Spanish Grand Prix 2013

Last years Spanish Grand Prix saw Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado take a hugely surprising win in his Williams, after managing to outwit the experienced Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso at the Circuit de Catalunya. It was a thrilling tactical race, won by Maldonado who was only his second season of F1 racing. The success for Williams (which their first win since 2004) was all down to the timing of pit-stops, which just allowed Maldonado to keep himself in front, although he was helped a bit by Alonso waiting too long to go in and take his second pit stop of the race. But it wasn’t just a great win for Maldonado, it was a race in which he had gone from pole position as well. It was a great result, but for the 2012 drive, you will be looking towards the favourites.

The favourite of the favourites will naturally be Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel. The German took two wins in the first four races of the 2013 season to start laying some dominance down as he goes in search of his fourth consecutive title. There are just signs, even though still early in the season, that could have ominous bearings for the rest of the season. Vettel was a comfortable winner of the Bahrain Grand Prix ahead of Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen in mid April and the way he dominated the field sets him up to the be the one to catch again. He found some incredible speed in his Red Bull and if the teams have sorted their set up issues in the new regulations, then he is going to take some stopping.

Sebastian Vettel has winning experience at the Spanish Grand Prix a well, taking the win in 2011 but could only managed a sixth place finish last season after going from pole position in the race. He picked up a race penalty and had to stop to get his front wing changed in the race, but still didn’t produce a bad finish. The Red Bull team do have an advantage of speed and innovation over the rest of the field and Sebastian Vettel is the one to press it all home. There have been seven different winners of the Spanish Grand Prix in the last seven seasons, so there is some unpredictability at the event, but Vettel is usually the one to demolish that.

Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen in his Lotus, sitting second in the 2013 F1 Drivers World Championship, is a two time winner of the Spanish Grand Prix, winning it both with McLaren and Ferrari in his career. Raikkonen looks to be the main challenger to Vettel for the world title this season and will want to desperately try and close the gap. Even with the pace and power of the Lotus, he still couldn’t make a dent in Vettel’s lead in Bahrain, and that means ascendancy should still be with the German world champion. But Raikkonen has been consistent with his finishes this season and should be a contender.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso won the Spanish Grand Prix back in 2006. The Ferrari driver went into the new season with big confidence after a title challenge which only faded away in the final race of last season. But even at the early stage of heading into the fifth race of the season, he recognised that Ferrari need to pull their socks up and get as near to perfection as possible. They were bothered with problems over the first four races of the season, throwing away points, points which could prove costly in the long run..Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes, which isn’t as far away from the big guns as many had expected, remains the best outside shot in the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix betting,