8 Memorable Moments From The Spanish Grand Prix

F1 raced in Europe for the first time this season, with round five taking place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain. It wasn’t a particularly thrilling race, but Lewis Hamilton’s inter-team domination at Mercedes did come to an end.

Nico Rosberg looked quick all weekend and took a controlled victory from pole position. Hamilton used a three-stop strategy to recover to second, with Sebastian Vettel in third for Ferrari. Here are 8 memorable moments:

1. Advantage Rosberg

Rosberg hasn’t typically been strong at race starts this season, but he got it right this time round and established a small but important lead on the run to Turn 1. Hamilton, on the other hand, suffered wheelspin and dropped behind Vettel.

The opening laps saw some good battles, with the midfield proving to be particularly close. The Toro Rosso drivers starred in qualifying but Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr quickly slipped down the order.

Pastor Maldonado got into another on-track incident, this time with his team-mate Romain Grosjean at the entrance to Turn 3. The contact damaged his right-side rear wing endplate and after an inspection, the team opted to simply get rid of it. He later retired.

Fernando Alonso suffered brake problems mid-way through the race, explaining why he ran straight on at Turn 1 and overshot his pit box – fortunately his front jack man was quick to react!

Romain Grosjean was another driver to overshoot his box in the pit lane during the race. However, in this situation, he couldn’t avoid hitting several of his pit crew. Ouch. Lotus put it down to a “slippery pit box.”

6. Alternative strategy

Whereas Rosberg and Vettel went for a safer two-stop race, Hamilton was switched to a more aggressive three-stop strategy, to try and recover the ground lost at the start. He did just that, but ran out of time to catch the leader.

Carlos Sainz Jr wanted to make an impression in his first home race, and attempted a move on Daniil Kvyat on the final lap. It didn’t pay off and the two made contact, with Sainz Jr cutting Turn 1. Both were sent to the stewards but no further action was taken.

8. Rosberg responds

Last year’s championship runner-up responded to Hamilton’s recent form, scoring his first victory of the season. He also became the ninth different Spanish Grand Prix winner in the last nine years. Hamilton and Vettel were a distant second and third.

Valtteri Bottas scored a fine fourth place finish for Williams, doing well to hold off Kimi Raikkonen. Felipe Massa, like Hamilton, stopped three times and finished sixth, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Romain Grosjean.