Mercedes AMG Dominates Spanish Grand Prix
After his win at the Spanish Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg begins to close points gap with teammate Lewis Hamilton
Silver Arrows kick off European season in style with one-two finish in Barcelona!
Nico took his first victory of the 2015 season – the ninth of his Formula One career to date – with a superbly controlled drive from pole position
Lewis recovered from a poor start to clinch the 75th podium of his Grand Prix career in second place thanks to a blistering pair of stints within a bold three stop strategy
Lewis now leads Nico in the Drivers’ World Championship by 20 points, with MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS heading Ferrari by 70 points in the Constructors’ battle
2015 Spanish Grand Prix
| Driver | Chassis No. | Grid | Result | Fastest Lap |
| Nico Rosberg | F1 W06 Hybrid/04 | P01 | P01 | 1:29.109 (Lap 53) |
| Lewis Hamilton | F1 W06 Hybrid/01 | P02 | P02 | 1:28.270 (Lap 54) |
| Strategy | Start | Stop 1 | Stop 2 | Stop 3 |
| No. 6 | Medium (Used) | Medium (New, L15) | Hard (New, L45) | N/A |
| No. 44 | Medium (Used) | Medium (New, L13) | Hard (New, L32) | Medium (Used, L51) |
| Weather | Clear, dry, hot | |
| Temperatures | Air: 25 – 28°C | Track: 46 – 52°C |
Nico Rosberg
We had a perfect weekend here in Spain. We have a fantastic car and everybody did a really great job in the break, so thanks to the team for everything. My start was great for the first time this season. From there I was able to control the pace and I never felt in danger throughout the whole race. I’m so happy about this win. It’s still early days in the season so it’s good to close the points gap to Lewis. I will continue to push hard – starting with a home race for me in Monaco!
2015 Spanish Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton
I got off to a poor start with too much wheel spin and had to fight hard just to keep third. From there it was always going to be tough as it’s difficult to run right behind another car here and even tougher to pass. I managed to stay close enough to Seb before the first stops but unfortunately we lost a bit of time there. In the end, we went for a three stop strategy to try something different. That call was made quite early on as it was clear it wouldn’t have worked to stay out for that long and, again, passing on track was almost impossible. Luckily we had the pace to make it work. Nico was then 22 seconds ahead with 15 laps to go which was a big gap. I pushed really hard to close up until about 6 laps from the end but I was only gaining about a second per lap which wasn’t enough. So, damage limitation on a difficult weekend for me. But I’m grateful that I could score some good points for the team.
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
That feels like two P1 results today after such a demanding race. Nico did the perfect job this afternoon: he had a great start, built the gaps that he needed and made his two-stop strategy work in a fantastic way. He was controlled and composed throughout. Lewis lost a position on the start, then had a slow first pit stop, and that left him stuck behind Vettel’s Ferrari in the second stint. At that point, we knew that the only chance of getting past Sebastian was to do something different with the strategy but it was still a bold move to try the three-stopper. It was only going to work if Lewis managed to overtake on track and he made it work with great moves on Räikkönen and Bottas – he was decisive when he needed to be and showed some incredible pace on the prime tyre. As Lewis was building the gap he needed ahead of Sebastian in his third stint, we actually compromised Nico a little bit by leaving him out longer than optimum before his second stop. This made sure the two cars didn’t trip over each other on track, while running different strategies, and gave Lewis the clear air he needed to build the gap to secure P2. Following Lewis’ final stop, it was clear after a few laps pushing that the pace difference between the cars wasn’t big enough for him to challenge for the win, so we then told both drivers to bring the car home. It’s a great feeling to take a one-two finish at this circuit, which is a really severe test for the complete car package, and a confirmation that the updates we brought in a number of areas correlated to the track and delivered a good performance improvement. Well done to everybody back at both factories, now we will get our heads down and start working for Monaco.
Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical)
We’re absolutely delighted with today’s result. Nico took an excellent pole yesterday, which put him in prime position to drive a controlled and disciplined race from the front. This is precisely what he did to take a well-earned first win of the season. It’s important for us as a team to have two drivers competing and pushing each other – which is exactly what we’re seeing again this year – so well done to Nico on a very strong weekend. For Lewis, the race didn’t start off well with a lot of wheel spin off the line. From there, it was impossible for him to overtake Sebastian with the very marginal pace advantage we enjoyed in the first stint. We therefore attempted the undercut with an early stop but, unfortunately for Lewis, this didn’t work out after a problem with the left rear in the pit stop, so our apologies to him for that. This then required us to pull out something more extreme with the three stop strategy – which seemed like a bit of a long shot at the time. But Lewis’ pace on the prime tyre and then again on the second set of options was extraordinary. This enabled him to break free enough to avoid an overtaking situation before the third stop, making it a much more comfortable second place that it could have been. So, a huge congratulations to everyone on an important result to start the European season and a special thanks to everyone at our factories for all their hard work.
Nico Rosberg Finishes 7th at the Spanish Grand Prix
Nico Rosberg finished the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in 7th place while teammate Michael Schumacher retired
MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS driver Nico Rosberg finished the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in seventh place Sunday while teammate Michael Schumacher retired on lap 12 due to a collision with Bruno Senna. Schumacher ran into the back of the Senna in Turn One on the 12th lap. Schumacher later criticised Senna, but Senna said his tires were shot and that knowing Schumacher’s to be fresher he was trying to move left out of his way when the misunderstanding occurred. Schumacher was given a five-place grid penalty for the next race in Monaco for causing the collision.
Pastor Maldonado was the winner in Barcelona, thanks to the Venezuelan’s unexpected speed in his Williams FW34. This was the British team’s first victory since Brazil 2004.
- Nico followed a three-stop tire strategy, pitting on laps 9, 22 and 40
- Nico’s tire usage was soft (9 laps), soft (13 laps), hard (18 laps), hard (26 laps)
- Michael retired in turn one at the start of lap 12 following a collision with Bruno Senna’s Williams
- The 2012 season has now seen five winners from five races, something that last occurred in 1983
| Drivers | Car No. | Chassis No. | Race Result / Fastest Lap |
| Nico Rosberg | 8 | F1 W03 / 03 | P7 1:28.150 |
| Michael Schumacher | 7 | F1 W03 / 05 | DNF |
| Weather | Warm | |
| Temperatures | Air: 22-23°C | Track: 31-36°C |
Nico Rosberg
“That was a difficult day for us and a very strange race. We didn’t manage to find the right tyre management so I lost two positions towards the end of the race on my last stint which was 26 very long laps. The one positive thing is that I was able to defend my position against Lewis and keep seventh place, rather than eighth. Once again today we saw a surprising and well deserved win which is good for Formula One. Congratulations to Pastor and Frank at my old team Williams! Now I’m looking forward to my home race in Monaco in two weeks with some updates on the car.”
Michael Schumacher
“Obviously I am not happy with the outcome of the race as I think we could have achieved some nice points today. But then this is sometimes what you have to go through in racing. It is not easy to see from the TV replays but what happened from my viewpoint was that he went to the right to defend the inside line, and then suddenly, shortly before the braking point, went to the left. When you are so tight together in the braking zone, you have no other choice than to try to react and avoid hitting but it was too late. It is a shame, as I said, but then what I will do now is to look ahead to the next race and try to attack there.”
Bob Bell
“We spent our afternoon racing hard with Red Bull and McLaren – but it was only for places in the bottom half of the top ten today. We didn’t have the basic pace we needed this afternoon, and we were hampered further with an issue on Nico’s car. There was a clear loss of downforce measurable on the data, which made it even more difficult for Nico to look after the tyres properly, but whether this was down to damage or another factor is something we will have to investigate this evening. Naturally, it was a disappointment to lose Michael early in the race, after his pace had looked reasonable in the opening stint. The team did a good job on the stops and I believe we made the right tactical decisions to protect Nico’s position at critical moments of the race, even though he ultimately ran out of grip in the closing laps on a long final stint. The basic fact is that we needed more pace today, which is what we must bring over the coming races. And we will.”
Norbert Haug
“A difficult race for us, and Nico went from fifth to seventh place in the last laps because our car could not use the tyres during such a long stint, so he could not repeat the lap times he had done before. Michael had an accident with a slower car which he attempted to overtake. After five races, there are five different winners from five different teams, and I am told this last happened 30 years ago. Congratulations to the Williams team and to Pastor Maldonado today – well done and great for them to win on such a demanding circuit. After five races and a quarter of the season, Nico is 20 points behind the leader. We have to raise our game in the next races and during the remainder of the season and I am sure that all our team members will work very hard to make the next steps and to achieve a better level of performance than we had today.”