Sebastian Vettel has become the first driver since Alonso in 2013 in Spain to take Ferrari to the top step of the podium. Few would’ve believed it this early in the season if winter testing was anything to go by. As said on the podium interview by Vettel they beat the Mercedes pair “fair and square”. Aided by the appearance of safety car for Ericsson’s spin into first corner, Vettel worked out his strategy brilliantly as when the front runners elected to pit he stayed out on the clear air. He extended the lead when Hamilton took time to come through the pack and on the later stages made consistent runs on what seemed to be their favourite tyre, the white-banded mediums. He kept a healthy lead of 10 seconds to convincingly beat Lewis Hamilton and took the chequered flag. Nico Rosberg finished third and from the race it was evident that his scrap with Vettel has just begun.
Raikkonen finished just outside the podium with a strong show in his later stints after enduring puncture before the safety car. Bottas made a last lap move to seal fifth ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa. It was nice to see both the Williamses were allowed to race against each other. Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen drove an immaculate race to complete seventh and made his way into the record books by becoming the youngest points scorer ever in history. Kvyat was allowed to let through Ricciardo in the dying moments of the race by Red Bull as the Australian rounded out with a lowly tenth. While running as high as eighth Alonso was asked to retire due to issues with the car. Shame on Button, who could’ve finished tenth, as well as he had to retire after problems with the engine. Grosjean finished eleventh ahead of Nasr, Perez, Hulkenberg and Manor’s Merhi.