Renault’s Spanish ace nearly crashed out on the parade lap
Imagine the scene if Fernando Alonso had spun off before the start of his home grand prix, in front of more than 100,000 adoring fans. We almost didn’t have to imagine it – Alonso very nearly did lose his car during the parade lap, whilst weaving from side to side to warm up his tyres. His Renault snaked onto the grass but he recovered in time, with a wall looming fast, and so managed to avoid what would have been one of the most embarrassing cock-ups in F1 history.
Yet again the pole sitter won in Spain, a damning indictment of a track that allows almost zero overtaking. Put yourself in Bernie Ecclestone’s tiny, handmade leather shoes – would you scratch the Spanish GP from next season’s F1 calendar? Vote below:
Grid Crasher dishes out the green and red lights after an eventful race in Barcelona
Five winners:
1. Kimi Raikkonen He hardly put a wheel wrong all weekend and kept team-mate Felipe Massa at bay with ease. Seems very happy with the set-up of his Ferrari now, which is ominous news for the rest of the field. Who can stop him retaining his world title now?
2. Lewis Hamilton As we predicted, the British driver bounced back after a nightmare race in Bahrain – his gutsy move on Robert Kubica essentially ensured a place on the podium. However, the McLaren is still a good half second off the pace of Ferrari, which means he could struggle to climb higher than the third step this season.
Barcelona football star attends Spanish Grand Prix
Little Lionel Messi was one of several non-motorsport celebs to show their face at the Circuit de Catalunya for the Spanish Grand Prix. The Argentine maestro was rested at the weekend for Barca’s Primera Liga game against Deportivo (they lost 2-0), allowing him the opportunity to check out the four-wheeled action.
Watch McLaren’s flying Finn play hide and seek in a tyre wall
Proof that a modern Formula 1 car is almost indestructible. Ten years ago, this incident may well have cost Kovalainen his life; F1’s zero-tolerance attitude to safety in the 21st century means that a driver can almost walk away from a huge crash like this. As a precaution, the Finn had to be airlifted to hospital, but he suffered no injury apart from minor concussion after the smash.
Kimi and team-mate Massa dominate first practice session
Curcuit de Catalunya, Barcelona: the two Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa set the pace in first practice session at the Spanish Grand Prix. Raikkonen was just five-hundredths of a second quicker than his in-form Brazilian team-mate, with Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren half a second down in third place. There was also encouraging news for Fernando Alonso, who piloted his new, improved Renault into a respectable sixth place, behind BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica and McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen. For a full list of this morning’s lap times, step into our motorhome…
