German takes much-needed win as Hamilton overcomes slow start to re-take second from Ferrari driver.
Tuesday 19 May 2015 13:45, UK
Nico Rosberg claimed a much-needed win in the Spanish GP on Sunday from Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
Starting from pole position, Rosberg led throughout and took the chequered flag 17 seconds ahead of his Mercedes team-mate, who overcame a poor start to re-claim second place from Sebastian Vettel.
Not that Hamilton passed Vettel on track; instead, Mercedes used tyre strategy to get him back ahead, with the world champion running a three-stop strategy to the more usual two.
On a track where overtaking is particularly difficult - Rosberg is the 19th of 25 winners at the Circuit de Catalunya to start from pole - Hamilton had targeted a strong start if he was to get past his rival Silver Arrow.
But it was Rosberg who made the perfect getaway. In contrast, Hamilton got too much wheelspin and was passed by Vettel, with Valtteri Bottas' Williams also having a look into Turn One.
As Rosberg set a series of fastest laps out front early on, Hamilton struggled in Vettel's wake and couldn't get ahead. Mercedes struggling his with car's left-rear wheel put pay to an undercut when the pair made their first stops respectively on laps 14 and 15.
The pattern then repeated itself; however, Hamilton was particularly strong when Mercedes put him on hard tyres during his third stint on lap 32.
Ferrari guessed correctly that he would need another stop, which came on lap 51. Vettel had made his second 10 laps earlier; he complained of traffic but ultimately didn't have the pace to respond.
Hamilton's final stint on the mediums raised the prospect that he might also catch Rosberg, who was by now on hard tyres. However, the German's lead was never threatened.
The win is his first since last year's Brazilian GP and reduces Hamilton's championship lead to 20 points. However, after the latter's domination so far, the main benefit will likely be to Rosberg's confidence.
"Just a fantastic weekend. Everything worked out, Saturday and Sunday, and it came together today," he said afterwards. "To be first and second, especially after the two-week break when everyone brought upgrades, is great to see.
"It's been a long time since l had such a bad start," Hamilton admitted. "I fought hard but unfortunately this is track is the worst for overtaking and it's impossible to follow here. It doesn't matter what you do, you can't get close enough.
"It was damage limitation for me."
Vettel finished 45 seconds behind Rosberg and the Malaysia GP winner admitted he was "not happy at all" about that.
"I'm pretty confident we will get closer again," he added, "hopefully in two weeks' time. I'm confident in the next two or three races we should be stepping up our game again."
Raikkonen also stopped twice, but Ferrari still ran an alternate tyre strategy with the Finn switching to hard tyres after his first stop.
It didn't really work out for him, though. The Finn was up from seventh to fifth place by the first lap, but he couldn't make progress thereafter and took the chequered flag close behind Bottas.
Felipe Massa finished sixth in his Williams, with Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) and Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull) completing the top 10.
Sainz's first home grand prix was something of a rollercoaster ride. Starting fifth alongside team-mate Max Verstappen, the pair were picked off early on and soon dropped out of the top 10.
The Spaniard claimed ninth by passing Kvyat at the start of the final lap; however, Verstappen finished just out of the points in 11th.
With a gaggle of Sauber and Force India cars next up - Felipe Nasr was 12th ahead of Sergio Perez, Marcus Ericsson and Nico Hulkenberg - there was more disappointment for McLaren as Jenson Button finished a lapped 16th.
Like Hamilton, he made a poor start dropping to 18th on the opening lap and later described his MP4-30 as "pretty scary to drive".
That much was the also the case when Fernando Alonso made his second pit stop on lap 28 - the Spaniard suffering a brake failure, which brought a rapid response from McLaren's front jack man but caused the car's retirement.
With Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi bringing up the rear for Manor, another driver in the wars was Pastor Maldonado.
The Lotus driver made rapid headway from 12th on the grid to seventh in the early laps. However, Maldonado made contact when passing team-mate Grosjean which eventually caused his retirement.
Result:
1. N Rosberg Mercedes 66 laps
2. L Hamilton Mercedes +17.5s
3. S Vettel Ferrari +45.3
4. V Bottas Williams +59.2
5. K Raikkonen Ferrari +60
6. F Massa Williams +81.3
7. D Ricciardo Red Bull 1L
8. R Grosjean Lotus 1L
9. C Sainz Toro Rosso 1L
10. D Kvyat Red Bull 1L
11. M Verstappen Toro Rosso 1L
12. F Nasr Sauber 1L
13. S Perez Force India 1L
14. M Ericsson Sauber 1L
15. N Hulkenberg Force India 1L
16. J Button McLaren 1L
17. W Stevens Manor 3L
18. R Merhi Manor 4L
Ret. P Maldonado Lotus
Ret. F Alonso McLaren
