Category: Motor Racing

Lewis Hamilton achieved his 29th career pole position in Formula 1 by beating championship leader Sebastian Vettel in an exciting qualifying battle at the Nürburgring.

As for his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, who had been the main Silver Arrows driver to start from pole position, the British Grand Prix winner did not even make into Q3 following a strategically error by the team.

In a close contest at the end of the top ten shootout, Hamilton produced a lap time of one minute, 29.398 seconds to beat Vettel’s Red Bull to pole by 0.103 seconds.

Hamilton had held the provisional top spot with a time of one minute, 29.540 seconds after the first qualifying and yet the triple champion was able to lap 0.039 seconds quicker before the 2008 world champion responded with an ever-fastest lap.

It was a shocked to see Nico Rosberg knocked out in Q2 to what appears to be a simple miscalculation by Mercedes. The team believed his early run was sufficient enough for second when it was set.

And yet in the final moments of Q2, his rivals were able to record quicker lap times. Jenson Button, Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg were the players that squeezed into the top ten, while Rosberg was pushed out.

The Monaco and British Grands Prix winner will start his ‘home’ race in eleventh position.

Mark Webber qualified his Red Bull in third, ahead of the Lotus pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.

As for Daniel Ricciardo, the Toro Rosso driver continued his impressive qualifying form with sixth. Team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne was only P16.

Ferrari opted out of the pole fight with Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso running the medium set of tyres in Q3 rather than the quicker softs. The Scuderia will line up on row four.

Both Button and Hulkenberg elated the same tactic by not setting a lap time in Q3. The McLaren driver will start in ninth ahead of his Sauber rival.

Neither Force India reached Q2, with Paul di Resta in P12 and Adrian Sutil a very disappointing P15 at his home race.

Sergio Perez looked in danger of getting knocked out in Q1 at one point, so his eventual P13 was not as bad as it might have been. The Mexican will share row seven with compatriot Esteban Gutierrez.

As for Williams, to have both drivers lining up on row nine is not the ideal result to celebrate their 600th Grand Prix. Williams joined Caterham and Marussia in the bottom six qualifiers.

So a great result for Lewis Hamilton but without that mistake from Mercedes, Nico Rosberg should have been on the front row alongside his team-mate. It’s going to be a fascinating race to see if the Silverstone winner can come through the field to win in front of the German fans.

Qualifying times from the Nürbrugring:

1.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes             1m29.398s
2.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault     1m29.501s
3.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault     1m29.608s
4.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault        1m29.892s
5.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault        1m29.959s
6.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m30.528s
7.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari              1m31.126s
8.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari              1m31.209s
9.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes     No time set
10.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari       No time set
11.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes              1m30.326s
12.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes  1m30.697s
13.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes      1m30.933s
14.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari        1m31.010s
15.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  1m31.010s
16.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m31.104s
17.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault      1m31.693s
18.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault      1m31.707s
19.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault      1m32.937s
20.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth     1m33.063s
21.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault      1m33.734s
22.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth     1m34.098s

107 per cent time: 1m36.885s

Nico Rosberg scored his third career Grand Prix victory in Formula 1, resisting the challenge from Mark Webber, to take the chequered flag at Silverstone.

The Mercedes driver benefitted from a non-finish from championship leader Sebastian Vettel in a race full of left-rear tyre blowouts.

Rosberg’s Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton was leading until he became the first man to suffer a tyre blow, with Vettel then controlling the British Grand Prix until his Red Bull lost drive in the closing stages.

That set up a thrilling finale as Vettel’s team-mate Webber, who had fallen to P15 on the opening lap, hunted down Rosberg, while Fernando Alonso and the recovering Hamilton charged past Kimi Raikkonen into third and fourth place.

Hamilton had established a two-second lead over Vettel, who jumped Rosberg off the line, by lap seven, when his left-rear tyre blew.

That was followed soon after by an identical failure for Felipe Massa. The Ferrari driver had thrust from P11 on the grid to fifth at the start and was pushing Adrian Sutil for third when his tyre gave well too.

When Jean-Eric Vergne’s left-rear tyre also exploded, the safety car came out for seven laps, with engineers urging their drivers to avoid the kerbs.

Vettel kept Rosberg behind him as the race restarted. Sutil ran third until leaving his second pit stop too late and being jumped by Raikkonen, Alonso and Webber.

The Australian was on a charge from 15th after a slow start and a first-corner brush with Romain Grosjean, and overtook Alonso going into the closing stages.

Just as the result seemed settled, Vettel ground to a halt with a loss of drive.

With the stranded Red Bull prompting a safety car, Rosberg dived in for a third tyre stop and rejoined still ahead of Raikkonen.

Webber and Alonso also went for tyres and dropped to fifth and eighth, elevating Sutil and Daniel Ricciardo to third and fourth.

Webber made great use of his fresh tyres to quickly pick off Ricciardo and Sutil, and then battle past Raikkonen.

By the final lap the Red Bull was within a second of Rosberg, who held on to win by seven tenths of a second.

Alonso also made rapid progress on his new set of Pirelli, dodging the McLaren of Sergio Perez as it became yet another tyre-blow victim, then fighting through to third.

The recovering Hamilton followed through, demoting Raikkonen – who had questioned the Lotus team’s decision not to pit under the late safety car – to fifth.

Massa climbed back to sixth after his puncture, with Sutil and Ricciardo pushed back to seventh and eighth ahead of Paul di Resta, who started from the back of the grid after his car was found underweight, and Nico Hulkenberg.

Jenson Button had been on course for points for McLaren until the final laps, when he was demoted down to P13.

So an eventful British Grand Prix, with the sudden tyre failures becoming the main talking point at Silverstone. In terms of the championship, the non-finish for Sebastian Vettel has made it exciting with Fernando Alonso now 21 points behind.

British Grand Prix race results, 52 laps:

1.  Rosberg        Mercedes                   1h32:59.456
2.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault           +0.765
3.  Alonso         Ferrari                    +7.124
4.  Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault              +7.756
5.  Hamilton       Mercedes                   +11.257
6.  Massa          Ferrari                    +14.573
7.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes       +16.335
8.  Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +16.543
9.  Di Resta       Force India-Mercedes       +17.943
10.  Hulkenberg     Sauber-Ferrari             +19.709
11.  Maldonado      Williams-Renault           +21.135
12.  Bottas         Williams-Renault           +25.094
13.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes           +25.900
14.  Gutierrez      Sauber-Ferrari             +26.200
15.  Pic            Caterham-Renault           +31.600
16.  Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth          +36.000
17.  Chilton        Marussia-Cosworth          +1:07.600
18.  van der Garde  Caterham-Renault           +1:07.700
19.  Grosjean       Lotus-Renault              +1 lap

Fastest lap: Webber, 1:33.401

Not classified/retirements:

Perez          McLaren-Mercedes             47 laps
Vettel         Red Bull-Renault             42 laps
Vergne         Toro Rosso-Ferrari           36 laps

World Championship standings, round 8:

Drivers:
1.  Vettel        132
2.  Alonso        111
3.  Raikkonen     100
4.  Hamilton       87
5.  Webber         87
6.  Rosberg        82
7.  Massa          57
8.  Di Resta       36
9.  Grosjean       26
10.  Button         25
11.  Sutil          23
12.  Vergne         13
13.  Perez          12
14.  Ricciardo      11
15.  Hulkenberg      6

Constructors:
1.  Red Bull-Renault          219
2.  Mercedes                  169
3.  Ferrari                   168
4.  Lotus-Renault             126
5.  Force India-Mercedes       59
6.  McLaren-Mercedes           37
7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         24
8.  Sauber-Ferrari              6

Next race: German Grand Prix, Nurburgring. July 5-7.

Lewis Hamilton achieved his 28th career pole position at his home race with a margin over his Mercedes team-mate of four tenths of a second.

The 2008 world champion overcame the challenge from Nico Rosberg to take the top spot at Silverstone, as the Silver Arrows once again made qualifying their own.

The first flying lap of one minute, 30.096 seconds set early in Q3 gave Hamilton the initial advantage by a tenth and a half.

Rosberg managed to beat that with a one minute, 30.059 seconds on his second run, but Hamilton was already responding with an ever quicker lap.

Hamilton came through in the final moments of Q3 with one minute, 29.607 seconds lap, taking pole position in front of his home crowd. This was his first at Silverstone since 2007.

Red Bull Racing was the only rival to Mercedes, but Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber had to be content with the second row. The pair were just only 0.009 seconds apart.

Paul di Resta also impressed with fifth for Force India. Two British drivers in the top six will give the home supporters to cheer.

His team-mate Adrian Sutil was up in seventh, behind the sensational Daniel Ricciardo, while second Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne was way back in P13.

Ferrari struggled badly with a lack of pace at Silverstone. Fernando Alonso was only tenth fastest, beaten by the Lotus pair as well as the others. Felipe Massa also failed to get of Q2 and will start in P12.

Despite predicting on Friday that Q3 would be impossible for McLaren, a mighty late-Q2 lap from Jenson Button almost got him into the top ten.

Unfortunately for the Woking-based team, Raikkonen squeezed ahead by 0.057 seconds, leaving Button P11. His team-mate Sergio Perez was fourth tenths and three positions further back.

One race on from his incredible Montreal qualifying result, it was back to reality for Valtteri Bottas. He was eliminated in Q1 and will start one place behind Williams team-mate Pastor Maldonado in P17.

Sauber’s year continued in the same disappointing form too, with Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez P15 and P18.

Max Chilton was troubled to end up slowest in his first Formula 1 qualifying session at home, especially with Marussia team-mate Jules Bianchi 1.7 seconds faster.

But Chilton will not start last as Giedo van der Garde will drop back due to his penalty for tangling with Mark Webber in Montreal.

So a Silver Arrows front row at Silverstone with the crowd favourite on pole position. Can Lewis Hamilton achieve his first win of the year, in front of the passionate crowd? That would be a dream result for the 2008 world champion if he can repeat his impressive pace in the race.

Qualifying positions for the British Grand Prix:

1. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes             1m29.607s
2. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m30.059s
3. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m30.211s
4. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m30.220s
5. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m30.736s
6. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m30.757s
7. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m30.908s
8. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m30.955s
9. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m30.962s
10. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m30.979s
11. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m31.649s
12. Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m31.779s
13. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m31.785s
14. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes     1m32.082s
15. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari       1m32.211s
16. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m32.359s
17. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault     1m32.664s
18. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari       1m32.666s
19. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault     1m33.866s
20. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth    1m34.108s
21. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault     1m35.481s
22. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth    1m35.858s

107 per cent time: 1m37.364s

Sebastian Vettel scored his 29th Grand Prix victory in Formula 1 with a dominant performance at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

It was his first win in Canada and Red Bull Racing’s 37th victory in the sport.

Vettel’s latest triumph means he stretches the lead in the world championship to 36 points over Fernando Alonso.

The triple world champion was on a different zone to his rivals throughout the race.

He converted his pole position advantage to a two-second lead over Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes by the end of opening lap.

That lead built to twenty seconds before Vettel receiving team advice to cool his pace, though along the way he still had a brush with the Turn 4 wall and a trip across the grass at Turn 1.

Vettel’s victory was the Milton Keynes-based team’s first ever in Canada, and by the end of the race he had lapped all bar the top five.

Fernando Alonso clawed his way from sixth on the grid to second for Ferrari.

In the first half of the race he joined a battle for third with Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber, having passed qualifying star Valtteri Bottas early on.

The Williams had dropped from third to fifth behind the Mercedes and Red Bull off the line.

Rosberg was unable to keep his tyres alive as well as those pressuring him. After some very close calls, Webber got ahead on lap 30, with Alonso following on the next straight.

Webber then seemed able to keep Alonso at bay until Giedo van der Garde turned in on him at the hairpin while being lapped, taking a chunk from the Red Bull’s front wing.

The race stewards deemed Van der Garde was at fault for ignoring blue flag and so the Caterham driver was given a ten-second stop-go penalty.

With damage to his front wing, Webber’s pace slowed and that allowed Alonso to pass him before setting off after second-placed Hamilton.

Another long and close tussle ensued, and the pair spent much of lap 63 side by side before Alonso made it ahead.

Hamilton stayed within DRS range and tried to retaliate on the next lap, but the move failed and he had to settle for third ahead of Webber and Rosberg.

Jean-Eric Vergne drove a strong race to a career-best sixth for Toro Rosso, dropping away from the leading pack while keeping the rest of the field covered.

Paul di Resta converted P17 on the grid to seventh, not making a pitstop until lap 57.

His Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil survived a spin while trying to pass Bottas, a punt from Pastor Maldonado, and a penalty for ignoring blue flags to take tenth.

The Force Indias were split by the battling Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.

McLaren simply did not have the pace to score, as Sergio Perez and Jenson Button struggled to P11 and P12 respectively.

This race result ends McLaren’s run of 64 consecutive point-scoring finishes and on the day the team won its first race back in 1968.

Romain Grosjean also tried a one-stop but ultimately had to pit again, dropping him from potential points to P13.

After the highs of qualifying, the race was a different story for Bottas, as he slumped to P14. Williams have yet to score points this season.

So a fantastic result for Sebastian Vettel. His third win of the 2013 season and this victory extends his lead in the world championship.

The British Grand Prix follows and it will be fascinating to see anyone can halt the triple world champion’s progress to another Formula 1 title.

Canadian Grand Prix, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after 70 laps:

1.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault           1h32:09.143
2.  Alonso         Ferrari                    +14.408
3.  Hamilton       Mercedes                   +15.942
4.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault           +25.731
5.  Rosberg        Mercedes                   +1:09.725
6.  Vergne         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +1 lap
7.  Di Resta       Force India-Mercedes       +1 lap
8.  Massa          Ferrari                    +1 lap
9.  Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault              +1 lap
10.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes       +1 lap
11.  Perez          McLaren-Mercedes           +1 lap
12.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes           +1 lap
13.  Grosjean       Lotus-Renault              +1 lap
14.  Bottas         Williams-Renault           +1 lap
15.  Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +2 laps
16.  Maldonado      Williams-Renault           +2 laps
17.  Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth          +2 laps
18.  Pic            Caterham-Renault           +2 laps
19.  Chilton        Marussia-Cosworth          +3 laps
20.  Gutierrez      Sauber-Ferrari             +7 laps

Fastest lap: Webber 1:16.182

Not classified/retirements:

Hulkenberg     Sauber-Ferrari               46 laps
van der Garde  Caterham-Renault             44 laps

World Championship standings, round 7:

Drivers:
1.  Vettel        132
2.  Alonso         96
3.  Raikkonen      88
4.  Hamilton       77
5.  Webber         69
6.  Rosberg        57
7.  Massa          49
8.  Di Resta       34
9.  Grosjean       26
10.  Button         25
11.  Sutil          17
12.  Vergne         13
13.  Perez          12
14.  Ricciardo       7
15.  Hulkenberg      5

Constructors:
1.  Red Bull-Renault          201
2.  Ferrari                   145
3.  Mercedes                  134
4.  Lotus-Renault             114
5.  Force India-Mercedes       51
6.  McLaren-Mercedes           37
7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         20
8.  Sauber-Ferrari              5

Next race: British Grand Prix, Silverstone. June 28-30.

Sebastian Vettel achieved his 39th career pole position in Formula 1 by beating Lewis Hamilton at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in a wet qualifying session.

And yet the star of qualifying was Valtteri Bottas. The Finnish driver produced a fantastic job for Williams with third.

The amount of rain played a significant part throughout each segment, and in the all-important Q3, the best opportunity for pole position came in the opening moments before the track conditions deteriorated further.

Vettel judged it to perfection and recorded a time of one minute, 25.425 seconds to take the top spot for Red Bull Racing.

Despite that lap time from the world champion, it was still beatable with his rivals going quicker in the first two sectors.

But with the rain becoming heavier especially at the final sector, a lack of grip made it difficult for the others to beat Vettel’s pole time.

Hamilton tried his utmost to continue the Silver Arrows pole streak but fell 0.087 seconds short, sliding over the chicane on a dramatic final bid.

Bottas was the hero of qualifying. Williams had not made it into Q3 at all this season until Canada, where the Finnish rookie flew throughout the session.

He beat Nico Rosberg, dominant in qualifying for Mercedes for the last three races, to third place.

Friday practice pacesetter Fernando Alonso could only manage sixth for Ferrari, behind Mark Webber’s Red Bull.

Toro Rosso managed to get both cars into Q3 with Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo claiming seventh and tenth, split by Adrian Sutil’s Force India and Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus.

As for Felipe Massa, he will start down in P16 after spinning into the Turn 3 barriers in Q2 and causing a red flag.

That triggered a two-minute dash on an improving track to try to secure the final Q3 places.

It was Sutil and Ricciardo who succeeded, but it proved painful for McLaren, winner of the last three Canadian Grands Prix.

Jenson Button was outside the cut at the time and mistimed his attempt to find clear track position, not making it past the chequered flag in time.

That left him P14, while team-mate Sergio Perez’s failure to improve meant he was pushed back to P14, alongside the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg.

Pastor Maldonado’s Williams and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez were the other Q2 casualties.

While Paul di Resta and Romain Grosjean did not even get that far as both were eliminated when the rain intensified in the closing minutes of Q1.

Grosjean, who already faces a ten-place grid penalty for running into Ricciardo in Monaco, had made a mistake on an earlier run, while di Resta lost time in the garage with gearbox issues.

Charles Pic looked like he might just replicate Caterham team-mate Giedo van der Garde’s Q2 heroics from Monaco as he sat P11 near the end of Q1. But after a spin at Turn 6, he slipped down to P18.

So a fantastic result for Sebastian Vettel. His hat-trick of pole positions at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Can Red Bull Racing break that non-victory in North America on race day? We shall find out on Sunday in Montreal.

Qualifying positions at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve:

1. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m25.425s
2. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes             1m25.512s
3. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault     1m25.897s
4. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m26.008s
5. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m26.208s
6. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m26.504s
7. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m26.543s
8. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m27.348s
9. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari       1m29.435s
10. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m27.432s*
11. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m27.946s*
12. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes     1m29.761s
13. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m29.917s
14. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m30.068s
15. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari       1m30.315s
16. Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m30.354s
17. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m24.908s
18. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault     1m25.626s
20. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth    1m26.508s
21. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth    1m27.062s
22. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault     1m27.110s
22. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m25.716s**

107 per cent time: 1m28.080s

*Two place grid penalty for failing to leave the pits in the order they arrived at the pit exit during Q2.
**Ten-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Daniel Ricciardo.

Nico Rosberg scored his second career victory in Formula 1 by winning the glamorous Monaco Grand Prix in the Mercedes.

This was the team’s first win of the season thanks to Rosberg’s superb driving. He controlled the race from the front with ease despite two safety cars and a red flag.

Mercedes was unable to repeat its qualifying one-two, as Lewis Hamilton fell to fourth behind the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

Rosberg held his lead at the start and was able to maintain an advantage of around two seconds for the majority of the race, whether in tyre conservation mode or showing his true pace.

Hamilton lost ground when the safety car came out amid the first scheduled pitstops.

Felipe Massa repeated his qualifying crash at Sainte Devote, prompting the interruption and sending the Ferrari driver to hospital for checks.

As all those yet to pit immediately dived in to do so, Hamilton had to queue behind team-mate Rosberg and emerged behind the two Red Bulls.

Hamilton then spent the rest of the race mounting attacks on Webber for third, getting alongside through Rascasse at one point but never making it ahead.

Rosberg was unfazed by a mid-race stoppage, caused when contact between Max Chilton’s Marussia and Pastor Maldonado’s Williams sent the latter flying violently into the Tabac barriers.

Maldonado was unhurt in the incident, for which the race stewards punished Chilton with a drive-through penalty.

While Rosberg cruised to victory ahead of the Vettel, Webber and Hamilton train, which only spread out in the final moments, the rest of the pack engaged in some spectacular and wild racing.

Force India’s Adrian Sutil pulled off brave passes on Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso into Fairmont Hotel hairpin.

He then benefited when contact between Kimi Raikkonen and Sergio Perez at the chicane late on left the Lotus with a puncture and caused damage that would ultimately force Perez to park.

Button came through to sixth position, having earlier had a spat with his McLaren team-mate Perez when the Mexican cut the chicane to hold him off.

Perez was ordered to let Button past, but overtook him cleanly at the same place later on.

The Mexican then had another chicane incident with Fernando Alonso, and this time it was the Ferrari asked to move aside having cut the corner.

Raikkonen was next on Perez’s list, but on that occasion the chicane move ended in contact.

Alonso lost out to Button in the traffic jam behind Perez’s wounded car and finished in seventh position with Jean-Eric Vergne chased the Ferrari driver in eighth.

Paul di Resta converted P17 on the grid to ninth position, thanks to pitting as early as lap nine and making his tyres last to the end.

Raikkonen’s recovery drive ultimately earned him a championship point, as he overtook Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber on the final lap.

The other major incident came when Romain Grosjean ploughed into the back of Daniel Ricciardo at the chicane, causing the final safety car.

Jules Bianchi also crashed, slewing into the Sainte Devote barriers, having earlier sustained damage on debris from the Chilton/Maldonado crash.

So a fantastic weekend by Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes. Quick in practice, grabbed pole position in qualifying and now race victory. He matches his father Keke’s 30-year achievement by winning the legendary street circuit.

The result puts Vettel further ahead in the world championship chase with 107 points to Raikkonen’s 86. Alonso’s 78, Hamilton’s 62, Webber’s 57 and Rosberg’s 47. In the constructors’ stakes, Red Bull have 164 to Ferrari’s 123, Lotus’s 112 and Mercedes’ 109, with Force India on 44 from McLaren’s 37.

A slight cloud hangs over Mercedes’ triumph, however, as prior to the race Red Bull and Ferrari lodged a protest concerning a three-day Pirelli tyre test which Mercedes took part in following the Spanish Grand Prix.

Monaco Grand Prix, race result after 78 laps:

1.  Rosberg        Mercedes      2:17:52.056
2.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault    +3.888
3.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault   +6.314
4.  Hamilton       Mercedes       +13.894
5.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   +21.477
6.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes    +23.103
7.  Alonso         Ferrari     +26.734
8.  Vergne         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    +27.223
9.  Di Resta       Force India-Mercedes   +27.608
10.  Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault    +36.582
11.  Hulkenberg     Sauber-Ferrari    +42.572
12.  Bottas         Williams-Renault   +42.691
13.  Gutierrez      Sauber-Ferrari    +43.212
14.  Chilton        Marussia-Cosworth   +49.885
15.  Van der Garde  Caterham-Renault    +1:02.590

Not classified/retirement:

Perez          McLaren-Mercedes   72 laps
Grosjean       Lotus-Renault      63 laps
Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   61 laps
Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth    58 laps
Maldonado      Williams-Renault     44 laps
Massa          Ferrari      28 laps
Pic            Caterham-Renault    7 laps

World Championship standings, round 6:

Drivers:
1.  Vettel        107
2.  Raikkonen      86
3.  Alonso         78
4.  Hamilton       62
5.  Webber         57
6.  Rosberg        47
7.  Massa          45
8.  Di Resta       28
9.  Grosjean       26
10.  Button         25
11.  Sutil          16
12.  Perez          12
13.  Ricciardo       7
14.  Hulkenberg      5
15.  Vergne          5

Constructors:
1.  Red Bull-Renault          164
2.  Ferrari                   123
3.  Lotus-Renault             112
4.  Mercedes                  109
5.  Force India-Mercedes       44
6.  McLaren-Mercedes           37
7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         12
8.  Sauber-Ferrari              5

Next race: Canadian Grand Prix, Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal. June 7-9.

Nico Rosberg achieved his hat trick of pole positions in Formula 1 with a brilliant lap around the tight and twisty Monaco circuit.

The Mercedes driver fended off the challenges from Red Bull Racing to take the top spot, edging out his team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the process too.

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were initially first and second following the first Q3 runs, and with the rain appearing set to increase, it looked like Red Bull Racing might have the front row sealed.

But Mercedes found extra pace in the final moments of Q3, with Lewis Hamilton first leaping to the front with a time of one minute, 13.967 seconds, until Rosberg pipping him by 0.091 seconds with a pole position time of one minute, 13.876 seconds.

Vettel was 0.013 seconds down on Hamilton as he denied Webber third place. Kimi Raikkonen took fifth for Lotus, while Ferrari had a tough qualifying session.

Fernando Alonso could only manage sixth, while his team-mate Felipe Massa was unable to take part at all following his practice three crash. The team couldn’t repair the car in time for Q1.

McLaren’s Sergio Perez and Jenson Button were seventh and eighth, split by Adrian Sutil’s Force India.

Jean-Eric Vergne completed the top ten with a strong performance for Toro Rosso.

There was an element of lottery in getting into the top ten as Q2 came to a frenetic end, with everyone opted for slick tyres in the final four minutes and then trying to get the best out of an ever-quicker track.

Romain Grosjean was among those to lose out. His P13 was an anti-climax after a star Q1 performance, when he had shot to the front briefly on the single flying lap he had time for once Lotus had repaired his practice crash damage.

The other big story of Q2 was Giedo van der Garde’s effort. The Dutchman got Caterham through Q1 for the first time this season and was a top ten contender in Q2.

He eventually ended up P15, beating Q1 pacesetter Pastor Maldonado’s Williams. Maldonado was two positions behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Also out in Q2 were Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo, who share row six.

Paul di Resta was left enraged with Force India’s tactics as he missed the Q1 cut and ended up P17. Esteban Gutierrez was also knocked out and will start behind Charles Pic in P19.

Jules Bianchi will join Massa on the back row, having parked on his out-lap with a fire in his Marussia’s airbox.

So an exciting qualifying session. Mercedes have locked-out the front row yet again but with overtaking so damn difficult around Monaco, we could see the Silver Arrows taking the race victory.

Qualifying times from Monte Carlo:

1. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m13.876s
2. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes              1m13.967s
3. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m13.980s
4. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m14.181s
5. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m14.822s
6. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m14.824s
7. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes      1m15.138s
8. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes  1m15.383s
9. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m15.647s
10. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m15.703s
11. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari        1m18.331s
12. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m18.344s
13. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m18.603s
14. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault      1m19.077s
15. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault      1m19.408s
16. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m21.688s
17. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes     1m26.322s
18. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault      1m26.633s
19. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari        1m26.917s
20. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth     1m27.303s
21. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth     No time
22. Felipe Massa          Ferrari     No time

107 per cent time: 1m29.293s

Fernando Alonso sent his passionate fans into hysteria as the Ferrari driver charged from fifth on the grid to take his first victory at the Circuit de Catalunya since 2006.

Kimi Raikkonen emerged as Fernando’s main rival, while Sebastian Vettel and the front-row-starting Mercedes faded in the race.

Despite a three-place grid penalty for impeding in qualifying, Felipe Massa recovering from ninth to take the final podium spot.

In a race full of tyre conservation, Alonso’s approach was to go flat-out.

While Vettel split the Mercedes into Turn 1, Alonso accelerated around the outside of both Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton at Turn 3 to move into third.

Rosberg clung on at the front of the field through the first pitstops.

By the time they were done, Alonso was his main challenger, having pitted one lap ahead of Vettel and jumped the Red Bull.

Rosberg’s plunge down the race order began on lap 12, when Alonso passed him into Turn 1, with Vettel and Raikkonen further demoted him before that lap was completed.

Once in front, the home crowd favourite began to pull away.

Despite running longer, Vettel turned out to be on the same four-stop strategy as Alonso, but the championship leader was unable to match the Ferrari’s sheer pace.

Raikkonen, however, could pull off a three-stop strategy. The Finn lost time behind Vettel in the middle of the stint, and then raised his pace after overtaking the Red Bull on lap 33.

Lotus had a potential edge going into the closing stages of the Spanish Grand Prix, with Raikkonen a few seconds ahead of Alonso at a point when both had a single pit-stop left to go.

But on his fresher set of Pirellis, Alonso stormed up behind Raikkonen at a rate of two seconds per lap, breezed past the Lotus then vanished into the distance, swiftly building a 12-second advantage.

Raikkonen was left to fend off Massa, who had been rapid all race and got a green light from Ferrari to try to catch the Lotus. Tyre wear affected this charge and Felipe was forced to back off, so third was the result.

Vettel’s attempts to run longer on his set of tyres ultimately cost him so much pace that he fell behind the earlier-pitting Massa.

The defending world champion had to settle for fourth, followed by his Red Bull Racing team-mate Mark Webber.

As for Mercedes, Nico Rosberg finished sixth after running a three-stop strategy while his team-mate Lewis Hamilton dropped right down the order in a lapped P12. His

Force India’s Paul di Resta chased the pole sitter to the chequered flag.

McLaren ended up eighth and ninth after 66 laps around the Circuit de Catalunya.

Jenson Button had tumbled to P17 in the opening laps, but nursed his tyres through three stops and emerged ahead of his early-charging, but four-stopping, team-mate Sergio Perez.

Daniel Ricciardo fended off Esteban Gutierrez to give Scuderia Toro Rosso the final championship point.

It was still a breakthrough day for Gutierrez, as a long first stint meant Sauber’s rookie managed to lead a Formula 1 race for the first time.

Last year’s Spanish Grand Prix winner Pastor Maldonado struggled home in P14, recovering from a pitlane speeding penalty.

Romain Grosjean was an early retirement with a broken right-rear suspension on his Lotus.

Two pitlane incidents attracted the race stewards’ attention.

Caterham could face sanctions after Giedo van der Garde lost a wheel on his out-lap, while Nico Hulkenberg had an unsafe release penalty following a pitlane clash with Jean-Eric Vergne, prior to which both had been points contenders.

So a great result for Ferrari and Fernando Alonso. This was the Italian team’s 221st victory in the sport and the Spaniard’s 32nd. And yet the talk after the race was all about tyres.

The drivers are forced to race below the limit in order to conserve the tyres. The sport is going through a difficult balancing act between entertainment and sporting this season.

Have Pirelli gone too far in making the tyres not durable? That is the big debate at the moment and yet we don’t want to see dull, processional racing as seen in the last decade. Hopefully the tyres won’t play a major factor in the upcoming races. Monaco could be interesting though as it’s narrow and difficult to overtake.

Spanish Grand Prix race results, after 66 laps:

1.  Alonso         Ferrari    1h39:16.596s
2.  Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault  +9.338
3.  Massa          Ferrari        +26.049
4.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault    +38.273
5.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault    +47.963
6.  Rosberg        Mercedes        +1:08.020
7.  Di Resta       Force India-Mercedes     +1:08.988
8.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes      +1:19.506
9.  Perez          McLaren-Mercedes      +1:21.738
10.  Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   +1 lap
11.  Gutierrez      Sauber-Ferrari      +1 lap
12.  Hamilton       Mercedes     +1 lap
13.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes    +1 lap
14.  Maldonado      Williams-Renault      +1 lap
15.  Hulkenberg     Sauber-Ferrari     +1 lap
16.  Bottas         Williams-Renault    +1 lap
17.  Pic            Caterham-Renault    +1 lap
18.  Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth   +2 laps
19.  Chilton        Marussia-Cosworth   +2 laps

Not classified/retirement:

Vergne         Toro Rosso-Ferrari 14 laps
Van der Garde  Caterham-Renault   45 laps
Grosjean       Lotus-Renault    58 laps

World Championship standings, round 5:

Drivers:
1.  Vettel         89
2.  Raikkonen      85
3.  Alonso         72
4.  Hamilton       50
5.  Massa          45
6.  Webber         42
7.  Di Resta       26
8.  Grosjean       26
9.  Rosberg        22
10.  Button         17
11.  Perez          12
12.  Ricciardo       7
13.  Sutil           6
14.  Hulkenberg      5
15.  Vergne          1

Constructors:
1.  Red Bull-Renault          131
2.  Ferrari                   117
3.  Lotus-Renault             111
4.  Mercedes                   72
5.  Force India-Mercedes       32
6.  McLaren-Mercedes           29
7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari          8
8.  Sauber-Ferrari              5

Next race: Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo. May 23-26.

Nico Rosberg achieved his third pole position following a brilliant lap at the Circuit de Catalunya. His Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton lines up second after being quickest in Q1 and Q2.

This was Mercedes team’s third consecutive pole position despite showing little of their one-lap pace during the three practice sessions.

And yet come the qualifying hour, the speed of the Silver Arrows reveals the true performance against their rivals.

Rosberg repeated his Bahrain pole after producing two great laps in the top ten shootout.

His initial one minute, 20.8 seconds benchmark proved unbeatable, but the German was able to improve this with a time of one minute, 20.718 seconds to secure the front row spot.

Lewis Hamilton had to settle for second place, just 0.254 seconds adrift.

As for the Formula 1 championship leader Sebastian Vettel, the Red Bull driver will lines up third. Ahead of Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus and the home crowd favourite Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.

Alonso’s team-mate Felipe Massa mounted a strong challenge for pole position only to lose crucial time in the final sector and ended up in sixth position.

Unfortunately, the Brazilian was deemed to have impeded Mark Webber’s Red Bull in Q2 and will drop three places on the grid.

Hamilton had earlier starred in a thrilling end to Q2, throwing in a last-gasp lap that jumped him from a worrying P13 to a comfortable first, six tenths clear of the pack.

Sergio Perez also produced an eleventh-hour surge in Q2, getting up to seventh and then qualifying ninth in Q3. His McLaren team-mate Jenson Button was unable to match that. Was six tenths slower and will start in a disappointing P14.

Toro Rosso had looked promising in practice and both Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne had a realistic shot at Q3. Both were holding onto a top ten spot, before being narrowly squeezed out by others.

They will share row six, ahead of Adrian Sutil, who could not join team-mate Paul di Resta in the pole position shootout. The Scot took tenth place.

Going into the final seconds of Q2, both Saubers had made it into Q3. But in the subsequent flurry of improvements, Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez tumbled down to row eight.

The race stewards would later demote the Mexican further down the grid after blocking Kimi Raikkonen in Q1.

As for Williams, who started the race on pole and later won the Spanish Grand Prix last year. The new upgrades failed to improve the car’s overall speed meaning neither drivers got beyond Q1.

The 2012 winner, Pastor Maldonado will start the race in P18 (accused of blocking by Button) while team-mate Valtteri Bottas was just be one position ahead.

The back of the grid battle stepped up a gear with a very close tussle between Caterham and Marussia.

Giedo van der Garde finally emerged on top for Caterham, edging out Marussia’s Jules Bianchi by just 0.052 seconds.

Max Chilton and Charles Pic were a few tenths behind their respectable team-mates.

So a fantastic performance by Mercedes. But can the team win from the front? Tyre degradation will play a part in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix and yet if Mercedes can continue their impressive qualifying pace into the race, then we could see a Silver Arrows taking the chequered flag first.

Qualifying positions for the Spanish Grand Prix:

1. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m20.718s
2. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes              1m20.972s
3. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m21.054s
4. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m21.177s
5. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m21.218s
6. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m21.308s
7. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m21.570s
8. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes      1m22.069s
9. Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m21.219s*
10. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m22.233s
11. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m22.127s
12. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m22.166s
13. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes  1m22.346s
14. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.166s
15. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari        1m22.389s
16. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault      1m23.260s
17. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m23.318s
18. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault      1m24.661s
19. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari        1m22.793s*
20. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth     1m24.713s
21. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth     1m24.996s
22. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault      1m25.070s

107 per cent time: 1m27.448s

*Three-place grid penalty for impended

Sebastian Vettel achieved his 28th victory in Formula 1 with an impeccable performance in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The triple world champion pushed his Red Bull to the front of the pack following a spectacular early dicing with his rivals. After that, Sebastian just pulled away and earned his second win of 2013.

In a carbon copy of last year’s podium result, the Lotus pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean made it through the field to second and third, with the latter denying Paul di Resta a maiden podium with just six laps to the flag.

Vettel was in a hurry to hit the front from the off. The German forced polesitter Nico Rosberg to defend heavily off the line, and although Fernando Alonso managed to get his Ferrari between them around the outside, the triple world champion surged back into second with a bold move at Turn 5.

Vettel then pounced on Rosberg’s Mercedes into Turn 4 on the second lap, only to run wide. Next time around he made the move stick, and thereafter inched away towards an ever more certain victory.

Alonso was soon up to second but his DRS flap was jammed open. The Spaniard made an emergency pitstop to fix it, but the problem reoccurred. By lap nine, he was P19, had made two pitstops but without the use of DRS, it became a difficult race for the Chinese Grand Prix winner.

With Alonso out of contention, the best of the rest battle became a contest between di Resta and Raikkonen, both two-stopping compared to the front runners who made most three.

Di Resta looked to be best-placed until his final pitstop, when Raikkonen vaulted him having stopped sooner.

Force India remained on course for third for a while, but Grosjean was coming up fast. The three-stopping Frenchman saved his medium tyres for the final stint and was able to hunt down and pass the Scotsman, who had to settle for fourth position.

The rest of the top ten featured wild racing, with plenty of wheel-to-wheel action as different strategies unfolded and different cars found pace at various stages of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton was able to progress through the field despite a low-key start and in the end, took fifth for Mercedes.

Sergio Perez produced by far his most combative performance for McLaren yet. He was involved in a long duel with team-mate Jenson Button and the fading Rosberg, which featured contact between the pair and anxious radio messages on more than one occasion.

Despite losing a front wing endplate against his team-mate, Perez finished sixth, joining Hamilton in passing Mark Webber on the final lap.

Webber had been a podium threat for Red Bull, but in the end fell back on his final set of tyres.

Alonso fought through to eighth despite his lack of DRS, with Rosberg and Button forced to make four pitstops and ending up ninth and tenth.

Felipe Massa suffered two right rear punctures and was only P15. He had also made contact with Adrian Sutil on the opening lap, causing a puncture for the Force India driver, who made it back up to P13.

So a fantastic result for Sebastian Vettel. The German edges ahead of Sir Jackie Stewart record with 28 victories.

Vettel extends his points score to 77, ten points ahead of Raikkonen on 67, while Hamilton moves up to third on 50 from Alonso on 47. Webber is fifth on 32 from Massa on 30, Grosjean on 26, Di Resta on 20, Rosberg on 14 and Button on 13.

Red Bull have 109 points in the constructors’ championship, with Lotus moving to second on 93 from Ferrari on 77. Mercedes are still in play with 64, with Force India fifth on 26 and McLaren on 23.

Bahrain Grand Prix race results after 57 laps:

1.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault           1h36:00.498s
2.  Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault              +9.111s
3.  Grosjean       Lotus-Renault             +19.507s
4.  Di Resta       Force India-Mercedes      +21.727s
5.  Hamilton       Mercedes                  +35.230s
6.  Perez          McLaren-Mercedes          +35.998s
7.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault          +37.244s
8.  Alonso         Ferrari                   +37.574s
9.  Rosberg        Mercedes                  +41.126s
10.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes          +46.631s
11.  Maldonado      Williams-Renault        +1m06.450s
12.  Hulkenberg     Sauber-Ferrari          +1m12.933s
13.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes    +1m16.719s
14.  Bottas         Williams-Renault        +1m21.511s
15.  Massa          Ferrari                 +1m26.364s
16.  Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari        +1 lap
17.  Pic            Caterham-Renault          +1 lap
18.  Gutierrez      Sauber-Ferrari            +1 lap
19.  Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth         +1 lap
20.  Chilton        Marussia-Cosworth         +1 lap
21.  van der Garde  Caterham-Renault         +2 laps

Not classified/retirement:

Vergne         Toro Rosso-Ferrari          39 laps

World Championship standings, round 4:

Drivers:
1.  Vettel         77
2.  Raikkonen      67
3.  Hamilton       50
4.  Alonso         47
5.  Webber         32
6.  Massa          30
7.  Grosjean       26
8.  Di Resta       20
9.  Rosberg        14
10.  Button         13
11.  Perez          10
12.  Ricciardo       6
13.  Sutil           6
14.  Hulkenberg      5
15.  Vergne          1

Constructors:
1.  Red Bull-Renault          109
2.  Lotus-Renault              93
3.  Ferrari                    77
4.  Mercedes                   64
5.  Force India-Mercedes       26
6.  McLaren-Mercedes           23
7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari          7
8.  Sauber-Ferrari              5

Next race: Spanish Grand Prix, Circuit de Catalunya. May 10-12.