Hitting the Apex: Formula 1 2015 - Rosberg Strikes Back

If you're going to silence your critics, make sure you do it in style. Nico Rosberg certainly did last Sunday, dominating the weekend, leading every session bar FP2 and Q1 in Barcelona, Spain and taking the ninth win of his career and stopping the Lewis Hamilton Juggernaut. He had been written off by many, but if you think its wise to write of the man who was the first to out qualify Hamilton over an entire season, and to take the title fight right up to the end last year, then think again...

Nico Rosberg on his way to victory in Barcelona (Copyright: Mercedes AMG)

It is safe to say Rosberg was under pressure to perform. Hamilton had won all races bar Malaysia and had taken pole position in all of them, Nico not even able to finish ahead of Hamilton when Sebastian Vettel won in Malaysia. People began to question his motivation and skill, but after putting on a fine showing in Bahrain, he came to Barcelona and nailed it, beating Hamilton to pole and dominating the race. Rosberg's task was made easier at the start when Vettel's Ferrari got ahead of Hamilton into turn 1, with Hamilton lucky to fend off an aggressive Valtteri Bottas as well.

Rosberg leads the field into turn 1, Vettel getting into 2nd place and Bottas almost nabbing 3rd from Hamilton

Ferrari were expected to make a big leap forwards but it didn't happen. The team said the updates worked, evident throughout the weekend as Kimi Raikkonen ran the old spec car and Vettel the new one, the new spec easily better, but Mercedes had improved themselves and maintained their position at the top of the pecking order.

Vettel was outdone by Hamilton's 3 stop strategy

All credit to Vettel, he held onto P2 for around 75% of the race, but was outdone by Hamilton's 3 stop strategy, as opposed to his 2 stop one. Vettel bagged his 4th podium out of 5 races, but the Scuderia will be keeping a close eye now on Williams.

Valtteri Bottas races through turns 2 and 3 on his way to a fine 4th place (Copyright: Williams Martini Racing)

That's because Williams have made a step forward with relatively few upgrades, and have closed the gap slightly to Ferrari. Felipe Massa drove a fine race to finish in 6th after a poor qualifying left him 9th and Valtteri Bottas again showed his class by qualifying and finishing 4th, beating Raikkonen and not getting flustered. The team are bringing in more upgrades over the next few races and if they can get on level terms with Ferrari, podiums will no doubt come there way. They are miles ahead of any of their competitors, and just need to keep on developing the FW37. I wouldn't rule out a first win for Bottas this year just yet...

Daniel Ricciardo battles with Pastor Maldonado (Copyright: Infiniti Red Bull Racing)

In stark contrast to Williams, Red Bull don't appear to be going anywhere right now. Daniel Ricciardo finished the race in 7th place but that was down to the Lotus cars of Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean having trouble. His team mate Daniil Kvyat only managed 10th place, after last lap wheel banging with Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso, capping off another disappointing weekend for the Milton Keynes squad. The Renault power unit is clearly the major issue but the team must take some of the blame for the RB11, the car clearly not as good as last years RB10 at hiding some of the Renault's issues. God knows when and if the team will make it to the podium this year...but don't expect them to give up without a fight.

Pastor Maldonao leads Jenson Button (Copyright: Lotus F1 Team)

Now Lotus should have had a very good race. They qualified 11th and 12th but both Maldonado and Grosjean were scything through the lower end of the top 10, the pair running 7th and 8th at one point. However, Maldonado was delayed in the pits when the team removed the right hand side of his rear wing which was damaged when he closed his DRS after passing Max Verstappens Toro Rosso. This dropped him way down the order and Grosjeans race was compromised with gearbox issues, although he still managed to finish in 8th place. The E23 is clearly a very good car and arguably better than the Red Bull, the team just isn't having all the luck it needs with Maldonado. When his luck does arrive, you would expect him to score well as he in general has driven very well this year. Either way, its good to see the Enstone boys having a good year again.

Max Verstappen had a tough race, qualifying a fine 6th but finishing only 11th (Copyright: Scuderia Toro Rosso)

After Toro Rosso qualified 5th and 6th, you can understand their disappointment at only finishing 10th and 11th on Sunday. Verstappen didn't have the pace of Sainz, and dropped out of the points just a few laps from home, his team mate managing to bang his way past Kvyat on the final lap. The car is very good (dare I say it, better than the Red Bull?) its just that lack of power from the Renault engine holding the team back. However, Verstappen and Sainz continue to impress, and they said the inexperience would hinder the team...

Jenson Button on his way to a "scary" 16th place (Copyright: McLaren-Honda)

McLaren arrived in Barcelona with a new livery, new parts and more power. However, none of that appeared to work as although both cars made it into Q2 for the first time this year, neither scored points. Fernando Alonso retired with brake issues (after nearly taking out the front jack man at his second pit stop) and Jenson Button had the "scariest 30 laps" of his life at the start of the race. He said "whenever I pressed the throttle, the rears just lit up". He even said he "didn't expect points all year after a race like that". That was probably an exaggeration on Buttons part, but there is clearly still a lot of work for McLaren to do. The team and drivers however remain upbeat, Honda's Yasuhusa Arai even saying they want "a podium by Silverstone and to challenge Mercedes by the end of the year". Lets wait and see what happens.

Sergio Perez fends off Jenson Button

Force India had another nightmare race, qualifying 17th and 18th and finishing the race 13th for Sergio Perez and 15th for Nico Hulkenburg. The B spec car won't make an appearance until at least Austria, and if it races there only one driver will get the chance to race it. The team will be hoping to get as many points as they can until then, when hopefully they will be back in the points consistently.

Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson didn't have the best of races for Sauber (Copyright: Sauber F1 Team)

Sauber's race wasn't much better than Force India's, with the cars qualifying 15th and 16th and finishing 12th for Felipe Nasr and 14th for Marcus Ericsson. No upgrades were bolted to the C34 over the weekend and Nasr said there would be "no upgrades for the next few races", so after a strong start to the year, things might get a little tougher now for the Swiss team. It would be a shame for that to happen, as they have done a sterling job so far this year and have well and truly but the memories of an awful 2014 season to rest. Ericsson and Nasr have impressed this year and hopefully the team will develop the C34 well enough to allow them to continue to shine.

Roberto Merhi leads his team mate Will Stevens...something that lasted only 12 laps (Copyright: Manor Marussia F1 Team)

Finally, Manor had another successful race, with Will Stevens again out-qualifying and outracing Roberto Merhi. This will be a bit of a worry for Merhi, as he does not have a full seat for 2015 and beating Stevens may have given him a permanent deal with the team for the remainder of the year. That didn't happen though, and Stevens did a great job again to beat his highly rated team mate, potentially sealing Merhi's fate, as another, better financed driver could get the nod for the rest of the season. Whatever happens with the drivers, the team are doing a great job, with the cars proving to be very reliable. No doubt Will and Roberto (if he is still in the car) can't wait to get their hands on the bespoke 2015 machine.

Nico Rosberg celebrates the ninth win of his Formula 1 career in Parc Ferme (Copyright: Mercedes AMG)

Whilst the 2015 Spanish Grand Prix may not have been full of wheel to wheel excitement (is it just me or is this not the most exciting start to an F1 season?) but it proved to be a vital race in the title fight. Nico Rosberg got his revenge in fine style, dominating the weekend to claim win number nine of his career, and where are we going next? Monaco. A race that for the past two years, Rosberg has taken pole at (controversially last year), won and lead every single lap of the race. Can he make history and take 3 wins on the trot at the principality? Not since Ayrton Senna did in 1991,'92 and '93 has a driver achieved that (Senna in fact took victory in 1990 and 1989 as well). Monaco could be a hell of a race. Until next time folks. Ciao.