Spanish GP Team Review: Ferrari

‘Amo la Rossa’ was on the lips of the all the tifosi who had turned up at the Spanish Grand Prix, a few miles off Barcelona.

Fernando Alonso had a mediocre qualifying performance, but his run in the race made up for it all. The Spaniard won his home Grand Prix ahead of ex-Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen and present team-mate, Felipe Massa.

Having suffered a puncture during the race, the two-time world champion saw to it that his hands were the ones destined to lift the trophy. He endured a hard race, especially after trailing Sebastian Vettel; but in the end, having visited the pit 1 more than the German, he made team principal Stefano Domenicali come up and receive the Constructors’ trophy.

The Ferrari was strong on pace, and they maintained their tyres as expected. The one true surprise was that the Lotuses weren’t keeping pace with the Italian team. Raikkonen showed promise initially, putting in some good laps, but towards the end of the race, the Finn started slumping and this brought Felipe Massa closer and closer.

The overtake didn’t come and the podium saw Alonso, Raikkonen and Massa finish as the eventual winners.

Clearly, the upgrades brought for Spain have helped the team and they now head into the Principality of Monaco on a high.

Alonso started the race extremely well, overtaking Raikkonen and Hamilton on the same parabolica. Massa started in 9th after having been slapped with a 3-place penalty after being found guilty of impeding Mark Webber during qualifying. Consistent lap times, a great 3-stop tyre strategy, and the sheer pace of the car saw to it that he finished 3rd.

Given a few more laps, he could’ve pulled off an incredible Ferrari 1-2, something we haven’t seen in a long time.

Massa suffered a puncture in the practice session and experienced other issues on the car as well, but he didn’t have anything bother him during the duration of the race. The Brazilian’s contract in Ferrari ends this season and he’ll be hoping to put in performances to ensure he stays on next season as well.

In the meantime, the team heads to Monaco and are hoping they can dish out a result in the Principality. The track is known to be stressful and presents very few overtaking opportunities meaning qualifying will be decisive.

That word ‘qualifying’ has been the kryptonite for the Ferraris. They aren’t able to put in a good performance on a single lap; but given the length of the race, they seem to get the best out of their tyres only then.

With the new upgrades in place and a morale-boosting performance in Spain, Domenicali’s men will look forward to a positive race in the Circuit de Monte Carlo.