“Nico was quicker this weekend, but fortunately I was able to keep him
behind,” he said after the race. “I struggled to keep him behind and was
grateful I was able to. I have to find out where I am losing the time and
apply it to the next race. By no means is it easy for me, I still have a
massive challenge from Nico.
“But I could never imagine these four race wins. It is still so close, there
is a long, long way to go and I have a bit more time to find in this car.”
Mind games or simple honesty? It must be galling for Rosberg to hear but,
either way, he needs to start converting promising pace into decisive
triumphs. The pair remain cordial and deferential, taking every opportunity
to congratulate one another. “We have been through this before – it’s not
the first time,” Rosberg said of their relationship, which dates back to
their karting days. But if the racing continues to be this intense it will
come under enormous strain.
Elsewhere, in Formula One’s other race at the Circuit de Catalunya, so
insurmountable was Mercedes’ lead, Daniel Ricciardo finally secured the
podium he had so cruelly taken away from him in Melbourne. Valtteri Bottas
also impressed to finish fifth, while Romain Grosjean won Lotus’s first
points of the year in eighth.
For McLaren,
the beneficiaries of Ricciardo’s disqualification in Australia, it seems
their double podium at the opening race was something of an irregularity, as
they continued where they left off after a dismal 2013. Both cars were again
out of the points. Jenson
Button had to settle for 11th.
For much of the afternoon the pulse of the spectators must have been as if
they were drowsily emerging from a siesta. In the closing stages, however,
the pace quickened dramatically to produce a thrilling climax.
Before then, Hamilton and Rosberg led comfortably from the front row and it
was not long before they were two silver specs in the distance.
As the Mercedes scampered away, building a gap of nearly 20 seconds by lap 12,
Ricciardo hustled Bottas after losing out at the start. He was so much
faster through the high-speed corners, but continually fell back on the
straights. If only the Red
Bull had a competitive engine then we might have a contest on our
hands. Once the first round of stops was over, the Australian had the third
place he deserved.
The home crowd had been warned by Fernando Alonso prior to the weekend to keep
expectations low. Unfortunately for the thousands of Catalans, he was right.
Tucked up behind team-mate Kimi Raikkonen for almost the entire race,
finally, on lap 64, the Spaniard made his move. Although he won the
inter-team battle, it was yet another depressing afternoon, as he came home
sixth and almost a lap down on the leaders. Ferrari’s
inquest will continue.
Sebastian Vettel, starting 15th, was making much more progress. The German’s
ability to overtake has been the subject of immense discussion over the last
five years, but he showed once again that these doubts are unwarranted, as
he scythed through to end up a respectable fourth.
At the front, Rosberg was not letting Hamilton cruise away. Through both
rounds of pit stops the gap was never more than five seconds. The leader was
obviously a worried man. He complained to his engineer: “Can you give me a
hand? I’ve got too much oversteer.”
With 20 laps to go, Rosberg had a gap of 4.8 seconds and a determined Hamilton
to overcome. With six laps remaining, the German was within DRS range and
preparing to mount a decisive charge.
By the final lap, Rosberg could almost reach out and touch the lead. But
Hamilton, ducking out to lap Kimi Raikkonen just before the first turn, held
on. He won by 0.6sec.