18.5.10

In the panic over the ash cloud there were fears this race would have to be postponed with all the cars still stuck in China, but all turned out fine. There was plenty of time for everyone to return to their (mainly) UK bases and then it was off by road to Spain, for everyone to greet their local hero Alonso but, with Ferrari struggling, they were unlikely to see much of a winning performance.

Although the Red Bull dominated qualifying (again) the main talking point was the introduction of the Ferrari F-duct, the rear wing stalling device. Unlike in the McLarens, where the driver’s knee is used to plug a hole in an air tube, the Ferrari contraption required the driver to hold the back of his left hand over the hole! Thus we had the sight of Alonso driving along at 170mph, his left-hand off the steering wheel and at one point also taking his right-hand off to adjust his brake bias – which happened to be on the left side of the cockpit. Talk about Italian ergonomics....

In Qualifying the Red Bulls were just so much better than the others, even to the naked eye their aero efficiency was palpable on the TV screen. This in turn gave the drivers enormous confidence with turn entry speeds and put them nearly a second ahead of the others. There wasn’t much to pick between Hamilton, Alonso and Button, but compared to the RBs they had to work and hustle their cars along at speeds that looked uncomfortable. At the front of the grid Webber continued his surprising speed vis-a-vis Vettel whom most pre-season observers (us included) thought would utterly destroy the veteran Aussie with his relentless speed.

The Mercedes had received an update including a longer whhelbase which suited Schuey. He had a better practice and qualifying and finished every session ahead of young Rosberg – an important milestone and much relief to those who hanker after a return to those wonderful days of Schuey domination.  Behind the two RBs, the McLarens and Alonso’s Ferrari his Merc would line up 6th on the grid, not bad for an old gent. Kubica again extracted more speed than thought possible from the Renault and lined up 7th, just ahead of Rosberg and the second Ferrari of Massa having another off-colour weekend. Rumours of his replacement continue to swirl around.

As for the race, unfortunately it did not rain so things were a mite processional. But there was some brilliant displays of speed, not the least from Mark Webber who shot away from his pole position and proceeded once again to give his young team-mate a driving lesson. Vettel gradually dropped back but had Hamilton’s McLaren right on his tail, to the point where at the pit stops the McLaren came out just ahead. Alonso and Button were trailing behind with Schuey also gradually dropping away in 6th although the latter two swopped places at the stops when Button had a wheel-nut problem which delayed him in the pits.

As far as the racing went that was it. There were however moments of drama as, firstly, Vettel ran into severe brake problems and, after a brief off, had to pit to have his right-front disc checked. He was sent out again but told to keep his brake usage to a minimum. This allowed Alonso though into third place and this became second a couple of laps from the end when Hamilton’s Mclaren had a wheel failure and pitched him into the barriers and retirement.

Webber continued his untroubled run at the front to win, and the locals hugely enjoyed Alonso inhertitng the runner-up spot from Hamilton, still widely perceived as a villain from their McLaren days. Vettel drove his brake-less RB at still astonishing speed into third place ahead of Schuey, who looked a lot more comfortable and racy than at any other time this season.

So, what did all this prove? Primarily that the Red Bulls are astonishingly quick in low fuel trim, that the McLarens are almost on their pace in full fuel trim, and that the others have a lot of work to do! The Ferraris do not look to have a championship winning effort, and the Mercs are slowly establishing themselves as the ‘best of the rest’. As for the drivers, hats off to Webber who has single-handedly knocked Vettel’s confidence more than was ever thought possible and who might just prove all his detractors wrong and have a run at the championship.

Click here for FIA lap chart.