Nico Rosberg wins the Spanish GP

Nico Rosberg takes his first victory of the season after dominating the Spanish GP contested on the Catalyna circuit in Barcelona where he started from pole. The German finally responds to his rival Lewis Hamilton who dominated this start of the season and who was in more difficulty this weekend. The Briton had to work hard to regain 2nd place from Sebastian Vettel after losing a position at the start and maintaining a 20-point lead over his teammate.

Sebastian Vettel had to settle for the last step of the podium after being caught by the driver Mercedes who made a 3rd save. The German is ahead Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Räikkönen, the two Finns passing the checkered flag while grouped together. Felipe Massa completes the top six of the three leading teams.

Daniel Ricciardo place first Red Bull in 7th place in front Romain Grosjean. Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz Jr complete the top ten in front of the STR10 Max Verstappen who gave in to his teammate three laps from the finish. The places of the Russian and the Spaniard remain provisional, the local driver having had contact with the RB11 forcing the latter to cut the first turn.

No miracles for McLaren. Fernando Alonso retired following brake problems while Jenson Button took only 16th place. Pastor Maldonado also had to return to the garage due to a damaged rear wing.

Discover the analysis of the Spanish GP carried out by our special correspondents in the 2011 issue of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.