Red Bull's Mark Webber Takes Control at the Spanish Grand Prix

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Total views: 181 | Word Count: 797 | Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 | 112 comments

The Spanish Grand Prix, 2010 version, took place at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. This course is also home to much Formula 1 testing by teams.

The circuit length is 4.655 km and the race distance is 307.104 km. The Spanish GP is a 66-lap affair with a mixture of high and low-speed corners for drivers to negotiate.

Saturday's Qualifying session saw Mark Webber take the pole position, followed by his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel. Third place on the starting grid went to Britain's Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren-Mercedes. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari took the fourth position on the grid, followed by Jenson Button of Britain in fifth spot.

Fast in qualifying, Webber drove with confidence to start the Spanish Grand Prix. He made it to the first corner ahead of his teammate Vettel, and essentially never looked back.

Vettel, remaining in second spot, had to contend with Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in hot pursuit of him. All the while, Mark Webber was employing a strategy of steadily building his lead.

When it came time for pit stops and the attendant tire changes, positions changed. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton emerged in second place ahead of Sebastian Vettel. Fighting feverishly to maneuver himself back into second behind his teammate Webber, Vettel was unable to make up ground.

All the while, Ferrari's Alonso remained in fourth spot ahead of Michael Schumacher of Mercedes GP. Schumacher was battling hard to regain the form that saw him win so many World Championships. So far,in 2010,he has not made it to a podium position - maybe they should consider Spanish villa holidays for a rest!

Following behind Schumacher was last year's Drivers Champion Jenson Button of McLaren Mercedes. Felipe Massa of Ferrari held the seventh spot as the race progressed.

A lovely Sunday in Spain, it was now time for the proverbial lovely Sunday afternoon drive; Formula 1 style. Mark Webber's steely eyed textbook driving saw him receive no threats to his position. He steadily built up his lead and led from pole to finish, finally winning the race by 24 seconds.

It came down to a fight for the second and third spot on the podium. Sebastian Vettel could not hold his third place position after pitting for fresh tires. This was due to balance troubles, as well as brake issues. He fell to fourth spot behind Fernando Alonso who moved up to third.

On the races penultimate lap, disaster struck Lewis Hamilton. In second place, his left front tire punctured and sent him into the Turn Three wall. Subsequently, Ferrari's Alonso moved up to second, with Sebastian Vettel having the good fortune to move into third and a podium position.

Michael Schumacher ended up with his best showing of the 2010 F1 season so far, finishing fourth. He garnered 12 points for this showing and now has 22 points heading into this coming weekend's race.

Jenson Button finished the race in fifth spot and gained 10 points for his efforts. Felipe Massa and Adrian Sutil of Force India finished sixth and seventh respectively.

The final points positions went to Robert Kubica of Renault, Rubens Barrichello of Williams-Cosworth, and Jaime Alguersuari of STR-Ferrari. For 2010, the top ten finishers in a GP race earn points, whereas last year it was eight.

Along with Lewis Hamilton, there were a number of other race retirements in this year's Spanish Grand Prix. Vitantonio Liuzzi of Force India retired on lap 66 because of a power loss. Sebastien Buemi of STR-Ferrari left the race on lap 43 with hydraulics trouble.

Pedro de la Rosa of BMW Sauber retired on lap 18 with collision damage. Lotus's Heikki Kovalainen had gearbox software issues and never made it off the grid to start the F1 race.

It was also a miserable day for the HRT team. Their driver Karun Chandhok left the race on lap 28 with collision damage. There other driver Bruno Senna went out of the race on lap 1 due to an accident.

After Round Five of this young Formula 1 season, Jenson Button leads the Drivers Standings with 70 points. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari holds down second spot with 67 points. Sebastian Vettel of RBR-Renault is in third place with 60 points, but looking good for more points.

About the Author

Monaco Grand Prix tickets for next year are accessible at monacoproperty.net/grand_prix with photographs of Monaco harbour

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