It's been all quiet in the world of Formula 1 in the last three weeks since the Bahrain Grand Prix. There's been little in the way of breaking news and controversy to speak of, yet some might say other issues were made evident at the Circuit de Cataluña in Barcelona over the weekend.
Mercedes had yet more success in qualifying with Rosberg and Hamilton lining up for a front row lockout; the team’s third pole position in the as many races. Championship leader Vettel started in third, ahead of his second place rival Raikkonen.
Recent worries regarding Mercedes' tyre cooling were again a major issue in Spain, not helped by the high track temperatures. Rosberg repeated his aggressive strategy to cut off Vettel, who quickly moved into second, in the earlier laps. Support from Hamilton was non-existent due to a poor start as he fell back to fourth after the first few corners and steadily fell behind.
Alonso started in fifth, but gained three places early on to remain in contention, despite pitting after the top two drivers. He took the lead after Rosberg left the pits in the first quarter of the race, with his Ferrari teammate Massa moving ahead soon after. As usual, Raikkonen remained quiet and kept his head down maintaining his consistent form, and he overtook Vettel at the midpoint of the race to take second as the race spread out.
Elsewhere on the track, McLaren had another disappointing showing. Perez out qualified Button for the first time starting in seventh with his teammate in fourteenth. Both drivers had competent drives, but Button finished on top with an eighth place finish. Di Resta's consistent form continued and saw the young Scot start in tenth and managed a decent seventh place finish for Force India. I'm hopeful he will receive a chance at a faster team come the end of the season.
Alonso treated the home crowd to a confident first place finish, followed by Raikkonen, Massa, Vettel, Webber and the original race leader Rosberg. A much needed boost for Ferrari after their technical faults that hampered them in Bahrain. This sees Vettel's lead in the championship cut to just four points, as Raikkonen remains in second. Alonso moves ahead of Hamilton to third after his dismal twelfth place finish.
One of the more interesting news stories that has arisen form Barcelona regards the issue of tyre degradation. Tyre manufacturer Pirelli has announced they will be making changes to avoid the large amount of pit stops by at least Silverstone at the end of June, after many teams chose a four-stop strategy in Barcelona and a grand total of 79 pit stops! What changes are to be made is unclear, but hopefully there will be more overtaking on the track opposed to the pit lane, like it was always meant to be.
