F1 Spanish Grand Prix: Come Together

f1-2016-spain-verstappenThe big controversy of the last week in Formula One was completely overshadowed in less than two hours on Sunday. Red Bull’s driver swap dominated conversation from when it was made official last Friday through to the start of the race on Sunday. After a fourth turn collision between the two Mercedes, suddenly that controversy was put on the back burner and a new Mercedes one rose to the forefront.

The other thing that ended the Red Bull controversy? That would be Max Verstappen taking the opportunity that Red Bull handed him and scoring his first victory in Formula One in his first race for Red Bull Racing.

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F1 Power Rankings: Spanish Grand Prix

Four races into the 2016 Formula One World Championship and there is one driver clearly out front of the field. Nico Rosberg has won the first four races of the season and has a near two-race lead over the rest of the field, including teammate Lewis Hamilton. While it’s a great run of form, how much longer will it last? We try to answer that in this weekend’s F1 Power Rankings.

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Formula One: 2016 Barcelona 2nd Test Recap

The second of the two-week Formula One pre-season testing program wrapped up last week in Spain at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. As the final preparations for the 2016 World Championship continued, teams switched their focus from speed to locking down any reliability concerns they may have. Some teams were very successful. Others were wondering if the best way to save money was to virtually eliminate all running outside of race weekends.

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Formula One: 2016 Barcelona 1st Test Recap

f1-2016-barcelona-test-vettel-rosbergThe 2016 challengers for the Formula One World Championship turned their first wheels in anger around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for one of two pre-season tests ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. While the whole picture can be gleaned from testing, we probably did somethings in terms of pace and reliability.

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F1 Spanish Grand Prix: The Other Guy

f1-2015-spain-rosberg-victoryFor all the passion that the Spanish have for motorsports, they really do have a terrible Grand Prix. The Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona has been absolutely dreadful since they put in the Tilke-chicane in the final sector. They can support four MotoGP races but I’d put it down to high ticket prices and terrible racing as to why Spain can seem to barely support one Formula One Grand Prix.

Anyway, there was a race yesterday in Spain. For the first time this season, Nico Rosberg found his way to both the pole and the top step of the podium as he scored his first win of 2015.

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F1 Power Rankings: Spanish Grand Prix

After a three-week break, the Formula One circus resumes for the month of May. For the first time this season, the teams will be able to enjoy home cooking just a little bit longer as the European portion of the season begins in Spain.

What will the move to Europe bring? Some new aero upgrades, races starting at a more reasonable time for North American fans and probably more of the same at the head of the field. Until there are some serious changes to the rules formula, we’re going to be waiting a long time to see if Mercedes slips.

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Formula One: 2014 Barcelona In-Season Test Recap

While the first five races of the season have gone exactly as planned for those who paid attention to the pre-season testing, that doesn’t mean that testing follows the same script. With Mercedes testing the new “megaphone” exhaust and the other teams on various testing programs, there were a couple of unexpected drivers and teams topping the time sheets during the second in-season test of 2014.

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F1 Spanish Grand Prix: Gone in 60 Seconds

f1-2014-spain-lewis-hamilton-eddie-jordanOver the last four years, Formula One fans complained about the dull dominance of Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel as they won four-straight Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships with numerous race wins along the way. Before that, there was five straight years of Ferrari dominance with Michael Schumacher leading the way.

This season, things are shaping up to be worse than the Red Bull / Vettel years and approaching Schumacher / Ferrari levels of dominance. Lewis Hamilton won his fourth-straight race after retiring from the pole in the other race in what is shaping up to be a dreadfully dull year for Formula One.

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F1 Spanish GP: Send Them Home Happy

When putting on live events, most promoters and performers have a simple philosophy: “Send the fans home happy.” Well, Fernando Alonso and Scuderia Ferrari certainly did that at yesterday’s Spanish Grand Prix as the Spanish driver and local hero took his second career win in the Spanish Grand Prix.

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F1 Power Rankings: Spanish Grand Prix

After four flyaway races to start the season, the Formula One World Championship returns to Europe to start the heart of the season. The European season runs from May through to mid-September will separate the pretenders from the contenders. Given that we’ve had a pretty varied set of results for the first four races, a little settling into a groove is probably due.

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