The Report Cards of the Spanish Grand Prix

NICO ROSBERG 10

Return of the Jedi. That's the power of Star Wars day. Finally the metamorphosis is complete, Nico is back. What is happening in Spain is the return with great fanfare of a rider who we feared had now disappeared in the shadow of his teammate. Instead, after the long break from Bahrain, the German gave us one of his best races, one might say a Hamilton-style race, but woe betide making certain comparisons. Nico forcefully takes the Pole position on Saturday afternoon, while on Sunday, lap after lap, he builds the advantage he needs to cross the finish line first with ease. Now the next episode is Munich, where the German is coming off two consecutive victories. Will he be able to score trebles?

LEWIS HAMILTON 6

Fortunately he manages to save the race with a good second place, but the Spanish weekend is one to forget for the Englishman. On Saturday he takes them soundly from Nico in qualifying, and on Sunday he complicates his life immensely with a Mark Webber-style start (just to quote one of those present). For a good part of the race he was unable to overtake the German from Ferrari, until on the thirty-third lap he mounted the harder tyres, giving a boost to the pace, starting the so-called Hammer time. Continuing to set record laps he managed to easily pass Vettel's Ferrari, but ended up in second place. Let's conclude by simply saying that he doesn't laugh at all once on the podium.

SEBASTIAN VETTEL 8

We are at four podiums out of five races, and it is our turn to judge the "usual" three for the fourth time in a row. Personal complaints aside, the German's race was concrete, at least for the first thirty laps, those in which he made everyone dream, with the hope of being able to keep the reigning world champion behind him. However, when the time came to differentiate strategies with Mercedes, the excellent form of the German company was heavily felt. In the end, more than forty seconds separated Ferrari from Mercedes at the finish line. Lauda had time to celebrate, drink a coffee with Toto, give Susie a kiss, caress Roscoe... then the redhead reached the finish line. However, Sebastian gives his all with the means available. It is no coincidence that he is always there on the podium.

VALTTERI BOTTAS 8

The demonstration that wanting to keep a Ferrari behind you during a race can be done. Back at the top after the bad back injury in Australia, the young Finn has nothing to envy of his more famous compatriot. With a Williams team clearly improving compared to two months ago he managed to grab his second consecutive fourth place with a stoic resistance on Raikkonen. Both in qualifying and in the race he is always ahead of him, keeping him at a safe distance as much as he can, but even when the Ferrari driver approaches within attacking distance, then the Mercedes engine comes into play. Valtteri convinces more and more.

KIMI RAIKKONEN 6

After the forgettable qualifying - perhaps due to the step backwards regarding the new aerodynamic package? – a response was expected from the Finn. The start bodes well, with Kimi slipping into the two Tororossos at the first corner and chasing Bottas. From there, however, the gaps increase and catching the Williams driver after the first pit, with hard tires, seems almost impossible. The feat must be attempted in the final laps, with fresher, yet more worn tyres. In fact, the difference in pace is not as significant as the difference in engine, and so Kimi is forced to follow with a very unsatisfactory fifth place.

FELIPE MASSA 6

Practically never seen during the race, Felipe makes a run of his own. In no man's land he can't figure out why he's not there to fight like Bottas. Only in the first laps does he have the boredom of overtaking the two Tororossos in full crisis. He stops exactly with Vettel in the first pit, and with Hamilton in the second, so he doesn't even have the opportunity to create traffic among those who were competing in the race. Let's hope Monaco reawakens the fighter's soul that all Brazilians possess.

DANIEL RICCIARDO 7

From tenth place on the grid to seventh place finish. A decent race for Ricciardo in this round, with a Redbull that struggled to stay ahead of its satellite team in qualifying, but managed to overtake it in the race. Daniel, it's true, is the first of the lapped, and this is not something to rejoice about, however by Renault standards, it is already an achievement to have reached the finish line, pardon the puns. Even for him, however, it was an uninspiring match from the point of view of the melee, he was rarely seen by the cameras as if he were ignored by the international directors.

ROMAIN GROSJEAN 7

In a race that is more soporific than ever, he takes care of messing up the cards. First he rams his teammate, bending a bulkhead of his rear wing, then, returning to the pits, he decides to go long, sacrificing the virility of the poor unfortunate mechanic. Apart from these gems, you wouldn't think so, the Frenchman's race is more substantial than ever. In the first laps he manages to overtake the Tororossos and gets into the points immediately, then in the end he also takes the position on Kvyat. I wish all his races were so fun, but also full of results.

CARLOS SAINZ JR. 6

His home track gives him an edge in qualifying, where he shows off a great time that takes him to fifth place overall. In the race, however, the story is different, and within ten laps the two cars of the Faenza team sink so much in the rankings that it seems like we are witnessing a revival of the Titanic. Only at the end does the young son of an artist regain some of his luster and manages to get into the points, passing his young teammate and the Russian Kvyat, with a maneuver revealing a lot of guts (to say the least).

DANIIL KVYAT 5

We understand that it's Redbull's bad year, and how can we blame Daniil. You go to a team that has been winning for five years and you find yourself fighting for tenth place. They make you dizzy, eh... Another rather dull performance takes him only to the edge of the points zone, after a decent qualifying. In the race he fights in the fray, carrying out several overtaking maneuvers (two or three, by several we mean out of the total of the race, don't think badly). In the end he had to surrender to the aggressive Spaniard who seemed to put the turbo in the final laps.

MAX VERSTAPPEN 5

The discussion is more or less similar to the one made for Sainz, the problem here is that the young Dutchman wasn't even able to finish in the points. In the first part of the race he seemed to cope better with the Tororosso disaster, in fact he always remained ahead of his teammate, however towards the end he seemed to have a bit of a crisis with the tires and was unable to handle the pressure of the duel with Sainz, it goes wide at the last chicane offering a wide open door for overtaking on the main straight. The final result penalizes him compared to an averagely good race.

FELIPE NASR 6 & MARCUS ERICSSON 5

Black crisis at Sauber after the first convincing races, two consecutive races arrive in appalling positions to say the least. Good enough for Nasr for always being ahead of his teammate over the weekend, but above all ahead of the Force Indias (another big disappointment of the Spanish weekend). Nasr had some problems in the first pit, but things that didn't take up too much time. He split the two Force Indias, but that is nothing compared to China's good performance.

SERGIO PEREZ 5.5 & NICO HULKENBERG 5

The most from the car said Sergio. No more than thirteenth place. A result which, however, seems a little unambitious. Nico, on the other hand, qualified on Saturday ahead of his teammate, however during the race he remained trapped in traffic, unable to exploit the (little) potential of the car.

JENSON BUTTON 5

Never seen in a match, never really on the ball. From the first laps he battles with understeer and rear tire slip. He probably reaches the finish line also thanks to a few prayers from Ron, Eric and co.

WILL STEVENS 6 & ROBERTO MERHI 5

In the unique race between the two teammates, Stevens comes out on top once again, edging out a full eight tenths of a second from the Spaniard in qualifying and at the end of the race he remains lapped by "only" three laps, compared to Merhi's four.

PASTOR MALDONADO 6

Sufficient for the Venezuelan, who before the problem with the rear wing was having a good race in the top ten, without having caused any disaster. For now, however, one race out of four has been completed. And Monaco with its walls doesn't bode well...

FERNANDO ALONSO 6

The race of the home favorite seems to be able to enthuse the fans who came to watch it from all over Spain, however his brakes fail him halfway through the race and retirement remains the only solution. Certainly for the little he competed he did significantly better than Button, trying to stay in the race not only in the last positions.

LE PAJELLE (the best and worst of the weekend)

MAD MAX?

And who on earth could sponsor a film in which a car is destroyed on average every five seconds? Well yes, the award-winning company Lotus, with the explosive duo Grosjean-Maldonado. That seeing certain photos of a camouflaged Lotus complete with skulls, spikes and spears, thinking about who is driving it gives you shivers down your back, guys...

LOTUS DEFLAGRATION

Breaking News: It seemed like a freak accident, but these oddities are no coincidence. If you're not fast enough to win you have to invent something to be competitive. This is why Lotus has introduced the new "Deflagration" button, to shoot debris from the E23's body at opponents who are following at a short distance to puncture their tires in pure Mario Kart style. And do you think that Grosjean was looking in the mirrors because he had noticed something? But whatever, he just checked that everything was working perfectly!

LOTUS AT SAVINGS

“Let's try to see if that wing stays up even without a bulkhead” And it stays up! A real pearl for aerodynamicists! Finally a moment of glory for Maldonado, the perfect subject of international filmmaking!

ICE ON THE BALLS

There are no words for the stoicism of the Lotus mechanic who, after flying two meters with the front jack in the family jewels, still tries to lift Grosjean's car as much as he can. The next shot is epic, in which his boxing companions give him affectionate pats on the shoulder while he holds his bag of ice with a satisfied look... well you get the idea.

CARMEN JORDA & MINNTU RAIKKONEN

In the deadly boredom of the Spanish GP there were two salient moments that recorded a sensational peak in ratings: the two shots of the young Lotus driver and the Iceman's wife. Not even San Remo goes that high.

Matteo Bramati.