Category: Motor Racing

Championship leader and home crowd favourite Lewis Hamilton achieved his 46th career pole position at the fast and challenging Silverstone circuit.

Nico Rosberg had to settle with second place after leading the way through the first two segments of qualifying, but Hamilton had the advantage thanks to his first runs in Q3, which proved enough to take pole by 0.113 seconds when neither improved later on.

Mercedes ended up with a clear seven-tenth gap to the rest of the field, as Williams got the better of Ferrari to be best-of-the-rest at Silverstone.

Williams locked out the second row of the grid, with Felipe Massa improving on his second Q3 run to edge out team-mate Valtteri Bottas by less than a tenth.

Kimi Raikkonen outqualified Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel for only the second time this season by setting the fifth quickest time.

Vettel dropped time in the final sector on his first Q3 run and was then held up in traffic on his final effort so was unable to improve.

Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat edged out the sister team of Toro Rosso as driven by Carlos Sainz Jr by just 0.013 seconds to take seventh.

As for team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, the honey badger wound up slowest of the top ten runners after losing his best lap in Q3 to a track-limits offence at Copse corner and a late improvement on his single new-tyre run by Nico Hulkenberg in the Force India.

The second revised VJM08 of Sergio Perez missed out on a chance to make the top ten shootout after running wide at Copse on his best lap.

Perez ended up in P11, just a few tenths clear of Romain Grosjean, until the Lotus driver had his best time deleted for a track limits offence.

Fortunately for Grosjean, his second best lap was still good enough for P12, ahead of a frustrated Max Verstappen.

The Toro Rosso rookie complained about a lack of rear grip throughout qualifying, which ended disappointingly after the STR10 showed strong form throughout free practice.

Verstappen was close to dropping out in Q1 after having his best time deleted for exceeding track limits at Copse, then struggled to P13 in Q2.

Pastor Maldonado was also penalised for exceeding track limits in Q1 and Q2 and wound up P14, fractionally slower than Verstappen but over three tenths clear of Marcus Ericsson.

Sauber team-mate Felipe Nasr, the McLaren-Hondas of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, and both Manor Marussias filled the bottom five places on the timesheet.

Both Nasr and Alonso agonisingly missed the Q2 cut by less than a tenth of a second, thanks to Maldonado having his best time scrubbed for running off the track at Copse.

So another front row grid slot for Mercedes and a popular qualifying result for the British crowd favourite Lewis Hamilton.

Can the reigning world champion score a win at his home race on Sunday? He looks at ease in the W06 Hybrid all season and race victory at Silverstone will certainly be a highlight.

Qualifying positions, Silverstone:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m32.248s
2    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m32.361s
3    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m33.085s
4    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m33.149s
5    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m33.379s
6    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m33.547s
7    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    1m33.636s
8    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m33.649s
9    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m33.673s
10    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m33.943s
11    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m34.268s
12    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    1m34.430s
13    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m34.502s
14    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    1m34.511s
15    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m34.868s
16    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m34.888s
17    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m34.959s
18    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m35.207s
19    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    1m37.364s
20    Roberto Merhi    Marussia-Ferrari    1m39.377s

Nico Rosberg reduced the points gap on his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to ten points with a commanding victory in the Austrian Grand Prix.

Rosberg took the advantage by making a great start and taking the lead at Turn 1 from Hamilton. Even with the worry about tyre vibrations in the final stages of the race, Rosberg had this covered and held on to take victory. His third this season.

Hamilton, who had five seconds added to his race time for crossing the white line at the pit lane exit, finished second with Felipe Massa scoring his first podium of the year in third for Williams after Sebastian Vettel was delayed at his pit-stop.

The safety car was called into action on the first lap when Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen made contact, sending both into the barriers and out of the race.

It looked like The Iceman had a big tank-slapper on the exit of Turn 2 and when the car snapped back to outside, Alonso had nowhere to go, vaulting the Ferrari as they came to rest against the outside barrier.

Both drivers walked away from the accident, with Alonso heading to the medical centre for a precautionary check before returning to the paddock.

With Alonso’s updated car out, the Austrian Grand Prix weekend then got worse for McLaren-Honda a few laps later when Jenson Button retired for the second race in succession.

In the battle for fifth, Valtteri Bottas had to pass Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg twice after losing out during the pit-stops.

Pastor Maldonado took his second successive points finish when snatched seventh from Max Verstappen on the penultimate lap.

Maldonado nearly lost control on the start/finish straight as Verstappen defended the inside line, but he got the position when the Toro Rosso locked up and went wide at Turn 1.

Carlos Sainz was running in the points early on as he banged wheels with Romain Grosjean before passing the Lotus to take ninth.

But he picked up a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane and then pulled into the pits to retire with a loss of power.

Grosjean’s race didn’t last much longer as he ran off track onto the grass before reporting a problem with the gearbox and retiring.

Sergio Perez recovered from a difficult qualifying to give Force India its first double-points finish since the season opener in Australia with ninth.

Daniel Ricciardo salvaged a point for Red Bull at its home race with 10th, passing Sauber’s Felipe Nasr in the closing stages.

Nasr crossed the line P11, with the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat, who like his team-mate Ricciardo had a grid penalty for an engine change, was classified P12.

Marcus Ericsson had a troubled race, first picking up a drive-through penalty for jumping the start and then losing around 15 seconds when he stopped on the start/finish straight and had to do a full system reset before getting going again.

Manor’s Roberto Merhi was the last of the finishers in P14, the best finish of his Formula 1 career, while his team-mate Will Stevens retired for the first time this season with a suspected oil leak.

Austrian Grand Prix race results, 71 laps:

1 Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1h30m16.930s
2 Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    +8.800s*
3 Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    +17.573s
4 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    +18.181s
5 Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    +53.604s
6 Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes +64.075s
7 Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    1 Lap
8 Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    1 Lap
9 Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1 Lap
10 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1 Lap
11 Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
12 Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault        1 Lap
13 Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    2 Laps
14 Roberto Merhi    Marussia-Ferrari    68    3 Laps
– Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    Retirement*
– Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    Retirement
– Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    Retirement
– Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    1    Retirement
– Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    Collision
– Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    Collision

*Hamilton had 5s added to his race time for crossing the white line at the pit exit. Sainz received a 5s time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. 

Fastest lap Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1m 11.235s (lap 35)

Drivers’ standings:

1 Lewis Hamilton 169
2 Nico Rosberg 159
3 Sebastian Vettel 120
4 Kimi Raikkonen 72
5 Valtteri Bottas 67
6 Felipe Massa 62
7 Daniel Ricciardo 36
8 Daniil Kyvat 19
9 Nico Hulkenberg 18
10 Roman Grosjean 17
11 Felipe Nasr 16
12 Sergio Perez 13
13 Pastor Maldonado 12
14 Max Verstappen 10
15 Carlos Sainz 9
16 Marcus Ericcson 5
17 Jenson Button 4
18 Fernando Alonso 0
19 Roberto Merhi 0
20 Will Stevens 0

Constructors’ standing:

1 Mercedes 328
2 Ferrari 192
3 Williams-Mercedes 129
4 Red Bull-Renault 55
5 Force India-Mercedes 31
6 Lotus-Mercedes 29
7 Sauber-Ferrari 21
8 Toro Rosso-Renault 19
9 McLaren-Honda 4
10 Marussia 0

Next race: British Grand Prix, Silverstone. July 3-5

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton achieved his 45th career pole position in Formula 1, as both Mercedes drivers went off during their final laps of qualifying.

The Canadian Grand Prix winner led the times after the first tuns in Q3 by two tenths of a second from his team-mate Nico Rosberg, but spun under braking for Turn 1 when attempting to secure the top spot.

Rosberg set a personal best time in the first sector, then the fastest time of all in the second sector, before he too went off. The Monaco Grand Prix winner had to settle with second place with his Silver Arrows stuck in the gravel at the final corner.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel improved on his final run in Q3, but this was good enough for only third position, 0.155 seconds slower than Rosberg’s earlier effort.

Last year’s Austrian Grand Prix pole star Felipe Massa was fourth fastest for Williams, while Le Mans 24 Hours winner Nico Hulkenberg produced a superb effort by splitting Massa from his Williams team-mate Valtteri Bottas by recording the fifth quickest time for Force India.

Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen shaded Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat by less than a tenth of a second to post the seventh fastest time, as behind him Sauber’s Felipe Nasr recorded his best qualifying result since the Chinese Grand Prux by going ninth.

Romain Grosjean’s Lotus failed to set a time in Q3, after a suspected brake by wire problem forced him back into the pits early on.

Team-mate Pastor Maldonado missed out on the top ten shootout by 0.187 seconds as track conditions improved in Q2, while Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber, the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz, and Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull qualified on the same tenth of a second in P12, P13 and P14 but some way adrift of their respective team-mates, who all made Q3.

Sainz complained of traffic on his fast lap, while Ricciardo briefly ran off the track at Turn 3 before failing to make the top ten shootout for the first time this season.

Fernando Alonso managed to push his McLaren-Honda through to Q2, but the MP4-30’s lack of grunt left him adrift of the rest in P15.

Due to the many power unit upgrades and penalities, Alonso will technically start the race from P40!

Improving track conditions throughout a Q1 that began damp meant laptimes tumbled as the session reached its climax, creating the potential for upsets.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was the highest-profile driver in this segment, The Iceman missing the Q2 cut by 0.359 seconds and winding up P18, much to his own surprise over team radio.

Force India’s Sergio Perez also missed out, just 0.014 seconds slower than Alonso’s McLaren, while Jenson Button had been fastest at one point, before slipping back to P17 at the end.

Like his McLaren team-mate, Button will have a massive grid penalty due to the many power unit changes. The 2009 world champion will start the Austrian Grand Prix in P42!

Roberto Merhi outqualified his team-mate Will Stevens, who went off early on in the wetter conditions, by more than 1.3 seconds as the Manor Marussias again qualified slowest of all twenty cars.

Both McLarens and both Red Bulls will be hit with grid penalties for unscheduled engine changes this weekend, so will drop to the back of the grid.

Qualifying positions, Austrian Grand Prix:

1 Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m08.455s
2 Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m08.655s
3 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m08.810s
4 Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m09.192s
5 Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m09.278s
6 Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m09.319s
7 Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m09.612s
8 Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m09.713s
9 Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    No time
10 Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    1m10.374s
11 Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m10.426s
12 Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m10.465s
13 Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m12.522s
14 Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m12.867s
15 Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    1m09.694s*
16 Roberto Merhi    Marussia-Ferrari    1m14.071s
17 Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    1m15.368s
18 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m10.482s*
19 Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m10.736s*
20 Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m12.632s*

*Kvyat, Ricciardo, Alonso and Button all have penalties

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton placed aside his disappointment from Monaco with a victory at the Canadian Grand Prix. His fourth win at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The Mercedes driver finished 2.2 seconds ahead of his team-mate Nico Rosberg at the end of 70 relatively-uneventful laps around Montreal, to extend the points gap to 17.

After cutting off Rosberg at the start from the 44th pole of his Formula 1 career, Hamilton comfortably led for the opening 29 laps, during which time he became Britain’s all-time lap leader, passing Nigel Mansell’s haul of 2089, before pitting.

Rosberg followed a lap later, and with both drivers on soft tyres after starting out on the super-soft Pirelli compound, it was Rosberg who managed to get his rubber up to temperature far quicker, closing to within a second at one point.

With Hamilton managing fuel and Rosberg brakes, it then became a question of who would manage best with their situation, and in the end despite being told to lift and coast at times, it was Hamilton who held on for the victory.

Valtteri Bottas finished third for Williams, the first time this season a driver outside of Mercedes and Ferrari had visited the podium, with the Finn aided by a spin from Kimi Raikkonen at the hairpin on lap 28.

Raikkonen had settled into his starting position of third through the opening stage of the race until his first stop after 26 laps, only to lose the back end of his Ferrari a lap and a half later. “That’s exactly the same as last year,” he complained. “The energy store kicked in.”

Williams and Bottas took full advantage as he emerged from his pit-stop ahead of Raikkonen, and from there the latter could do no better than fourth.

Star driver of the Canadian Grand Prix was Sebastian Vettel. Despite starting from P18 following problems and penalties, the Malaysian Grand Prix winner came through the field to take fifth. Just 4.9 seconds behind his team-mate.

Vettel swiftly made up five places in the opening laps, but then found himself stuck behind Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Massa and was called in for a surprise early pit-stops.

It was a tactical decision, but a problem with the left-rear wheel added a further delay to the stop, ensuring he returned to the track in last position.

Vettel attacked again, taking on another set of softs after 35 laps, and despite a moment with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg 10 laps later that led to the latter spinning through the chicane, the four-time champion made it into the top five.

Massa finished in sixth, followed by Pastor Maldonado in his Lotus. This was the best finish since the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hulkenberg was eighth, Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat ninth, with Romain Grosjean claiming the final point, despite having five seconds added to his time for cutting up Will Stevens at one point, suffering a puncture, with the Manor sustaining front-wing damage.

Sergio Perez was P11 in his Force India ahead of Carlos Sainz for Toro Rosso. Last year’s winner Daniel Ricciardo was a lowly P13 in his Red Bull.

As for McLaren-Honda, Fernando Alonso finally allowed his frustration with his car to come to the surface as after 24 laps he was involved in an exchange with engineer Tom Stallard.

Told to save fuel, a disgruntled Alonso said: “I don’t want to! I don’t want! Already I have big problems now. Driving with this, looking like an amateur. So I race and then I concentrate on fuel.”

Alonso ultimately retired with a loss of power from the Honda.

Team-mate Jenson Button’s terrible weekend also concluded with a retirement, having made little progress after missing qualifying, starting last and receiving a drive-through – all consequences of his final practice engine problems.

So car number 44, driven by Lewis Hamilton has won his fourth Canadian Grand Prix from pole number 44. Not the greatest race but a solid result for the reigning champion and Mercedes.

Canadian Grand Prix, race results after 70 laps:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1:31:53.145
2    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes       +2.285s
3    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes     +40.666s
4    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari      +45.625s
5    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari       +49.903s
6    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes       +56.381s
7    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes      +66.664s
8    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes      +1 lap
9    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault     +1 lap
10    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes      +1 lap
11    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes      +1 lap
12    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault        +1 lap
13    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault      +1 lap
14    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari       +1 lap
15    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault      +1 lap
16    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari       +2 laps
17    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari     +4 laps
–    Roberto Merhi    Marussia-Ferrari      DNF
–    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda     DNF
–    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda     DNF

Fastest lap: Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1m 16.987s (lap 42)

Drivers’ championship:

1    Lewis Hamilton    151
2    Nico Rosberg    134
3    Sebastian Vettel    108
4    Kimi Raikkonen    72
5    Valtteri Bottas    57
6    Felipe Massa    47
7    Daniel Ricciardo    35
8    Daniil Kvyat    19
9    Romain Grosjean    17
10    Felipe Nasr    16
11    Sergio Perez    11
12    Nico Hulkenberg    10
13    Carlos Sainz    9
14    Max Verstappen    6
15    Pastor Maldonado    6
16    Marcus Ericsson    5
17    Jenson Button    4
18    Fernando Alonso    0
19    Roberto Merhi    0
20    Will Stevens    0

Constructors’ championship:

1    Mercedes    285
2    Ferrari    180
3    Williams-Mercedes    104
4    Red Bull-Renault    54
5    Lotus-Mercedes    23
6    Sauber-Ferrari    21
7    Force India-Mercedes    21
8    Toro Rosso-Renault    15
9    McLaren-Honda    4
10    Marussia-Ferrari    0

Next race: Austrian Grand Prix, Red Bull Ring. June 19-21.

Championhip leader Lewis Hamilton achieved his 44th career pole position in Formula 1 – driving car number 44, recording his fourth P1 at the Circuit Gilles Villenuve.

Hamilton edged out his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg with a margin of three tenths, while Kimi Raikkonen had to settle with third position for Ferrari.

Rosberg described the conclusion to his qualifying session as “rubbish”, even though he was very competitive in Q1 and Q2.

The Silver Arrows duo were the only drivers to lap below one minute, 15 seconds around Montreal’s race track, and Hamilton’s one minute, 14.393 seconds lap on their first runs in Q3 stood as pole when neither he nor Rosberg improved on their second run.

With Vettel relegated to P16 due to a suspected MGU-H problem, Kimi Raikkonen was the sole Scuderia representative in the top ten shootout.

The 2007 world champion had a big moment exiting Turn 4 on his best lap but it was still reasonable to land third on the grid.

Fellow Finn Valtteri Bottas managed a big improvement on his final run to join The Iceman on row two for Williams and edge out the impressive Lotus pair of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg produced his best qualifying effort of the season to grab seventh, comfortably beating both Red Bulls and team-mate Sergio Perez, who rounded out the top ten.

Daniil Kvyat got the better of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo by less than a tenth to be best of the Red Bulls in eighth position.

Carlos Sainz Jr was highest placed of those to miss out in Q3 by just 0.036 seconds in a tight fight in Q2.

His Toro Rosso team-mate Max Verstappen was P12, but the 17-year-old will start last on account of a 15-place grid drop for a combination of driving standards and engine penalities.

Verstappen was just 0.017 seconds faster than Marcus Ericsson, who was P13 and well clear of Sauber team-mate Felipe Nasr.

Jenson Button’s engine problem in final practice forced him to skip qualifying, which meant only four cars were eliminated in Q1.

Vettel was not impressive to find out he was only P16. Swearing on the team radio. The Malaysian Grand Prix winner was over three tenths adrift of Alonso’s McLaren as he limped around significantly down on power.

Felipe Massa was the other shock loser in Q1, half a second further back.

The Williams driver complained of a lack of power from his Mercedes engine and he could do no better than P17.

The Manor Marussias were predictably the slowest of the cars that ran in qualifying.

Roberto Merhi was best of the two for the first time this season with a time just 0.024 seconds faster than team-mate Will Stevens.

Canadian Grand Prix, qualifying positions:

1 Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m14.393s
2 Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m14.702s
3 Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m15.014s
4 Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m15.102s
5 Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    1m15.194s
6 Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    1m15.329s
7 Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m15.614s
8 Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    1m16.079s
9 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m16.114s
10 Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m16.338s
11 Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m16.042s
12 Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m16.262s
13 Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m16.276s
14 Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m16.620s
15 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m17.344s
16 Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m17.886s
17 Roberto Merhi    Marussia-Ferrari    1m19.133s
18 Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    1m19.157s
19 Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m16.245s*
20 Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda     No time

*15-place grid penalty

A pit-stop error by Mercedes cost a guaranteed victory for Lewis Hamilton, which handed the Monaco Grand Prix to his team-mate Nico Rosberg.

For 64 of the 78 laps the race around the tight, twisty streets of the Principality, this was a high speed processional, with the defending champion Hamilton seemingly unruffled from the moment the five red lights disappeared to signal the start.

But then Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen misjudged a move and crashed into the rear-right wheel of the Lotus of Romain Grosjean at Sainte Devote, immediately turning the fortunes on the Grand Prix result.

Hamilton had a 21-second lead at the stage but Mercedes made an unnecessary strategy call in covering off rival Ferrari during this safety car period.

The championship leader was called into the pits to take on the super-soft compound tyres, yet as Hamilton emerged back on track, Rosberg and Ferrari’s Sebastien Vettel had passed him.

From a commanding position Mercedes have changed the outcome of the race and for Hamilton, this should have been the 37th win of his Formula 1 career.

Despite being on much faster tyre over the final eight laps after the withdrawal of the safety car, Hamilton was unable to find a way past Vettel, never mind catching Rosberg.

It was an astonishing end to an otherwise dull race, with the opening lap providing a frantic action.

Come the sweep through Mirabeau, double world champion Fernando Alonso was involved in a collision with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, sending the ‘Hulk’ into a barrier, resulting in the loss of his front wing.

The incident forced the race stewards into an immediate investigation, with the blame on Alonso. The McLaren driver was handed a five-second time penalty.

Such was Alonso’s pace, however, throughout the opening 30 laps that by the time he pitted to take on a set of soft tyres – switching from the opening stint super-softs – the additional penalty proved redundant.

Alonso, though, did not last too long after his pit stop, pulling his Honda-powered car off track at Sainte Devote with a gearbox issue caused by rising temperatures a day after an MGU-H problem brought an early end to his qualifying session.

Behind the leading trio Daniil Kvyat scored the highest finish of his career with fourth, followed by his Red Bull Racing team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

Kvyat was ordered to let Ricciardo through in the closing stages, but the Red Bulls swapped back on the final lap once it became clear that Ricciardo could not make any progress against Hamilton.

Force India’s Sergio Perez took seventh, the team’s best result of the season, with Jenson Button claiming McLaren’s first points this season with eighth.

Sauber’s Felipe Nasr and Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso completed the top ten.

This was a disappointing race for Williams. Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa – who suffered a lap-one puncture – were classified P14 and P15.

So a hat trick of victories for Nico Rosberg at Monte Carlo and yet the major talking point was the bad strategy call from Mercedes which cost Lewis Hamilton a certain win.

The team will learn from this but the championship leader will need to remain calm and collective. This is racing after all and as Murray Walker would often say: “Anything can happen in Formula 1 and it usually does.”

Monaco Grand Prix, race results after 78 laps:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes        1h49m18.420s
2    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    4.486s
3    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    6.053s
4    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault     11.965s
5    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault      13.608s
6    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari       14.345s
7    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes      15.013s
8   Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda     16.063s
9    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari     23.626s
10    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault     25.056s
11    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes     26.232s
12    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes     28.415s
13    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari     31.159s
14    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    45.789s
15    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1 Lap
16    Roberto Merhi    Marussia-Ferrari    2 Laps
17    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    2 Laps
– Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault  Collision
– Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    41    Gearbox
– Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    5    Brakes

Fastest lap: Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1m 18.063s (lap 74)

Drivers’ standings:

1    Lewis Hamilton    126
2    Nico Rosberg    116
3    Sebastian Vettel    98
4    Kimi Raikkonen    60
5    Valtteri Bottas    42
6    Felipe Massa    39
7    Daniel Ricciardo    35
8    Daniil Kvyat    17
9    Felipe Nasr    16
10    Romain Grosjean    16
11    Sergio Perez    11
12    Carlos Sainz    9
13    Nico Hulkenberg    6
14    Max Verstappen    6
15    Marcus Ericsson    5
16    Jenson Button    4
17    Fernando Alonso    0
18    Roberto Merhi    0
19    Will Stevens    0
20    Pastor Maldonado    0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    242
2    Ferrari    158
3    Williams-Mercedes    81
4    Red Bull-Renault    52
5    Sauber-Ferrari    21
6    Force India-Mercedes    17
7    Lotus-Mercedes    16
8    Toro Rosso-Renault    15
9    McLaren-Honda    4
10    Marussia-Ferrari    0

Next race: Canadian Grand Prix, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. June 5-7.

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton claimed his first pole position around the streets of the principality, beating his Mercedes team-mate to the top spot.

The Silver Arrows continue to have the pace advantage over their competitors and thus engaged in an exclusive battle for P1.

Hamilton trailed Nico Rosberg by nearly four tenths of a second after Q2, but reversed the positions by just over a tenth of a second after their first runs in the all-important top ten shootout.

The defending champion found even more lap time on his final run in Q3, while Rosberg abandoned his after locking up heavily at Sainte Devote.

That left Hamilton 0.342 seconds clear earning his 43th pole position in the sport and his first at Monaco.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was the only other driver to lap below one minute, 16 seconds as he secured third place, just under two tenths of a second ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, who also failed to improve on his second run in Q3.

Team-mate Daniil Kvyat did find time on his second run to take fifth, ahead of the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.

Force India’s Sergio Perez hustled the VJM08 to a superb seventh place, just ahead of Carlos Sainz, Pastor Maldonado and Max Verstappen, who all ended up on the same tenth in eighth, ninth and tenth.

Romain Grosjean failed to join his Lotus team-mate Maldonado in Q3, after locking up at the second part of the Swimming Pool on his quickest lap in Q2.

An expected five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change ahead of the event means Grosjean will start P16 in Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix.

McLaren-Honda was confident of getting both cars through to Q3 for the first time this season, but neither made the cut.

Fernando Alonso’s car suffered a suspected electrical problem before he could complete a flying lap in Q2, while team-mate Jenson Button was less than a tenth of a second away from making the top ten.

The 2009 race winner described the situation as “painful” when he learned of his fate, having had to slow for yellow flags – after Rosberg locked up and went off at Ste Devote – on his final flying lap.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg was lucky to get away with striking the wall at Mirabeau in Q1 and ended up P13, just under 0.2 seconds adrift of team-mate Perez.

Williams struggled badly in Monaco, with Felipe Massa winding up P14 while team-mate Valtteri Bottas ended up being the highest-profile casualty in Q1.

Bottas was more than six tenths of a second away from making the cut and wound up P17, between the Saubers of Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson.

The Manor/Marussias were over two seconds further back in filling the final row of the grid.

Will Stevens was three tenths quicker than team-mate Roberto Merhi through the first sector of their quickest laps, which proved crucial in the final reckoning.

So an important qualifying for Lewis Hamilton. Track position at Monaco is vital as overtaking is limited around the tight and twisty street circuit.

Nico Rosberg will need to be in a racy mood or have a great strategy to score that hat-trick of wins. Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix is going to be fascinating. Bring on the street fight.

Qualifying positions, Monaco Grand Prix:

1 Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m15.098s
2 Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m15.440s
3 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m15.849s
4 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull/Renault    1m16.041s
5 Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull/Renault    1m16.182s
6 Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m16.427s
7 Sergio Perez    Force India/Mercedes    1m16.808s
8 Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso/Renault    1m16.931s
9 Pastor Maldonado    Lotus/Mercedes    1m16.946s
10 Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso/Renault    1m16.957s
11 Jenson Button    McLaren/Honda    1m17.093s
12 Nico Hulkenberg    Force India/Mercedes    1m17.193s
13 Felipe Massa    Williams/Mercedes    1m17.278s
14 Fernando Alonso    McLaren/Honda    1m26.632s
15 Felipe Nasr    Sauber/Ferrari    1m18.101s
16 Romain Grosjean    Lotus/Mercedes    1m17.007s*
17 Valtteri Bottas    Williams/Mercedes    1m18.434s
18 Marcus Ericsson    Sauber/Ferrari    1m18.513s
19 Will Stevens    Marussia/Ferrari    1m20.655s
20 Roberto Merhi    Marussia/Ferrari    1m20.904s

*Five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change

Nico Rosberg answered his critics and responding back with victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Mercedes driver led away from pole and remained unthreatened during the Spanish Grand Prix.

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton recovered from a slow start and had to settle with second. At least he finished ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari thanks to a three-stop strategy.

By winning the race, Rosberg has reduced the gap to his team-mate to twenty points, with Vettel another 11 adrift.

This result showcase the sheer speed of the Mercedes W06 Hybrid as it remains the class of the field, especially aerodynamically which enhances the advantage.

After four exciting Grands Prix to start the season, the first European race will not go down as a thriller, with the track layout not helping in providing much overtaking.

That meant Rosberg, who had only led ten laps this season before arriving in Spain, was always going to be favourite for the win after taking pole position and the Mercedes driver duly controlled the race from the front.

Hamilton lost a track position to Vettel at the start and after struggling to find a way past, Mercedes called him in to the pits to try the undercut.

But a problem fitting the left-rear tyre lost Hamilton three seconds so when Vettel pitted the next lap, he easily came out in front of the reigning world champion.

When Hamilton was told by his race engineer that he had to pass Vettel on track, he responded: “I can assure you that’s pretty much impossible. Find another solution.”

When the Mercedes star pitted for the second time, taking on the hard tyres after two stints on the mediums, it became clear he was on a three-stop strategy.

In contrast, Vettel stayed out to suggest he was on a two-stopper. When the Ferrari driver pitted with 26 laps to go, he rejoined behind Hamilton, who was pushing hard to try to build a gap to enable him to pit and rejoin ahead of Vettel.

And it worked out, with the Silver Arrows exiting the pits after his third stop, and on fresher medium tyres, well clear of the Ferrari.

Hamilton traded fastest laps with Rosberg in the closing stages but the gap to his team-mate was too much to close down and had to settle with second to secure a 14th one-two as a pairing for Mercedes AMG Formula 1 team.

Valtteri Bottas finished fourth for Williams, ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo continued his solid run in the points this season with seventh place, albeit it a lap down.

At least the honey badger was ahead of Lotus’s Romain Grosjean, who scored points for the third successive race despite a gearbox problem and overshooting his pitbox and scattering his crew, who were unhurt.

Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz, Jr finished ninth, after banging wheels and passing Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat on the final lap. The Russian completed the points-finishers.

Max Verstappen was P11 in the other Toro Rosso, ahead of Sauber’s Felipe Nasr, while his team-mate Marcus Ericsson was two positions adrift in P14.

Both Toro Rossos swiftly fell back from their row-three qualifying positions.

Force India, which is expecting to have its updated ‘B-spec’ car in the Austrian Grand Prix, ended a difficult weekend with Sergio Perez P13 and Nico Hulkenberg P15 respectively.

McLaren-Honda’s wait for its first points of the season continues, with Jenson Button – making his one hundreth start for the team – P16 while his team-mate Fernando Alonso retired with brake problems after running in seventh on an alternative strategy.

There was a fright in the McLaren pit box as Alonso couldn’t slow his car down. Luckily, the front jack man jumped out of the way. Quick reaction to avoid serious injury.

Bad luck continued for the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix winner Pastor Maldonado, who ran as high as seventh. He retired having driven much of the race with a broken rear wing.

The Manor-run Marussias brought up the field, with Will Stevens three laps down in P17 and Roberto Merhi P18, a further lap behind.

So an important victory for Nico Rosberg in terms of the championship. Just twenty points the difference between the Silver Arrows. While Mercedes recorded their 24th consecutive finish on the podium which means 70 points advantage over rival Ferrari.

Spanish Grand Prix, 66 laps:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1h41m12.555s
2    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    17.551s
3    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    45.342s
4    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    59.217s
5    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m00.002s
6    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m21.314s
7    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1 Lap
8    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    1 Lap
9    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1 Lap
10    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    1 Lap
11    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    1 Lap
12    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
13    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1 Lap
14    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
15    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1 Lap
16    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1 Lap
17    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    3 Laps
18    Roberto Merhi    Marussia-Ferrari    4 Laps
–    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    Retirement
–    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    Brakes

Drivers’ standings:

1    Lewis Hamilton    111
2    Nico Rosberg    91
3    Sebastian Vettel    80
4    Kimi Raikkonen    52
5    Valtteri Bottas    42
6    Felipe Massa    39
7    Daniel Ricciardo    25
8    Romain Grosjean    16
9    Felipe Nasr    14
10    Carlos Sainz    8
11    Max Verstappen    6
12    Nico Hulkenberg    6
13    Sergio Perez    5
14    Marcus Ericsson    5
15    Daniil Kvyat    5
16    Fernando Alonso    0
17    Jenson Button    0
18    Roberto Merhi    0
19    Will Stevens    0
20    Pastor Maldonado    0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    202
2    Ferrari    132
3    Williams-Mercedes    81
4    Red Bull-Renault    30
5    Sauber-Ferrari    19
6    Lotus-Mercedes    16
7    Toro Rosso-Renault    14
8    Force India-Mercedes    11
9    McLaren-Honda    0
10    Marussia-Ferrari    0

Next race: Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo. May 21-24.

Nico Rosberg achieved his first pole position of the season, halting the run from his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Mercedes driver laid down the marker with a time of one minute, 24.681 seconds on his first Q3 run. That proved enough as Hamilton was unable to beat this on his second run.

In fact, the speed advantage from the Silver Arrows proved significant as Hamilton and Rosberg could afford to run the harder tyre compound and still outpace everyone else in Q1.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was best-of-the-rest and yet he was almost eight tenths adrift of Rosberg, while his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen used a new set of medium tyres to get through Q1 and paid the price.

The Iceman was four tenths slower on his sole Q3 run than he had been in Q2 and ended up seventh on the grid, behind the Williams of Valtteri Bottas and the Toro Rossos of Carlos Sainz Jr and Max Verstappen that have looked strong all weekend.

This was a fantastic achievement by Scuderia Toro Rosso, with both drivers recording a top six grid positions in their first appearance at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Felipe Massa ended up ninth fastest, over a second slower than his Williams team-mate Bottas.

The Brazilian split the Red Bulls, with Daniil Kvyat getting the better of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo by 0.141 seconds to qualify eighth.

This was a tough qualifying session for Lotus, as both drivers failed to make it through to Q3 by over half a second. Romain Grosjean will start P11 – complaining of a lack of front-end grip – while Pastor Maldonado is P12.

The McLarens made it through to Q2 for the first time this season, but lacked the speed to be top ten contenders.

Home crowd favourite Fernando Alonso was eleventh fastest on his first Q2 run on used medium tyres, but he failed to improve on new rubber on his second run and slipped down to P13, one position ahead of team-mate Jenson Button.

Felipe Nasr’s Sauber split the Honda-powered cars in Q1, but the Brazilian lost pace in Q2 and ended up P15.

His team-mate Marcus Ericsson joined the Force Indias and Manor Marussias in falling after the first segment of the qualifying session.

Ericsson found six tenths of a second on his final run in Q1, but it wasn’t enough for him to join team-mate Nasr in Q2.

Ericsson was almost half a second slower than Nasr – lapping 0.171 seconds shy of making the cut – just ahead of the struggling Force Indias of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez.

The Manor predictably brought up the rear of the grid, almost 2.8 seconds adrift of the next quickest car.

Will Stevens again had the better of team-mate Roberto Merhi, to the tune of eight tenths of a second.

Spanish Grand Prix, qualifying positions:

1 Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m24.681s
2 Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m24.948s
3 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m25.458s
4 Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m25.694s
5 Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m26.136s
6 Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m26.249s
7 Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m26.414s
8 Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    1m26.629s
9 Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m26.757s
10 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m26.770s
11 Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    1m27.375s
12 Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    1m27.450s
13 Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m27.760s
14 Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m27.854s
15 Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m28.005s
16 Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m28.112s
17 Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m28.365s
18 Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m28.442s
19 Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    1m31.200s
20 Roberto Merhi    Marussia-Ferrari    1m32.038s

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton scored his third victory in four races with a commanding drive in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver was always in control at the front and yet the battle behind was thrilling. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen came out on top to take his first podium of the season.

Nico Rosberg finished third, ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel. The latter experiencing a tricky race – running off track and damaging his front wing.

Hamilton made a clean start from pole position, with Vettel going defensive and successfully holding on to second. That backed Rosberg up, allowing Raikkonen to snatch third place.

However, Rosberg battled his way back past Raikkonen and then took advantage of Vettel running wide at Turn 1 to close and then pass at the same corner next time around.

Ferrari successfully used the undercut to jump Rosberg at the first round of pit-stops, but Vettel was then distracted by Hamilton exiting the pit lane and Rosberg took advantage – diving down the inside of Turn 1 to retake second place.

The Scuderia repeated the undercut trick at the second  round of pit-stops and yet again it worked, with Vettel jumping Rosberg. But another mistake by Vettel, this time running wide at the final corner, allowed Rosberg back through.

That error also caused front wing damage for the Malaysian Grand Prix winner and Sebastian was forced to pit for repairs.

Raikkonen then started catching Rosberg in the final stint of the race, as he was running the softer of the two compound tyres.

And The Iceman capitalised when Rosberg – who also had brake problems – ran wide at Turn 1 in the closing laps, allowing the Ferrari to grab second.

Vettel dropped to fifth with his extra pit-stop and could not get back past Bottas despite a long chase.

Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault power unit let go spectacularly out of the final corner of the last lap, but he managed to cross the finishing line to take sixth for Red Bull Racing.

Romain Grosjean scored points for the second successive race with seventh for Lotus, ahead of Sergio Perez.

The Force India driver recorded some points thanks to a two-stop strategy working well compared to the three-stopping rivals in the midfield.

Daniil Kvyat rescued some points with ninth in the Red Bull, having started in P17, with Felipe Massa completing the top ten and recovering well from a pit lane start after stalling on the grid.

The Williams driver ran eighth late on but his very long final stint on his two-stop strategy proved ambitious and his tyres faded.

Fernando Alonso equalled McLaren’s best finish of the season in P11, while his team-mate Jenson Button did not even make the start after a problem was detected with his energy recovery system.

Sauber’s Felipe Nasr was P12, one position ahead of Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg with Marcus Ericsson P13, having run in the points before losing at least twenty seconds during a pit-stop when his team struggled to fit the front-left tyre.

Pastor Maldonado was also in contention for points but he was delayed in the pits with smoke pouring from the front brakes of the Lotus and he ended up P15.

Manor got both cars to the finish for the second successive race, with Will Stevens P16 and Roberto Merhi P17.

But this was a disappointing race for Toro Rosso. Both   Carlos Sainz Jr and Max Verstappen were forced to retire from the Bahrain Grand Prix.

So an entertaining race in the twilight and yet the the champions reign supreme. This was Hamilton’s 36th career victory in Formula 1 and is now 27 points ahead of his championship rival and team-mate.

Mercedes extends their lead in the constructors’ standings over the Scuderia. Formula 1 will return in three weeks time and the start of the European leg in the fascinating season.

Bahrain Grand Prix, 57 laps:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1h35m05.809s
2    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    3.380s
3    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    6.033s
4    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes     42.957s
5    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    43.989s
6    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m01.751s
7    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    1m24.763s
8    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1 Lap
9    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    1 Lap
10    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1 Lap
11    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1 Lap
12    Felipe Nasr         Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
13    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1 Lap
14    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
15    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    1 Lap
16    Will Stevens    Manor-Ferrari    2 Laps
17    Roberto Merhi    Manor-Ferrari    3 Laps
–    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    Retirement
–    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    Retirement
–    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    Not started

Drivers’ standings:

1    Lewis Hamilton    93
2    Nico Rosberg    66
3    Sebastian Vettel    65
4    Kimi Raikkonen    42
5    Felipe Massa    31
6    Valtteri Bottas    30
7    Daniel Ricciardo    19
8    Felipe Nasr    14
9    Romain Grosjean    12
10    Nico Hulkenberg    6
11    Max Verstappen    6
12    Carlos Sainz    6
13    Sergio Perez    5
14    Marcus Ericsson    5
15    Daniil Kvyat    4
16    Fernando Alonso    0
17    Jenson Button    0
18    Roberto Merhi    0
19    Will Stevens    0
20    Pastor Maldonado    0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    159
2    Ferrari    107
3    Williams-Mercedes    61
4    Red Bull-Renault    23
5    Sauber-Ferrari    19
6    Lotus-Mercedes    12
7    Toro Rosso-Renault    12
8    Force India-Mercedes    11
9    McLaren-Honda    0
10    Manor-Ferrari    0

Next race: Spanish Grand Prix, Barcelona. May 8-10