The Spanish GP in five points

With the Spanish Grand Prix all over and done with, there’s a lot to discuss, but I’m going to break it down to five key points.

First, Red Bull aren’t anywhere near as close to Ferrari and Mercedes as they would have liked.

With upgrades playing a key role in the weekend, Red Bull were set to release their B-spec car that was destined to be a championship contender. Unfortunately, the car was around a half a second to a second slower than their German and Italian rivals.

It’s going to be a long season at Red Bull, after the new regulations were said to have promised so much for the team from Milton Keynes, and you can expect them to be staying at a solid third place in the constructors’ standings if they don’t produce any more big upgrades throughout the season.

Second, Fernando Alonso is still massively quick. If he isn’t the quickest driver on the grid right now, he’s in the top three. His qualifying performance was a dream for the struggling McLaren Honda team, and had me wondering if he took the old last sector to get his car in seventh place on the grid.

Sure enough, the lap was legitimate, but unfortunately, there were to be no points for the team, as Felipe Massa ran him into the gravel coming out of turn two. The Spaniard needs a much quicker car, but time is starting to become an issue for the McLaren driver.

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Third, Force India are ready to become a giant crusher of a team, and Spain really showed just how ready they are, amassing an incredible 22 points with a fourth and fifth place result.

Force India have been strong for the past few years now, but they’ve never really had a start close to anything as good as this. They’ve been consistent, with a great driver line-up, chassis, and engine that has proved to be incredibly reliable, and this is their biggest advantage over teams such as Red Bull, who have been inconsistent.

Fourth, unlike the past couple of years, no team’s position in the grid is set in stone. Take Renault, who have had numerous Q3 occasions since Australia, yet in Spain were struggling to make it out of Q1. The same goes for Williams, who had a dismal weekend in Spain but have been competitive at other tracks.

These cars are changing quickly, and temperatures, setups, and numerous other factors that are specific to certain tracks are having a large impact on these new cars. Last year, the way teams performed would be a lot more predictable, and this has been completely changed this year.

Fifth, Ferrari are going to stick it out with the Silver Arrows all the way to the checkered flag in Abu Dhabi. After Sebastian Vettel’s win in Australia, many questioned whether the Scuderia could stick it out with the Germans after such a promising race in Australia last year and a dismal lack of form after that race.

But the Scuderia have turned up to fight for race victories ever since the first round. The fact that Ferrari managed to stay right with Mercedes in terms of pace after the upgrades introduced in Spain should only reinforce to F1 fans that Ferrari are here to stay in the title fight.

Overall, Spain saw a shakeup of the grid, an incredible race, and many different aerodynamic packages on the cars. Let’s hope for more great racing.