Power Ranking the Formula 1 Teams After 2015 Spanish Grand Prix
Mercedes swept to their fourth victory of the year at the 2015 Formula One Spanish Grand Prix—but this time it was Nico Rosberg on the top step of the podium.
The German drove a faultless race from pole to record his first win of the current season. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton followed him home in second to complete a dominant one-two for the Silver Arrows; the closest non-Mercedes was more than 45 seconds down on Rosberg.
Not a good weekend for Ferrari.
But Williams will be pleased as they ran the Scuderia close, while the Renault-powered teams will be celebrating after every single one of their cars made it to the chequered flag.
As the teams head back to base to start their preparations for Monaco on May 24, here's how they rank.
Note on Power Rankings
F1 team power rankings ignore the points table and instead present a snapshot of where each team stands in relation to their competitors based on the three key factors of reliability, single-lap and long-run pace.
All position changes are relative to those in the previous set of rankings, created after the Bahrain Grand Prix. You can find them here.
10. Manor
1 of 10
No Change
There were no surprises for Manor as they remained way off the pace.
Will Stevens again outqualified team-mate Roberto Merhi as the pair locked out the back row of the grid. Stevens' time of one minute, 31.200 seconds was 2.8 seconds down on the next-slowest car.
Merhi got ahead at the start, and the two Manors were a minute behind the leader after just 10 laps. Stevens overtook just before their first round of stops, and though he was a little quicker, it made no real difference to the final outcome.
To their credit, the team got both cars to the end, but they were three (Stevens) and four (Merhi) laps down.
Manor remain 10th.
9. McLaren
2 of 10
No Change
McLaren gave a hint of progress on Saturday, but it didn't work out in the race.
Fernando Alonso qualified ahead of Jenson Button for the first time in 2015, a season-high for McLaren of 13th—but more than a second shy of making it through to Q3. Button was a place behind in 14th.
The Spaniard made a good start and, though he couldn't keep up with the front of the midfield scrap, was giving a good account of himself just outside the points. Unfortunately for his home crowd (and almost his front jack-man), a braking issue ended his race.
Button did at least make it to the end, but he had a difficult afternoon. Speaking to press after the race, via Autosport's Matt Beer, he said:
"The first 30-odd laps were the scariest 30 laps of my life. The rear just wasn't there. Any time I touched the throttle at any speed, the rear was gone. It just wasn't normal.
The rear felt like it wasn't connected to the front. It felt like every gust of wind had a massive snap. It was pretty horrific for the first half of the race. Switch changes and new tyres at the end helped a bit.
"
He finished 16th, and McLaren remain ninth.
8. Force India
3 of 10
Down One
Force India had a nightmare after a promising display in Bahrain.
Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez locked out the second-last row of the grid. It wasn't a close-run thing either; Hulkenberg in 17th was around four-tenths of a second away from making it through to Q2. Perez was a tenth slower.
The uncompetitive car meant neither man could really challenge on Sunday. Perez went for a medium-medium-hard two-stopper and benefited from the track position it gave him, but he could do no better than 13th.
Hulkenberg three-stopped and spent most of the race in traffic of some variety. Though quick at the end of the grand prix, he was unable to take advantage and ended up a poor 15th.
Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley told Reuters's Alan Baldwin the team's new "B-spec" car would "hopefully" be ready for Austria. It can't arrive soon enough.
The team drop a spot to eighth.
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7. Sauber
4 of 10
Down One
A poor weekend for Sauber was on the cards as early as Friday practice.
Felipe Nasr will have been disappointed with 15th, but Marcus Ericsson did even worse. The Swede was knocked out in Q1 after posting a lap half a second slower than Nasr and lined up 16th.
At the start, both rose a single place and ran in a close battle at the rear of the midfield. Nasr's early first stop saw him up to 12th during his middle stint, but the cars destined to score points slowly pulled away. He maintained the position all the way to the end.
Ericsson went a little longer on his first stint and emerged behind his team-mate. He closed up toward the end of Nasr's stint, but, though he had fresher tyres, could not find a way through.
He lost a place to Nico Hulkenberg at his second and final stop, coming home in 14th.
Sauber have now gone two races without a point. They fall one place to seventh.
6. Toro Rosso
5 of 10
Up Two
Toro Rosso's bizarre weekend will no doubt cause a few heads to be scratched in Faenza in the coming days.
Carlos Sainz Jr. qualified a brilliant fifth for his home race. His best time was "just" one-and-a-half seconds shy of pole and, more impressively, half a second better than anything the Red Bull "senior team" drivers could manage. Max Verstappen joined him on the third row.
Unfortunately, that was as good as it got.
Sainz went into free fall at the start, losing two places on the first lap and dropping to 11th by Lap 7. Remaining in broadly the same position all race long, he looked set to finish there before a late charge and two overtakes—one on Verstappen, the other on Daniil Kvyat—saw him salvage a creditable ninth.
Verstappen's slide back from sixth took a little longer than that of Sainz, but it always seemed inevitable. Though he emerged ahead of Sainz after their first stops, he crucially came in much earlier for his second.
This gave Sainz a tyre-life advantage in the latter stages, which he took full advantage of, relegating the Dutchman to 11th.
The STR10 clearly has a lot of raw speed, but the team are struggling to harness it. Toro Rosso rise two places to sixth.
5. Lotus
6 of 10
Down One
Lotus endured a tough time on their return to Europe but didn't leave empty-handed.
Romain Grosjean kept up his 100 percent record of outqualifying his team-mate, but he missed out on Q3 for the first time this year. He started 11th, with Pastor Maldonado close behind in 12th.
Maldonado had the better of the opening laps, slicing his way through to seventh. But the Venezuelan's curse struck again—one of his rear wing endplates came loose after a coming-together with Grosjean on Lap 4.
Per Autosport, the team were ordered by the FIA to remove the loose bodywork, and the resulting long pit stop dropped Maldonado down to 18th. He later retired on the 45th lap.
Grosjean survived the contact unscathed and settled into eighth. Fortune again smiled upon the Frenchman when he overshot the pit box at his second stop and hit his jack man; no one was injured, and he didn't lose much time.
He later came under pressure from Daniil Kvyat's Red Bull, but Grosjean held on to take eighth, his third points finish in a row.
Lotus fall a spot to fifth.
4. Red Bull
7 of 10
Up One
Red Bull were left red-faced on Saturday, but they clawed back a bit of pride in the race.
Daniil Kvyat outqualified Daniel Ricciardo for the first time in 2015, but his lap of one minute, 26.629 seconds was only good enough for eighth. The Australian was slowest of all in Q3 and started 10th.
When the lights went out, Kvyat had a shocker—swamped into Turn 1, the Russian ended the first lap in 13th. The rest of his afternoon was spent trying to recover lost places, and as he entered the final few laps it looked like he would finish ninth.
Carlos Sainz Jr. had other ideas. The Toro Rosso man attacked into Turn 1 on their final lap; Kvyat defended, somewhat overzealously, and the pair made contact. Sainz went across the run-off on the outside but was allowed to keep the place—Kvyat finished 10th.
Ricciardo made a better start and rose to seventh after making his first stop earlier than the cars ahead. As has often been the case of late, he had a lonely race from this point on. Seventh is where he finished.
Red Bull are perhaps a shade ahead of Lotus, and their reliability looked better in Spain. They rise one place to fourth.
3. Williams
8 of 10
No Change
Williams may be among the happiest teams after they appeared to take a chunk out of Ferrari's advantage.
Valtteri Bottas set the scene for a strong result by qualifying fourth—but he was still a whole second down on pole-sitter Nico Rosberg. Felipe Massa was a further second slower and lined up ninth.
As the lights went out, Bottas made a good start and was alongside Lewis Hamilton going into Turn 1, but he had to cede the position as the Mercedes driver hung on around the outside. He settled into fourth.
Previously, we might have expected the Williams to be easy prey for a Ferrari, but Bottas showed excellent pace. He kept Kimi Raikkonen behind all race long and finished only 15 seconds down on third-placed Sebastian Vettel.
From his poor qualifying slot, Massa made a good start, but was crowded out at the exit of Turn 2. Eighth after the first lap, he rapidly rose to sixth, and that's where he stayed until the end.
Williams may slip back a little at Monaco, but Canada looks promising. They remain third.
2. Ferrari
9 of 10
No Change
Per Sky Sports' Ted Kravitz, Ferrari brought a whopping 16 upgrades to Barcelona. Maybe they changed too much.
Sebastian Vettel continued his dominance over Kimi Raikkonen in qualifying, setting the third-fastest time. The Finn seemed far from happy with his car, and he could only manage seventh.
To make up for his poor display, Raikkonen had a first lap to rival any in recent years. He nailed Carlos Sainz Jr. into Turn 1 before getting the better of fellow quick-starter Felipe Massa around the outside into Turn 3. After Sainz briefly fought back, Max Verstappen was Raikkonen's third victim around the outside of Turn 6.
But countryman Valtteri Bottas proved a tougher nut to crack. Raikkonen was only marginally quicker than the improved FW37 and had to settle for fifth.
Vettel passed Lewis Hamilton into Turn 1, but it soon became clear the Brit was far quicker. He got back past by switching to a three-stop strategy, leaving two-stopping Vettel to come home a distant third.
Ferrari will be disappointed to see their gap to Mercedes grow—but they still remain second.
1. Mercedes
10 of 10
No Change
It was a weekend of normal service for Mercedes.
Nico Rosberg took his first pole of the season with Lewis Hamilton completing an all-silver front row. The closest non-Mercedes, Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari, was nearly eight-tenths of a second slower.
The pair drifted apart at the start as slow-starting Hamilton lost out to Vettel on the run down to Turn 1. Rosberg's good start saw him retain the lead, and he was never seriously troubled from that point on.
A sluggish pit stop prevented Hamilton from leapfrogging Vettel at the first round of stops, but switching to a three-stop strategy did the trick.
Significantly quicker than the Ferrari man, Hamilton eased away from Vettel to finish second; up ahead, winner Rosberg crossed the line a massive 45 seconds clear of the third-placed car.
Mercedes appear to have increased their advantage. They remain first.
Timing and position data used throughout sourced from the official F1 website and the FIA.
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