Categories: FeatureFeatures

Chris Medland's Spanish Grand Prix preview

Start of the race, Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Mercedes AMG F1 Team 11.05.2014. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 5, Spanish Grand Prix, Barcelona, Spain, Race Day. - www.xpbimages.com, EMail: requests@xpbimages.com - copy of publication required for printed pictures. Every used picture is fee-liable. © Copyright: Charniaux / XPB Images

Four races in to the new season and we have a fight on our hands, but who is about to go up a gear? Lewis Hamilton has been almost faultless so far this year but has still seen Sebastian Vettel beat him in Malaysia, causing Mercedes to up its game and show it remains the dominant force in China and Bahrain. However, Ferrari is clearly a threat and having made such big progress over the winter, can it close the gap even further in Spain? A number of teams will bring upgrades, but McLaren remains one to watch, with an updated power unit set to yield another step forward and a car which looks to have potential.

FORM GUIDE

Mercedes took another victory in Bahrain but Ferrari offered up a serious challenge in qualifying as Sebastian Vettel too second on the grid. While Ferrari’s race pace always seems better relative to its Saturday performance, Mercedes had just enough to hold on, but brake issues on both cars which saw Kimi Raikkonen take second and almost snatch victory was a sign of how hard the defending champions are being pushed. Williams made a step forward too, able to utilise its tyres in similar fashion to the two teams ahead, while McLaren’s progress continued as Fernando Alonso finished just one place outside the points. Red Bull was hit by more reliability issues which will see Daniel Ricciardo use his fourth power unit in Barcelona, but the team will hope the return to Europe is the turning point this year.

2014 RESULT

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 1:25.232

Top three: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)

Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1:28.918

SESSION TIMES (All times local)

FP1: 10:00 - 11:30

FP2: 14:00 - 15:30

FP3: 11:00 - 12:00

Qualifying: 14:00 - 15:00

Race: 1400

TYRE CHOICES

WEATHER FORECAST

It’s only early May, but Formula One is in for a hot weekend in Barcelona. Friday will see the highest temperatures, with sunshine predicted for the full day. Saturday and Sunday are set to be slightly cooler with some cloud cover at times, but warm temperatures and a threat of rain which currently reads 0% should result in relatively stable conditions for the teams from one session to the next.

PODIUM PREDICTION

1st - Lewis Hamilton

2nd - Nico Rosberg

3rd - Kimi Raikkonen

2014 WINNING SHOT

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.