Spanish GP – THE POINT

Ferrari and F1 made us live an extraordinary GP on Sunday afternoon. I experienced in person the first two days of the Spanish GP and I can say that the Scuderia showed to run very fast in the the long run since free practices. It showed to be comfortable on both rubbers.

No doubt the F138 has to improve on the single qualifying lap, which is its Achilles’ heel, but in this F.1 season we see many passes due to Kers, DRS and high tyres degradation. Most of the success achieved by the Italian team is due to Alonso, who made an excellent pass on the first corner. That manoeuvre will make the history of F.1; thanks to that kind of manoeuvres we have the opportunity to live an exciting season.

Today’s result is a clear proof that a team can easily shift from a disappointing race to an excellent one. The Spaniard scored a great success in his homeland, thanks to which he is only 17 points from the leader of the points table. In the next two races to be run in Canada and Monaco, the Spanish driver can make the difference again. Congratulations to Felipe Massa, who managed to recover. He was able to handle tyres’ issues in the best way, taking home a fantastic third place which moves the Ferrari team up to second in the constructors’ championship. The two drivers made also excellent pit-stops. That was an excellent birthday gift for Stefano Domenicali, I seize the chance to re-extend to him my best birthday wishes.

The Italian team’s excellent weekend was enriched by the second successful result achieved by Antonio Fuoco, a FDA driver, in the Formula Renault 2.0 Championship. On the track of Imola Fuoco replicated the success achieved in Vallelunga in the opening race. Even the FDA youngest drivers give their contribution to make the history of the Italian team even more interesting.

I was afraid of Raikkonen since free practices. If Lotus’ financial resources don’t drop down, the Finnish driver will be Fernando’s first rival. Kimi made an excellent start of season, as well as Force India; Paul Di Resta’s seventh place placed the Indian team ahead of McLaren, which finished in the points with both drivers. Once again Button made the difference on hard rubber.

Toro Rosso drove an excellent race, as well. The team form Faenza scored a point with Ricciardo, even in a hard-fought race such as the Spanish GP, where the track was full of debris and the risk to make a trivial mistake was high. The Italian team consolidates its seventh position.

Mercedes drove an excellent single qualifying lap, but the German car had many problems during the race. They weren’t the rivals to be afraid of, for sure, even if I’m so happy with Niko Rosberg’s qualifying performance, as the German driver drove an excellent lap and managed to keep Hamilton behind him. The German driver could hardly be overtaken and finished sixth, so that Mercedes could preserve the fourth position in the constructors’ championship. Their car wear out tyres too much, I think that they have a great margin of improvement over the next races.

Next race will be run in Montecarlo, where drivers will use soft and super-soft tyres. Even in this case, drivers will have to suffer so much. Despite drivers will have the chance to make several passes through the narrow streets of the circuit, qualifying still remains so important.