Fernando Alonso captures home GP in Barcelona
Monday, May 15th
Winning Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya, Spaniard Fernando Alonso delighted the home crowd, the defending World Champion crossed the finish line 18.502 seconds ahead of Ferrari's Michael Schumacher.
The victory was Alonso's third of the season, first ever on his home track and 11th of his Formula One career.
Alonso and his Renault brought the field to the green flag for 66 laps of racing and the anticipation of another battle between the hometown hero and Michael Schumacher.
After the first lap where Alonso and teammate Giancarlo Fisichella got off to a perfect start, Alonso built a three-second margin on Schumacher. On each early lap he expanded on his margin. His lead was more than four seconds on his teammate and five on Schumacher after the first handful of laps.
The Spaniard's torrid pace continued through the first dozen laps increasing his margin to 8.1 seconds over Fisichella and 10.2 over Schumacher.
Alonso continued his attack, but was Fisichella's job to stay between his teammate and the seven-time champion Schumacher?
The defending World Champion came in on lap 16, yielding the lead to his teammate Fisichella. One lap later, Fisichella came in giving Schumacher and Ferrari a clear track for the first time.
Schumacher was still on the track when Juan Montoya spun, leaving his McLaren in a precarious position. A "safety car" caution would be a big advantage to the Ferrari and not surprisingly one never came out. Montoya's car was removed and the race continued.
Schumacher's lead was 13.4 seconds, not enough to keep the lead when he pitted for the first time, but enough to get past Fisichella for second place.
Alonso still owned a double-digit lead as the drivers settled in for the second stint. It was in this segment of the race last week at the Nurburgring that Schumacher made a charge at Alonso.
Schumacher was matching Alonso's pace despite having more fuel on board. The additional laps might be enough to overtake the Spaniard after the second round of pit stops.
The gap was not closing, in fact, Alonso was expanding his margin slightly as the field passed the halfway point. His pace was adding one to two tenths on every lap and after posting the fastest lap of the day on lap 39 (1:16.723), Alonso's margin was 13.4 seconds.
Alonso pitted on lap 40 once again giving up the lead.
Could Schumacher make up the time in the next half dozen laps?
It appeared unlikely as despite being on a full fuel load, Alonso was still posting laps within two tenths of the Ferrari.
Schumacher's lead over Alonso was just 10.8 seconds, about 12 seconds short of what he would need to keep the lead after his final stop. The German came in on lap 46 giving the lead back to Alonso and sending a roar throughout the stands as they realized the dream of a Spaniard winning the Spanish Grand Prix was within sight.
Alonso continued to click off laps in the one minute, 17-second bracket, better than Schumacher could muster. Only a mechanical failure or a huge mistake could halt Alonso now. His margin was 15.7 seconds with 10 laps remaining.
The final 10 laps were a celebration for Alonso and his fans as he took the checkered flag well in front of his rival.
Fisichella, Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello and Nick Heidfeld completed the points-scoring positions.
Alonso now owns a 15-point lead in the championship over Schumacher (54-39).
The next race on the F1 schedule is the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, May 28th.
Source: Vipsports
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