he's getting better and better every race.

"He makes no mistake whatsoever. He's got a strong personality. He's focused. Nico tried every trick today to get him. And he did a good job, but he couldn't pass him.

"Nico is aware at what level Lewis is driving because they both drive the same car. And Nico will continue to fight, which for me is the most important thing.

"Because if Nico keeps on pushing himself to beat Lewis, the big advantage is that both cars will go quicker.

"So I'm in a very comfortable situation - outstanding by Lewis and Nico trying to catch up."

In fact Rosberg did catch up and dogged his team-mate throughout the final few laps. But rather than warn the drivers to hold station, Lauda says they are still free to race as they did in Bahrain.

"My strategy is very simple. We do not interfere with who is winning what. We let our drivers drive from beginning to the end.

"So far nothing bad has happened. If there is no third driver in championship contention then I'm completely relaxed.

"Then they can drive over each other, and whoever is surviving is the World Champion. This is my dream.

"But," he added, "we're not there yet. When we are, it's really going to be warfare."

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'19 Merc wins possible but improbable'

Such is Mercedes' advantage out on track that Christian Horner says it is "possible" for the Brackley team to whitewash the season.

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have been in complete control this season, winning all five of the opening races.

Claiming a fourth 1-2 of the Championship in Spain on Sunday, Mercedes extended their lead in the Constructors' Championship to 113 points over Red Bull.

Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel were third and fourth on the day, 48 and 76 seconds down the road respectively.

And although Horner reckons Ricciardo's deficit to the Mercedes drivers was not an accurate picture, he acknowledges the Brackley team's advantage.

"Mercedes have got themselves into a dominant position," the Red Bull boss explained to The Telegraph.

"We have a choice: we either pack up and go home or we fight.

"We have made small inroads and we are determined to keep pushing, but obviously maximum points every weekend is putting them in a very strong position.

"The 48-second gap is a little artificial because we lost a lot of time behind Williams and it is about managing tyres to the end of the race. When we had clear air, we definitely moved closer."

But no matter what Red Bull does, Horner fears such is Mercedes' advantage that they could win all 19 grands prix.

"It is possible but improbable that Mercedes would win all 19 races this year.

"They have a good engine-car-driver combination at the moment but things can change. We won the last nine races of last year and things changed very quickly."