Mercedes show their hand with 1.6s pace advantage

2015 Spanish Grand Prix lap times and fastest laps

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Mercedes were some eight-tenths of a second per lap quicker in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. They tend not to have the same kind of performance advantage in the races, and when they do the desire not to over-stress their machinery means we rarely see it.

But with Lewis Hamilton running a three-stop strategy and getting in clear air near the end of the race, more of Mercedes’ true performance was revealed. None of their rivals got within 1.6 seconds of his best lap time, and Nico Rosberg cruised to victory with a best lap 0.8s faster than anyone else managed – the same margin we saw in qualifying.

Rosberg finished the race three-quarters of a minute ahead of the next non-Mercedes: Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari, which lost on average almost seven tenths of a second per lap to the race winner.

Vettel, however, is optimistic the gap won’t be that large at the upcoming races. “If you look at the gap in the race it was the biggest gap we’ve had so far,” he acknolwedged, “but I think we’re quite confident that we’re going in the right direction.”

“For some reason, I don’t think we were so competitive here which explains the gap. Now we’re obviously trying to understand and find the reasons. Either this track didn’t suit us or the conditions really suited Mercedes.

“I think it’s more likely to be one of the two, because if you take the average, obviously we’ve been closer in the last couple of races, so I’m looking forward to Monaco and looking forward to being closer to them again.”

Spanish Grand Prix lap times

All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded):

https://www.racefans.net/charts/2015drivercolours.csv

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66
Nico Rosberg 95.658 92.313 91.755 92.027 91.908 91.539 91.585 91.567 91.403 92.079 92.2 92.129 92.201 92.447 95.74 110.606 91.846 91.515 91.489 91.442 91.324 91.4 91.562 92.03 91.793 91.676 92.529 91.266 91.278 91.54 91.74 91.677 92.19 92.306 92.385 91.692 92.083 91.88 91.585 91.599 91.612 91.222 91.793 91.999 95.985 109.361 90.095 90.229 90.062 90.673 90.474 90.073 89.109 89.293 89.5 89.582 89.743 90.145 90.062 90.286 90.426 89.987 90.321 90.263 90.318 90.958
Lewis Hamilton 98.042 92.766 92.342 92.303 92.492 92.509 92.341 92.521 92.428 92.011 92.322 92.492 95.648 112.065 91.033 91.149 91.158 91.998 91.279 91.508 91.819 91.539 91.755 91.712 91.96 92.138 91.796 92.118 92.165 92.702 92.711 95.769 110.278 89.91 90.201 90.291 90.5 91.237 91.738 91.456 91.02 91.012 90.413 91.258 90.469 89.94 90.024 89.965 90.795 91.115 94.037 108.96 88.401 88.27 88.725 88.716 88.774 88.899 88.64 89.697 90.249 90.471 91.148 91.018 91.379 92.509
Sebastian Vettel 96.832 92.821 92.317 92.515 92.325 92.718 92.01 92.331 92.562 92.498 92.4 92.512 92.292 95.928 109.159 91.736 91.546 91.897 91.764 91.618 91.646 91.509 91.646 91.634 91.654 92.07 91.934 92.371 92.129 92.268 92.528 92.397 92.413 92.366 93.16 92.497 92.733 92.76 92.921 96.714 109.623 91.185 91.237 91.613 91.673 92.494 91.516 91.545 91.827 91.655 91.705 91.738 92.074 91.735 91.799 92.199 92.125 91.641 91.576 91.075 90.737 90.923 91.16 91.375 91.477 91.059
Valtteri Bottas 99.104 93.075 92.708 92.857 92.913 92.989 92.758 92.794 92.77 92.871 92.877 92.992 92.881 92.94 95.919 110.187 91.598 91.408 92.109 92.055 91.566 91.873 91.874 91.794 91.781 92.181 91.925 91.961 92.256 92.098 92.16 92.452 92.555 92.607 92.872 93.133 92.719 93.017 94.249 93.319 93.335 96.366 109.209 90.711 90.747 90.956 91.16 90.977 91.475 91.303 91.087 91.166 91.303 91.11 91.623 92.166 91.807 92.048 91.864 92.151 91.746 91.829 92.101 92.004 91.63 91.701
Carlos Sainz Jnr 101.484 95.305 95.335 95.088 95.453 95.844 95.338 94.354 94.526 94.6 94.626 94.728 94.685 97.444 112.837 93.964 93.925 95.228 94.164 94.41 93.732 93.559 93.535 93.784 93.496 93.647 93.778 94.118 93.951 93.904 93.914 94.102 93.821 94.143 93.557 94.902 93.836 93.412 93.148 93.406 93.472 96.338 111.764 92.837 93.991 92.198 91.898 92.309 92.56 92.686 92.321 92.343 92.691 92.662 92.983 94.43 92.094 92.092 91.849 91.642 93.413 91.156 92.061 92.167 93.224
Max Verstappen 100.837 94.592 94.404 95.574 94.239 94.269 94.422 95.074 94.208 94.495 94.865 94.307 98.738 114.957 94.2 94.304 93.809 94.001 93.887 93.929 93.783 94.267 95.083 94.186 93.801 93.885 94.052 93.499 93.405 94.08 93.565 93.8 94.127 93.961 93.841 93.923 97.82 111.79 93.972 93.233 93.243 93.446 93.004 92.669 92.254 91.896 92.337 92.176 92.269 94.108 92.852 93 92.969 92.356 92.302 91.968 92.419 92.582 92.293 92.284 95.811 93.294 92.405 92.615 93.107
Kimi Raikkonen 99.95 93.753 92.958 93.219 93.084 93.149 92.929 92.881 92.754 92.756 92.75 92.732 92.978 92.921 92.504 92.554 96.178 111.144 92.54 92.859 92.427 92.383 92.435 92.244 92.42 92.511 92.536 92.4 92.314 92.076 92.325 92.606 93.282 93.319 93.278 92.555 92.469 92.723 93.203 93.475 96.471 108.305 90.91 90.342 90.361 91.998 89.931 90.239 90.807 91.04 91.374 90.304 90.533 90.402 90.841 90.906 91.23 91.759 91.966 92.116 91.747 91.807 92.133 92.095 91.639 91.727
Daniil Kvyat 104.331 96.381 95.274 95.263 95.282 95.329 94.74 94.467 94.939 95.121 98.232 112.642 93.025 93.222 94.496 93.836 93.462 93.17 93.502 93.214 93.685 94.141 92.795 93.395 93.353 93.398 93.488 93.326 93.829 93.477 93.419 93.931 94.05 93.936 93.788 93.556 93.786 97.516 112.578 91.887 93.91 92.113 94.369 92.531 92.419 92.49 92.687 92.538 92.247 92.184 94.229 92.483 92.197 94.05 92.486 92.381 92.945 92.86 92.615 92.603 92.702 93.055 94.887 92.385 95.121
Felipe Massa 101.963 95.272 93.305 93.263 93.557 92.877 93.098 92.905 93.091 93.081 93.082 93.131 92.989 96.684 110.774 91.703 91.714 92.159 92.031 92.4 92.318 92.343 92.26 92.266 92.433 92.396 92.435 92.306 92.932 92.526 92.581 96.249 110.503 91.109 91.517 91.495 91.334 91.901 92.253 91.923 91.816 92.029 92.493 91.804 92.817 92.578 97.032 109.611 90.64 90.743 90.374 90.683 90.74 90.675 90.905 91.375 91.055 90.991 90.617 90.773 91.034 91.818 92.027 92.05 91.11 91.92
Daniel Ricciardo 103.028 95.92 95.077 94.721 94.54 93.848 93.731 93.864 94.122 93.891 95.231 93.992 96.742 111.763 93.339 92.756 93.074 93.033 94.071 92.956 93.14 92.943 92.723 92.848 92.961 93.339 93.231 93.248 93.291 93.09 93.017 93.133 93.228 93.21 93.192 93.21 93.188 93.576 93.377 93.594 93.22 96.347 113.781 91.953 92.252 92.181 91.946 92.213 94.292 93.843 92.105 91.682 91.402 91.234 91.276 91.124 93.98 91.487 91.535 91.371 91.574 91.718 91.95 91.631 91.559
Romain Grosjean 102.44 95.224 94.997 96.815 94.719 94.772 93.717 93.855 94.077 93.783 94.984 94.489 94.16 93.65 97.243 112.203 92.521 92.904 93.112 93.8 92.846 92.987 92.694 92.955 93.224 93.606 93.517 93.134 93.373 93.354 93.384 93.574 93.568 93.254 93.486 93.518 93.425 93.604 93.751 97.464 123.666 92.07 92.041 92.084 93.251 91.945 92.069 92.358 92.962 92.716 93.672 92.896 92.514 92.547 92.686 94.183 92.759 92.684 92.599 92.649 92.438 92.71 92.217 91.986 92.668
Pastor Maldonado 103.399 94.913 95.037 94.346 93.42 93.591 94.303 93.129 93.717 93.755 93.609 93.709 93.769 97.97 118.037 124.449 92.912 92.958 93.368 93.145 93.548 93.419 93.382 93.569 94.208 95.464 93.443 93.252 93.493 96.61 93.319 93.169 93.084 93.395 93.168 93.13 93.103 93.461 93.477 94.464 93.604 93.397 97.23 112.872 99.776
Fernando Alonso 104.024 96.01 95.251 95.137 94.966 95.101 94.789 94.508 94.528 94.737 94.885 94.815 94.577 94.618 94.687 94.399 94.231 94.305 94.259 94.292 97.703 113.516 93.387 94.207 94.154 98.902
Jenson Button 106.194 97.384 96.01 95.398 95.527 95.511 95.318 95.043 94.943 94.95 98.323 115.051 95.094 94.652 95.309 94.656 95.031 94.563 94.867 94.74 94.741 94.55 94.169 94.595 94.477 97.1 98.203 112.599 92.357 92.36 92.655 94.202 92.995 93.53 92.977 92.709 92.933 93.462 93.004 93.417 93.078 92.827 92.792 96.283 112.524 91.162 91.352 91.487 91.6 91.888 91.429 91.615 91.382 91.692 92.308 93.506 91.924 92.274 91.963 91.853 92.007 92.146 92.072 92.468 92.752
Felipe Nasr 104.865 96.486 95.455 95.198 95.292 95.516 94.901 94.437 94.846 95.252 95.233 98.232 112.65 93.349 93.687 93.371 93.887 93.794 94.02 94.201 93.616 93.728 93.861 93.935 93.623 93.938 93.668 93.815 93.635 94.17 94.072 94.426 94.388 95.858 94.241 93.808 94.154 94.523 98.029 113.445 91.928 92.312 92.348 92.228 92.437 92.447 92.43 92.955 93.446 92.22 94.084 93.104 93.789 92.899 92.905 92.765 93.448 92.873 92.948 92.72 92.568 92.615 93.2 93.382 93.347
Marcus Ericsson 105.239 96.614 95.561 95.179 95.393 95.46 94.853 94.737 94.731 95.241 95.12 94.994 94.131 94.567 94.854 94.373 94.545 98.496 114.085 92.311 92.857 93.422 93.422 93.931 94.028 94.691 92.977 93.396 93.455 93.726 94.098 93.541 95.631 93.753 93.692 93.85 93.971 93.985 94.091 93.317 93.312 93.145 93.359 95.334 99.152 112.506 92.288 92.517 94.047 92.597 92.497 92.222 92.515 92.891 92.696 92.526 92.888 92.935 92.866 93.249 93.146 93.133 94.948 93.454 94.043
Nico Hulkenberg 106.537 96.46 95.766 95.297 95.155 95.476 95.026 95.067 94.633 98.005 113.834 93.399 93.244 93.173 93.668 93.317 93.682 94.048 93.91 95.745 94.198 93.698 93.883 94.388 94.391 97.88 112.61 92.53 92.833 92.777 93.228 93.339 93.18 93.225 93.239 93.561 93.082 93.447 94.422 93.006 93.637 93.448 94.321 93.38 93.309 94.629 93.519 93.342 97.071 110.343 90.888 91.372 91.495 92.061 91.718 91.678 91.763 91.586 91.914 92.645 93.374 93.986 93.708 93.558 94.081
Sergio Perez 105.766 96.644 95.617 95.17 95.369 95.453 94.94 94.833 94.869 95.031 95.11 95.006 94.451 94.611 94.49 94.475 94.853 95.1 97.991 111.921 93.174 93.438 93.569 93.739 94.311 94.434 94.117 94.292 93.791 94.48 95.764 94.745 94.512 96.531 94.678 97.204 111.622 91.932 92.358 92.963 92.051 92.239 92.238 92.453 92.605 92.802 92.819 94.436 92.792 94.42 92.713 92.555 92.617 92.677 92.802 93.183 93.056 93.055 93.156 93.181 93.124 93.294 94.517 93.718 94.074
Will Stevens 108.007 98.017 97.471 97.192 97.261 96.879 96.714 96.974 96.869 96.993 97.098 97.814 97.159 97.557 97.468 100.618 120.058 95.563 96.747 95.955 97.853 96.234 96.271 95.944 96.241 96.27 96.001 98.224 96.892 96.461 96.571 101.514 117.937 97.359 96.029 95.529 95.75 97.899 95.655 95.562 97.384 97.097 95.376 95.361 96.35 95.395 100.082 115.035 93.655 93.844 93.988 95.139 94.944 94.353 94.568 98.147 98.48 95.04 94.729 94.796 94.806 96.162 95.904
Roberto Merhi 107.6 97.686 97.466 97.353 96.971 96.753 96.91 96.973 96.858 97.335 99.296 98.307 98.47 97.894 98.347 98.562 101.07 117.525 96.663 97.51 97.042 96.47 96.239 96.513 97.431 97.872 96.885 98.545 99.317 101.955 117.676 96.64 98.885 98.252 96.937 96.952 98.249 96.677 96.71 96.555 97.386 96.786 96.291 96.57 96.593 99.358 97.936 97.571 100.662 116.689 94.211 96.302 96.512 95.863 95.345 95.167 96.054 95.044 95.307 96.221 95.237 94.742

Spanish Grand Prix fastest laps

Each driver’s fastest lap:

Rank Driver Car Fastest lap Gap On lap
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’28.270 54
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’29.109 0.839 53
3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’29.931 1.661 47
4 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1’30.374 2.104 51
5 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1’30.711 2.441 44
6 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’30.737 2.467 61
7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1’30.888 2.618 51
8 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1’31.124 2.854 56
9 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso-Renault 1’31.156 2.886 62
10 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 1’31.162 2.892 46
11 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 1’31.887 3.617 40
12 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 1’31.896 3.626 46
13 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1’31.928 3.658 41
14 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1’31.932 3.662 38
15 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Mercedes 1’31.945 3.675 46
16 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1’32.222 3.952 52
17 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Mercedes 1’32.912 4.642 17
18 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1’33.387 5.117 23
19 Will Stevens Manor-Ferrari 1’33.655 5.385 49
20 Roberto Merhi Manor-Ferrari 1’34.211 5.941 51

2015 Spanish Grand Prix

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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16 comments on “Mercedes show their hand with 1.6s pace advantage”

  1. Not a great weekend for Hamilton fans, but that third stint still gave cause for joy. A pity the Mercedes pit wall called off the fight in the final stint. Of course Rosberg was too far ahead for Hamilton to catch him, but it’s always better to finish a race with a reducing gap.

    Finally, only the Mercedes driver beat Stoffel Vandoorne’s GP2 pole time. I do not wish to add too much to the current trend of talking F1 down, but I wish they could simply take 100kg off the cars. I don’t mind that aero has been cut recently, and the engines are good too, and the tyres ensure that the races are not too processional, but in race trim the cars are pretty slow these days.

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      10th May 2015, 19:22

      They were right to all it off though and not just for the team – for Hamilton’s title chances as well. He wasn’t going to catch Nico and finishing 2nd doesn’t mean he’s lost many points. He wasn’t even going to get within 5 seconds of Nico to put pressure on.

      1. yeah, a blown engine would’ve been a much bigger probem than finishing second.

    2. Comparing qualifying times to fastest lap times is comparing apples to oranges. Considering quali alone you can see that every F1 driver, bar the 2 Manors, beat Stoffel’s quali time

  2. Not sure anyone is actually rivaling Mercedes at the moment. Having said that, the gap to the next teams was somewhat exaggerated in the race. Hamilton’s third stint was one of the rare occasions when a driver could push for an entire stint. He wasn’t conserving tyres, fuel or power unit components. The other top teams were at least conserving tyres for most of the later stages.
    I hope the partial success of this strategy will lead to more teams trying this in the future, because then we get to see some more aggressive driving, but it does require that little extra fuel economy and a dose of Mercedes or Mercedes-like reliability. And some tactical courage or flexibility.

    1. also, lets not forget that the Mercedes’ advantage here last year was also clearly more than at other tracks @scalextric. On the other hand, it does not seem like Ferrari have really solved their issues with development (with Kimi running without and Vettel with the new bits to compare and collect data on them), Red Bull is still very much on the back foot and Williams so far has not made that step up (although they were closer in the mid/second half of the year last year too)

  3. Comparing Vettel and Bottas, Ferrari should be aware of the challenge from behind.

    1. I’ll grant you that, at least on this track, Williams were closer to Ferrari than Ferrari were to Mercedes. Still, Vettel finished about 15 seconds ahead of Bottas and Kimi also had better pace but was unable to overtake Bottas, just as Hamilton was unable to overtake Vettel on track even though he had a faster car.

  4. Mercedes’ margin over the others on race day was close to the advantage they had in testing. This suggests that Ferrari et al haven’t made significant performance gains since testing. Instead the track and temperatures at the other tracks allowed them to perform better. If true Mercedes will walk it in the constructors champs as Barcelona is seen as a good evaluation of overall performance.

  5. It’s a fair win for the Mercedes, but I can understand Ferrari’s decision to put Vettel on an alternative strategy.

    Looking at the times, it’s realistic too admit that Mercedes was wayyy faster today. Going on the same strategy would bring no opportunity at a win. Different strategy and some unexpected occurences (safety cars, crashes,…) can bring an unexpected win.

    Ferrari knew they secured the 3rd place, Bottas was too far behind to challenge Vettel. Why not give something a shot?

  6. oh come on keith, you surely realise that Hamilton was last of the top drivers to switch to mediums…. less fuel in the car meant he could get those times while vettel and Rosberg were running hards with laps on them at the same time Hamilton was doing those laps. the advantage is there, but it is not 1.6 seconds per lap.

  7. WOW ! 3 pit stops, how exciting, can’t wait to see the race (highlights) to-night zzzz z z z z.

  8. Ferrari can’t really work the hard orange tires in normal track conditions!
    Mediums it’s fine, softs even better, but that hard ones it just take ages to light them up!

    If you would look at Vettel’s last stint, he sets his best time almost in the middle of the stint, so it took almost 10 laps to get them warm enough! It’s really one of the worst things about Ferrari’s car this year.

  9. I saw Mercedes lapping very quickly and then suddenly the same pace with Ferrari towards the end, perhaps they still have some horsepower in reserve and use it when it matters.

  10. Actually Kimi was catching Vettel in the last stint with the faster Medium tyres. Kimi was catching Vettel a second per lap till he reached behind Bottas. With 8 laps to go and nearly 8 seconds far from Vettel, if Bottas wasn’t there, or if Kimi was able to overtake him, Vettel and Kimi might have finished very close. Also Kimi overtook Massa and that also must have taken some seconds from Raikkonen. I am not talking here about Vettel vs Raikkonen. Its about the Upgraded Ferrari vs Older Version.

    The question is, whether the upgraded car of Vettel wasn’t better than Kimi’s older car? And still Arrivabene says that the new car is better than the older version. Not at all a good weekend for Ferrari. But keep fighting.. Forza Ferrari!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  11. Leonardo David
    12th May 2015, 21:56

    Anyone noticed how Maldonado was the closest to the battle between Mercedes, Ferrari, Williams? only Ricciardo was as close as he was but Pastor was slightly faster… also, times went lower since lap 40, why?

Comments are closed.