ALONSO RULES SPAIN
(Image taken from Yahoo)
Everyone in Formula One knows the Circuit de Catalunya. It's where all the winter testing gets done(most of it anyway. The Grand Prix itself used to be a pretty quiet affair, Spain has traditionally been more into its rallying and motorbike racing than F1 but then came Fernando Alonso and the place hasn't been the same since. Even Alonso hasn't won on home turf though. For British fans, the most interesting thing about the race was thatit was DC's 200th Grand Prix(kinda wierd given the fact that I reckon I've watched 199 of them!).
Not that the Scotsman had much luck in qualifying. Spinning out of the first session left him having to start 21st. Jenson survived a very tight second session but Montoya wasn't so lucky. Anyway, in the final session it was a duel between Alonso and Michael Schumacher, the Spaniard setting first time, and the German replying before Alonso destroyed his time and went on to get his first pole of the season, with Fisichella in second. Michael and Massa took up the third row with Jenson falling to eighth at the last minute, again outqualified by Barrichello who was in fifth.
As for the race, well DC was only going to get much attention at the back of the grid if if he blew his way up the grid. Well he blasted his way up to 17th early on but after that he got stuck behind the Toro Rossos before complaining about his car. He finished the race well enough but got beaten by Klien and eventually finished 14th.
As for Jenson, well he put up a solid start to his race, getting seventh only to then get held up by Barrichello untill the first pitstop, and with Honda unable to do much about it the Brit had to wait till the first round of pit stops to get ahead of his teammate. After that, he didn't see much action though he did get after Raikonen in at attempt to get fifth place which failed, leaving him to get sixth. Another solid race and Jenson won't complain about three points.
Up front, well once again it was Alonso vs Schumacher and on this occassion there was never really much of a contest, the only time the German had the lead was in the middle of the pitstop rounds. Alonso became the first ever Spaniard to win the Spanish Grand Prix, picking up his third win of the season.Schumacher second, Fisichella third, Massa fourth.
Lessons learned at the Circuit de Catalunya:
Rubens Barrichello: If your teammate's faster than you, get out of the way!(OK...slightly harsh but it was annoying).
So the Championship looks like this at the moment: Alonso leading with 54 points, Michael in second with 39, Raikonen third on 27, Fisichella fourth with 24 points, Massa now on a solid fifth with 20 points and Jenson up to sixth on 16. DC's still on joint 14th with one point.
At Monaco, Honda think they have something special in store. Hope so.
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