2010 Spanish GP: Webber cruises to victory, Hamilton crashes late

Mark Webber dominated the 2010 Spanish GP at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from the first lap to the last. He won for Red Bull from pole position ahead of Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and his team-mate Sebastian Vettel. In the end, though, everyone was talking about the drama on the penultimate lap: Lewis Hamilton was comfortably in second place when a tyre failed on his McLaren and he slid into the tyre barrier.

According to Grandprix.com, it was the third win of Webber's career and his first of the season. It was also the tenth consecutive win in Barcelona from pole position.

Both Red Bulls lined up on the front row, with Hamilton and Alonso behind them. On the long run down to the first corner, Hamilton and Alonso tried to get past Vettel. They couldn't, and the top six held their grid positions. Webber then pulled away from the field lap by lap. Further back on the opening lap, Robert Kubica (Renault) and Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) made contact. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) had to take to the grass to avoid them.

The only real change at the front came in the pits. Shortly after lap 15, the field made its only scheduled tyre change. Red Bull lost around four seconds at Vettel's stop. Hamilton was still out on track at that point and rejoined ahead of the German after his own stop. From then on Hamilton ran second, but Webber was well clear of him. The Australian eventually won by around 24 seconds.

Behind the front-runners, Michael Schumacher and world champion Jenson Button produced the most exciting duel of the afternoon. Schumacher switched to the harder tyres two laps before Button. McLaren blamed a slipping clutch for Button's slow stop. As a result, Button rejoined behind the Mercedes, and Schumacher moved ahead of him at the end of Turn One.

The Englishman had the quicker car for long stretches but couldn't find a way past. Schumacher always covered the inside line into Turn One, and Button's attempts around the outside came to nothing. Schumacher started sixth and finished fourth. According to Motor Sport, it was the first weekend of the season on which he was faster than team-mate Rosberg in every session. Rosberg, who had already been forced onto the grass at the start, finished only 13th, a lap down.

The closing laps threw the race into disarray once more. With around twelve laps to go, Vettel lost his brakes going into a corner. According to Wikipedia, this happened on lap 54. He slid into the gravel and damaged his tyres. In the pits he was given new tyres and checked over. At first he was set to retire, but he carried on to salvage points and dropped behind Alonso in the process. The team later found a delaminated brake disc. For the rest of the race Vettel nursed his brakes and drove carefully to the finish.

That seemed to leave Hamilton safe in second place. He also set the fastest lap of the race on lap 59. On the penultimate lap, his left-front tyre suddenly deflated under braking for Turn Three. The McLaren shot across the gravel and into the tyre barrier. According to Grandprix.com, initial investigations pointed to a wheel rim damaged by debris as the cause. Because Hamilton had completed more than 90 per cent of the distance, he was still classified 14th. He lost eleven places relative to his grid position, making him the big loser of the day. Alonso inherited second place, to the delight of the Spanish crowd. Despite his problems, Vettel moved back onto the podium.

• Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus) did not even start. His gearbox software tried to engage two gears at once.
• Bruno Senna (HRT) crashed on the very first lap and hit the barrier.
• Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber) picked up a puncture on the opening lap after contact with Sébastien Buemi. He retired after 18 laps with the after-effects of the collision.
• Karun Chandhok (HRT) was first hit by Felipe Massa while being lapped, then lost his front wing after contact with Jaime Alguersuari. Suspension damage ended his race after 27 laps.
• Buemi (Toro Rosso) was first penalised for an unsafe rejoin. He retired after 42 laps with a hydraulic failure.
• Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India) parked his car after 64 laps with an engine failure but was still classified 15th.

Rubens Barrichello (Williams) and Vitaly Petrov (Renault) gained the most places, eight each. Barrichello went from 17th on the grid to ninth and scored two points. Petrov came from 19th on the grid to eleventh and only just missed out on the points. Alguersuari gained five places and took a point in tenth.

Adrian Sutil brought his Force India home seventh from eleventh on the grid. Massa finished sixth despite the wing damage he picked up while lapping a backmarker, with Kubica eighth. Among the new teams, Jarno Trulli (Lotus), Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi (Virgin) finished several laps down. Nico Hülkenberg was 16th, two laps down. Alongside Hamilton, the losers included de la Rosa, who lost ten places, and Rosberg, who dropped five.

After five races, it was very tight at the top. Button stayed in front on 70 points, while Alonso moved up to second and closed in on 67 points. Vettel was third with 60 points. Webber gained four places and sat fourth on 53 points. Behind him came Rosberg on 50 points, then Hamilton and Massa on 49 points each. In the constructors' 2010 championship standings, only six points separated McLaren (119), Ferrari (116) and Red Bull (113).

Grandprix.com pointed out that Webber was the fourth different winner in five races. More than anything, the race showed one thing: Red Bull had by far the fastest car in Barcelona. Motor Sport wrote that the rivals urgently needed to find a way to close that gap. Without the brake failure and the botched pit stop, a one-two for the team would have been entirely possible.