FORMULA 1 - 2016

[MIKA27]

Alonso disappoints in front of home crowd

McLaren driver Fernando Alonso failed to impress at the Spanish Grand Prix as he claims that he was told to stay put behind teammate Jenson Button.

Starting in the top ten for the first time this year, Alonso lost his place after a poor start as Button managed to get ahead of him after the first lap.

It went from bad to worse for the two-time World Champion after he reported a loss of power on the team radios, which resulted in him retiring.

He also added that he was told by the team bosses to stay behind his British teammate.

"The start wasn't too good and then I was behind my teammate all the race and that was it," the 34-year-old told motorsport.com.

"I was quite a bit faster, but it is what it is.

"They decided that I had to stay behind and I stayed there.

"It was a complicated race and we weren't really in a position to score points, so a bit disappointing for that, being at home and for not being able to show the pace we had.

"A bad start sentenced all my laps. I had a good start and then followed Jenson for 50 laps and this was the end of my race, probably at the first corner.

"In the end, I couldn't go on and I had to retire, but we didn't lose much."

[MIKA27]

Rosberg ‘very surprised’ by Hamilton move

Nico Rosberg says he made it clear that he wasn't going to leave room for Lewis Hamilton and was "very surprised" when he tried to go up the inside.

The German failed to win a grand prix for the first time this season when he crashed out of Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

Fighting team-mate Hamilton for the lead on the opening lap, which Rosberg held after making a pass at Turn 1, the duo collided when Hamilton tried to slide up the inside at Turn 4.

The accident has been ruled a racing incident by the stewards but it is one Rosberg feels should never have happened.

"I was aware of the situation and saw Lewis coming closer so I went for the usual racing driver reaction of closing the inside and closing the door as early as I could," Autosport quotes him as saying.

"For me it was a way of making clear I wasn't going to leave any space on the inside there and I was very surprised that he did go for the gap anyway.

"Overall I'm just extremely gutted, it was our race to win, all of us, and I'm also gutted for my colleagues.

"I'm aware of all the work everyone has put into these two cars and for us to end in the sand like that, that's as bad as it gets."

Asked if he blames Hamilton for the clash, Rosberg replied: "I didn't say that. I'm saying that I will go with the verdict of the stewards."

[MIKA27]

Vettel: We tried everything

Sebastian Vettel says Ferrari gave it their all in Sunday's Spanish GP but that it "didn't quite work" on the day.

The German engaged in a four-way fight for the victory in the 66-lap Barcelona race, chasing Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo in the early laps and Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen at the end.

His three-stop strategy did not play out as expected and Vettel found himself unable to make any serious inroads into the lead of the two-stopping Verstappen and Raikkonen.

Added to that, pressure – and attacks – from Ricciardo as the laps counted down meant Vettel spent his final laps having to defend instead of attack.

He crossed the line third, five seconds behind first time race winner Verstappen, who at 18 years of age broke Vettel's record as the youngest grand prix winner.

"First of all, many congratulations to Max. It's a great achievement and it's his day," he said after the podium celebrations.

"We tried everything with strategy but it didn't quite work today.

"For us we would have liked to be closer to the front and it didn't work but a great effort today from the team after not a good day yesterday but we did well to recover.

"But as a sportsman it is a great day for Max and well done to him."

Later asked about Ferrari's strategy in Spain, Vettel revealed that he was lacking in pace on the medium Pirellis.

"We just struggled on the medium compound. All afternoon that was the slower tyrer for us," he said.

"In all fairness, I think we were quicker than the Red Bulls on the softs, around half a second, but the same on the mediums.

"We tried to go a different route with a three-stop, but the difference of the medium tyre today didn't quite work. Something for us to understand and to learn."

[MIKA27]

Ricciardo ‘bitter’ over three-stop strategy

Daniel Ricciardo was "bitter" after Sunday's Spanish GP as team-mate Max Verstappen claimed the win while a three-stop strategy cost him.

Although it was thought prior to the grand prix that a three-stopper would be faster than two-stopping, it proved to be the other way around on Sunday afternoon.

Max Verstappen, making his Red Bull debut, raced to the win ahead of Kimi Raikkonen while Sebastian Vettel completed the podium ahead of Ricciardo.

It was a disappointing result for the Aussie, who had been leading for much of the grand prix.

However, he gave up P1 on lap 43 when he came in for his third and final stop and he was never able to recover.

"It is mixed emotions at the moment," the Red Bull racer told BBC Sport.

"We were leading then we got pulled to a three-stop strategy when in the lead and we then had to pass three cars. That was not the (original) plan.

"In hindsight it was the wrong thing to do and maybe during the race it seemed a good thing to do."

Ricciardo's troubles were compounded when he suffered a right rear puncture on the penultimate lap which put an end to his attacks on Vettel for third.

"To not be on the podium sucks," he said. "The puncture at the end was salt in the wounds. Seb and I were fighting hard but there was no contact."

On a day when he lost more than he won, Ricciardo admits he is feeling rather bitter about the situation.

He said: "I don't want to come across as a bad sportsman. Whatever happened on track, Max crossed the line first.

"Sure, it is every man for himself and I'm bitter, but not at Max, he did what he had to do, but I'm bitter at the situation."

[MIKA27]

Spanish Grand Prix: Magnussen penalised for clash with Palmer

Kevin Magnussen has been given a post-race time penalty for colliding with Renault Formula 1 team-mate Jolyon Palmer on the final lap of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Magnussen made a late change back to soft tyres while the sister car was trying to make the finish on a long stint on hards.

The Dane caught Palmer for 13th at the end and they came together at the final chicane on the last lap.

"Car #20 [Magnussen] was on a new set of soft tyres, and car #30 [Palmer] was on an older set of hard tyres leading the driver of car #20 to have significantly better grip and speed," said a statement from the stewards.

"However, the stewards determined that car #20 could not have reasonably expected to make the corner of Turn 13 without colliding with car #30, which was subsequently forced off the track."

Palmer still emerged from the incident in front and claimed 13th place.

Magnussen finished just behind him on the road but will fall to 15th behind Felipe Nasr's Sauber with the penalty applied.

[MIKA27]

Carlos Sainz Jr reprimanded for pre-Spanish GP pit incident

Carlos Sainz Jr has escaped with a reprimand for a pre-race pitlane infringement at Formula 1's Spanish Grand Prix, where he finished sixth.

The Toro Rosso driver was investigated by the stewards for leaving the pits before the track was open ahead of the race, and his punishment was lenient because he stopped shortly after committing the offence.

A statement from the FIA said: "The driver did leave the pitlane when the red light was displayed, a reprimand was applied due to the fact that the driver stopped the car and did not gain any advantage."

The statement confirmed Sainz crossed the pit exit line at 13:29 local time, with the pits not officially opening until 13:30 for drivers to make their way to the grid.

Speaking about his race, which included running third behind the two Red Bulls in the early laps until he was passed by both Ferraris, Sainz said: "I'm very happy with the race.

"I don't think there was more than that [possible] in the whole weekend.

"P6 after a great start, a great qually, I cannot be happier than I am."

The Spaniard added that he decided not to race the Ferraris too hard, but he took some satisfaction from protecting the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and race winner Max Verstappen in the early laps.

"The team was telling me on the radio to take it easy with them because that's not our race," he said.

"I said 'OK, I'll take it easy but they're not going to pass me in the first lap they arrive'.

"I managed to hold on pretty well the two times I defended and then I had to let them go.

"I knew I was kind of doing a job for them [Red Bull]. With 5km/h more I'm sure we would have kept them there behind the 'Bulls'."

[MIKA27]

Daniel Ricciardo calls Sebastian Vettel's radio complaint 'typical'

Daniel Ricciardo called Sebastian Vettel's complaints about his attacks in Formula 1's Spanish Grand Prix "typical" after missing out on a podium finish at Barcelona.

Ricciardo led 31 laps of the race following the collision between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg on the first lap, but he fell to fourth with a three-stop strategy, while new Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen took victory ahead of fellow two-stopper Kimi Raikkonen.

Ricciardo spent the closing laps attacking Vettel, who also three-stopped, including a pass into Turn 1 that he was not able to make stick.

Vettel complained about that move on the radio, saying "what is this, racing or ping pong?!", but Ricciardo was not impressed with his former team-mate's attitude.

"Apparently he said I was a bit aggressive on the radio. Typical," Ricciardo said.

"Unlike 99 per cent of the drivers on the grid I actually tried to make an overtake.

"A lot of them are content sitting behind and not actually having a crack.

"I tried a few times but it didn't work. But I wasn't content sitting in fourth.

"Knowing we were catching the cars in front and Seb was in our way for a podium and a potential win of course I was going to try - I gave it a go."

Vettel was calmer about their battle afterwards.

"It was once hairy in the first corner," he said.

"In that instant I was on fire and complaining because if I didn't play according to his move, there would be a crash.

"Then again, it's racing. The one chance he had was when I had a bad exit and he has to go for it.

"I have raced him many times and it's good fun."

STRATEGY 'DIDN'T MAKE SENSE'

Ricciardo questioned Red Bull's decision to make him stop three times, while Verstappen and Raikkonen finished first and second making only two stops.

"We were leading and then it was there for us. The race was in our hands," Ricciardo said.

"We went to a three-stop strategy, and we did it too late as well. Seb had already jumped us [also on three stops].

"We know we're down on speed and it's a hard track to pass on. It just didn't make sense.

"I thought at the time when we did it it's because everybody else was going to [three-stop] but they didn't.

"It's frustrating because we just threw the win away.

"I don't understand why I was the one... normally the guy in the lead gets the better strategy but it didn't work out today.

"I definitely don't want to sound like a bad sportsman - Max won today in his first race with the team.

"Whatever happened on track, he still crossed the line in first. It's a big day for him, so congratulations.

"Sure I'm bitter right now - not with Max, not at all, just bitter at the situation."

[MIKA27]

Honda informs FIA McLaren its only F1 engine deal for 2017

Honda has informed the FIA that McLaren is the only Formula 1 team with which it has an engine supply contract for 2017.

Under new rules, the manufacturers had until Sunday to submit a letter to the FIA outlining the supply deals they had in place.

If any team is left without an power unit for next season, the FIA will then begin talks to find a solution.

Should that not happen before the next deadline of June 1, then a ballot will be organised to arrange a supply.

Honda has had conversations with teams about a potential second supply, but there have been no formal talks.

Its chief Yusuke Hasegawa has said it is not currently ready to supply a second team alongside McLaren but is open to doing so in the future.

Although Honda can have talks with other teams about a supply, it is believed McLaren has the right to veto if it feels any such deal is not in its interests.

Two of F1's other three engine manufacturers have already moved to confirm their 2017 plans ahead of the deadline.

Renault has said it is happy to continue to working with Red Bull beyond this season once its current contract expires.

Meanwhile, Mercedes has told the FIA it has contracts in place with Williams, Force India and Manor.

[capitalpg]

MERCEDES IN TURMOIL AS HAMILTON VS ROSBERG WAR ERUPTS

Formula 1 championship leader Nico Rosberg’s hopes of an eighth win in a row disappeared on Sunday after a collision with Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Britain’s triple world champion Hamilton had started on pole position, with Rosberg alongside on the front row at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The German, aiming to make it five successive wins for the season, passed Hamilton around the outside of turn one and the Briton was then squeezed on to the grass as he tried to regain the lead at turn three.

His car skewed sideways and smashed into Rosberg’s, with both drivers ending up in the gravel and the safety car deployed.

Watching Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche shook his head in dismay, while Hamilton threw his steering wheel out of the car.

The pair returned to the paddock on scooters and trudged up the stairs for a debrief with Mercedes team bosses, motorsport head Toto Wolff hot on their heels. The drivers were also summoned to see the stewards after the race.

The team’s non-executive chairman Niki Lauda, a triple world champion himself, blamed Hamilton before going to see the drivers.

“It is stupid, we could’ve won this race,” the Austrian told the BBC. “Lewis is too aggressive. I need to talk to them and hear their explanation and then we will see what happens.”

Wolff, who has had to bang heads together before now, was more cautious than his compatriot.

“Niki has a driver’s opinion and it’s fair enough. As a driver you see it in black and white,” he said. “From a team’s perspective we’ve looked at the pictures and the data and it’s not clear cut.”

“Nico had a really good turn one and turn two, Lewis tried to dive in, Nico closed the door. I’d say let’s wait and see what the stewards say. It’s not a situation where you can attribute 100 percent of the blame.”

Rosberg still has a comfortable lead in the championship standings, being 43 points clear of closest rival Hamilton before Sunday’s race.

However, the collision ended Mercedes hopes of extending the team’s winning run to 11 races and equalling McLaren’s 1988 record streak of success.

Only one driver in the modern era has won eight consecutive races — Germany’s Sebastian Vettel, with nine in a row in 2013 for Red Bull — but Rosberg had hopes of continuing his run after winning at the circuit last year.

Victory would also have made him only the third F1 driver after compatriot Michael Schumacher and Britain’s Nigel Mansell to win the first five races of a season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYfGJ88ixSo

Couldn't be happier, I just love the turmoil within Mercedes! Wow, to take your teammate out. As much as I'm not a Lewis fan, have to say it looks like Nico may hold most the responsibility on this one.

[OZCUBAN]

A big congrats to Max he drove beyond his years not like most 18 year olds you normally see behind the wheel LOL

But I think Redbull dropped the ball on the strategy and ultimately cost Ricchiardo the Win as he was leading most of the race

Still an entertaining race

My biggest gripe is left for the wankers at Foxtel and the spineless wallys at channel 10 not on free to air and you cannot avoid the result before it is shown channel ten need to get serious about wether they want to broadcast F1 they are the manor of tv spots broadcasting

Now I will go and pick up my dummy LOL

[skalls]

Max turned a simple podium into a win thanks to Nico and Lewis going at it.

Looked to me that Nico turned hard to block Lewis, who was committed to an inside line and that basically screwed them both. Really wish I could have been in that room during the debrief. Man, that had to have been tense.

[MIKA27]

MERCEDES IN TURMOIL AFTER MELTDOWN IN SPAIN

For the first time in more than five years, the Mercedes team on Monday flew home without a finisher, and pointless, following Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s opening-lap collision in the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Silver Arrows (or as a pundit quipped: Silver Sorrows) also had to cope with an unwanted collective headache, one that felt familiar after the acrimony of 2014, and had to face a new challenge as Formula One hailed a new youngest race winner in Dutch teenager Max Verstappen.

The crash ended championship leader Rosberg’s winning streak -– four races this year and seven in all -– and delivered Mercedes’ first non-finish since the 2011 Australian Grand Prix, but, worse than that, it reopened a divide between the drivers.

The tension and emotion was palpable on Sunday night when they spoke to reporters after being cleared of blame for what the race stewards described as a “racing incident”.

Each driver seemed to blame the other, without clear articulation of those feelings, during a clumsy staged news briefing that barely papered over the cracks in a team likely to face more pressure ahead from the improving Ferrari and Red Bull outfits.

Hamilton said he had apologised to the team, but he did not accept blame for attempting to pass Rosberg on the inside at Turn Four.

Rosberg, who conceded that his engine was not in the correct mode, said he moved to defend his position and was surprised by Hamilton.

Team chief Toto Wolff, following the line of the stewards’ decision, attempted to provide some diplomatic objectivity. Each driver feels he is not entirely faultless, he said.

The stewards had explained that Hamilton “had a portion of his front wing inside Rosberg’s car fractions of a second prior to having to leave the track to avoid a collision…Rosberg had the right to make the manoeuvre that he did and Hamilton’s attempt to overtake was reasonable.

“The convergence of events led neither driver to be wholly or predominantly at fault.”

Like Wolff, Hamilton was upset at seeing the team lose 43 points.

“These things happen, but it is the right thing to apologise, just like when the engine fails they say sorry to me.”

The crash ended Hamilton’s hopes of a first win in eight races since clinching his third world title in Texas last October, but also confirmed that the ‘new’ battle-toughened Rosberg of 2016 has no intention of giving his team-mate any favours.

It also left the defending champion 43 points adrift of Rosberg in the title race as they prepare to regain control of their emotions ahead of the unique and taxing demands of the Monaco Grand Prix.

“It was an incident that could have been avoided,” said Wolff, who declared also that Mercedes would continue to allow free racing between them. “I am going away angry and upset, but isn’t that what racing should be all about?”

He did not answer his own question, but will be disappointed if he has the same experience again in Monte Carlo where a reinvigorated Red Bull team and determined Ferrari will hope to smell blood again.

[MIKA27]

LAUDA: LEWIS LOOKED US IN THE EYE AND TOOK THE BLAME

Although Niki Lauda was quick to blame Lewis Hamilton for the collision with Nico Rosberg on the first lap of the Spanish Grand Priix, not everyone is pointing the finger of blame at the Briton after Mercedes’ catastrophic double-DNF in Barcelona.

That is despite the fact that even the reigning triple world champion’s boss, team chairman Niki Lauda, is adamant the Briton spiralling out of control and collecting championship leader Nico Rosberg was all Hamilton’s fault. Rosberg, however, is still not happy.

“I feel no solace that Niki Lauda blamed him (Hamilton),” said the German. “I have lost a win and 25 points.”

But as far as Lauda is concerned, he is already prepared to put the matter behind the team, “Lewis looked us in the eye and took the blame.”

“He apologised. He took everything on himself. That’s fine with me,” Lauda told the Austrian broadcaster ORF.

“Toto sees it differently, but I’m a black and white thinker. If someone says ‘Guys, I’m really sorry’ – if someone makes a mistake and realises it – then that for me is history,” said Lauda.

Lauda may be ‘black and white’, but boss Wolff said a major factor to consider is that Rosberg was rounding Barcelona’s Turn 3 “in the wrong engine setting”.

“That was the reason he was significantly slower than Lewis,” Wolff told Bild newspaper. “This explains why everything happened so quickly. They both had to make decisions in a split second.”

That, according to GPDA president Alex Wurz, is why Hamilton should not get all of the blame.

“I know Sir Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda have blamed Lewis because they thought that maybe he was being too aggressive trying to push through,” the former F1 driver said.

“I respect two drivers (Stewart and Lauda) with six world championships between them,” added Wurz, the increasingly high-profile chief of the F1 drivers’ union.

“By contrast, Jacques Villeneuve, another world champion, thought it was Nico’s fault for closing the door on Lewis so aggressively, which shows how difficult it all is,” he added.

“But I believe it was a racing incident and the race stewards agreed with that assessment,” Wurz told The Times newspaper. “They (Hamilton and Rosberg) made a misjudgement over what was happening.”

[MIKA27]

FORMULA 1 HAILS A NEW YOUNG MASTER IN VERSTAPPEN

Max Verstappen’s sensational first Formula One victory, at just 18 years of age, had former champions and grandees of the sport casting around for superlatives at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Already seen as the next big star, the Dutch teenager made the hype seem almost under-stated with a composure that belied his years as he became F1’s youngest ever winner.

“It’s been an unbelievable performance, from the moment Max stepped into the car until the chequered flag, he’s been exemplary. He’s not put a wheel wrong,” said his Red Bull principal Christian Horner.

Horner hailed a Formula One fairytale, with Verstappen promoted from the junior Toro Rosso team little more than a week earlier in place of Russian Daniil Kvyat. He also saw signs of a rare but familiar talent.

“It’s quite uncanny really,” said Horner. “There’s an awful lot of similarities from when Sebastian (Vettel) joined the team. The mechanics were telling me that even the way he gets in the car is similar, the same side, the way he pulls his knee up to get in the chassis.”

“But he’s his own man as well. He’s a very together young guy. You’d never think he was 18. He’s the first driver I’ve had that legally I could be his father.”

Vettel, winner of four titles in a row with Red Bull before joining Ferrari, won his first race at 21 with Toro Rosso before moving to Red Bull.

Ferrari’s race runner-up Kimi Raikkonen, twice Verstappen’s age, recalled competing against the youngster’s father Jos in the early 2000s.

Asked where he was when Raikkonen won his first race, Verstappen said he had been six — and probably in kindergarten.

Retired four-times world champion Alain Prost, who did not start racing cars until he was 19, said Verstappen looked “so mature, so calm and so strong.

“At the end of the day, he did a perfect weekend with absolutely no mistakes. And that is really impressive,” added the Frenchman.

Canada’s 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve said Verstappen had made the most of the opportunity presented by dominant Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton crashing into each other.

“That’s what champions do,” he added. “You have to seize the opportunity when it’s there and then he drove with amazing maturity. He’s really stepped up.”

Asked whether Verstappen reminded him of seven-times champion Michael Schumacher, Jos’s old team mate and Villeneuve’s title rival, the Canadian shrugged, “You always want to say OK, that’s the new (Ayrton) Senna. That’s the new Michael. He’s Verstappen.”

“He’s won a race, so let’s see how it goes to his head. Will it make him slower or faster. The way he’s been acting, it should make him only better.”

[MIKA27]

Haas F1 team to try new chassis for Grosjean in Barcelona test

Romain Grosjean will run a new Haas chassis on Tuesday's opening day of Formula 1's first in-season test of the year at Barcelona.

The Haas driver made an impressive start to the F1 season with sixth in Australia and fifth in Bahrain but has since struggled with the balance of the American team's VF-16.

The Frenchman said during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend that the team had identified the problems but did not yet know how to solve them.

With two days of testing at Barcelona on Tuesday and Wednesday, Haas is using the opportunity to run a new chassis for Grosjean in a bid to find solutions.

"We've been struggling since China with something we don't quite yet understand so we're going to change everything for the test," said Grosjean.

"It's been hard for everyone because in terms of work everyone has been doing a great job of looking at the data and finding a solution - making the car on paper better - and we always underline that these are problems that Esteban doesn't have.

"It's quite strange that it's only happening in one car and that's why it's going to be very important for us at testing to change the chassis and put the set up in and see if things get better."

Grosjean said that Haas made changes on Friday night at Circuit de Catalunya, but they weren't as successful as hoped.

"We changed the philosophy of the set-up we'd made for China so this should bring the car back to where it was but actually it didn't happen as much as we wanted," he said.

"We went in a good direction that's why I'm saying that everyone has been working well.

"But under the table there's something that we don't see or understand.

"That's why we want to change the chassis to see if there's something weird in terms of torsion or something that's creating issues."

[MIKA27]

Spanish Grand Prix: Honda software problem forced Alonso out

Honda says a software command problem caused Fernando Alonso's engine to cut power, forcing the McLaren Formula 1 driver to retire from the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Spaniard qualified 10th as McLaren made Q3 for the first time since rejoining Honda for the 2015 season and was running 12th when he pulled over to the side of the track reporting a loss of power.

"I'm not sure the exact cause but a software command issue happened and it stopped the engine," Honda chief Yusuke Hasegawa told Autosport.

"The engine itself is fine, we can even use it for Monaco.

"It stopped on the circuit so we need to check if that created any damage because of the high temperatures."

Alonso said the team was managing the problem before the engine cut out.

"A couple of laps before we stopped there were some sensors failing and I had some message from the team on the pit wall and we were managing the problem somehow but in the end it wasn't foreseeable anymore," he said.

"I'm very sad. Obviously it was a big opportunity, especially with the Mercs out of the race.

"We're not happy with the reliability yet.

"We need to keep improving and also we need to look at how the racing went.

"I could not show my pace at any point in the race.

"We didn't have a good start and after that I just followed Jenson so we need to keep improving."

Despite the retirement Hasegawa, who added this particular software problem had not happened before, believes Honda is making strides with its reliability.

"This is the fourth race for Fernando's engine," he said. "We never survived that long [before].

"We didn't finish but it was a system failure. We were about to prove our engine can last four events, which is very encouraging for us."

[MIKA27]

Horner defends Ricciardo’s 3-stop strategy

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has defended the team’s decision to put Daniel Ricciardo on a three-stop strategy at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Australian was up against Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel, who was also on a three-stop strategy, as both of them could not catch each other’s teammates, Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen, who were on the two-stop strategy.

Horner, though, claimed that they genuinely believed that putting Ricciardo, who finished in P4, on a three-stop strategy would be the best way to beat the Scuderia to the Spanish GP title.

“We felt that once Sebastian had passed Carlos Sainz and was running in clean air, you could see that his pace was strong, stronger than ours and the obvious way that they were going to navigate themselves past us was through a three stop,” Horner said.

“So we had to take a tactical decision at that point to say do we try and cover Vettel with one of our cars, therefore the best car which we believed had the best chance of winning the race, which was the lead car, and we elected to go for the three stop.

“It looks like Ferrari made that same choice at that point in time. Ferrari then went very, very early on their last stint to try and get Sebastian track position and obviously we pitted I think five or six laps later with Daniel which gave him a much a better tyre.

“Sebastian didn’t seem to be able to catch the leading cars as quickly as we thought and he seemed to be in trouble in that last stint, so I think had Daniel managed to get past Sebastian a little earlier, he obviously had a big pace advantage on the two leading cars.

“So it’s one of those things. It’s very easy to sit here with hindsight but at that point in the race it was far from obvious which was the quicker route to go and we felt, Vettel as the biggest opponent, we would take him on with Ricciardo.”

[Orion21]

Congrats to Max! Credit the Red Bull team with putting a superior chassis together that helped him drive such a clean race. Monaco will be very interesting

[capitalpg]

Max turned a simple podium into a win thanks to Nico and Lewis going at it.

Looked to me that Nico turned hard to block Lewis, who was committed to an inside line and that basically screwed them both. Really wish I could have been in that room during the debrief. Man, that had to have been tense.

Nico made the hard push to the right, which frankly would be ok.... If it wasn't his teammate!

Would have loved to be a fly on the wall in that trailer as they "discussed" the incident;)

[RijkdeGooier]

I thoroughly enjoyed the race.

Unbelieveable debut from Max at Red Bull.

Let's see how the story develops further in Monaco?

[Orion21]

Nico made the hard push to the right, which frankly would be ok.... If it wasn't his teammate!

Would have loved to be a fly on the wall in that trailer as they "discussed" the incident;)

I would bet there wasn't really all that much that went on. It sounds like Lewis took full responsibility from the get-go. What is troubling me is Nico. It seems to me he is manufacturing this hardass attitude now that Lewis has won his three Championships and he has a shot at his own. The fact remains that last year Lewis was the one running Nico off the track and now the roles are reversed. The difference is Lewis is being more of the gentleman taking responsibility for taking an aggressive line, when Nico should be apologizing for being in the wrong engine management setting coming into turn 3, which allowed Lewis to come up on him so fast.

[joeskow]

It appears that Nico was on the wrong engine setting during his start procedure and it went into harvesting mode which explains his lack of speed through turn 3 and also his rain light flashing.. Lewis was closing quickly, Nico saw this and made a push to the right obviously to keep Lewis from overtaking..

Both pushed hard Lewis made a move and so did Nico, I do agree that this was a racing incident and I don't expect either driver to give an inch when the Championship is still up for grabs.

Love the fight

[MIKA27]

ROSBERG OPENS 2017 TALKS WITH FERRARI

F1 World Championship leader Nico Rosberg is fast becoming a key to the 2017 ‘silly season’ and a move to Ferrari to replace Kimi Raikkonen could be on the cards.

In Barcelona, Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche announced that the on-form German is in fact “under contract” for next year.

But that might not quite be true, as Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff declared on Monday that Fernando Alonso might be a target for the future.

“Fernando is one of the best drivers in history and I like his character, but our priority now is Nico,” he told El Mundo. “If he (Rosberg) does not want to renew, then we will consider other options, like Fernando.”

Now, well respected Corriere della Sera is reporting that talks between Ferrari and Rosberg, the winner of seven consecutive grands prix until the last one in Spain, have begun.

Correspondent Giorgio Terruzzi said Ferrari’s new interest in Rosberg is powered by moves at other top teams to spice up their respective drivers’ lineups.

Red Bull has Max Verstappen, McLaren will reportedly sign up Stoffel Vandoorne for 2017, and so officials at Ferrari believe “36-year-old Kimi, though well-liked by most in the team, is considered too inconsistent”.

“On the contrary, it seems Rosberg in his full maturity is always fast, strengthened by his difficult experience at Hamilton’s side.”

Terruzzi also said Mercedes “would be weakened by his (Rosberg’s) departure, especially if he wins the title in 2016”.

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BARCELONA TEST: VETTEL TOPS OPENING DAY

Two days after Max Verstappen became the youngest ever grand prix with victory in the Spanish Grand Prix, Formula One action resumed at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel topping the timesheet as the first in-season test of 2016 got underway.

Vettel finished third in last weekend’s race but the German and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen lost out to Red Bull Racing driver Verstappen and today Ferrari sought to explore the reasons behind the defeat.

Across a busy day Vettel got through 103 laps as he replicated race and qualifying conditions from the weekend. His quickest lap of the day, a 1:23.220 set on soft tyres, came in the afternoon session, as he worked through a full qualifying session simulation.

Following the Spanish Grand Prix, team boss Maurizio Arrivabene had isolated a lack of pace in the final sector as the chief reason behind Ferrari’s failure to win on Sunday and Vettel today set the fastest final sector of the day as the team addressed the issue.

Nico Rosberg, whose run of seven straight grand prix wins came to an end on Sunday in a lap one collision with team-mate Lewis Hamilton, was second fastest as he logged 119 laps. The German’s best time was also set on the soft tyre and at the end of the session he was 0.117s slower than Vettel.

Third place on the timesheet went to McLaren’s Jenson Button. The Briton set a time of 1:23.753 in the morning session, though the McLaren driver’s time came on the red-banded supersoft Pirelli tyre.

Haas’ Romain Grosjean moved even further down the Pirelli order as he opted to run the company’s new ultrasoft tyre for a late run that saw him claim fourth spot in the standings with a lap of 1:23.882. The ultrasoft will make its race weekend debut at the next event, the Monaco Grand Prix and the subsequent race, in Canada.

Grosjean has complained of extreme handling difficulties with his Haas in recent weeks ands he also took the chance to today test a new chassis.

With the French driver fourth, fifth place went to Manor’s Pascal Wehrlein. The German used the supersoft compound to set a time of 1:24.297, which was just 0.010s ahead of Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian spent much of the morning with an array of aero rakes fitted to his RB12 but last Sunday’s fourth-placed driver also got the chance to try an upgraded Renault power unit as he worked through 89 laps across the two sessions.

Ricciardo was followed in seventh place by Red Bull Junior programme driver Pierre Gasly who was on duty for Toro Rosso. The French youngster set a best time of 1:24.821 as he logged 78 laps. Alfonso Celis too P8 for Force India while Williams’ tester Alex Lynn debuted a radical rear wing on his way to ninth. Like Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon was testing the upgraded power unit in the works Renault and managed 105 laps.

What the drivers had to say:

Nico Rosberg (Mercedes): “It’s good to be back in the car. I learned a lot and we made good progress – which is really important, as it’s my only test day for the whole year, so I needed to make the most out of it and try to learn as much as possible. We did some suspension and setup work – just a few different small bits. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season – but my focus right is now on Monaco. We’ll have to keep an eye on our opposition as always but I’m feeling confident and aiming for another win.”

Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari): “I think it is a unique chance having the opportunity right after the GP to test at the same track, more or less on the same conditions. Saturday we struggled a bit so today we tried some stuff. We needed to have a good look at it, but this is not the only thing we were here for. For sure we tried to cover as much as possible in one day. I think Monaco should be a strong track for us, last year we were very competitive there. Now we have improved the car in the areas you need for that GP so I think it should help. Here in Barcelona we were as competitive as expected, with the exception of Saturday. Now we are not in the best position, we are not the favorites going to Monaco either, as the favorites remain Mercedes, but we try very hard and if there is a chance to win we’ll try to win. We go step by step, not looking too far ahead. I’m convinced that the chance is there.”

Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull): “So far we’re pretty happy with how it’s looking. We’ll see what they find tonight but generally it was all pretty reliable and everything ran as smoothly as it could have. We had a few new bits on the car that we tried; I guess there will have been some images of crazy stuff attached to the car this morning! But it all went pretty well. It’s not as exciting as a race weekend I can tell you, but we did some good stuff today. We got the important things out of the way and there’s another day left for the team here. Then we have three street circuits coming up, it’s going to be good fun!”

Alfonso Celis (Force India) : “It was a very positive day with a lot of mileage and some good work with different tyre compounds. It was interesting to come back here after winter testing: the track and weather conditions are quite different and the same applies to the car, so it took a few runs to adapt. I feel more and more confident with the car, but I am still treading carefully not to make mistakes: my priority is to do the job the team is asking me to do, but hopefully I’ll be able to push a bit more tomorrow.”

Esteban Ocon (Renault): “It was great to be behind the wheel of the R.S.16 for an entire day. We’ve had a pretty full programme but I’d happily do the same again. We completed the second highest number of laps today and I’m happy with how everything went. Of course, it would have been great to have gone for some fast laps with low fuel and soft tyres but that wasn’t the purpose of today. The team’s happy with all the data collected so it’s been great to contribute to the development of the car.”

Alex Lynn (Williams): I think we had a really positive day. We’ve run through everything, and probably more than we ever anticipated on the programme. We’ve had a lot of good running for the team in terms of the next few races, and got some good information. We did some good work on the medium tyre, and in the afternoon it was more Monaco based performance work.

Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso): “It’s always fantastic to drive a Formula 1 car and I’m happy with today. The most important was to do a good job for the team, as well as getting plenty of mileage under my belt. In the morning we completed aero tests and in the afternoon we focused on the car set-up. Unfortunately at the end of the day, when we were just about to go for some performance runs on Soft tyres, we had a little issue, so we had to end the day a bit earlier than planned… But I’m still pleased, as we could anyhow complete many laps today, which is always important for me to gain experience. This is my second time driving with Toro Rosso and I have to say I felt much more confident – knowing the team and the procedures better definitely helps. It doesn’t mean it’s less pressure on me, as you always need to deliver and do a good job, but the fact that it’s not completely new to me any more makes me enjoy the driving more. I look forward to another outing with the team hopefully in the near future.”

Pascal Wehrlein (Manor): “Today has been a positive day for us. We worked through a pretty big list of items to evaluate the new developments and also did some runs on the Supersoft later in the day. Obviously we didn’t run that tyre over the race weekend so it was interesting to have the comparison against the other teams with our updated package. For me it will be nice to focus on Monaco now, where I think we can have a better weekend as a result of the work we’ve done here today.”

Barcelona Test – Day 1

S. Vettel Ferrari 1:23.220 103

N. Rosberg Mercedes 1:23.337 116

J. Button McLaren 1:23.753 86

R. Grosjean Haas 1:23.882 96

P. Wehrlein Manor 1:24.297 86

D. Ricciardo Red Bull 1:24.307 89

P. Gasly Toro Rosso 1:24.821 78

A. Celis Jr Force India 1:25.467 99

A. Lynn Williams 1:26.071 86

E. Ocon Renault Sport 1:26.530 104

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BOULLIER: WE ARE BETWEEN MERCEDES AND FERRARI

Honda is clearly making progress with its Formula 1 engine, McLaren team boss Eric Boullier insists.

The first year of the Anglo-Japanese collaboration in 2015 was disastrous, but Frenchman Boullier says Fernando Alonso’s Q3 breakthrough in Spain was significant.

“By studying the data closely, we see that we are now somewhere between Mercedes and Ferrari with the power,” he told Speed Week.

“Progress is clearly felt by the drivers and also on the track everyone can see that we have become stronger. So we are on the right track,” Boullier added.

Some of that progress may have been made through a tweak to the Honda ‘philosophy’, where until now the manufacturer has often appeared content to take its time in pushing towards the front.

“Yes and no,” Boullier said. “Honda has always had a good approach and is prepared to respond quickly. You can feel that everyone is working at full throttle.

“And the changes that were promised are coming. Honda president and CEO Takahiro Hachigo will be in Monaco,” he announced.

McLaren does, however, appear unlikely to give in to mounting pressure – even from Honda – to allow the Japanese engines to be supplied to a customer team.

“It is important that no team will be left without engines,” said Boullier, referring to the tweaked rules for 2017 and beyond.

“But in my opinion, there is no reason to say that Honda is able to supply engines to Sauber or Toro Rosso next year, although there is talk of that in the press. It will not happen,” he added.