Alonso Brings Spanish Fans Victory at Catalunya

Fernando Alonso scored his second win of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix. Behind him, Kimi Raikkonen scored his third consecutive podium with the second-place finish, and Felipe Massa is really back after a rough season last year with a third place in Spain, his first podium of the season. 

It was a very exciting Spanish Grand Prix from the very start, and Alonso showed race-winning pace from the very first lap. Alonso started fifth but made some great moves to make it to third in the first three corners.

The MercedesMercedes-BenzGermany, 1924 > present197 models
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cars showed yet again that while they have superb qualifying pace, it does not translate to race pace. Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton started first and second, but Hamilton started falling down the pack from the first lap. Rosberg fought a good fight and kept his lead up until the first round of pit stops, but it did not last much longer than that. 

The fight for the win was a three-way fight among Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Raikkonen. Vettel controlled much of the middle portion of the race, but Alonso and Raikkonen were constantly nipping at his heels. Alonso and Raikkonen traded the lead back in forth during their pit stops, but Alonso's strategy won out. 

Red BullRed BullAustria, 2004 > present12 models
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struggled with their tires again in Spain. Both drivers used a four-stop strategy, which was enough to get Vettel and Webber into fourth and fifth respectively. 

Romain Grosjean suffered a rear suspension failure to knock him out of the race, and Giedo van der Garde had a rear wheel fall off of the car. Jean-Eric Vergne retired as well.

Fernando Alonso moves up to third in the World Drivers' Championship with 72 points. Massa moves to fifth place over Webber. Raikkonen is now four points behind Vettel. It also means that Raikkonen and Alonso are within a race win of taking over the championship from Vettel.

FerrariFerrariItaly, 1947 > present233 models
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moves into second place in the World Constructors' Championship due to the strong performance of its cars and Grosjeans' retirement. It now has a six-point lead over LotusLotusUnited Kingdom, 1952 > present68 models
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and is 14 points behind Red Bull.