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Features published on AUTOSPORT+ May 8, 2014 - May 14, 2014

1980s star thinks F1 2014 is the best - by Jonathan Noble Why F1 should still fear Vettel - by Ben Anderson Hamilton faster than he looks - by Edd Straw and Gary Anderson Spanish GP technical blog - by Craig Scarborough AUTOSPORT's Spanish GP driver ratings - by Edd Straw How Hamilton found the decisive six tenths - by Edd Straw Jaime Alguersuari's new life after F1 - by Matt Beer How far ahead is Mercedes? - by Gary Anderson How Indy's road course gamble paid off - by Mark Glendenning F1's GP promoters miss their chance - by Dieter Rencken F1 is making an easy thing difficult - by Edd Straw

Features published on AUTOSPORT+ May 8, 2014 - May 14, 2014 1

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1980s star thinks F1 2014 is the bestThere's been a lot of doom and gloom around Formula 1's 2014 format, but JONATHAN NOBLE heard from atop name from the last turbo era who reckons these are GP racing's greatest days...

There are few people you meet in Formula 1 who are more 'glass half full' than Derek Warwick.

Having seen it all during his years in stock cars, grands prix racing and sportscars, if you spark up aconversation about anything to do with motor racing, you'll find a man instantly firing on all cylinders.

However, the start to the 2014 season has left even him needing to muster all his enthusiasm to stop gettingdragged down by the negativity that's surrounded F1.

"I, like everybody else, was caught up in that whole story from Australia about the noise," he said, chattingduring a British Grand Prix media event at Silverstone last week.

"I always take as an example my [car dealership] garage, because they are all F1 nuts," continued Warwick."Everyone there fell into the same trap of it being negative.

AUTOSPORT+ feature: 1980s star thinks F1 2014 is the best 2

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"But I said to them, hang on a minute, guys, for the first time in many a year, I'm watching racers - the best inthe world - driving cars that are biting them. The cars now have too much power and not enough downforce.That's fantastic."

Warwick's perspective backs up a growing belief that the real reason F1 faced such bad PR this year - andhas been struggling to convince fans not to turn off - has had little to do with what's been happening on thetrack.

Instead, it has everything to do with the fact that those whose jobs it is to promote the sport and deliver abigger audience have caused the bad press themselves.

For beyond the noise issue - which everyone now accepts has tapped into the emotions of fans - there'snothing about the racing this year that can justify ringing alarm bells.

One team may be winning everything, but that's nothing new in our sport, after all. The talk of taxi-cab drivingand extreme fuel saving has also proved wide of the mark - some teams are already short filling, for instance.And just wait for Monaco, where the less-thirsty engines may use under 85kg of fuel for the race.

Warwick concurs that the real problem F1 faced at the start of this year was the negative PR from on high.

"That's 100 per cent," he says. "I never understand any sport or any business doing its dirty washing in public.

"Everyone's mentioned Gerald Ratner [former boss of the Ratners jewellery group], who said he sold junk -his company nearly went bankrupt a few years later. So I've been a bit surprised and disappointed by Ferrari,Red Bull and Bernie Ecclestone.

"I put a lot back into my sport as a steward, on the safety side and on the FIA side. I am president of theBRDC and I do what I can for Silverstone. I do it all for nothing. So when I see people hurting my sport, I getvery defensive about it."



But while all the doom and gloom has undoubtedly caused some damage, equally none of F1's stakeholdershas done enough to ram home the message to fans about why the new technology is better, and why itmatters to every fan who switches on a television set.

The endless paranoia among the teams that revealing any technical details could hand the opposition anadvantage has resulted in very little being said about the brilliance going on under those engine covers.

Last week, the city of Sheffield unveiled a new fleet of buses using the same hybrid technology that's beenpioneered in F1. This is exactly the sort of thing grand prix chiefs should be shouting about, because ithighlights that the sport is relevant again, and leading with expertise that's going to benefit everyone in yearsto come.

It's why Warwick, despite the bad press, is still buoyant about the state of F1.

"I'm excited," he said. "I have been an anorak all my life about F1, and I see this as the best era ever.

"But some of the technology is difficult for the punter to understand, because it's not something you can see ortouch. You can't watch it work on television like DRS - so we need to show the fans more about what is goingon."

I couldn't agree more.



Why F1 should still fear VettelThe four-time champion has endured a difficult start to the new season, but BEN ANDERSON argues that it'sonly a matter of time before he'll be back to his best

Nobody becomes a world champion at anything by accident, let alone a four-time world champion of Formula1.

But people have short memories, and it's only taken four relatively underwhelming (by his own highstandards) races for the critics to start climbing all over Sebastian Vettel's back.

Those who write off Vettel as an average driver who romped into the record books by lucking into the best carignore the qualities that allowed him to make the most of the machinery at his disposal.

A point of order here: I'm taking nothing away from Vettel's new Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, whohas done a superb job since stepping up from Toro Rosso and clearly has a better handle on how to drive thisnew generation of F1 car at the moment.

But the intra-team battle is closer than you might think at first glance, for Vettel was hampered by technicalissues in Australia and Bahrain (not a fair fight), and was quicker than Ricciardo in Malaysia. So at best youcould say it's a score draw between them at the moment.

AUTOSPORT+ feature: Why F1 should still fear Vettel 6


As Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says: "When Seb has worked out his issues, he'll be back with abang."

And there's no reason to believe this won't happen. The qualities that made Vettel a multiple world championare the same qualities that will drag him out of his current malaise.

All he needs is time.

Remember that exhaust-blown downforce became a key tenet of Red Bull's competitive advantage during thelast rules cycle, and Vettel adapted his driving accordingly.

In fact, he became such a proponent of the particular style required that Red Bull began developing its cararound his technique - with devastating results, as his run of nine consecutive victories at the end of lastseason attests.

The latest F1 rulebook has effectively outlawed exhaust blowing, by mandating that the exhausts exit througha single tailpipe opening, 170-185mm behind the rear-wheel centreline.

Not only has this robbed Red Bull of a big technical advantage, but it will also have rendered some details ofVettel's driving redundant.

The problem for anyone in this situation is that it's always easier to learn something than unlearn it, especiallywhen so much of top-level professional driving is a subconscious art.

For Vettel, further down the road with this type of driving than his rivals, the process is bound to take a littlelonger.

Add in the fact that chronic unreliability from Red Bull and Renault ruined his pre-season - robbing Vettel ofcrucial track time to unravel his old techniques and refine new ones and it seems apparent that we'rewitnessing a certain amount of dirty laundry being washed in public here.



The added problem for the reigning champion is one of compound interest. His difficulties in driving the RB10correctly (mainly related to the lack of rear downforce and instability caused by energy harvesting underbraking) mean he will struggle to hone the correct set-up on any given weekend, which has a knock-on effecton the tyres.

The result is a heavy defeat (to the tune of more than 20 seconds) to his team-mate at last month's ChineseGrand Prix, which involved some terse radio exchanges as the team tried to manoeuvre the slower Vettel outof Ricciardo's way.

This will all no doubt have been a fantastic confidence boost for Ricciardo, a superb driver with the perfectattitude to succeed in top-level motorsport, and whose early performances are worthy of the plaudits currentlybeing lavished upon him.

But one swallow does not a summer make. A single-minded focus and restless workrate have underpinnedthe Vettel phenomenon since he burst onto the F1 scene, and that same drive and determination will also pullhim out of this mini-slump.

'When', and not 'if', things start to click back into place for Vettel, he will become an absolute force to bereckoned with once more.

And it will be no accident when he does.

This week's AUTOSPORT magazine - available in shops and online - includes a focus on the Red Bullteam-mate battle between Ricciardo and Vettel



Hamilton faster than he looksLewis Hamilton had an advantage of 0.449s on the timesheets during Friday practice in Spain, but as GARYANDERSON and EDD STRAW explain, his advantage was even bigger than that

Speaking yesterday, Lewis Hamilton stressed that the configuration of what is now officially, andcumbersomely, dubbed Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya, would mitigate the advantage of Mercedes.

But even though mitigate does not mean eradicate, Friday practice suggests that not only is Mercedes stillahead, but its advantage is as big as ever.

"If you look at data, or you look at the GPS of other teams, their loss is in the latter part of the straights," saidLewis Hamilton. "You can reduce that significantly here so it should naturally, before everyone has put theupgrades on, be a closer gap I think.

"Everybody is bringing upgrades this weekend, some more than others, so it will be interesting to see if thatgap is still there of not."

Hamilton will have found today doubly interesting, because not only does the Silver Arrows have a clearadvantage, but he appears to have a decisive edge over team-mate and championship rival Nico Rosberg.

Based on Friday practice, it would be a surprise if Hamilton did not finally claim the points lead with a fourthconsecutive victory.

SINGLE-LAP PACE

AUTOSPORT+ feature: Hamilton faster than he looks 9


The fastest times of the day were all set on medium-compound Pirellis during Friday afternoon practice, withthe order of the top five matching exactly the ranking based on lap times on the slower rubber.

The ranking is hardly wildly different to what we saw on Friday practice in China, with a couple of teams oneplace better or worse off, but little in the way of big changes.

But what is interesting is that the gap from the front to best-of-the-rest was double what it was at Shanghai.

Pace 1. Mercedes (Hamilton), 1m25.524s 2. Red Bull (Daniel Ricciardo), +0.985s 3. Ferrari (Fernando Alonso), +1.597s 4. McLaren (Kevin Magnussen), +2.264s 5. Williams (Felipe Massa), +2.300s 6. Lotus (Pastor Maldonado), +2.342s 7. Toro Rosso (Daniil Kvyat), +2.525s 8. Force India (Nico Hulkenberg), +2.550s 9. Sauber (Adrian Sutil), +2.760s10. Marussia (Jules Bianchi), +4.467s11. Caterham (Kamui Kobayashi), +5.814s

HAMILTON VERSUS ROSBERG

With the rest in their own fight for third, it makes sense to look at the Mercedes drivers' performance inisolation.

Both completed their long runs on the medium-compound Pirellis, which are expected to be the tyre of choiceon Sunday. Rosberg's run was 18 laps, with Hamilton completing one more.

Knocking out the anomalous laps, that cuts Rosberg's run to 13 counted flying laps, which can be comparedagainst a run of the same length by Hamilton.

Long-run average (based on 13-lap run)1 Hamilton, 1m31.187s2 Rosberg, +0.619s

So let's say the pair start first and second, that would equate to Hamilton having a decisive lead of eightseconds over a hypothetical 13-lap opening stint. The 2008 world champion was certainly happy with therange he achieved on the mediums.

"They didn't seem so bad," he said after the session. "When they told me I had to do 14 laps on the optiontyre, I was like 'you're crazy, that's not going to happen' but I think I did more than that."

All of this is encouraging for Hamilton in his private battle. But there are some caveats.



Rosberg's day was compromised by an ERS problem in the morning that restricted him to nine laps. Headmitted he was not particular comfortable with the car. But he also went significantly quicker than Hamilton inthe first two fliers of his run, 0.438s faster on the first and then 1.039s on the second.

This might have compromised his pace over the long run, but there can be little doubt that he needs to makesome progress overnight.

GARY ANDERSON: "Hamilton is nearly five tenths faster on raw pace, so there's no reason why he shouldnot be six tenths quicker on that run.

"This track is all about the tyres. If you lose performance in the rear tyres, Turn 3 becomes a nightmare, whichcompounds the situation and it becomes an ever-worsening spiral.

"You can talk about taking it easy and you certainly can with the fronts, but you have to lean on the rears somuch there not to give away laptime that if you are struggling with degradation it's a massive challenge.

"Were I in Hamilton's shoes, I'd be very happy that I had a good understanding of what is going on, whichexplains exactly why he's said he doesn't feel he needs the help of a psychologist!

"Understanding the car here is key and you need the right balance. Hamilton seems to have that now."

RED BULL vs FERRARI

"It's the Red Bulls and the Ferraris that you have got to keep an eye on," said Hamilton yesterday.

What happened on Friday backed this up, with Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso next in the queue onsingle-lap pace and with an edge over the chasing pack.

But even with Red Bull hurt by Sebastian Vettel's day being ruined by an electrical problem that thendamaged the wiring loom, restricting him to just four slow laps all day, it appears to be comfortably ahead.

Ricciardo was, on average, half a second quicker than the Ferrari, using Kimi Raikkonen's long run as thecomparison. There were some hints that Alonso had the potential to be quicker, but his run was shorter. Evenso, Ferrari is playing catch up.

Battle for second place (based on 13-lap run)1 Red Bull, 1m31.928s2 Ferrari, 1m32.433s

Most encouraging for Ricciardo was the fact he was able to complete a significantly longer run and still lapcompetitively at the end of the stint, suggesting his China tyre management strength has carried over into thisweekend.

GARY ANDERSON: "I was watching at Turn 10 and then at the complex during FP2 and the Red Bull looksmega in the hands of Ricciardo. Obviously I didn't see anything of Vettel.

"You can see he is able to lean on the car and it behaves very neatly. Other cars, including the Mercedes,when they lean on it one end or the other gives up and there is a small twitch. But not with the Red Bull, inwhich Ricciardo can push with reasonable confidence.



"On single-lap pace, Ricciardo was about a second slower than Hamilton and the gap is there on long-runpace, which you would expect.

"As for Vettel, we've seen him missing parts of Friday before and shining the next day. But that's when he'scompletely happy with the car. Ricciardo has shown what can be done and therefore Vettel can do the same,but he needs to ensure that he drives the car to its limits, and not get frustrated and overdo it.

"If he still drives in this way and expects exhaust-blown downforce to help, he will be in trouble. That's what heneeds to come to terms with tomorrow."

"Ferrari does appear to have made progress and Raikkonen in particular has found his feet. But the car is stillwell off Red Bull on pace."

BATTLE FOR SEVENTH

While things are not that close up front, the scrap for the minor points positions will be intense based onFriday's long-run pace.

Here, the single-lap form is turned on its head, with Force India, which couldn't crack the top 10 on headlinepace, actually producing the most competitive long run courtesy of Sergio Perez.

But with qualifying pace looking underwhelming, this speed might never be unlocked in the race given howdifficult it is to pass during the Spanish GP.

The below ranking, which disregards Sauber because the team did not complete a meaningful long-run and istherefore considered an unknown quantity, shows how tight this battle will be.

The midfield battle (based on 13-lap run)4 Force India, 1m33.161s5 Toro Rosso, 1m33.286s6 Williams, 1m33.425s7 Lotus, 1m33.549s8 McLaren, 1m33.688s

GARY ANDERSON: "We haven't seen any great revolution in the competitive order. McLaren was muchstronger on single-lap pace than it is on the long runs, which is surprising.

"One of the things that really stands out is how big the offset is throughout the field for raw pace versus longruns, with a five second offset, when you would expect 90kg of fuel to cost you only three seconds.

"The Williams doesn't look to be getting better and still has the combination of strong front end with a nervousrear, that makes things harder on the tyre.



"Force India looked nothing special, but was OK on the long run, while Lotus does appear to have improved. Iwatched Pastor Maldonado on his medium run and on his quick lap he did lose some time with traffic, so it'sencouraging for Lotus."



Spanish GP technical blogThe start of the European season is usually where Formula 1 teams bring their first major develpoments. Butthere is an element of conservatism in Spain, as CRAIG SCARBOROUGH explains

Barcelona has typically been a pivotal race for Formula 1 teams' development programmes, but while therewere plenty of updates on display the anticipated raft of new parts did not materialise this time.

Unusually, the track has not been used for winter testing and the chance to run here outside of a grand prixweekend next week has perhaps led teams to be more conservative with untested components.

The track features a range of corners, a long straight and an abrasive surface. It's the mix of long turns andthe track texture that is the most challenging for teams, and if a car works well around here it is normally goodat most circuits.

Good aero is required for speed in these turns and then the front left tyre is worked hard, leading to prematurewear. For this year, the high torque output of the power units, allied to warmer than expected temperatures,could lead also to rear tyre degradation in Sunday's race.

MERCEDES

Mercedes arrived with the biggest performance advantage and one of the biggest upgrade packages. Its W05now features a revised front wing and redesigned sidepod bodywork.

Attached to the shorter nosecone introduced at the last race, the revised front wing has only subtle changes.The footplate at the wing tip now has slots corresponding to those in the wing itself.

AUTOSPORT+ feature: Spanish GP technical blog 14


Additionally there's a new turning vane fitted inside and the turning vane outside of the endplate has beenreshaped.

More subtle changes have been made to the sidepod panels, but these appear to be a new shape wrappedaround the same internal cooling package.

Most notable are the smaller inlets and the hot air outlet at the tail of the bodywork.

Whereas the tail of the sidepod previously had a central exit and two separate side outlets flanking the tail, thenew bodywork now merges these into one smaller outlet at the very back of the car.

Reducing these two areas and a general shrinking of the bodywork around the internal mechanical packagewill increase the car's efficiency, leading to more downforce with reduced drag.

RED BULL

There might have been more new parts to appear on the Red Bull but Sebastian Vettel's electrical problem onFriday morning potentially scuppered any plans to roll new parts into practice.

On his second run in the morning, the car's electrics died completely and he stopped out on track. Clearlysomething fundamental had failed and this was reported as an issue with the wiring loom.

Although this is made from many sub sections, at its core there's a central spine of cables. These connect thevarious electrical systems to the other looms and it would appear that the problem, possibly heat, damagedthis part of the car's wiring loom.

Even though Vettel's machine was swiftly returned to the pits the damage to the loom was such that it couldnot run again on Friday.

One detail that did catch the eye was the new infrared cameras mounted inside the wing mirrors. Thereflection off the lens gave their location away.



Here, the front tyres get a hard time around some of the longer corners and more accurate reading of tyretemperatures will help the team make the most of the tyres on the longer runs.

Aiding Red Bull's chase of Mercedes are new updates for its power unit. Despite the engine specificationfreeze some of these updates are hardware, but the major gains are with new software.

These are expected to bring better drivability, if not more peak horsepower.

Such progress is possible as the coordinating of the power delivery from both the petrol engine and EnergyRecovery Systems is largely a software mapping exercise.

Large gains can be made without the need for physical changes to the engine. These updates are available toall the Renault-powered teams.

FERRARI

Although a larger upgrade was expected, the F14 T did not appear with any major changes.

Instead, Ferrari's two cars ran in slightly different specifications. Fernando Alonso's car sported the blownfront axles seen in China, along with a new exhaust and wings. Kimi Raikkonen's car had a new rear wingmount, sidepods and the pointy unblown front axles.

Of all the updates, the rear wing mount on the Finn's car was the most interesting upgrade. It followsMcLaren's concept of an inverted Y-shaped wing mounting pillar.

This works efficiently both because the top rear wing is not obstructed by two pillar mountings and the way thebase wraps around the exhaust aids extracting hot air from the sidepods.

But Ferrari has gone further. The pillar passes in front of the rear wing and curls back 180 degrees to supportthe wing from above.



This is often termed a 'swan neck' mounting. It helps aerodynamics as the upper surface of the wing is lessupset by the obstruction of the pillar joining the wing.

This was popular up until 2011 when the area in front of the wing was excluded from having bodywork,including these mounts. To make Ferrari's design legal, the rear wing must be a little shorter to allow the pillarto squeeze in between the wing and the exclusion zone.

Ferrari has changed the exhaust tailpipe design slightly for a new tapering design. However, this is aperformance upgrade and not a sound boosting 'megaphone' design as being tested next week by Mercedes.

As the exit of the tailpipe is restricted to a maximum circular cross section, the section of tailpipe exiting theturbo must now be smaller. The pipes section then tapers to the maximum diameter in the last 100mm.

All the other changes were in detail only, with the cut-outs on the endplate of both the front and rear wingsbeing altered and the sidepods being slightly slimmer around the Coke bottle area.

McLAREN

The MP4-29 appeared in familiar guise for free practice.

While many updates may have gone on unseen beneath the skin, the only external difference appears to besome front wing tweaks and a regression to the launch style rear brake ducts.

At the car's launch, the rear brake ducts sported a tear drop profile section around the upper wishbone mount.

This profile had inlets moulded into to feed the rear brakes with cooling air. Subsequently at the last test, thiswas replaced with a complicated vaned set up.

Now, the earlier concept appears to have been reworked with a less teardrop shaped duct formed at the topof the suspension.

LOTUS



A couple of nice details appeared on the E22, showing the team still has some interesting ideas to introduce.

Firstly, there's a small new winglet fitted above the tail light structure, known as a monkey seat. Due to theasymmetric wing support, its connection to the winglet requires an intricate twisted mounting to sit in itscorrect position.

Further forward on the car, the left-hand sidepod has an odd bulge and crease on its top surface. Thissidepod houses the water cooler for the engine and the turbo intercooler.

I suspect that the shape is to create an extraction effect for the cooling outlet mounted next the cockpit.

The bulge sits ahead of the outlet and the crease is in line with it.

The resulting step will create a low pressure area aft of the outlet, which would help pull hot air from theradiators.

FORCE INDIA

To complement the revise sidepod shape introduced at the Chinese Grand Prix, the team has made detailchanges to the floor.

One interesting incident on Friday morning was when the left-hand mirror on the Sergio Perez car broke off.

For the practice session the mirror houses a thermal camera, similar to that on the Red Bull.

The USB cable connecting the camera to the logging system held the camera pod in place until the car wasable to get back to the pits.

That left Perez struggling to downshift, with the housing in the way of the gearshift paddles.

WILLIAMS



Like many teams, Williams had detail changes to its sidepods. While the bodywork was a little narrower, thebigger change was to the mirror and vane set up beside the cockpit.

Williams has run intricate double mounting stems for the mirror pods, flanked by triangular fins. Now, themirrors are far more conventionally mounted and below the single mounting stem is a trio of fins.

This change is not likely to be for an improved rear view, but to alter the vortices that are shed by the mirrorsand fins.

TORO ROSSO

It is the rear of the car that has been updated on the STR9. Both the rear wing its endplates and the diffuserbelow are new for this weekend.

SAUBER



Having run the car overweight for both its drivers for the opening races, the early season development priorityhas been to get lighter.

This has been achieved largely with a reduced cooling set-up. With smaller aluminium radiators, weight hasbeen shed, with the added benefit that the sidepods can now be slimmer, with smaller inlets and outlets.

Aerodynamics has also been revised with a new front wing cascade winglet set up and new vertical turningvane in front of the sidepods.

CATERHAM

There were just small changes to the chassis for Caterham, affecting the front and rear wings along with thefloor seeing detail changes.

MARUSSIA

At its launch the Marussia followed Red Bull's keel nose solution.

This created a high and conventional nose, with the mandatory lower tip formed by a pod hanging off the frontof the upper nose.

The square fronted keel pod was faired in rapidly to be flush with the upper nose tip.

In Spain this abrupt design was smoothed with a trim to merge the pod with the upper nose much further backfor better streamlining.

The new nose design now resembles the more common anteater noses of other teams, although the fairing isnot part of the crash structure as it is on the other cars.



AUTOSPORT's Spanish GP driver ratingsFrom the lead combatants to the midfield disappointments, EDD STRAW analyses and rates theperformances of all 22 drivers in the field

1 SEBASTIAN VETTELRed Bull-Renault RB10

Start: 15thFinish: 4thStrategy: 3 stops (medium/hard/medium/medium)

Rating: 9

Vettel responded superbly to the double disappointments of an electrical problem that ruined Friday and agearbox problem that struck early in Q3 and, thanks to the resulting five-place penalty, left him 15th on thegrid.

Struggled to make progress in the midfield morass, but flew after his early stop as he climbed to fourth.

Was particularly incisive clearing slower cars after the first stint, earning him the best finish possible.

Was he quite as quick as Ricciardo? Probably not, but in the circumstances a good effort.

AUTOSPORT+ feature: AUTOSPORT's Spanish GP driver ratings 22


3 DANIEL RICCIARDORed Bull-Renault RB10

Start: 3rdFinish: 3rdStrategy: 2 stops (medium/medium/hard)

Rating: 9

From the first moment of Friday practice, Ricciardo looked utterly at one with the Red Bull RB10.

"We looked like a third-place car and in the end that's what it was," was Ricciardo's very accurate summary.

Looked to have the legs of Vettel even if his team-mate hadn't hit trouble in Q3.

Only criticism is he couldn't pass Bottas on track and had to rely on undercutting him, but given thestraightline speed advantage of the Williams that's hardly a crime.

6 NICO ROSBERGMercedes F1 W05

Start: 2ndFinish: 2ndStrategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/medium)

Rating: 8

Looked to be well behind on Friday, which he blamed partly on the ERS problem that curtailed his morningrunning.

Bounced back on Saturday, but while he appeared to have the quicker car he simply wasn't able to reach thesame heights as Hamilton when it came to a balls-out lap.

Mediocre start condemned him to adopting the alternative strategy in the race and he was close to Hamiltonby the finish, but even with a few more laps he would have been hard-pushed to have got past.



44 LEWIS HAMILTONMercedes F1 W05

Start: 1stFinish: 1stStrategy: 2 stops (medium/medium/hard)

Rating: 10

While Hamilton didn't have to go to the same lengths in wheel-to-wheel battle as he did in holding off Rosbergin Bahrain, this was arguably the more impressive overall performance.

He looked streets ahead of Rosberg on Friday, but was up against it in qualifying before a glorious,on-the-edge qualifying lap to snatch pole.

Once he had held the lead at the start, kept his head in a tense, race-long strategic battle.

A mature, commanding performance to win on a weekend when he might easily have lost.

7 KIMI RAIKKONENFerrari F14 T

Start: 6thFinish: 7thStrategy: 2 stops (medium/medium/hard)

Rating: 7

Seemed a little more in control in the fast corners on Friday than his team-mate, but was wilder in the slowstuff.



While he outqualified Alonso, he admitted he was still far from comfortable with the Ferrari.

Was unhappy with the strategy adopted by his team-mate in the race, although it was Raikkonen who stayedon the optimum tactic.

The reality is, the pair was pretty evenly matched in the race and Alonso's strategic gamble gave him anadvantage late on.

14 FERNANDO ALONSOFerrari F14 T

Start: 7thFinish: 6thStrategy: 3 stops (medium/medium/hard/medium)

Rating: 7

The home hero was shaded by his team-mate in qualifying and in the race couldn't get track position beforeswitching to a three-stop strategy thanks to his struggles with tyre degradation.

This move paid off, leaving him on the faster medium tyre in the final stint of the race.

This allowed him to chase down Raikkonen and, in a well-measured move that relied upon a strong runthrough Turn 3, a corner where Alonso excels, use his extra grip to get ahead.

8 ROMAIN GROSJEANLotus-Renault E22




Rating: 8

Grosjean didn't always look completely comfortable at the wheel of the E22, but when it really counted hedrove superbly.

Fifth, on merit, in qualifying shows that the car has strong pace and he would have finished ahead of bothFerraris in the race but for a sensor problem that slowed him during the second stint.

Even then, he avoided falling into the clutches of the Force Indias.

An excellent performance in a car that, while improved, still looked a handful at times.

13 PASTOR MALDONADOLotus-Renault E22

Start: 22ndFinish: 15thStrategy: 2 stops (medium/medium/hard)

Rating: 3

There were times during the weekend when Maldonado looked to have a better handle on the Lotus than histeam-mate.

But what he didn't need to do was shunt at Turn 3 on his first Q1 lap.

He suspected low tyre pressures were to blame for the mid-corner moment that spat him wide and led to himlosing it on the green paint, but a more circumspect approach might have served him better.

His race was fine, save for hitting Ericsson's Caterham needlessly early on.



22 JENSON BUTTONMcLaren-Mercedes MP4-29


Rating: 5

Button was hopeful that the McLaren might be a little better in Spain than it had been in China, but the netresult was much the same as he was unable to score.

Did a good job in qualifying to get the car into Q3, with fresh rubber offering the extra grip needed to masksome of the downforce deficit.

In the race, he did have a shot at points, but a poor first lap, dropping to 13th, meant he was left with too muchto do.

20 KEVIN MAGNUSSENMcLaren-Mercedes MP4-29


Rating: 5

After a difficult time in recent races, the Dane had a decent run through practice, though an ERS problemduring qualifying prevented him from participating in Q2.

Was perhaps a little too aggressive on the first lap, first taking to the grass then running wide at Turn 13 whiletrying to find a way around his team-mate and losing a place.

After that, drove well and finished right behind Button in what was probably a par result.



27 NICO HULKENBERGForce India-Mercedes VJM07


Rating: 6

During practice, Hulkenberg characteristically was working the rear of the car a little harder than team-matePerez.

This made him a bit faster, as qualifying attested, but in the race it was harder on the tyres.

Hulkenberg traditionally has to work hard on rear tyre management and in the race Perez had a slight edge.

The German's race was effectively a private battle with his team-mate, one he lost when he was passed in themiddle stint while battling tyre degradation.

11 SERGIO PEREZForce India-Mercedes VJM07

Start: 11thFinish: 9thStrategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/medium)

Rating: 7

On a weekend when the characteristics of the circuit showed up some of the weaknesses of the Force India,Perez was slightly behind his team-mate on single-lap pace as shown by his qualifying performance.



But he was a little better on tyre management during the race.

This, combined with an excellent stint on the hard tyre in the middle of the race, allowed him to catch andpass Hulkenberg to win the intra-team battle.

21 ESTEBAN GUTIERREZSauber-Ferrari C33


Rating: 7

With the weight advantage he previously had over his team-mate significantly mitigated, although notremoved entirely, it's easier to compare Gutierrez to Sutil.

By that yardstick, the Mexican had a decent weekend, beating him by two tenths in qualifying and headinghim in the race.

Gave it a go on the first lap and briefly climbed as high as 11th before reality kicked in and he dropped back.

Even so, it was a decent weekend's work in a limited car.

99 ADRIAN SUTILSauber-Ferrari C33




Rating: 5

Sutil was delighted to have a new, lighter Sauber with associated performance upgrades, although he was stilla little over the weight limit thanks to the unchangeable dimensions of his body.

Beaten by Gutierrez by two tenths in Q1, he struggled badly with tyres overheating.

There's not much you can say about his race performance, save that it reflected the lack of competitiveness ofthe Sauber although he could not catch and pass Gutierrez.

25 JEAN-ERIC VERGNEToro Rosso-Renault STR9

Start: 21stFinish: DNFStrategy: retired (hard/medium/retired)

Rating: 6

Vergne's weekend was effectively ruined by a 10-place grid penalty as a result of his right-rear wheel flying offduring practice two courtesy of the team failing to attach it properly.

Battled a brake problem during the first stint before his race ended prematurely with an exhaust problem.

Sixth place in Q1 was somewhat illusory as Vergne used two sets of mediums knowing he wouldn't botherrunning in Q2, but gave a hint of the Q3 pace he reckoned he had.

Very unfortunate.

26 DANIIL KVYATToro Rosso-Ferrari STR9




Rating: 5

This was probably the trickiest weekend of Kvyat's grand prix career to date.

He was characteristically hard on himself after a disappointing showing in qualifying, missing out on Q3 by0.4s.

In the race, he did a good job in the first stint, climbing to 11th after passing Gutierrez on lap eight.

But that was as good as it got and the lack of pace and tyre management struggles told.

Points weren't possible, but probably didn't get the maximum out of the package.

19 FELIPE MASSAWilliams-Mercedes FW36


Rating: 4

Things looked very encouraging for Massa on Friday, during which he exploited the pace of the carbeautifully.

Looked to have a slight edge on Bottas in qualifying, but a mistake at Turn 10 on his Q3 lap relegated him toninth.

Couldn't make the tyres last during the race and quickly faded from the points picture.

Hard to say how much he should be blamed, but had he not made the error in qualifying his race might havebeen very different.



77 VALTTERI BOTTASWilliams-Renault FW36


Rating: 8

Bottas had to modify his approach having struggled to hustle the Williams to the kind of laptimes Massamanaged early in the weekend.

When it really mattered, he drove superbly in qualifying which, combined with a good start to run third, laid thefoundations for his fifth place.

Would have been hard-pressed to hold Vettel back, but made it easy by allowing himself to be ambushed lateon.

But it's unfair to hold that against him too much on an otherwise strong weekend.

17 JULES BIANCHIMarussia-Ferrari MR-03


Rating: 7

A mistake in qualifying when he locked up at Turn 10 after braking 15 metres later than he had previouslyruined a lap that he reckoned would have been at least seven tenths faster.



That put him behind Chilton, but he made a good start to get ahead of his team-mate.

And that was about all that was possible, for the Saubers that finished ahead were slightly quicker.

Qualifying mistake was a negative, but the race drive was excellent.

4 MAX CHILTONMarussia-Ferrari MR-03

Start: 17thFinish: 19thStrategy: 3 stops (medium/medium/medium/hard)

Rating: 6

Chilton found pace coming more easily to him when he didn't try to force the issue, despite parking hisMarussia in the gravel trap a couple of times during practice.

In qualifying, he strung together a good lap to beat Bianchi by six tenths but a poor start made life difficult.

The 40.691s gap to his team-mate was partly a result of switching to a three-stopper, itself a consequence ofgetting stuck behind Kobayashi in the first stint.

Good qualifying, OK race.

9 MARCUS ERICSSONCaterham-Renault CT05




Rating: 5

Outqualified Kobayashi for the first time, and although the Japanese was struggling for grip, that was a goodachievement for the rookie in equal machinery.

Was lined up behind Kobayashi on the first lap of the race when he was hit by Maldonado, which dropped himto last.

The stewards took a dim view of Maldonado's over-ambitious move, hitting him with a five-second penalty.

From there, Ericsson battled understeer in the quick stuff and oversteer in the slow stuff on his way to last.Respectable enough.

10 KAMUI KOBAYASHICaterham-Renault CT05

Start: 20thFinish: DNFStrategy: retired (medium/medium/retired)

Rating: 5

Kobayashi had a troubled weekend, struggling throughout for grip.

After keeping Chilton's faster Marussia behind him during the first stint, eventually retired with a brakeproblem after showing some decent pace at times during the race.

Traffic did hinder him a little in qualifying, although to his credit he didn't over-egg that excuse, but balanceproblems made it difficult.

A hard weekend but deserves credit for sticking at it.



How Hamilton found the decisive six tenthsNico Rosberg missed out on victory in the Spanish GP by just two thirds of a second. EDD STRAW explainsexactly how such a tiny margin came to decide not just a grand prix, but the world championship lead

Six tenths of a second. It's a long time in motorsport, but think about how long it really is. This was the margin- 0.636 seconds to be precise - that separated Lewis Hamilton from Nico Rosberg at the end of the SpanishGrand Prix. Next to nothing.

Those two thirds of a second mean that Rosberg no longer leads the world championship, with the pendulumswinging ominously towards Hamilton thanks to four consecutive wins. It means the world to Hamilton, or atleast it will if he's still ahead after 14 more races.

But as a measurement of time to human perception, it's not much more than the blink of an eye. So where didthose six tenths come from?

This was another weekend when the other 20 cars faded into the background. They were once again theB-feature but, to the credit of Hamilton and Rosberg, even with just the two Silver Arrows on track this grandprix would have held the attention.

It was an old-school strategic battle that tested the two drivers to their limits in ways not obvious to the nakedeye. It wasn't the wheel-to-wheel thrill ride provided by the pair in Bahrain, but it was a different kind ofspectacle.

Bahrain was the big-budget action blockbuster, Spain the immersive psychological thriller. Less popularappeal, certainly, but one that delighted the connoisseur all the more for its relative rarity in this era of F1.

AUTOSPORT+ feature: How Hamilton found the decisive six tenths 35


The first act, on Friday, gave us a hint of what was to come. While Hamilton's advantage on the timesheetswas just over 0.4s, he had an even bigger margin over Rosberg on long-run pace. Crunch the numbers andthere was that fraction again: six tenths per lap.

Over a race distance, that would add up to a lead of 40 seconds, so clearly something changed overnight.

There were reasons for Rosberg struggling relative to Hamilton. On Friday morning an ERS problem hadrestricted him to nine laps, and the car was not at all to his liking come the afternoon session. But Rosbergturned the tables.

"I wasn't feeling comfortable and yes, in the morning I missed out on one run, which just knocks me back abit," said Rosberg on Saturday. "There was a little bit of catching up to do from then on because I wasn't ableto get the car right by the end of Friday."

In 24 hours, Hamilton had gone from dead cert for pole position, fastest lap and the world championship toplaying catch-up. His car was not faster in qualifying and Rosberg had the edge through Q1 and Q2, butHamilton dug deep, hung it all out and pocketed pole. You could argue that his quietly spectacular lap, 0.168sfaster than Rosberg's, was where those magic six tenths really came from. After all, once he had the lead atthe start, the race was in his control.

But was it really a virtuoso qualifying performance that earned Hamilton that cushion? Perhaps it was reallyRosberg's disappointing start. After all, with a 730-metre blast to the apex of Turn 1 (the longest on thecalendar), the German had every chance of seizing the initiative on the first lap. He reckoned he had the edgeon pace, so once up front the race would be his.

Unfortunately, getting a good start in an F1 car is not as easy as some would have you believe. Relying on amultitude of factors - the quality of the practice start, the right clutch settings, tyre temperature, the preciseoperation of the clutch paddles - there's a lot to get right and wrong. Rosberg has been getting more wrong oflate, while Hamilton has been on the money. The clutch operation appears to be the problem.



"The start unfortunately was poor," said Rosberg. "It's a bit of a weakness that we have at the moment, justinconsistent, and now I've had a couple of bad starts in a row that's costly. Always losing at the start, that's notgood. We need to work on that."

On the plus side he was still second. Just as in Bahrain, whichever driver was behind was always likely toswitch to the alternative strategy. Hamilton stuck with the orthodox medium/medium/hard strategy andRosberg, knowing he would switch to hards, sat two seconds back from his team-mate in the hope that hisfirst stint would be better.

Sure enough, Rosberg's confidence in his car set-up was well placed. He and his crew knew that there was away to seize back all the ground he had lost, plus the crucial six tenths advantage.

Just as in Bahrain, his tyres held up slightly better in the first stint. He ran three laps longer than Hamilton tooffset his strategy and hopefully gain an advantage later on. And this throws up some more numbers.Rosberg was 1.635s behind Hamilton when the leader pitted.

Once the pitstop cycle was complete, he was 3.757s behind. In the context of the six tenths, that's a hugeamount of time. It was a reasonable trade-off, and that was mitigated by the fact that Hamilton lost a secondor so with a slow stop (although only seven tenths in the pitlane as a whole).

This was the key stint of the race. Rosberg needed to get himself to within two seconds of Hamilton, whichwould open up the possibility of stopping a lap early and undercutting him. Hamilton simply needed to keepRosberg around four seconds back.

It was a tense stint as the gap ebbed and flowed. But the net result was that Hamilton managed to deliver thegoods. At the start of the 42nd lap, on which he dived into the pits for a set of the slower hard-compoundPirellis, Hamilton's advantage was 3.898s.

That's a net gain of 0.141s over 20 of the most-tense laps of the season. Doesn't sound like much, but in thechase for those crucial six tenths every little helps.

Rosberg seemed destined to pit on the following lap, but in fact he stayed out a lap beyond that. It wasperhaps a move borne of conservatism but all it did was allow Hamilton to pick up a little more time on hisfresh rubber. When Rosberg did pit, it was inevitable that he would lose the lead, even though he was stoppedfor 1.3s less than Hamilton.

That time might have come in handy for Rosberg in the chase for the magical six tenths had he been a bitcloser, but by now it was clear that gaining track position strategically was an impossibility. He needed to dowhat he had failed to do in Bahrain; overtake Hamilton.

The equation was simple. With 20 laps to go, Rosberg trailed Hamilton by 4.856s. He had the faster mediumtyres on, which gave him an advantage, and his rubber was also two laps fresher. The chase was on.



Lap 46 +4.856sLap 47 +4.658sLap 48 +3.682sLap 49 +3.716sLap 50 +3.149sLap 51 +2.359sLap 52 +2.067sLap 53 +2.796sLap 54 +2.773sLap 55 +2.628sLap 56 +2.196sLap 57 +1.871sLap 58 +1.460sLap 59 +0.984s

With seven laps remaining, Rosberg crossed the line just within the one-second margin he needed to get usehis DRS. But Hamilton responded brilliantly and picked up the pace for a few laps.

Lap 60 +1.322sLap 61 +1.264sLap 62 +1.102sLap 63 +0.940s

By doing so, he delayed the endgame by four laps. Now things were getting serious. Hamilton, whocomplained of front-tyre graining and understeer during the final stint, locked up at the end of the back straighton lap 64 with Rosberg now right behind him.

Rosberg pushed as hard as he could, having his own lock-up at the end of the back straight on the last lap, apoint where he said after the race he could have attempted a "kamikaze move", but even with the DRS hecouldn't mount a credible attack. Hamilton weaved his way across the line in jubilation. The timing screenupdated the gap: 0.636s.

Hamilton had absorbed the pressure brilliantly. Just as in Bahrain, he had been a little behind in terms ofpace, but he'd turned that into victory. In Bahrain, it was with some superb, and sometimes forceful,defending. Here, it was with a combination of stunning qualifying speed and mental fortitude under pressure,with only the occasional chippy radio message suggesting he was feeling anything.

He had struggled for car balance during the race and wanted the front wing eased back for the final stint. Butwith rubber debris also being cleared, Mercedes had to take a punt on how much to ease it off. Again, it'sabout fine margins, for Hamilton did struggle in the final stint with that lack of front-end grip, but he still had thecar under him to win.

"I wasn't fast enough really today," he admitted after the race. "Nico was quicker.



"Those last laps, there was a huge amount of pressure and he was very, very close to taking it. I don't likethat, being in that position. I like to say it was no problem and under control - but it wasn't!"

Now, remember the decision to run two laps longer at the end of the second stint, which cost Rosberg a littletime to Hamilton? Well, in the context of what Rosberg said after the race, specifically that with "one more lapI could have given it a good go", you could argue that this was where that sixth tenths margin was reallyestablished by Hamilton.

But realistically, could Rosberg really be expected to pull off a pass on his team-mate with an extra lap oreven two? Probably not, although Hamilton would certainly have been forced to defend.

So how do we account for those six tenths and balance the books? Here are the ingredients: aFriday-morning ERS problem, a change in track conditions, one car improving on Saturday and one gettingworse, a virtuoso qualifying lap, a poor start, running one lap longer in the second stint, a couple of slowpitstops, and 66 laps.

Those elements, plus thousands more, all played their part in what added up to a marginal win for Hamilton.He was the one who negotiated all the pitfalls and kept Rosberg at arm's length when required, and thereward was arguably an even better victory than the one in Bahrain.

Was there ever a better illustration of how infinitesimal the margins in grand prix racing can be? Perhaps not,given that if you looked at what might be called 'Class B', there was a whole other race going on populated by20 other cars that Hamilton and Rosberg only encountered while lapping.

Daniel Ricciardo finished a massive 49 seconds behind this victory battle, albeit after losing time in the firststint bottled up behind the Williams of Valtteri Bottas. At a track where even the Mercedes drivers suggestedthe gap might be reduced, this was a stunning demonstration of the supremacy of the Silver Arrows.

Only six cars finished on the lead lap, the others being Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull, which surged throughfrom 15th on the grid to fourth after committing early to a three-stop strategy, and Fernando Alonso's Ferrari.

But this race was really all about the two Mercedes. After the race, Rosberg made very clear where hebelieves Hamilton found that 0.636s.

"The race was really lost in qualifying and at the start," he said. "Those were the two opportunities I had.Qualifying was very, very close and I even had a bit of a problem which we found in hindsight where I was alittle bit down on power on the straight. But the difference was not enough to get pole.

"Then I just had a poor start, so those were the two shots that I had at it and it didn't work out. In the race, Inearly got another opportunity at the very end, but again just not enough. One more lap and I could havegiven it a go.



"But I would have done the same again at the start of the weekend. Of course, I also missed FP1, which didn'thelp either.

"Many small things add up, and there are only very small gaps. So next time..."



Jaime Alguersuari's new life after F1Jaime Alguersuari made an abrupt exit from F1 - and racing - after losing his Toro Rosso drive at the end of2011. Now he's back in the public eye for the inaugural Formula E season and, as he tells MATT BEER, he'sextremely determined

"I'm not going to lie, I don't feel I have a lot to show. I think I showed enough of what I could do in Formula 1."

Has motorsport missed Jaime Alguersuari since he was jettisoned from Formula 1 at the end of 2011?Probably not as much as it should've done. Any sympathy at the abrupt Toro Rosso slate-wiping thatswapped Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi for Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne dissipated as the newrecruits proved their worth.

And Alguersuari had been given 46 grands prix - which the likes of Tonio Liuzzi, Scott Speed and SebastienBourdais, the four-time Champ Car champion kicked out to make way for the young Spaniard, might considergenerous.

That's the blunt interpretation of Alguersuari's career. But you could also make a case for him being the mostunfairly disregarded of the jilted Red Bull proteges.

He still holds the record for being the youngest man to start a grand prix, aged just 19 years, four months andthree days when he lined up on the Hungaroring grid in the ex-Bourdais Toro Rosso in July 2009. And he wasone of the least well-prepared in history, without a single proper test under his belt when Red Bull promotedhim.

The theory was that amid the then-new testing ban, he could do his learning in-field. Cue vocal scepticismfrom drivers, pundits and ex-champions, a reaction that perhaps coloured views of his F1 career.

AUTOSPORT+ feature: Jaime Alguersuari's new life after F1 41


If the timing of Alguersuari's F1 move was debatable, that he deserved a shot at the world championship atsome stage was less contentious. His 2008 British Formula 3 title was earned with a last-gasp defeat of hisCarlin team-mates, future Porsche LMP1 driver Brendon Hartley and McLaren F1 tester Oliver Turvey. Andfourth and fifth in the points behind that trio were current F1 drivers Sergio Perez and Marcus Ericsson.

Aged 21 years and eight months when he made his last F1 appearance, Alguersuari doesn't quite have therecord for F1's youngest exit, though aside from Esteban Tuero, every other driver who beats him on thatunhappy list owes their stat to a tragic early death.

The manner of Alguersuari's departure from F1 clearly still stings - he recalls the date of the fateful phone call(December 16, 2011) without a moment's hesitation, and mitigating factors are listed with defensive urgency:"It was the second season of that car being built in Italy, the team was growing up and it's a very differentteam now.

"I scored more points than my team-mate. I did great races with the material we had. I knew what we could dowith that car and I knew what they were asking for was not possible."

And yet you completely believe him when he adds "it's the past, I've moved forward" and dismisses anythought of Formula E being a route back to F1.

Yes, he feels F1 spurned him unfairly, it annoys him and he wants to defend his record. But he has a new lifenow, and the slightly evangelistic passion with which he speaks of Formula E underlines his belief in andcommitment to it.

This is not an interview where opinions have to be cajoled out, his responses full of quick-fire bulletpointstreams of unique FE selling points ("Zero emissions... races in cities... tyres you can use on your road car...completely electric...") like a man ready to preach to doubters, though he admits he's a recent convert himself.

"If I have to tell you the truth, four months ago I didn't see this championship in the way I'm looking at it now. Itcan only grow. Motorsport needs to get green. Maybe this is the future of life.

"I don't know if it's too early or too late to make a change, but this is something huge."

F1's environmental conversion hasn't captured the public's imagination so far, as the vehement scorn for thesounds of its eco-ish 2014 engines underlines. Formula E will be quieter still, and also breaks convention withits all-street calendar, all-weather tyres and mid-race car swaps.

But F1 2014's bad reception hasn't given Alguersuari any worries about how FE will be perceived, as he'ssure its lack of baggage means it will get a fair hearing.

"When we talk about Formula E, we need to understand that there is no aim of comparing to Formula 1. F1 isanother world; a different planet. That's why comparisons could be misunderstood.



"I'm so excited to be part of Formula E because it's new. We all know Formula 1 and so many of its positiveand negative aspects. Here we have a new championship. No one knows anything.

"It has huge potential to convince huge audiences all over the world as just racing in cities will help to geteveryone to understand the idea of zero emissions and electric racing."

An unconventional racing series will benefit from an unconventional ambassador, and Alguersuari has neverbeen conformist, as his sideline DJ career under the pseudonym Squire hinted in his F1 days.

He took an unusual approach to his post-F1 career too. The only thing he has raced in what will be an almostthree-year gap since his last grand prix is a kart, with the rest of his motorsport mileage coming from Pirellityre testing.

Racing anything anywhere just for the sake of it wasn't on his agenda, which is why he says he was verypicky about his choice of Formula E team too, committing to Virgin because of its pedigree for innovationacross multiple industries.

"For sure it's important to be active and important to race, but not at any cost. That's why for two years I wasjust testing with Pirelli.

"There was something going on, especially in Formula 1, but I didn't have the budget to get some deals doneand therefore I couldn't get the drive. But I had huge experience with developing the tyres and I'm very proudof that.

"I've learned a lot and kept myself active. I didn't race, but testing kept me alive.

"I turned down other things in GTs and other series because of external factors. I was the first one whowanted to go racing; but big opportunities like this are very few in professional racing."

He shrugs off any suggestion that such a long lay-off will leave him rusty, insisting that with Formula E sodifferent, recent seat time won't be as valuable as the bedrock of top-level knowledge he has from F1.

His career twists have left Alguersuari accustomed to the unexpected - which is ideal with so many unknownsin Formula E - and extremely determined. The Virgin FE seat has ignited his passion in a way it's doubtful areturn in an established series would have done.



He's been Jaime Alguersuari the F1 aspirant, the Red Bull protege and the F1 reject. Now all that matters isbeing Jaime Alguersuari Formula E champion, and he's convinced he's psychologically ready to achieve that.

"I never knew I was going into Formula 1 and I never knew I was about to go out of Formula 1 when theycalled me on December 16. I guess this is life. It works like that. You have to be prepared for each day and tounderstand both a good opportunity and very bad news.

"I grew up as a person because I think you always learn from every situation. It was a good way to [become]how I am as a person in all areas, not just as a driver.

"I don't feel like I'm an old man and I think I've learned a lot in my career. I'm ready to take part in thischampionship. I'm here to win because I won other championships in my past career. I really need this. Ireally want this."



How far ahead is Mercedes?AUTOSPORT's technical expert GARY ANDERSON analyses the performance of Mercedes and the chasingpack, and picks out one area where Lewis Hamilton has a clear advantage over Nico Rosberg

Heading into the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, the talk was all about Mercedes being reeled in by the rest.Instead it effortlessly bagged its fourth one-two in five races, which but for a split in a small rubber tubecovering a spark plug in Australia would have been its fifth.

Looking at those one-twos more closely, one of the reasons Lewis Hamilton has beaten Nico Rosberg on allfour occasions is revealed in the fuel-use graphic that appears during the race.

Hamilton seems to use less fuel than his team-mate, so how he can do that and still beat him is a bit of ahead-scratcher. It would be easy simply to say he's just faster, but there's more to it than that.

He appears to have learned a consistent way of driving and using less fuel while still doing the required laptime. That means he is able to start the race with less fuel.

Looking at the graphic, it appears to be an average of 3.5kg less fuel over the race distance. So on a pureweight-versus-laptime calculation, this is worth 0.1 seconds per lap. That's 6.6s over the Spanish GP. If bothdrivers and their respective cars have identical performance, that gives Hamilton an advantage of almostseven seconds over the race distance.

Mercedes is racking up the points, but its advantage is being amplified by the fact that everyone else isjostling for position behind. In Australia, it was the McLarens of Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button on the

AUTOSPORT+ feature: How far ahead is Mercedes? 45


podium; in Malaysia Sebastian Vettel; in Bahrain Sergio Perez and then Fernando Alonso in China.

With Daniel Ricciardo third in Spain, there is no clear rival chasing Mercedes down. Everyone in Brackley,Brixworth and Stuttgart must be rubbing their hands in glee at the situation.

Mercedes' overall performance has been very impressive. Using my performance statistics, which take thefastest lap set by each team on a grand prix weekend and convert it into a percentage of the outright fastest,this is how the teams average out over the first five races of 2014.

MercedesRed Bull +0.948%Ferrari +1.197%Williams +1.289%McLaren +1.623%Force India +1.779%Toro Rosso +2.085%Sauber +2.833%Lotus +2.906%Marussia +4.578%Caterham +5.287%

By way of comparison, this is how the teams stacked up over the 2013 season.

Red BullMercedes +0.070%Lotus +0.472%Ferrari +0.552%McLaren +1.102%Force India +1.190%Sauber +1.291%Toro Rosso +1.294%Williams +1.911%Caterham +3.762%Marussia +3.987%

If you look at the two sets of statistics and compare the relative performance, you could say Mercedes hasjust about stood still and that it's the others that have fallen away. Some of them dramatically.

One thing that confuses me a little about Mercedes' race performance in Barcelona is that this is the firstgrand prix of 2014 where they haven't had the fastest race lap.

Rosberg had the means, motive and opportunity. In the latter stages of the race he was chasing down histeam-mate. He was on the softer of the two tyres and he was reasonably low on fuel, so all the stars werealigned.



But it didn't happen and the honour went to Vettel on lap 55. Yes, his tyres were a little bit fresher thanRosberg's were on lap 51 when the Spanish GP runner-up set his personal best, but with the performancemargin that Mercedes had, it should have been enough for fastest lap.

Ricciardo in the other Red Bull started third and ended up third. He was around 49 seconds behind bothHamilton and Rosberg, and all three did two stops.

This is an average of a 0.74s per lap advantage for Mercedes, which is not far away from what it was inqualifying.

On the other hand, Vettel came from 15th on the grid, did a three-stop race and ended up 76 seconds behindthe leading two.

Take away 22 seconds for that extra stop and you get a 54s deficit, or an average of 0.82s per lap slower thanthe winner.

Any advantage he got from that extra set of tyres would have been negated by traffic, so why was he able toget the fastest lap in a car that on average was knocking on the door of being a second a lap slower than thewinning car?

Does this mean that Vettel has finally got his head around how to drive this year's car? He's a driver that reallydoes try to exploit a car's DNA - last year with the blown diffuser system he was without doubt the one thatexploited it the most.

When I go out on the circuit during practice sessions, I'm still seeing a car being driven to exploit the extrarear grip that last year's cars had when you got the throttle open.

Vettel has had a fairly troubled start to the season and not had the consistency of running that a driver needsin order to adapt his driving style. In contrast, Ricciardo had never really driven a car with a good blowndiffuser system and when I watch him on track he is very precise and consistent.

His Red Bull looks the class of the field, very stable, and as he builds up steering angle on corner entry he canjust lean on the car; you can see the car build up roll, but not break away.

The others, including the Mercedes, all look that bit more nervous and one end or the other will ultimately giveup.

Red Bull did enjoy a step in engine performance from Renault, but as engines are a lot less important inMonaco perhaps at last we will see the car's true performance.

As for the others, the statistics tell the whole story. Williams is the only team that has made any real progressand the rest have gone backwards relative to Mercedes.



Lotus was really off the pace at the start of the season, so that hurts its average, but even in China it was at+1.243 per cent and in Spain that increased to +2.027 per cent off Mercedes. I think this shows that gridposition can be confusing - in the end it is ultimate pace that's important.

I always used to look at the grid average being separated by 0.1s per position. In Barcelona, Button - who waseighth on the grid would have been roughly 0.8s off pole, but was actually 2.1s behind Hamilton. This is alifetime in F1.

As for Ferrari, which should be mixing it with the best for race wins, Barcelona was a reality check. New teamprincipal Marco Mattiacci probably thought that after Alonso's third place in China this F1 lark was easy. Whata difference a few weeks can make.

The team said after China that the result was a surprise, and the same will be said about sixth last weekend.

Looking at the car out on circuit, every corner of every lap is a new experience. It just doesn't look like it hasany consistency, and the rear end is critical.

This is a problem that needs to be addressed if they are ever to get the drivers confident enough to allowthem to push nearer the limit.

But Monaco in two weeks is a very different track. Rosberg won there last year, so will Mercedes dominateagain? With all that extra torque from this year's power unit, these cars will take a bit of driving there, but afterall, that's why these guys get paid the big bucks.

When we last had turbos, the Brabham-BMWs were reputed to have something like 1400bhp. Actually, theycouldn't measure it as the dyno would only run to 1000hp, but whatever they had, Piquet was able to leaveblack marks from the chicane all the way to Tabac.

It's going to be fun watching trackside. I wonder who can leave the longest black marks this time around?

If you have a question that you would like Gary Anderson to answer in his regular feature where hetakes reader questions ahead of a Grand Prix, Tweet using #askgaryF1 and he will choose a selectionto answer.



How Indy's road course gamble paid offSome felt the idea of racing Indycars on the Indianapolis road course was unwise, and that to do it in May wassacrilege. But, as MARK GLENDENNING explains, the debut event silenced the doubters

Last Friday afternoon in Indianapolis, it began to rain - and Twitter went briefly mad.

Qualifying for IndyCar's inaugural race on the IMS road course had just started, but if the burst offan-generated images that appeared on the track's official Twitter feed was any guide then the sportingspectacle had taken a back seat to a more tangible one: the huge rooster tails pluming out behind the cars asthey hammered down a soaked main straight.

The long history of the Indianapolis 500 is a source of immense pride in its home city, but that passion doesn'tnecessarily spill over to the rest of the IndyCar schedule.

For many, that single-mindedness has also created some pretty firm notions of what you can expect to seewhen you spend a day at the Brickyard, and the sight of cars racing in the rain is not on that list. At least, itwasn't until last week.

IndyCar and IMS came up with the idea of a race on the road course as a way to inject extra energy into thestart of the Month of May, but a secondary objective was to remind the fans living in IndyCar's heartland - theseries' corporate offices are directly across the road from the speedway that IndyCars do a lot more thanspend a couple of weeks turning left every year.

So while the rain was only a small part of the story of the weekend, and something that would barely haveregistered at all with regular fans of IndyCar, or Formula 1, or the British Touring Car Championship, or prettymuch any other series that uses road courses, it was a neat symbol of just how groundbreaking an IndyCar

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race on the Indy road course was for many of those in the stands.

"I got a lot of feedback about the rain on Friday," IMS president Doug Boles told AUTOSPORT. "People werevery surprised at how fast the cars ran in the rain, and how cool the rooster tails were.

"From my standpoint it would be great to have a full weekend where the weather was tremendous, but havingthat bit of rain on Friday, especially with this market where they're not used to cars doing anything in the rain,it helped to remind them that IndyCars can race in the wet."

That the crowd was excited by the prospect of standing on a hill for an hour getting soaked (Boles: "I wassurprised at how many of them stood there in the rain so that they didn't miss anything") encapsulates aweekend overwhelmingly pervaded with a sense of excitement and goodwill.

Boles said final crowd figures are still being tallied, but he claims that pre-weekend predictions of 40,000 overthe three days were comfortably exceeded.

Most of the main grandstand was closed, encouraging fans to make the most of the road course layout bysitting in stands at the first and last corners, and the spectator mounds and temporary stands within the infield.

The mounds in particular were visibly bustling on the first two days and jam-packed for the race. Indeed, themound at Turn 2/3 proved so popular that it's now being considered for use for the 500.

"That mound was designed specifically for the road course, and an unexpected consequence is that it couldbecome a really strong spectator point for the 500 as well," Boles said.

"But the thing that I heard the most from our fans was just how entertaining the race was, and how much fun itwas to see so many corners on the track. For a lot of people that came, it was their first road race. Some hadbeen here for F1, but very few had seen IndyCars race on a road course."

The feel-good vibes carried over into the paddock too, which marked a significant departure from thescepticism that surrounded the event when it was first announced. A small degree of the criticism was thestandard resistance that accompanies any sort of change, but Boles believes the success of the eventanswered its more strident doubters.

"The criticism from the hardcore race fan was whether we could make a proper road course, and I think wedid a pretty good job of that," he said.

"Then there is the traditionalist group which in some way I count myself as a member of that struggleswith the idea that we're running a race on the road course, and furthermore, that we're doing it in May.

"But every time I had the opportunity I'd explain to them the business reasons behind it, and that the purposeis to elevate the month of May, which is ultimately going to make the Indy 500 stronger.



"Even those folks that struggled with it and came out against it... I ran into a couple of them and they said,'You know what? The number of people here, and the energy level here... we get it now'.

"I'm sure we still have some folks that aren't on board yet, but I think for the most part we've let people knowthat we're going to protect the brand of the Indianapolis 500, and we think this is a great way to start themonth of May."

There were few complaints from the teams. Andretti Autosport's Michael Andretti believes the fans will be thefinal judge of the event's success, but said that it was an easy fit for teams like his.

"As a race track, they've done a great job," he said. "For me as an owner it's a good race to have it is verycost-effective for us to be here; it's our hometown race and it's quite easy. It's not a big deal to get the carsturned around for Indy 500 practice the next day. Logistics-wise, we like it."

And the layout, which was completely rebuilt from its previous F1 iteration, proved to be popular with thedrivers.

"For us it's been a real pleasure to be back at this place, starting the month a little bit earlier," said ScottDixon. "They did a fantastic job on the track: one, with the grip level, and two, with the long straights and bigbraking zones."

Rookie Mikhail Aleshin was equally enthusiastic. "I really like this track, it's amazing," he said. "Very smooth,very nice. Nice curving, nice configuration it's interesting. There are definitely good places to overtake."

And for a neutral observer? In the case of this writer, any claim to neutrality is not being entirely honest. I haddoubts about the series' motives for racing on the IMS road course, doubts about how good the track wouldbe; even doubts about the wisdom of calling it the 'Grand Prix of Indianapolis', considering the memories thatcombination of words could evoke for anyone who was there in 2005.

And I was swiftly proven wrong. The extent to which the event achieves its aim of boosting the Indy 500 willonly become apparent with time, but even without taking that into account, last weekend proved that the IMSroad course is a worthy addition to the IndyCar calendar in its own right.

The atmosphere was excellent, the racing spectacular, and the organisation flawless. IndyCar's not above theoccasional misstep, but along with IMS, it absolutely nailed this.



F1's GP promoters miss their chanceA meeting of Formula 1 race promoters in Spain was a golden opportunity to start tackling pressing issues likeoutrageous ticket prices, but the chance was missed, reveals DIETER RENCKEN

One of the features of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend was the number of race promoters swanning aboutthe place, with representatives from 17 of 2014's 19 grands prix present at the Catalunya circuit.

It seems Ronald J Walker, Australian Grand Prix promoter and long-standing Bernie Ecclestone-ite, called thefirst meeting of the Formula One Promoters' Association - an organisation founded two years ago whichwould, in the words of a disciple, "forever change F1's political landscape" - explaining the plethora ofpromoters mainly hanging about Red Bull's Energy Station.

If FOPA an acronym shared with the sport's photographic association wishes to impact on the landscapeit must surely do better, for despite agreement among its members not to talk to the media, more than a fewadmitted feeling underwhelmed after flying halfway across the world, for they had sight of the agenda onlyupon arrival.

To their dismay they discovered their most burning shared issue horrific race hosting fees charged by thecommercial rights holder, which in turn manifest themselves in outrageous ticket prices paid by fans, whetherin Montreal, Melbourne or Malaysia was, in the words of one delegate, "totally off-limits. We agreed todiscuss fees, but nobody had the balls to table it, and it was not on the agenda."

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Asked on Sunday's grid by television reporters what had been agreed, Ecclestone who, according to theofficial five-line post-meeting blurb, "attended the meeting in support of the promoters [ie his majorcustomers]" stated: "We agreed the date for the next meeting."

Retorted one attendee on Sunday: "That about sums it up, except we didn't even agree that, and, if we did, Ididn't hear it..."

The blurb states that the forum discussed "various aspects of Formula 1 for the benefit of all the fans who areconcerned about maintaining the unique feeling of Formula 1". Given that there is little chance of ticket pricesreducing in the near future, that's one unique aspect of the sport that will surely be maintained...

The mere fact that the promoters collectively failed to share with fans their primary customer base,remember any detail whatsoever surely proves the meeting was thick on air and thin on substance.

That said, one of the topics was the (lack of) noise produced by the current cars, a topic which was thrashedto death during the previous four races, with the jury still out on that one.

Other items on the agenda included plummeting TV and live audience ratings and ways to arrest thewholesale slides of both, and here's betting that if the sport reduced its ticket prices by 50 per cent it woulddouble attendances across the globe, even if the cars were dead quiet.

That said, one of the weekend's more humorous cures for the aural dilemma was a proposal to fit silencers toGP2 and GP3 cars to reduce the contrast in noise levels for punters not that it would solve the issue fortelevision viewers!

Also present was a delegation from Sochi, obviously anxious to share news with this column after it last weekcast doubts about the Russian GP in view of the ongoing Ukraine crisis.

Granted right-of-reply, they reinforced the thrust of AUTOSPORT's article, namely that it was likely that anydecision to cancel the race would fall at the very last minute. This writer suggested could be as late as SuzukaSunday, when the cars would leave Japan for Russia's race a week later on October 12.

Present in Spain were Alexander Saurin, vice-governor of Krasnodar (the Russian province in which Sochi issituated) and Sergey Vorobyev, deputy general manager OJSC 'Center Omega', ie the promoter, who grantedthis column an exclusive interview.

Richard Cregan, former Toyota F1 sporting director-turned Abu Dhabi promoter and now acting asinternational consultant to Sochi, joined us later.

The obvious opening discussion point is the current status of the event, and progress made towards hosting it.

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"Basically, I'm speaking about three diverse directions," said Saurin, confirming that the contract runs forseven years, with the race to be held annually until 2020.

"First, we are bound [by] the necessary legal documents, which confirm we are in good standing for the 2014Russian Grand Prix. We have the contracts; we have the mutual obligation with the Formula One Group."

The second leg is what he termed the "constructional readiness of the facility. The construction is basicallydone, according to the timescale. We understand that 60 days before the race the facility will be completed.So we estimate that the constructional readiness at the moment is about 90 per cent."

The final obligation is operational readiness, and Saurin confirmed that they were working with the structures"in charge of the Formula 1 race the Formula One Group, the FIA.

"Also, we see no operational risks regarding the hosting of our grand prix, specifically after the [Winter]Olympic experience. So when you're asking, 'Why do you consider the race will happen?' we have basicallythree grounds: legal, constructional and operational, and in every direction we're good."

This, though, overlooks the prevailing political situation, and he was quick to underscore that they are workingto the contract, with political issues being outside their remit.

"In terms of the contract, this does not have any force majeure implications on the grand prix, so we confirmthat from our side we'll fulfil all the necessary requirements: operational, sporting readiness, and safety. So weare sure the [race] will happen [from our perspective]."

Asked what he me

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