Formula 1 General Chat & Discussion

Monaco Grand Prix - Saturday the qualifying and Sunday the race

The tradition of Friday at the annual Monaco Grand Prix being a rest day has remained.
weather Forecast for the weekend: cloudy but the possibility of rain is low
Monaco is a slow track and not demanding on tyres, so Pirelli brings soft and supersoft compounds
pit stop strategy for the race: only one is the most probable

pole time in the last 5 editions
2010 Webber 1.13.826
2011 Vettel 1.13.556
2012 Webber 1.14.381
2013 Rosberg 1.13.876
2014 Rosberg: 1.15.989

the winners at Monaco
2 wins: Alonso (2006-2007) Rosberg(2013-2014)
1 win: Raikkonen(2005) Hamilton(2008) Button(2009) Vettel (2011)

pole position:
2 pole: Alonso (2006-2007) Rosberg(2013-2014)
1 pole: Raikkonen(2005) Massa(2008) Button(2009) Vettel (2011)

*10 times in the last 11 years, the pilot who scored pole position then won the race
Only in 2008 pole position for Massa but win for Hamilton

Fastest lap
3: Raikkonen(2003-2008-2014)
2: Vettel(2010-2013);
1: Alonso (2007); Massa(2009); and Perez(2012);

Podium(winner+second+third) for current pilots at Monaco
4 (2 wins+1 second+1 third) Alonso
3 (2+1+0) Rosberg
3 (1+2+0) Vettel
3 (1+2+0) Hamilton
3 (1+1+1) Button
3 (1+1+1) Raikkonen
2 (0+0+2) Massa
1 (0+0+1) Ricciardo

Last one win for Scuderia Ferrari in Montecarlo GP (2001 M. Schumacher)

The remaining times for this weekend GP of Monaco :

Saturday :
3rd practice session : 11.00u - 12.00u CET
Qualifying : 14.00u - 15.00u CET

Sunday :
Race : 14.00u CET

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Result of the 2nd practice session :

Hamilton tops rain-disrupted second session :

1. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 1:17.192
2. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 1:17.932 +0.740
3. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 1:18.295 +1.103
4. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:18.543 +1.351
5. Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing - 1:18.548 +1.356
6. Carlos Sainz jr - Toro Rosso - 1:18.659 +1.467
7. Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso - 1:18.782 +1.590
8. Fernando Alonso - McLaren - 1:18.906 +1.714
9. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:19.151 +1.959
10. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 1:19.266 +2.074
11. Sergio Perez - Force India - 1:19.300 +2.108
12. Felipe Massa - Williams - 1:19.560 +2.368
13. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:19.566 +2.374
14. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 1:19.577 +2.385
15. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:19.606 +2.414
16. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - 1:19.639 +2.447
17. Felipe Nasr - Sauber - 1:20.263 +3.071
18. Roberto Merhi - Manor F1 Team - 1:22.017 +4.825
19. Will Stevens - Manor F1 Team - 1:22.943 +5.751
20. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber -no time

Lewis Hamilton stayed on top in practice for the Monaco Grand Prix but a rain shower limited running during the second session.
The red flags came out a quarter of an hour into the session after Roberto Merhi crashed his Manor at the exit of the tunnel. The rookie lost control on the crest approaching the chicane and knocked his front wing off against the barrier. Rain began to fall during the brief stoppage so that when the track was opened again no one headed out to begin with. Pastor Maldonado did an exploratory run on the super-soft tyres but soon radioed back that the conditions were too wet and returned to the pits. Almost an hour passed before the track saw any further action. Fernando Alonso took to the track with ten minutes remaining, and was soon joined by most of the other runners. However on the wet track their times were over 18 seconds off the dry-weather pace. Marcus Ericsson failed to join the track at all due to a technical problem with his Sauber.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Result of the 1st practice session :

Hamilton leads as Verstappen stars in practice :

1. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 1:18.750
2. Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso - 1:18.899 +0.149
3. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - 1:19.086 +0.336
4. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 1:19.134 +0.384
5. Carlos Sainz jr - Toro Rosso - 1:19.245 +0.495
6. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 1:19.454 +0.704
7. Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing - 1:19.520 +0.770
8. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:19.679 +0.929
9. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 1:19.762 +1.012
10. Felipe Massa - Williams - 1:19.766 +1.016
11. Fernando Alonso - McLaren - 1:19.791 +1.041
12. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:20.202 +1.452
13. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 1:20.274 +1.524
14. Sergio Perez - Force India - 1:20.619 +1.869
15. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:20.784 +2.034
16. Felipe Nasr - Sauber - 1:20.857 +2.107
17. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:20.917 +2.167
18. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber - 1:21.219 +2.469
19. Will Stevens - Manor F1 Team - 1:23.234 +4.484
20. Roberto Merhi - Manor F1 Team - 1:23.404 +4.654

Lewis Hamilton led the first practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix but a shock lap from Max Verstappen at the end of the session saw the Toro Rosso driver claim second place. Verstappen, who is competing at Monaco for the first time this weekend, produced a lap of 1’18.899 to end the session within two-tenths of a second of Hamilton. Team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr underline Toro Rosso’s potential with fifth place. Hamilton traded fastest times with Nico Rosberg in the middle of the session but ended up over a second clear of his Mercedes team mate. The winner of the last two races in Monaco finished the session ninth. Rosberg had a moment early in the session when he clipped the barrier at the exit of the reprofiled Tabac corner, but avoided inflicting any serious damage on his car. Practice began on a slightly damp track and drivers opted for intermediate tyres for their installation laps before switching to slick rubber. Sebastian Vettel also had a drama at Casino bend, the Ferrari slewing close to the barrier at the exit. He was bumped down to four that the end of the session by Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, who took fourth for Red Bull.
All four Renault-powered cars appeared in the top seven, the last of which was Daniil Kvyat, who complained about being held up by traffic. Pastor Maldonado took a strong sixth for Lotus. The McLaren pair ended the session just outside the top ten, Fernando Alonso ahead of Jenson Button, the latter missing much of the first half of the session due to a technical problem.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 5 RACES :

1. Mercedes 202 points
2. Ferrari 132 points
3. Williams 81 points
4. Red Bull 30 points
5. Sauber 19 points
6. Lotus 16 points
7. Toro Rosso 14 points
8. Force India 11 points

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 5 RACES :

1. L. Hamilton GBR Mercedes 111 points
2. N. Rosberg GER Mercedes 91 points
3. S. Vettel GER Ferrari 80 points
4. K. Raikkonen FIN Ferrari 52 points
5. V. Bottas FIN Williams 42 points
6. F. Massa BRA Williams 39 points
7. D. Ricciardo AUS Red Bull 25 points
8. R. Grosjean FRA Lotus 16 points
9. F. Nasr BRA Sauber 14 points
10. C. Sainz jr. ESP Toro Rosso 8 points
11. M. Verstappen NED Renault & N. Hulkenberg GER Force India 6 points
13. M. Ericsson SWE Sauber, S. Perez MEX Force India & D. Kvyat RUS Red Bull 5 points

Result from the GP of Spain :

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP 1h41m12.555
2. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP (1:28.270) + 17.551
3. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari + 45.342
4. Valtteri Bottas - Williams + 59.217
5. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari + 1m00.002
6. Felipe Massa - Williams + 1m21.314
7. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing +1 lap
8. Romain Grosjean - Lotus +1 lap
9. Carlos Sainz jr - Toro Rosso +1 lap
10. Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing +1 lap
11. Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso +1 lap
12. Felipe Nasr - Sauber +1 lap
13. Sergio Perez - Force India +1 lap
14. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber +1 lap
15. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India +1 lap
16. Jenson Button - McLaren +1 lap
17. Will Stevens - Manor F1 + 3 laps
18. Roberto Merhi - Manor F1 Team + 4 laps
Did Not Finish
19. Pastor Maldonado (21 laps) - Lotus
20. Fernando Alonso - McLaren (40 laps)

Fastest lap : Lewis Hamilton - 1:28.270
Pitstop Sergio Perez : 2
Bat. 2 Teams : Maldonado > Alonso
Grid Pos. K. Raikkonen : 5th place

Rosberg takes untroubled Spanish Grand Prix win :
Nico Rosberg cruised to a largely untroubled victory in the Spanish Grand Prix. Rosberg led from pole position while team mate Lewis Hamilton, who shared the front row with him, fell behind Sebastian Vettel at the start. An early attempt to jump ahead of the Ferrari in the pits was thwarted by a slow tyre change, but Hamilton eventually got ahead by switching to a three-stop strategy.
Mercedes were untouchable around the Circuit de Catalunya, with Vettel three-quarters of a minute behind in third place. Ferrari and Williams were the only other teams to get their cars home on the lead lap. Valtteri Bottas beat the recovering Kimi Raikkonen to fourth place, with the second Williams of Felipe Massa in sixth. Daniel Ricciardo came home a lapped seventh ahead of Romain Grosjean, who struggled with a gearbox problem. Daniil Kvyat lost ninth place to Carlos Sainz Jnr at the start of the final lap, while Max Verstappen finished out of the points in eleventh. The only two retirements were Fernando Alonso,whose brakes failed alarmingly prior to a pit stop, and Pastor Maldonado, who lost part of his rear wing early in the race.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Result of the qualifying for the GP of Spain :

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 1:24.681
2. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 1:24.948 +0.267
3. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 1:25.458 +0.777
4. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:25.694 +1.013
5. Carlos Sainz jr - Toro Rosso - 1:26.136 +1.455
6. Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso - 1:26.249 +1.568
7. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:26.414 +1.733
8. Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing - 1:26.629 +1.948
9. Felipe Massa - Williams - 1:26.757 +2.076
10. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - 1:26.770 +2.089
Q2
11. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 1:27.375 +2.694
12. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 1:27.450 +2.769
13. Fernando Alonso - McLaren - 1:27.760 +3.079
14. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:27.854 +3.173
15. Felipe Nasr - Sauber - 1:28.005 +3.324
16. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber - 1:28.112 +3.431
Q1
17. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:28.365 +3.684
18. Sergio Perez - Force India - 1:28.442 +3.761
19. Will Stevens - Manor F1 Team - 1:31.200 +6.519
20. Roberto Merhi - Manor F1 Team - 1:32.038 +7.357

Qualifying Time : 1:24.681
Pole : Nico Rosberg
Team Battle : Daniil Kvyat > Daniel Ricciardo
Grid Position M. Verstappen : 6th place

Rosberg halts Hamilton’s pole run in Spain :
Nico Rosberg ended Lewis Hamilton’s monopoly on pole position by beating his team mate in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.
The two Mercedes drivers share the front row of the grid as the challenge from Ferrari faded: Sebastian Vettel was over three-quarters of a second down in third, and Kimi Raikkonen could only manage seventh on the grid. The surprise of qualifying was the form of the Toro Rossos, who locked out the third row, while McLaren got both their cars through Q1 for the first time this year.
Q1
Both Mercedes drivers easily secured their passage to Q2 without having to resort to using the softer medium tyres. Vettel also progressed to the next phase of qualifying using only the hard rubber. But as in practice Raikkonen was less happy with the balance of his Ferrari. He also found himself in traffic on his first run, which was some seven-tenths of a second slower than Vettel managed, so he resorted to a set of medium tyres to ensure he made it into Q2. McLaren faced the opposite question and decided not to bother running the hard tyre at all. This paid dividends: both Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso were quick enough on their second runs to out-pace the two Force Indias and Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber, putting both MP4-30s in Q2 for the first time this year.
Nico Hulkenberg reported his tyres had gone off by the latter stages of his lap – the rising temperatures at the Circuit de Catalunya presenting drivers with conditions almost as difficult as those seen in second practice.
Q2
A single run at the beginning of Q2 was all the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers needed to get through to Q3. Valtteri Bottas also stayed in the garage while the rest began their final laps, but team mate Felipe Massa did run again, moving up to fourth with his last effort. There was almost nothing between the two Toro Rosso drivers as they secured passage to Q3 – Max Verstappen beating Carlos Sainz Jnr by just three-hundredths of a second – and once again the pair were ahead of both the Red Bulls.
McLaren progressed no further, and both Lotus drivers moved ahead of them with their final efforts, though all four were eliminated.
Romain Grosjean was clearly unhappy at failing to reach Q3 for the first time this year, complaining about a loss of front grip on his lap. His race engineer was less concerned, however, pointing out they would be better off starting from eleventh on fresh tyres than from tenth on used rubber.
Q3
Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, Circuit de Catalunya, 2015Rosberg drew first blood in the pole position shoot-out: Hamilton was first across the line, but his team mate had over a quarter of a second in hand after their first runs on new tyres. Only two other drivers had that luxury: Bottas had a scruffy lap leaving Vettel a comfortable third. Raikkonen, running used tyres, was a distant fifth.
Raikkonen wasn’t able to overhaul Bottas with his last run on the new tyres, and his disappointment was compounded by the two Toro Rosso drivers, who claimed the third row and bumped him back to seventh. Massa was also stung by the flying STR10s, ending up ninth between the Red Bulls. But the battle for pole position ended somewhat anticlimactically, as neither Hamilton nor Rosberg were able to improve on their final runs. That won’t have bothered Rosberg, however, as he halted Hamilton’s run of pole positions at a track where overtaking is still regarded as being difficult.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Result of the 3rd practice session :

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 1:26.021
2. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 1:26.177 +0.156
3. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 1:26.222 +0.201
4. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:26.682 +0.661
5. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:26.944 +0.923
6. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - 1:27.048 +1.027
7. Felipe Massa - Williams - 1:27.109 +1.088
8. Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso - 1:27.132 +1.111
9. Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing - 1:27.313 +1.292
10. Carlos Sainz jr - Toro Rosso - 1:27.809 +1.788
11. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:27.938 +1.917
12. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:28.082 +2.061
13. Felipe Nasr - Sauber - 1:28.096 +2.075
14. Fernando Alonso - McLaren - 1:28.304 +2.283
15. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 1:28.578 +2.557
16. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 1:28.618 +2.597
17. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber - 1:28.788 +2.767
18. Sergio Perez - Force India - 1:28.996 +2.975
19. Will Stevens - Manor F1 Team - 1:31.125 +5.104
20. Roberto Merhi - Manor F1 Team - 1:31.749 +5.728

Rosberg fastest in FP3, Hamilton spins :
Nico Rosberg topped the timesheets in the third and final Formula 1 practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix, while his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton was third after a spin. Rosberg clocked a 1m26.031s on the medium-compound Pirelli tyre, 0.156s clear of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton, who topped second practice, ended up third after a messy session that included a spin at Turn 3 and a small mistake on his medium tyre run. Rosberg was quickest during the hard tyre runs in the opening part of the session, too, when track temperatures were 22C, nearly 30C lower than they were in FP2 on Friday. The German, who has not beaten Hamilton in either qualifying or the race so far this year, looked smooth throughout the session as he retained his advantage when attention turned to low-fuel runs. It was not so successful for Hamilton, who after completing just one installation lap in the opening half of the session ran wide onto the astro turf at Turn 3 and spun. The Briton stopped the car hitting the wall on the inside of the track before engaging reverse and rejoining the fray. Hamilton's medium tyre run was 0.201s shy of Rosberg's leading time, but four tenths ahead of Williams's Valtteri Bottas in fourth. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was fifth, ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo who recovered from a disappointing day with engine issues on Friday to get 19 laps of running under his belt. Felipe Massa had a scruffy lap as he clocked the seventh fastest time, with Max Verstappen continuing Toro Rosso's good form at the Circuit de Catalunya so far this weekend to secure eighth. Daniil Kvyat missed the first 40 minutes of the session while his Red Bull team fixed a water leak and he managed just seven laps and the ninth fastest time, one place clear of Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz Jr. Jenson Button was the leading McLaren in 11th, ahead of Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, who showed good long run pace on Friday. Sauber is lacking updates in Spain, with Felipe Nasr down in 13th and team-mate Marcus Ericsson 17th.
Fernando Alonso was 14th in the second McLaren, ahead of Lotus pair Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. Sergio Perez was nearly a second adrift of his Force India team-mate Hulkenberg in 18th, with the Manor-run Marussias of Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi bringing up the rear.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Result of the 2nd practice session :

Hamilton ahead as heat rises in Spain :

1. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes GP - 1:26.852
2. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 1:27.260 +0.408
3. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP - 1:27.616 +0.764
4. Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 1:27.780 +0.928
5. Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing - 1:27.943 +1.091
6. Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso - 1:28.017 +1.165
7. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:28.494 +1.642
8. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 1:28.525 +1.673
9. Carlos Sainz jr - Toro Rosso - 1:28.674 +1.822
10. Felipe Massa - Williams - 1:28.712 +1.860
11. Fernando Alonso - McLaren - 1:28.723 +1.871
12. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 1:29.086 +2.234
13. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing - 1:29.098 +2.246
14. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 1:29.217 +2.365
15. Felipe Nasr - Sauber 1:29.333 +2.481
16. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber 1:29.361 +2.509
17. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India 1:29.601 +2.749
18. Sergio Perez - Force India 1:29.707 +2.855
19. Will Stevens - Manor F1 Team 1:31.929 +5.077
20. Roberto Merhi - Manor F1 Team 1:32.751 +5.899

Lewis Hamilton kept Mercedes on top in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya as rising temperatures made it hard for drivers to improve their lap times. Hamilton set the pace with a 1’26.852 on the medium compound tyres – but that was fractionally slower than Nico Rosberg managed in the morning session on the harder rubber. The track temperature rose by over 20C between the two sessions and was nudging 50 degrees by the time the chequered flag came down on Friday’s running.
Rosberg was one of the first drivers to discover how quickly the tyre performance dropped off on the hot track – his medium tyre run was over three-quarters of a second slower than Hamilton subsequent effort. Sebastian Vettel separated the two silver cars, some four tenths of a second shy of Hamilton’s mark. An unhappy Kimi Raikkonen complained on several occasions about a lack of grip, which his race engineer assured him was typical of what the others were experiencing, and ended the session within a second of Hamilton’s time. The only other driver to break the 1’28s barrier was Daniil Kvyat in the Red Bull which was sporting a revised, shorter nose. He ended practice fifth ahead of Max Verstappen. Next up was Jenson Button who produced an eye-catching lap time in the freshly-livered McLaren good enough for seventh on the times sheets. Team mate Fernando Alonso was just two-tenths of a second slower, but they were separated by a tightly-knit group including Carlos Sainz Jnr and both Williams cars. For the second session running Daniel Ricciardo only managed a handful of laps. Once again Red Bull had to replace the Renault engine in his car, and he eventually made it out with less than ten minutes remaining. Romain Grosjean’s running was also hampered by technical problems. The most spectacular of which came when the engine cover on his Lotus shattered as he passed the start/finish straight, causing the session to be red-flagged while the debris was cleared up.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Result of the 1st practice session :

Nico Rosberg leads in FP1 :

1 Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 1m26.828s
2 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - 1m26.898s + 0.070s
3 Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari -1m27.806s + 0.978s
4 Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari - 1m27.832s + 1.004s
5 Carlos Sainz jr. - Toro Rosso/Renault -1m28.132s + 1.304s
6 Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso/Renault - 1m28.529s + 1.701s
7 Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull/Renault - 1m28.785s + 1.957s
8 Felipe Massa - Williams/Mercedes - 1m28.831s + 2.003s
9 Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull/Renault - 1m29.075s + 2.247s
10 Felipe Nasr - Sauber/Ferrari - 1m29.140s + 2.312s
11 Nico Hulkenberg - Force India/Mercedes - 1m29.409s + 2.581s
12 Raffaele Marciello - Sauber/Ferrari - 1m29.630s + 2.802s
13 Jolyon Palmer - Lotus/Mercedes - 1m29.676s + 2.848s
14 Susie Wolff - Williams/Mercedes - 1m29.708s + 2.880s
15 Fernando Alonso - McLaren/Honda - 1m29.813s + 2.985s
16 Jenson Button - McLaren/Honda - 1m29.817s + 2.989s
17 Sergio Perez - Force India/Mercedes - 1m30.096s + 3.268s
18 Pastor Maldonado - Lotus/Mercedes - 1m30.110s + 3.282s
19 Will Stevens - Marussia/Ferrari - 1m32.471s + 5.643s
20 Roberto Merhi - Marussia/Ferrari - 1m32.647s + 5.819s

Nico Rosberg pipped Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to top spot in the first Formula 1 free practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix. The German ended up at the top of the timesheets, just seven-hundredths of a second faster than Hamilton, with Mercedes almost a second clear of the rest of the field. Rosberg set the pace during the first half-an-hour, when all drivers have the use of a set of hard-compound Pirelli tyres that they cannot use once the first 30 minutes have finished. He set a best time of 1m27.333s during this period as he and Hamilton traded fastest times on rubber enduring enough to produce good pace for multiple laps. That was almost two-tenths faster than Hamllton could manage, with Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel, who did briefly go fastest, ending up third and 0.8s down. Once onto their new sets of hard Pirellis, Hamilton drew first blood, outpacing Rosberg by 45-thousandths of a second on their first flying laps, largely thanks to stunning pace in the first sector. But with Hamilton's second flier looking set to improve his advantage, he had a slow final sector, meaning that his first flying lap was to remain his fastest of the morning. Rosberg then improved, finding almost a tenth of a second in the final sector compared to his first lap, to establish a 0.070s margin in first place. Ferrari was best of the rest, with Vettel and Raikkonen separated by just 26-thousandths, but they were a second slower than Rosberg. Scuderia Toro Rosso pairing Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen ran strongly throughout the session to seal fifth and sixth place, with the lead Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat - sporting a new nose - in seventh, just under two seconds off the pace. It was another difficult session for Red Bull, with Kvyat's team-mate Daniel Ricciardo not able to complete any proper running until the final 10 minutes of the session. The Australian reported a problem when he applied full throttle on his outlap, and while he soon returned to the track for another attempt, he then disappeared into the garage for much of the session before restarting late on to go ninth fastest. As usual, Williams had a relatively low-profile Friday practice session on heavy fuel, with Felipe Massa eighth and development driver Susie Wolff, making her first FP1 appearance since last July's German GP weekend, 14th and 0.877s off the Brazilian. Sauber driver Felipe Nasr banged in a lap good enough for 10th, 2.312s off the pace, with 12 minutes remaining, which relegated Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg to 11th. Reserve driver Raffaele Marciello backed up team-mate Nasr in 12th place on his second FP1 appearance, with another backup driver, Jolyon Palmer, 13th in the faster of the Lotus-Mercedes. McLaren-Honda had a quiet start to the weekend with its upgraded MP4-30, with Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button setting near-identical pace in 15th and 16th places. At one stage, Button reported that "the balance is completely wrong" over the radio with the front wing he was trying, while Alonso had a late spin at Turn 12. Sergio Perez, who had a trip through the gravel exiting Turn 3 after 26 minutes, was 17th in the second Force India. Pastor Maldonado was only able to complete seven laps thanks to what the team described as a "minor gearbox issue", meaning his fastest time was his run on the first set of tyres, putting him down in 18th place and ahead only of the two Manor-run Marussias of Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi.

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Here are the times for this weekends GP :

Friday : 08/05
1st practice session : 10.00u - 11.30u
2nd practice session : 14.00u - 15.30u

Saturday : 09/05
3rd practice session : 11.00u - 12.00u
Qualifying : 14.00u - 15.00u

Sunday : 10/05
Race : 14.00u

Kind Regards
Shaky - Schumi

Spanish Grand Prix - Catalunya Circuit – Barcelona 8-9-10 may
in this week end after a break of three-week, the F1 championship returns in Spain at Barcelona for the 25th year in a row
the track, with its abrasive surface is a very demanding for tyres, particularly the front left,
and as last year, Pirelli has chosen the following compounds: “orange hard” and “white medium” for this Grand Prix
probably the majority of pilots will use a 2 pit-stop strategy

Podium 2011: Vettel(Red Bull) – 2° Hamilton and 3° Button. Fastest lap: Hamilton
pole position : Webber 1'20''981

Podium 2012: Maldonado(Williams) – 2° Alonso and 3° Raikkonen. Fastest lap: Grosjean
pole position : Maldonado 1'22''285 (best lap time Hamilton 1'21''707 but disqualified)

Podium 2013: Alonso(Ferrari) – 2° Raikkonen and 3° Massa. Fastest lap: Gutierrez
pole position : Rosberg 1'20''718

Podium 2014: Hamilton(Mercedes) – 2° Rosberg and 3° Ricciardo. Fastest lap: Vettel
pole position : Hamilton 1'25''232

the winners
2 wins: Alonso (2006-2013) and Raikkonen (2005-2008)
1 win: Hamilton(2014) Maldonado(2012) Vettel (2011) Button(2009) Massa(2007)

pole position
2 pole: Raikkonen (2005-2008)
1 pole: Alonso (2006); Massa(2007) Button(2009) Maldonado(2012) Rosberg(2013) and Hamilton(2014)

fastest lap
2: Massa(2006-2007) and Hamilton(2010-2011);
1: Raikkonen (2008); Grosjean(2012); and Vettel(2014);

Podium(winner+second+third) for current pilots at Barcelona(circuit de Catalunya)
7 (2 wins+4 second+1 third) Alonso
4 (2+1+1) Raikkonen
4 (1+2+1) Hamilton
3 (1+1+1) Massa
2 (1+0+1) Vettel
2 (1+0+1) Button
1 (1+0+0) Maldonado
1 (0+1+0) Rosberg
1 (0+0+1) Ricciardo

18 of the 24 Grands Prix staged at the Catalunya Circuit have been won starting from pole position,

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 4 RACES :

1. Mercedes 159 points
2. Ferrari 107 points
3. Williams 61 points
4. Red Bull 23 points
5. Sauber 19 points
6. Toro Rosso & Lotus 12 points
8. Force India 11 points

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 4 RACES :

1. L. Hamilton GBR Mercedes 93 points
2. N. Rosberg GER Mercedes 66 points
3. S. Vettel GER Ferrari 65 points
4. K. Raikkonen FIN Ferrari 42 points
5. F. Massa BRA Williams 31 points
6. V. Bottas FIN Williams 30 points
7. D. Ricciardo AUS Red Bull 19 points
8. F. Nasr BRA Sauber 14 points
9. R. Grosjean FRA Lotus 12 points
10. C. Sainz jr. ESP Toro Rosso, M. Verstappen NED Renault & N. Hulkenberg GER Force India 6 points
13. M. Ericsson SWE Sauber & S. Perez MEX Force India 5 points
15. D. Kvyat RUS Red Bull 4 points