Spanish GP Preview
Formula 1 is back this weekend at the Circuit de Catalunya for the Spanish Grand Prix. The points say Sebastian Vettel is the man to catch and the start of the European season means almost every team on the grid will have new bits and pieces on their cars, poised to take the fight to Red Bull. With that, there are storylines aplenty this weekend, let’s go over a few.
We know Red Bull are strong. I’m most interested in the relationship between Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. Mark Webber is strong at this circuit-setting pole position and winning in 2010– and that could be a storyline for this weekend. Many underestimate Webber’s mental toughness– he has yet to back down from the tension with his teammate. Vettel is a 3 times world champion and very unapologetic for his on-track behavior. A lesser driver would fold and just give up but that’s not Webber. Spain and Silverstone are where the Aussie is quickest, so don’t be surprised if Webber has a strong weekend.
Lotus will be looking to solve its poor qualifying form. Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean drive a car that’s the easiest on the fragile Pirelli tires. Sunday is the team’s strongest day, but Lotus does prove that Saturday qualifying still matters. A car that can’t get the tires to optimal temperature in qualifying means their Sunday is never as good as it should be. They’ve proven that they can catch up during the race but if they don’t qualify better, race wins will always be just out of reach.
Ferrari probably poses the greatest threat to Red Bull. In Malaysia, the team made a bad call on Alonso’s car, probably looking at his pace rather than how damaged his front wing looked on the car. In Bahrain, there was more bad luck, and if it wasn’t for a broken DRS Alonso could have challenged Vettel for the win. Ferrari’s strategy has been spot on for the most part, and they’ll be bringing updates as well. If Felipe Massa can get it together they could be poised to have a very successful weekend.
Mercedes are the Bizarro-World Lotus. They’re aces in qualifying, taking back to back pole in China and Bahrain but when race day arrives they poop the bed. Rosberg and Hamilton are great in the car, but Mercedes simply can’t figure out these Pirelli tires. Bahrain saw Rosberg go from 1st to 9th and Hamilton’s race was pretty anonymous until the end when he no longer had to save his tires. There’s an update coming to the Pirelli tires this weekend and Mercedes is banking on that and their updates to fix how hard the car is on the rear tires. It’s a big gamble, one that may say 2014 is our year.
The Spanish GP is a race where qualifying matters. Drivers know this circuit very well, due to off-season testing, so mistakes are few and far between. There are very few places to make a pass stick. And a safety car is highly unlikely; the last one was 2008 when Heikki Kovalainen and his McLaren hit the tires. All things considered, it’s hard to bet against Vettel and his Red Bull taking this weekend’s win.
I’ll be up all the weird hours so you don’t have to be. Make 6speed your home for Formula1 updates this weekend.