MONTMELO – When writing a column about what effect potentially losing the Spanish Grand Prix to Lewis Hamilton would have on Nico Rosberg this morning, I was wary of triggering the journalist equivalent of the ‘commentator’s curse’.
Losing to Hamilton from pole position would have by no means been the end of the world for Rosberg, but it would have been yet another blow in an increasingly difficult season. The progress that he appeared to make in Bahrain would have been lost.
When the German driver pulled away seamlessly at the start of the race and saw Hamilton drop behind Vettel, the tables turned. Hamilton had a fight on his hands, but it was Rosberg who was under pressure. Surely with a healthy buffer and a car between himself and his teammate, he could finally end his losing streak?
In the end, he could. Rosberg did not face too much of a challenge on Sunday in the race, nor did he really have to push too hard. Towards the end of his second stint on the medium tire, he was still setting personal best sectors. Clearly, Mercedes did not want him to overdo it and push harder than absolutely necessary.
The 2015 Spanish Grand Prix will not be remembered as a classic race by any means. However, it was still an intriguing event with plenty of battles up and down the field. For Rosberg though, it is arguably one of his most important victories in Formula 1.
Rounding up all of the action from Barcelona, here is the final Spanish GP Paddock Notebook.
RACE REPORT
PADDOCK NEWS
- Pole gave Rosberg a psychological boost, but would defeat in Spain cripple his title hopes?
- GP2: Vandoorne extends championship lead in Spain with win and second place
- Starting grid for the 2015 Spanish Grand Prix
- Wehrlein and Yelloly to test for Force India next week
- Alonso’s home race ends in retirement after brake issue (VIDEO)
- Rosberg revels in “perfect weekend” after Spain win
- Vettel disappointed to lose second, but feels Mercedes deserved one-two finish in Spain
- Pirelli to test 18-inch rim tires with GP2 car in Barcelona
- Hamilton: Second place in Barcelona “damage limitation”
- Button: Scary to drive McLaren MP4-30 at times
- Sainz and Kvyat avoid penalties for late clash (VIDEO)
THOUGHTS FROM THE TRACK
Rosberg proves he has turned a corner
I wrote a rather scathing column following the Chinese Grand Prix, slamming Rosberg for his complaints about Hamilton’s actions in the lead of the race and saying that unless he changed his stance and mindset, he could forget all ideas of winning the title in 2015. Since then, he has been very different. In Bahrain, he fought hard with the Ferrari drivers and showed some fight, and this weekend in Spain he was utterly dominant. Of course, Hamilton was nowhere near his best, but it’s all about how you capitalize on this. Rosberg did exactly what was needed on Sunday. The title race could be about to get interesting again.
A thorn in Mercedes’ side
Sebastian Vettel has been a thorn in Mercedes’ side so far this season, and was once again in Spain. His excellent defensive driving and pace caused Hamilton to toil in third place, struggling to find a way through and only doing so once he had moved onto the hard tire. Ferrari’s pace on this compound has been poor so far this year, but Vettel once again proved that the Italian marque is a serious force in 2015 – not title-winning, but still enough of a power to play a role in hampering either Rosberg or – as we saw today – Hamilton’s charge.
It’ll buff out…
The first rule of F1 is “don’t hit your teammate”. Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado did not receive the memo ahead of this weekend’s race, though, as the two Lotus drivers clashed heading into turn three during the race. Maldonado suffered some damage to his rear wing which the team decided to remedy by tearing the broken endplate off his car, leaving him with two-thirds of a wing. Maldonado kept pushing, and was even able to pass Jenson Button in spite of the issue. In the end, Lotus had to retire the car, but I did spot the broken endplate on display in the team’s hospitality unit following the race.
McLaren’s woes continue
This was meant to be the race in which McLaren would finally bounce back and move up the field given the number of updates that were applied to the MP4-30. Instead, it was yet another miserable and troublesome weekend. Fernando Alonso did appear to have an outside chance of finishing inside the top ten after his long first stint moved him up to P7, but he soon dropped down the order before retiring with a brake problem caused by an errant visor tear-off. Jenson Button’s race was even worse, with the Briton claiming that it was “scary” to drive the car at times. Barring a miracle in Monaco, it’s unlikely that we will see the British team gracing the top ten before the end of the month.
And so to Monaco
With the first European event of the season now in the books, the F1 paddock’s attention swiftly turns to the most exciting race on the calendar: Monaco. The unforgiving streets punish the indecisive and reward the brilliant, and should once again provide us with an interesting weekend. Rosberg heads to his hometown race with his tail up after taking an important victory that ended Hamilton’s winning streak.
If the German can stick the car on pole – without a trip down Mirabeau this year – and control the race from there, then the title race may really be moving back towards an even keel. For the neutral watching, a Rosberg win in Spain was probably the best result in terms of the championship fight, setting the stage for another great battle around the Monegasque streets.