Rate the race: 2014 Spanish Grand Prix

2014 Spanish Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Spanish Grand Prix.

F1 Fanatic holds polls on each race to find out which fans thought of every race during the season.

Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2014 Spanish Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (2%)
  • 9 (6%)
  • 8 (22%)
  • 7 (30%)
  • 6 (18%)
  • 5 (10%)
  • 4 (5%)
  • 3 (3%)
  • 2 (2%)
  • 1 (3%)

Total Voters: 800

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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2014 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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249 comments on “Rate the race: 2014 Spanish Grand Prix”

  1. The last 5-10 laps were interesting to watch; the rest of the race not so much.

    5/10

    1. Yea, the last 10 laps should have a different rating to the rest of the race!

      1. But if it wasn’t for the entire race you would of never got those last 10 laps. Peoples thirst for action like this in F1 is what’s fueling the silly gimmicks that keep coming out of Bernies box of stupid tricks.

        Races have to play out in that fashion for a reason. You put your pieces into play before you make your move, that’s what F1 is about today.

        1. +1 big time! @kartingjimbo knows it!

    2. Great strategy might only reveal itself towards the end of the race, so one shouldn’t be short-sighted when evaluating.

      1. I can get interested in strategy, but never excited.

    3. Totally agree. If only we had these battles from start to finish and not having to put up with a dull first half in order to lead to this.
      Since all battles were quite awesome and thrilling, I’ll throw a 7/10.
      However, I’m gutted since I predicted correctly all the top 5 drivers, just not in the right order LOL

      1. me too.

    4. petebaldwin (@)
      11th May 2014, 15:53

      This sort of view is why we have DRS, mega double super points weekend at Abu Dhabi, tyres that fall apart and why they are discussing shortening the races.

      F1 is sometimes a long drawn out thing that is decided near the end. F1 has never been about huge battles from lights to flag – it just doesn’t work like that! If you can honestly score today as a 5, I assume you must score most races around the 2 or 3 sort of range? If that’s the case, why watch F1?

      1. Amen, was on the verge of replying with something similar but you certainly covered it.

      2. @peterbaldwin great great comment mate its a sign of the times we live in where nobody has any patience at all. This was one of your standard classic race where it’s a drawn out affair but all these Internet babies seem to be interested in is a thrill a minute! No wonder Bennie brought in double points and was at one point even considering sprinklers on track, just to appease people who have no appreciation for F1 at all. I can understand when one driver just gets no challenge for the win, but even then I can appreciate that his team has done an exceptional engineering job to be the best, and so should be rewarded accordingly with wins. In this race we had 2 guys challenging for the win but still some people are only interested in bashing the sport. Ah we’ll, what do I know? Maybe I’m the one missing something.

        1. +1 Great comment!

      3. It depends on what your criteria are that generate a rating. It was interesting to watch the Vettel strategy play out to fourth, it was interesting to watch Rosberg close up to Hamilton but never really threaten to overtake, it was interesting to watch Alonso close down and pass Raikkonen, it was interesting to watch the DRS passes, but it wasn’t exciting. I rate races on excitement not interest. If a race keeps me on the edge of my seat and gets my heart pumping faster then it’s exciting and I rate accordingly. I find watching chess matches interesting not exciting, I find watching most football matches interesting but not exciting. I find watching a lot of F1 races interesting but not exciting. If I was rating todays race on interest I would have given it a 7/8 but I rate on excitement so it got a 5.

      4. @petebaldwin, actually I think you are confusing cause and effect.

    5. I agree but gave it an extra point because of those last laps being intriguing if not exciting. 6.

      1. Agree with 1st.comment (as well as myself).

    6. I, too, gave it a five. If anything, for me, it lost points due to the anti-climactic battle at the end.

    7. @pjtierney it’s amaizing how quickly people change their minds. Crofty said the race was so exciting ! but for 62 laps, it was plain boring. Not even interesting. Suddenly it got good.

      A 4/10 for me.

      I loved (ironically) when it was Rosberg vs Hami, Alonso vs Raikkonen… and they suddenly show Rosberg’s girlfriend! what kind of director thinks that’s a good move?!

      1. ” oh and Rosberg is gaining on Hamilton ….gaining …gaining and even his fiance is gaining weight” LOL

      2. the race was exciting from start to finish, @fer-no65, because everything was pointing to that ending.

        1. @magon4, yes everything did point to the 1st. 3 places being the the same as at the start.

      3. I loved (ironically) when it was Rosberg vs Hami, Alonso vs Raikkonen… and they suddenly show Rosberg’s girlfriend! what kind of director thinks that’s a good move?!

        A bad one, that’s for sure.

    8. The first 56 laps set up the race for the last 10 laps. So it should be part of the same rating.

  2. This is good F1. It really is. Great strategy and build-up, wonderful performances, a fight for the lead, tension, information. 8/10 for me!

    And btw, THAT is domination. Red Bull did not dominate the last 4 seasons, this is what good old F1 domination looks like… #Mercedes

    1. Drivers backing off from overtaking in order to save the tyres…

      1. Name a season that hasn’t happened

        1. Exactly. I did find it odd though when Ricciardo was (I believe) told to drop 2 seconds behind Bottas to save tyres- actually doing that would have dropped him below Grosjean!

          1. @matt90, Tyres wore down but since pit stops took so long no-one changed their tyres unless they had to, so on lap 7 everyones tyres were 7 laps old, same on lap 47 and every other lap, same as it is in Motor cycle racing.

          2. I assume you meant to reply to my comment below. If they weren’t changing tyres then it was surely still key how well different drivers managed their tyres- when they pushed, when was best to push, which manufacturer’s tyres they were actually on etc. The only time tyre management isn’t an issue at all is when all the tyres are identical and more durable than necessary (the Bridgestone years, as the two compounds was often just a silly formality).

        2. Would have to go back to the 60’s..

          1. Are you sure tyre conservation wasn’t important then either? Unless they had massively inappropriate tyres which were going to be able to give consistent grip for the entire duration of a race regardless of how you drove, I don’t see how looking after tyres hasn’t always been an element

          2. @matt90
            You seem to be unaware that there’s deliberate intent from the FIA to ensure degrad tyres.
            So it’s definitely not a case of there’s nothing that can be done anymore to reduce tyre degrad.

          3. I’m fully aware of that, and never said there wasn’t. That doesn’t really change my point at all- it isn’t new to F1.

          4. Quite correct. matt90, early to mid sixties, tyres actually lasted for several races. Of course, grip was minimal on those old cross-ply tyres! While I am enjoying the current season more than most in recent memory, for me, nothing comes close to the the 60s and early 70s when the outcome of a race was never certain and the lead would swap several times during a race …

        3. 1958 to 1973

        4. Horse Racing 1884?

  3. End was exciting 6/10

  4. 8/10 certainly! It was a slow burner. But what a drive by Vettel, Rosberg and especially Vettel! Best Barcelona GP in years!

    1. That should say Hamilton**

    2. You thought this race was better than 2012?? Today might have had a good ending but generally it was 5/10 in my opinion.

  5. First half didn’t have much going, but the second half had some great tense battles. Not all races need to be wheel-to-wheel to be good, more people need to realise that!

  6. Aside from a couple of good Vettel overtakes and a late (and short, I might add) sweat for the lead for Hamilton, not much to see. 6/10.

    1. The sweat for the lead lasted the entire race. It was all building to a climax.

  7. little racing happened, just cars getting to the back of the car in front and passing by. some good moves, but nothing to write home about. 2/10

  8. The only thing that stopped that from ranking higher was Rosberg just not quite catching Hamilton in enough time. Fantastic drive from Sebastian Vettel (the man who couldn’t overtake), fanatic drive from Ricciardo yet again and it’s great to see the Ferrari drivers close finally!

    9. And it fully deserves it.

    1. Cocaine-Mackeine
      11th May 2014, 15:01

      9? Did you even saw the race mate?
      There was actually more overtakes via DRS than normal overtakes. That was a factor that really sucked in this race.
      Also the tyres, luckily it didn’t back off Rosberg in the end. I know that the tension was unbearable in the end, but we had to wait 60 laps to get a decent battle.

      1. He like the race so he gave it a 9. What’s your problem?

      2. to Cocaine-Mackeine : I did not see any normal overtake. It was terrible and boring. Vettel did good only because his car is faster than most of the field. Strategy worked for him perfectly, so it was easy to overtake someone on older tyres. It doesn’t fascinate me.
        Same goes for Alonso vs Rai: no fight, it was a matter of time when spaniard will be in front of finnish guy.
        Terrible, terrible, terrible.

        1. Welcome to F1, it has only been this way for the last 60 years :-)

          Maybe another sport would be more of your liking.

          1. ..I didn’t know they had DRS 60 years ago, they were really ahead of their time.

          2. Amazing way to spectacularly miss the point, well done!

          3. petebaldwin (@)
            11th May 2014, 16:00

            Well said – I can only assume @slava is new to F1 because otherwise, they’d be aware of how interesting races at Catalunya used to be before DRS!

        2. Cocaine-Mackeine
          11th May 2014, 16:10

          @slava Exactly, the racing was terrible, also the Ferraris duel wasn’t the big deal (it looked like Kimi let Alonso pass) The only moments that were good were Vettel’s charge and Rosberg on the tail of Hamilon all in the latter stages of the race.

        3. @slava his car was hardly far better than the competition. In fact, it’s very slow on the straights – which is the key area for overtaking.

      3. The DRS wasn’t too bad – that was a major factor to be considered. And there was actually a lot of prolonged battles were drivers had to get inventive to overtake, which is always more fun to watch.

        I still maintain that was a really enjoyable race.

        1. barcelona is actually one of the few races i like drs. without it, it can become quite dull and almost unfair.

    2. Couldn’t have said it better. Fantastic race but I would have loved a few more laps! 9/10.

      1. I think the nature of the track meant that, unlike Bahrain, Rosberg getting ahead would have been a slam dunk rather than a special battle. Of course, however it happens, a change of the lead right at the end tends to make people enjoy a race more (unless they’re rooting for the leader).

        1. I just wanted a few more laps to see Rosberg actually challenge Hamilton for position. Who actually came out on top would be secondary. Today there was never any true wheel to wheel action between the pair and I would have loved to see some more of the action we saw in Bahrain.

          1. @colossal-squid

            I agree with the end result you hope to see . But in Barcelona , If Rosberg had gotten ahead of Lewis with fresher rubber with DRS assistance , then thats it . Its over . In today’s f1, defensive driving is almost gone with DRS even though I must admit that DRS has had a slight improvement over previous years as to not to allow highway passing.But DRS still makes great defensive drivers like Lewis , Alonso , Hulkenberg look stupid. So, Bahrain situation would have been impossible in Barcelona due to nature of the track and DRS . But yeah one more lap , and Lewis would have had to to scrap hard with Nico and 9 times out of 10 would have had to give up the position . But whew , that was intense at the end . Had Nico not locked up ……. who knows !

    3. I think a 9 is a bit too much for this race. Yes, it was tense all way long for the lead, a bit of a strategic battle and mental fight. And we did see a lovely drive from Vettel into p4 with quite a bit of gutsy overtaking from him, and the last 10-20 laps were superb racing.

      But a 9 needs a bit more than that.

      1. Cocaine-Mackeine
        11th May 2014, 15:20

        Exactly @bascb This race wasn’t worth a 9/10. That’s the problem @jackj. If the rce had more real overtaking than DRSing then my rating would change.

        1. My issue with this kind of score is what on earth would Brazil 2008 be?

          I always think back to that race when I see my over-rate (in my opinion..) races.

          You surely have to use some sort of spectrum?

          To me, it just seems some people give it a 9 if they had fun with it. You have to bear in mind that you’re 1 point away from the absolute perfect race, which would suggest that it was a great race from start to finish.

          I don’t think it’s even really debatable that this race did NOT have action from start to finish.

          It was good, better than some races this season, but 1 point away from the ‘perfect’ race? That’s borderline crazy.

          And yes, i’m very much prepared to be jumped on for this opinion, but I honestly just don’t get it.

          1. My?! *People over-rate races

          2. It’s all relative I suppose. I tend to vote on the intensity of my emotional response immediately after the race has finished – considering omissions for my favourite drivers performing well – and with that this race was very good. Perhaps an 8 would be more justified retrospectively, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the race, and that is the overruling influence on my voting.

            Though of course, there are races where one has to vote 10, and perhaps would wish for a bonus point. I wouldn’t in fact class Brazil 2008 under that category – only Brazil 2012 for me has been deserving of “more than a 10”.

      2. I don’t think 9 is too much at all (clearly! I gave it a 9 also). It depends on what you personally value in a race. I personally thought that there was enough intrigue, tension and battles throughout the field from lights to flag to justify such a high score. It wasn’t an overtaking bonanza, but the overtakes that happened, and the strategies that worked counted for so much due to the nature of the track re track position that I found enough suspense and enjoyment from such things that I feel entirely justified in giving such a score.

      3. @bascb true, perhaps an 8 would be more representative. Though I thought of the opening phase as coiling the spring, which was easily counterbalanced by the end of the race containing quite so much action.

    4. “The man who couldn’t overtake”

      I don’t think people accuse him of being unable. Fantastic strategy I’d say. On his third and fourth stint he was one of the only people on the track actually going all-out. He collected the fastest lap in each one and overtook via DRS (Massa exception), showing that the Red Bull probably would have taken the second row altogether otherwise. He was out of place most of the time, meaning the overtakes themselves were pretty easy pickings. 2 seconds faster than Raikkonen a lap when he was catching him…

      1. They used to, but I haven’t heard the accusation for quite a few years- he dispelled that myth in 2011.

        1. I’m gonna be honest, he used to be atrocious at overtaking. 2009 and 2010 he had some awful moments, even ignoring the famous ones. For a lot of the time it really was just the fact that he was leading from pole that he won, which is why i really don’t think he deserved his first championship from his performances.

          The lowest Vettel’s ever won a race from on the grid is 3rd. Not putting forward anything more than that, but it is a fact for the 5 years he’s been winning races and championships.

          1. @turbotoaster Senna wasn’t really any better in terms of lowest position to win from. But both produced some great overtakes on the occasions when either they didn’t win or only needed to pass 1 or 2 drivers to win.

            Maybe your point is that I shouldn’t have used ‘myth’- that’s fair. He did make enough mistakes prior to 2011 that it was an opinion which was fully warranted, and one I believed myself.

            I do think he deserved his first championship though. Everybody involved made at least a couple of silly mistakes, but Vettel was superior to Webber and unlucky in comparison. For me, any of Hamilton, Vettel or Alonso would have been worthy (although I personally would have ranked Hamilton first).

          2. @matt90 Not gonna lie I was rooting for Webber. But with the poor starts and the newly-damaged leg he made a few too many mistakes after Hungary.

    5. I’m with Max on this one. I think it was a 9 because of how well it built up and the last 10 laps were extremely tense for a lot of positions. Lewis showed his merit by holding off Nico when the team put him on the back foot with two poor pit stops.

      And I was more impressed with Vettel’s drive today than anything he did last year when he won the championship! I think that he, and now Lewis, have made it clear what a driver can do with an overpowering car. But now, hen I see Vettel come back through the field like this with a lesser car, then I’m more inclined to start giving him that “great” label.

      I’ll be giving Seb a driver of the weekend vote for this one.

    6. I’d like to adress this DRS overtaking. Button overtaking Guttierez, now that was DRS, being ahead long before the actual corner.

      Vettel only pulled aside the other car plenty of times in T10 making it a very profesional outbraking move assisted by DRS. DRS moves just need you to move aside and pass and then brake. Vettel did all this at the same time quite a few times in T10. I do make a difference.

      (Possibly my explanation wasn’t clear, don’t go on a rant)

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        11th May 2014, 16:01

        @xtwl – As I mentioned above, you only have to watch races at Catalunya pre-DRS to see how boring races used to be!

        1. Like Monaco ?

    7. Gave it the same rating for the same reason.

      Great drive by Vettel, a fantastic (but maybe too short) scrap between Hamilton and Rosberg and the Ferrari battle we were all waiting for.

  9. Wow, frenetic last 10 laps or so. Really good battles at the end there between the Mercedes and the Ferrari’s.

    Rosberg must be wondering what he has to do to beat Hamilton now. This is the second time he has had the faster tyre and DRS in the closing stages and still couldn’t get the job done.

    1. I think Rosberg is quietly liking what he hears when Hamilton keeps complaining (on the radio and after the race) because that is where Lewis might be vulnerable – his own mental state – if Rosberg can make him feel alone and gets thinking too much that might be his best chance @geemac

    2. Indeed, if they could have some more tussles like almost today it would be a much more interesting battle. So far it’s a good effort by Hamilton to keep him behind, which is more like 2007-8; might as well have some variety… could we get bored of them passing/repassing for the win :P?

    3. “The closing stages” this time were a little more than a lap. This was not really comparable to Bahrain.

    4. @geemac
      Yes.
      It also looks the Engineers on Rosberg side of the garage are lot more competent.
      They more often nail the PIT STOPS and CAR SETUP.

      Lewis is really being let down by this Engineers.

      1. Both teams have the same mechanics for pit stops.

      2. You aren’t serious, are you?

      3. Yup. Let down so much that he has won the last four races. Poor Lewis! :)

  10. Great race, Camera director was terrible

    1. I agree. Switching to Nico’s girlfriend as he was catching Lewis was pointless. I almost threw my remote at the tv.

      1. Jess (@justblowingofsteam)
        11th May 2014, 15:03

        I did and missed!

      2. Can’t wait for when it’s a guy for one of the lead drivers.. let’s see if they flick to the boyf then…

      3. Thank you! I was screaming at the TV: “You can look at her after the race you morons!”

      4. Mansell's_Stache
        11th May 2014, 16:26

        I almost woke up the family screaming at the tv when this happened…idiots! Happens all the time and it is maddening.

      5. Oh my God, I so nearly actually shouted at that.

        I wanted to punch the director! I utterly, utterly hate this trend.

      6. Yeah exactly when Nico is lining up for a pass , lets show his girl .Stupid thinking !

    2. Seriously. Lead two cars going into the last drs zone on the last lap and we get to see a slow close up of rosbergs girlfriend instead. That director needs a talking to.

      1. Fully agree. That was completely unnecessary

      2. Fully agree. That was completely unnecessary

    3. FOM Directing(TM) – yeah, surprised we actually got to see at least a few of the moves live instead of having only replays.

    4. TV director has been pretty bad through out this season .

    5. Totally spot on. When they showed Viviane over and over instead of action on track I got horrible late 90’s Erja Häkkinen flashbacks.

      They need to stop this crap during the race. I don’t care who’s in the pits. Unless it’s Rowan Atkinson making funny faces when something to the McLarens happens.

    6. Very poor camera director.

    7. It can be a hard job to catch all the action.

      But two things need to change:

      – if there is any action at all (possible overtake, pit stop, etc), don’t show WAGs, the team, or pointless slow-mos. Save this for the time when there is no action, and this is well appreciated.

      – wait a little longer with the start replays. The field had not sorted itself out properly in lap 3. Wait until lap 6 or so.

  11. 8/10

    All I can say is, I was massively tense, hugely tense as a Hamilton fan, and whilst it’s you aren’t supposed to rate a race based on the driver, but… I think that definitely helped this one. Objectively, it’d be about a 6/6.5 maybe 7, subjectively, as I say, made much better by the fact it way my driver leading, which created the tension. There were actually some good battles around as well, Vettel overtaking people for fun, and what about the intra-team battle at Ferrari. Those two had a good fight for a bit there.

    Overall, decent race, very decent.

    1. Everybidy have their opinion and inrespect that but Really 8/10 ????

      1. Everybidy = Everybody
        inespect = I respect

      2. I voted 8 too, because of inter-team battles being allowed to happen… even at Ferrari. I also enjoyed Grosjean mixing it towards the front again. Ok, Mercedes were way out but there was still a lot of tension during the race. Shame about DRS, but there you go what can you do.

    2. It was tense in Bahrain. In this race Rosberg never was close enough to try even.

      1. I’d say Bahrain and Spain were both excellent races for different reasons. I gave Bahrain a 10 cause what more can you as for really, it was mental during the whole race, Spain I gave a 7, bit of a slow burner, but I was always engaged, there were some good battles on what is not an entertaining circuit some very good drives, and the Ros Ham dynamic was lots of fun.

  12. 8/10 – RBR made it interesting with their strategy and enabled VETs great recovery. HAM/ROS was decided in their 2nd stint but it was good that ROS caught HAM to add some spice to the last laps.

  13. Invincible Lewis !! Good driver under pressure .

    1. Yeah, he seems to be all panic stations up until when Rosberg has caught him and then he seems to then just calm down and do all he needs to do. He seems to be at his best when it’s closer rather than when there is a few seconds gap

  14. 6/10, just above average.

  15. There’s no 6.5 so I had to go to 6…

    Encouraging last stint for Red Bull. Driver of the weekend should be Lewis Hamilton but Driver of the race is Sebastian Vettel.

    Congrats to Dan Ricciardo for his first binding podium and for Marco Matiacci for allowing Kimi to defend his place and in the end it ended alright, so Ferrari that’s the way to go.

    1. Yeah, Vettel should get the “Mark Webber trophy” for fighting back through the field after a botched qualy session.

      1. Mark bothed his start, actually, and tended nottorecover from that.

    2. @jcost, if you could give (as you say you wanted) a 6.5, it would be closer to 7. So…why did you decided to give 6?

      1. @yes-master it’s not closer, it’s the same margin. For me it was more 6,49 than 6,51 that’s why I gave it a 6.

        1. @jcost Generally, .0 to 0.4 is rounded off, while .5 to .9 is rounded up. I think that is what @yes-master meant.

          1. @npf1 round-up (or off) is a pretty much an arbitrary criteria that’s why I highlighted in my response to @yes-master that the race was more 6.49 (rounded-up to 6.5) than 6.51.

          2. @jcost I seem to have misread your post, sorry!

  16. i thought it was boring. only the last few laps we saw actual overtaking, the rest was basically pit-stop overtakes. fun to watch for stragists, but not me. i want to see on-track action and we didn’t get any today. monaco will most likely be the same, however it could get intresting if vettel or ricciardo snatch pole.

    5/10

  17. 7/10 not bad

  18. 8/10 Wow those final laps did mount the tension . Even at the very last chicane , Brundle caught his breath as he thought Hamilton slowed a bit. Massive drives from Lewis , Rosberg , Bottas ,Alonso and Vettel !

  19. 6/10 may as well have missed everything before the last 10 laps as that’s where all the action happened.

  20. These are my notes:
    1. I gave it an 8 mainly due to the champion-style race of Vettel. Amazing stuff! I would be surprise if Vettel was not considered the DOTW. He excel himself and respond to every critics and to the bad luck he felt over this weekend. Any doubts he’s a brilliant driver?
    2. Congrats to Ham and Mercedes. They are in a different level. Which is not good to F1, however. Nonetheless, I was hopping to watch Nico fighting to overtake Ham, and give a Merc fight, but unfortunately, it was not possible. Too bad, or else I could consider a 9.
    3. Ferrari need a proper car asap. What the hell is Ferrari doing? Battling for not having a +1 lap?
    4. Congrats to Ricciardo. Another good and clean race.

    1. Not sure Vettel can win DOTW…he only took part in half of it!!

      But seriously, great drive by VET, HAM, ROS and RIC. Between VET and HAM for DOTW imho.

      1. But we have to consider the fastest lap also:

        Seb – 1:28.918
        Nico – 1:29.236
        Ham – 1:29.483

        1. I’m not sure I care about the fastest lap for DOTW…in fact, one of the reasons I put Lewis ahead of Nico was precisely because his car wasn’t working as well (or at least he wasn’t as comfortable in it), but he still wrung more out of it than Nico could manage.

          Seb’s lap, on the other hand, shows that in a poorer car he was still able to find a HUGE amount of performance. Despite my natural support for Lewis, I think I’m verging towards Seb for DOTW.

          Nico, I think, has to lose points (in terms of DOTW) for missing out on both pole and the win when he should have managed both given how good he felt with the car.

          But like I said, only my opinion!

          1. Fastest lap for Vettel was of course due to him being on a three-stop and really pushing immediately after changing to the softer tyres. None of the Mercs did so.

        2. Not really. They were on different strategies.

  21. 7/10 for me, and it was thanks to the last 10 laps, Grande Lewis Nico should raise his game he has only his teammate to fight, great drive from both the RBR drivers especially Vettel with his usual turn 9/10 tricks in spain (similar to 2011), finally good racing from the Ferrari drivers and hats off for the team for using different strategies if the team improves the F14T we may see a Ferrari/RBR battles with Vettel/RIC and Fernand/kimi in the mix

  22. Cocaine-Mackeine
    11th May 2014, 14:55

    6
    The last laps were thrilling and wonderful. But the rest was pretty boring.
    I really wanted Rosberg to catc h Hamilton, it really reminded me of the end of the 2011 Spanish GP, with Hamilton catching Vettel.
    Really I didn’t like this race, but most of you will overrate it, which I think, didn’t saw the first 50 laps of the race.

    1. In 2011 Vettel was racing without KERS which makes his defence more impressive

      1. Although they were in different cars, and Vettel’s was clearly vastly better out of the final corner, wich was the one place Hamilton needed to get a strong run.

    2. I do feel it’s a bit of a trend here, for whatever reason.

      Not sure whether it’s the influx of (I hate this term..) ‘fan boys’ or what have you.

      We had a lot of massively over-rated races when Vettel was winning, and the same seems to happen when Lewis wins, too.

      I think we’re very much in the minority, though!

      1. @ ecwdanselby It´s not minority, I´m unsure of what it is, but people go mad when something exciting happens in the last laps of the races. An example: China 2012. The whole race was a yawner, only a few moments were actually “interestring”. But then it came a point where the positions 2-14 were covered by 10 seconds. Obviously it was exciting to see that train of cars overtaking and battling, but I think it wasn´t enough to get a high score of 8.648 (see The Rate The Race Results 2012). People tend to overrate a race just when it happens something very exciting that only last a couple of minutes, compared to an hour and a half of dull racing.

  23. 7. Incredibly tense for the last 20 laps- not just the last 10 because Rosberg was instantly taking chunks of time out of Hamilton after the last stop, it’s just that Hamilton was able to occasionally peg him back. Vettel looked to get a slow start but ended up scything through the field. Raikkonen did great holding off Alonso for so long.

  24. Tense and tight race…not as exciting as Bahrain, but lots of strategy intrigue leading up to a fascinating last 10 laps. 7/10.

    1. +1 wereas Bahrain was thrilling this was intriguing.

      1. This is all very fair! Good summary.

  25. what a drive by Ham and Seb. Not much action otherwise.
    Yesterday in qualifying, they had jacked up the engine volumes and turned down Commentary for almost whole of Q1 and today they had horrible camera angles and low(est?) engine volumes compared to last few races. I’m ok with how the engines sound but this was a dull weekend as far as sound quality is concerned.

  26. It was boring. Nothing interesting, almoust no fight. 3 points.
    Boring season.

    1. Good assessment. Although next time you should also watch the last 10 laps as often that’s where the strategies play out. 6 from me despite being a slow burner.

  27. I may get some stick for this post but after 10 years of watching F1 I am no longer a fan. The racing is no longer entertaining in my opinion. I can’t sit here and say wow 10 laps of exciting racing can make up for 56 boring ones cause it just cant. In the last 2 years I have been getting more into the WEC which is getting stronger all the time and is a sport F1 really needs to look at as it is a Hybrid championship all so. But for now F1 has lost me for the time being.

    1. Good bye and have a nice time :)

    2. I laugh every time I read comments like this. Once in a while we have someone who comes up with the number of years they watched F1 and how the recent race they saw was not exciting and why they are going to stop watching F1. Good riddance.

    3. @mrjlr93 you say it as if any of us truly care… I hope you enjoy WEC to it’s fullest capacity.

    4. I don’t remember the racing 10 years ago being regularly spectacular though.

    5. petebaldwin (@)
      11th May 2014, 16:12

      @mrjlr93 – So you preferred races at Catalunya 10 years ago? Loads of passes back then eh?

      1. I think this is exactly his point, @petebaldwin.

        I was more than willing to give the DRS a chance, but I just can’t have it.

        I’ll continue to watch F1 until I feel forced away from it, but I do already feel like i’ve been shoved a few times.

        We’re under zero illusion that there was more wheel to wheel action ‘back then’, because stats will tell you that’s just not the case.

        However, I DO miss the art of defending an overtake.

        I DO miss the suspense of ‘will he, or won’t he?’.

        The best we have now is “will he catch him (aka pass him) in time?”, which is nerve racking, but once someone catches another driver, it’s game over within a lap or two. That’s the reality.

        So I think it’s vastly unfair when people jump on others for saying how they find DRS and today’s F1 a little bit of a turn off.

        I can’t remember the last DRS pass that genuinely gave me joy and made me want to jump up and applaud a driver, like I would have done pre-DRS days.

        I think i’d take a few flat out boring races, mixed with the occasional classic, and some decent ones if it meant it was fair, genuine racing.

        Let’s be honest – even now, all of the races aren’t instant classics just because they contain 50 overtakes, are they?

        1. You hit the nail on the head there. Drivers are no longer able to defend the position no longer. Its simply wait till DRS zone open flap fake to the inside go down the outside job done. Drivers years ago would defend that position and the attacking driver would have to find a way around it ways real racing as Senna once said. If any drivers would do that today they would be given a penalty for to many moves on the race track.

          But as many are aware by having a opinion we are shoot down for saying something we believe has diminished what was once a truly great sport.

  28. 6/10. Felt like pretty much nothing happened between laps 5-55. I do like the strategic element, but there just wasn’t that much going on today.

  29. Fikri Harish (@)
    11th May 2014, 15:03

    Textbook definition of a classic slow-burner.
    Stellar drive from Vettel right there and happy for Ricciardo now that he’s going to keep this one.

    If that race is enough to depress me as a Ferrari fan, I can’t imagine how you McLaren fans must have felt after another pointless race.
    Hang in there, guys.

  30. Fikri Harish (@)
    11th May 2014, 15:05

    Textbook definition of a classic slow-burner.
    Stellar drive from Vettel right there and happy for Ricciardo now that he’s going to keep this particular trophy.

    If that race is enough to depress me as a Ferrari fan, I can’t imagine how you McLaren fans must have felt after another pointless race.
    Hang in there, guys.

  31. Great race! Took a while to get going, but the end was very exciting! 7/8

  32. 7

    Surprisingly good for a Barcelona-race, even though it looked just like normal in the first stint with everybody on same tires not able to overtake. Came to live through different tyre-strategies being closely matched (good job by Pirelli this time), and even though the battle for the lead didn´t really fully materialize, the Ferrari-Battle and Vettel coming through made for some entertainment.

  33. Really enjoyed the entire race. It was also fun to see a race where Rosberg actually pushed Hamilton (@Mallindagorilla). Vettel easily driver of the weekend. His Q went bad, FP friday went bad and he could have done nothing about it but managed a 15th to 4th on a track notorious for not really overtaking bar the main straight. Which he did in a car with almost the lowest top speed. Brilliant stuff.

    Ricciardo nice and smooth on the podium. Took full advantage of the bad luck of the sister car.

    What was wrong with Massa?

    1. Was wondering the same thing about Massa. He’s in a fresh environment now and still… whilst Bottas managed to stay in the Top 10.

    2. @xtwl Where you trying to direct that at me?

      1. @magillagorilla, yeah. We had this discussion yesterday. And although I would not change what I said yesterday, about today I think you were right. I still fear though it will be a one off.

        1. @xtwl I remember it’s just my name isn’t mallindagorilla so there’s that…

          And most people don’t like to change their stance, so I don’t expect you to. Though it should be noted it’s not a one off if this is the second time it’s happened. Also if the championship stays this tight and Mercedes keep going with this 1.5 to 2 second gap over the competition they’ll race all season long without question. Even if one driver is outdoing the other at some point in the championship.

          1. @mallindagorilla, you still want to go on about Bahrein? Rewatch the race and try to think of this race without the SC.

            I think we will see more China and Malaysia performances from Lewis than Spain performances.

          2. @magillagorilla, sorry for the name thing, again. :)

          3. It’s fine I’ll get over it and @xtwl, even the comments from both Sky and BBC echoed that Nico had the advantage at Bahrain too because of this same tire strategy. The problem is that Nico can’t make the best of it and he needs to figure that out on his own, but the point still stands that Mercedes allowed them to race and didn’t call team orders.

          4. @magillagorilla True. I was quite happy about the no teamorders thing. Although I’m really doing my best to find what Hamilton said on lap 64 or 65. I heard ‘ask him to back off’, probably mishead it but I’d like to know for sure.

  34. 7/10. Not a bad race at all.

    Great recovery drive from Vettel. It looks like Red Bull improved their race pace quite significantly. Also, tension whether Rosberg will be able to challenge Hamilton for the lead. Some nice battles down the grid.

    I would’ve given 8, but Ferrari handling their drivers was a drawback of the race. They said their drivers will get equal treatment, but that wasn’t the case this time. It was clear from the first pit stops that they wanted to get Alonso ahead of Raikkonen. As always, Ferrari are all about hypocrisis.

  35. The shot of the two Ferraris sliding through turn 3 early on was the highlight for me. These cars have been spectacular round here this year. And a classy drive by Vettel.

    Close finish but not enough laps of it right at the end, otherwise too much strategy and engineers meddling in the race (“stay back”/”let him past”) for my liking.

  36. Neil (@neilosjames)
    11th May 2014, 15:10

    Wasn’t the most exciting of afternoons, but I always give a good rating to a race which has me on the edge of my seat and feeling some genuine tense excitement in the closing laps.

  37. 8/10

    The race was a tense one with some strategies involved. Lewis and Nico are giving some exciting battles and it is very good to see Mercedes letting them race. Great drive from all top 5 finishers and specially from Vettel. Tell me he cant overtake cars :P

    A bit disappointed with Ferrari favoring Alonso . Kimi should have been in front if they hadn’t split their strategies. With fresh rubber and few laps to go, it was easy for Alonso to get ahead of Kimi.

    Another thing I noted in case of Mercedes, whoever will be ahead will be given faster strategy to finish race I.e. Option- Option and Prime coz its really difficult to pass the other car in closing stages.

  38. So when is Ross Brawn going to be back sitting on the pit wall in a red shirt?

    1. It apparently was a friendly visit to Maranello ;)

      The timings could’nt have been better

  39. It was a good one. Perhaps would’ve been a little better if there was some Bahrain-style passes and repasses, but there was tension throughout building up to a nail-biting climax. Good action elsewhere and a fantastic recovery from Vettel. 8/10

  40. Gave it a 6.. Total utter domination by Mercedes… shocking to see the gap between them is around 1-3s at best and to the rest of the field around 40s-a whole lap’s time. Never seen such domination before. It’s a bit worrying the situation has just ‘improved’ (gone worse) for one team at least (and for fans who wished wheel to wheel battles outright). It’s F1 after all…

  41. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    11th May 2014, 15:12

    That race was very exciting… For 6 of the 66 laps.

    Another tremendous drive by Lewis, and an even more tremendous drive by Vettel!

    Gave it a 6.

  42. 7.

    Great drive by Vettel, a few other good overtakes.

    Nice to have different strategies play out.

    But although in theory HAM-ROS could have been a great battle, I knew deep down that ROS will not be able to make it. HAM just seems that little bit better.

  43. Race felt one lap short. A bit of a snoozer at first but the end was quite exciting.

  44. Jess (@justblowingofsteam)
    11th May 2014, 15:15

    If it hadn’t been for the last 10 laps it would have been a 5, it ended up as a 7.
    I just feel Hamilton has the edge this year but given the breaks Rosberg proved today he really should not be judged as a number 2 driver, his old man proved that winning races doesn’t mean your out of the game for a championship.

  45. Gave it a 8, mostly because of the Mercedes. This teams lets theira drivers race, unlike Ferrari.
    Favoring Alonso was just ludicrous.
    Great drive from Mercedes boys, and again even with best performance Rosberg was denied the win by Hamilton.
    Hamilton is superb this year.
    Great comeback from Vettel, amazing job. And great drives from Ricciardo and Bottas.

  46. This race was much better than the last one. Last 15 laps were awesome!

  47. First 5 laps were ok, and the last 10 where thrilling!
    So, we have some 51 laps that were almost boring. And I say “almost” because VET put a bit of taste after his first pit stop and that made the race to be a bit less linear.
    I´d give it a 6.5, but as I can´t do that, the last 5 laps made me give it a 7.

  48. Nothing interesting other than the constant whining of Lewis over the radio !!!!!

    Mercedes nearly lapped the bulls !!!! Talk about making F1 interesting :(

    1. Nothing like complaining for complaining’s sake, right? :-)

  49. This is kind of funny. You can tell who the noobs are by their ratings. If you’re rating it as 5 or 6, I’m sorry but you just don’t understand F1. Its F1 not turning cars guys!

    I can point out from beginning to end what made the race so tense and interesting, but I’m afraid that would be futile. But here’s a few hints: tire strategies, intrateam battles, and timing/telemetry.

    1. I really didn’t enjoy this race. The 40 laps in the middle were all setting up for things, and I’ve got to say I didn’t get very excited – Hamilton was always just far too much in control from the beginning. If the roles were reversed it’d probably have been much more tense, because Hamilton’s ominous form recently would have been awesome as he caught up to Rosberg. When Rosberg was catching, though I was rooting for him, I knew his chance was pretty small even when he was catching. The DRS was very strong here, and I only remember two passes outside of the DRS zones.

      I’d also say it was very naughty for Mercedes to put Rosberg on the harder tyres for his second stint when he was saying the softer tyre was better on him. His best chance of overtaking was not at the end, but during the second stint. I think we got cheated out of a much more exciting race, though of course I have no idea what went on to make the decisions.

      Very hollow I’d say. Too much teasing and not enough actual delivery. A race I think people won’t look back on as kindly this time next year (I’m trying to think of a similar race. Belgium 2009 is similar. A lot of tension and hype because of Force India, but in the race portion it was pretty lacking). Really little changed, and I think now with the race result known it has little replay value.

      That’s just my opinion though.

      1. Oops, phantom post.

    2. If you’re rating it as 5 or 6, I’m sorry but you just don’t understand F1. Its F1 not turning cars guys!

      If they think a regular race is 3/4 yet still like them, today 5/6, Canada 2011 7/8 because it was too long,and the 2008 finale 9/10, I think it’s fine.

      It’s just that @keithcollantine opted against providing a “5/6=good 7/8=a bit better and 9/10 Bahrain” guide so 2 people that each think of a race as highly aseach other can end up giving different scores.

      Having said thatthough that race was certainly a bit better than 5 or 6.

  50. Watching it slightly behind due to a timing mess-up (which I blame on the Beeb, but I probably should have checked), I was thinking towards the mid-part of the race that it was going to be a close finish. A brilliant last stint with Rosberg closing in. 8/10

  51. This was definitely a classic slow-burner.
    Not a lot going on at the beginning, but then it all came together and set up the perfect scenario for several last minute battles towards the end.
    Loved it. 8/10.

  52. It was very good for a dry race with no safety car. Lots of overtaking for Spain and fantastic battles. I deduct a point only for a lack of wheel to wheel at the front and lack of fighting at the back of the grid, or am I being too picky? 8/10

  53. Intriguing more than exciting. Great to see Ferrari going wheel to wheel with each other and Vettel pulling off some decent moves. 7/10.

  54. Gave it a 7, there were some good fight, for a Spanish grand prix. The Mercedes lapped every car until sixth though, and a bunch were lapped twice. 3 laps more and they would have lapped Alonso, despite having made no mistakes, this is worrying. Rosberg seems unable to match Hamilton in standard conditions, I don’t see how he could retake the lead, Hamilton being consistently faster.
    I loved how Vettel came from nowhere to fourth, a really encouraging feat, he was on fire.
    Kudos to Bottas, crushing his teammate, about to take seventh in WDC from Hulkenberg, and Grosjean for a superb 8th with half a car, bringing the first four points to the team, a real breath for them!

  55. Difficult race for Lewis.
    Spent most of his time setting up the car.
    Maybe Engineers should be swapped around every other race.

  56. Booooooooring and a farce.

  57. The way Hamilton won over Rosberg is just amazing, hats off.

  58. I really didn’t enjoy this race. The 40 laps in the middle were all setting up for things, and I’ve got to say I didn’t get very excited – Hamilton was always just far too much in control from the beginning. If the roles were reversed it’d probably have been much more tense, because Hamilton’s ominous form recently would have been awesome as he caught up to Rosberg. When Rosberg was catching, though I was rooting for him, I knew his chance was pretty small even when he was catching. The DRS was very strong here, and I only remember two passes outside of the DRS zones.

    I’d also say it was very naughty for Mercedes to put Rosberg on the harder tyres for his second stint when he was saying the softer tyre was better on him. His best chance of overtaking was not at the end, but during the second stint. I think we got cheated out of a much more exciting race, though of course I have no idea what went on to make the decisions.

    Very hollow I’d say. Too much teasing and not enough actual delivery. A race I think people won’t look back on as kindly this time next year (I’m trying to think of a similar race. Belgium 2009 is similar. A lot of tension and hype because of Force India, but in the race portion it was pretty lacking). Really little changed, and I think now with the race result known it has little replay value.

    That’s just my opinion though.

  59. petebaldwin (@)
    11th May 2014, 16:15

    Got to be honest, had I not got the F1 official app (for free) and as such had access to the sector times, I’d have struggled to be interested in the first 50 laps. Seeing Hamilton and Rosberg battling for tenths in each sector kept it exciting though.

    Then obviously everything built up to a great final part of the race. Really close with some great battles.

    Overall, I gave it a 7. Races like Brazil 2008 are worthy of a 10. Bahrain this year deserved a 9… This race was exciting but it certainly wasn’t up with them but it was very entertaining.

    1. Nailed it!

      In fact, I gave Brazil 08 a 10, Bahrain a 9, and this a 7 haha

  60. 5. Boring.

    The last 10 laps were interesting, the rest….. bleah. In the first 10 laps, the 2 Mercedes cars opened a gap of more than 1second per lap. This is huge. The followers also split into packs of 2-3 cars (Ricciardo vs. Bottas, then Grosjean vs. Raikkonen vs. Alonso etc etc) and the drivers from each pack were also split by ~ 2seconds. So, everything was more than settled, nobody tried to attack anybody. If that’s not “maximum boring”/parade….. have no ideea what it is ! The following laps were pretty much the same. 5/10 seems to me to be the true rating this race deserves.

    1. Agreed, unless if you are a LH fan then the tension would have made you more excited about the race.

      1. Sorry, really didn’t understand if you agree or not with me. I’m an Alonso/Ferrari fan, but I don’t rate the races based on Alonso/Ferrari did in the race. Until the 1st pit stop, there was absolutely nothing to see for us, spectators, at the front. And by “front” I mean first 10 positions !

      2. Yeh, I think you really need to understand that we rate the races based on how good the race was, not where ‘our driver’ or ‘our team’ finished.

        1. That’s the impression we all want to give but look at how people that support LH have rated this race higher that it deserves. Some even claimed it was an 8 or even a 9!
          Clearly this was influenced by the fact that they support LH and there was some tension for them. For some of us who don’t support LH the race died down after the first 4 corners. Personally I never expected NR to pass LH even with an extra couple of laps. Everyone else just took their inevitable positions.

  61. Aqib (@aqibqadeer)
    11th May 2014, 16:20

    Not as great as bahrain but still a good race so 7/10 from me

  62. 8 / 10

    It was quite decent as far as Spanish GPs go. I missed about a third of it as I was busy watching the Giro d’Italia pass by outside my apartment balcony but I don’t think I missed anything important.

  63. As somebody who rates a “regular vanilla ‘borefest'” 6 I gave it a 7.

  64. 6/10 for me.

    Seb’s charge was great to watch, and some other passes which made for a good final 10 laps but overall a bit boring. Result was never really in doubt.

  65. How many fans actually do some driving in their free time? I’ve karted quite a lot, enough to know that not every race is exceptional, and not every race has to be. There were some great races, and others where it was pretty boring, long distance behind and in front of some one. That’s motorsport, and that’s okay. You must love the sport in all its details, not just in a “why isn’t there more overtaking”… that’s just a part, a nice part, but a part nonetheless.
    Let’s not try to make this a show people wanna watch. Either you love the sport and discuss it on that level, or just go watch something else.
    Sorry, but it irritates me when people complain about things that are actually part of the sport, and always have been, like strategy. It is not about racing as fast as you can the whole time for 300+ km, it is about using your brain, and maximising your options.
    This was so fascinating about Hamilton, Rosberg, Bottas and Vettel today – they were able to maximize their potential in the different racing situations, and that’s what I like to see. I don’t expect it to be thrilling from start to finish until the end, because I know from own experience that that is not realistic in racing; but it is still fun every time!

    1. @mogon4 Quite possibly the most sensible comment I’ve seen on here in years… I couldn’t agree more…

    2. Of course, not every race needs to be fantastic. But it is ok to give a race a low rating if it was a bit boring. What point would the ratings have otherwise?

      1. agreed. just wanna make sure we are rating the race, not the sport.

      2. There is NO point to ratings. Each and everyone of us rates differently according to whatever arbitrary factor that we fancy. Sure, when you average those ratings up, it can represent if a race is liked or not by the viewers but in the end, who cares? I love that race, fine. You hate this race, also fine.
        Rate to your heart’s content. It changes nothing.

    3. Sorry man, but we are spectators first ! Most of us are just “plain” fans of cars/motorsport, without any engineering/logical diploma. We’re here for the show mostly, not to understand the strategies etc etc. Besides the show, we don’t get anything. That’s not the case with those we watch – the make millions of euros, win trophies, fame, a place in history etc ! Also, too many things are hidden to us in order to even make proper judgements, to be closer to an objective point of view. So, yeah, I agree we should expect to see some boring stuff, always happened, but these days this kinda become the norm. F1 is more Le Mans than Le Mans itself. Le Mans is closer to a sprint race than F1 nowadays. The drivers need to back off in order to keep their tyres “alive” as much as possible, this season because of the fuel limit, the aero doesn’t help too much either when it comes to overtaking etc. F1 simply doesn’t seem to be a sport about the “fastest” anymore. I don’t think Senna would have enjoyed it as it is now.

      1. Fuel limit is not an issue. And as you seem a Senna fan, most of the 1988, 1990 and 1991 races were “boring” like we watched today. And if you don’t understand the strategies i don’t think you really like F1.

  66. great racing throughout the field with Alonso, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Bottas and vettel and i was always on the edge of my seat from the battle between Hamilton and Rosberg but thankfully Hamilton held on. nice to see an improvement in Marussias performance with them comfortably faster than Caterham and challenging the midfield at the start. I gave it an 8

  67. Photos of the Ferrari aerodynamical improvements for CANADA revealed.

    1. here is the link

      1. Want to try the link but it looks dodgy…

        Plus, I suspect it’ll be one of those ‘hilarious’ images of a block of lego or something.

        1. @ecwdanselby Not even that good. Just a pic of a ‘joke’ cut’n’shut of a car with a truck cab in the middle.

          For future reference, the link was fine, it’s just using Google’s URL shortener to make a long incomprehensible link (such as you’d get sharing a pic from cloud storage for example) into something more manageable…

  68. Incredible overrating here as always. Every single race gets voted on average 7 or above. Did you know that. Half the time when you say it was an average or boring race you give it a 7. Where’s the logic in that?
    I actually think that this was average and I’m gonna give it a 5.

  69. I really do not understand those ratings. This race is rated more less 7,5.

    Does anybody think there is only 2,5 points between this race and, for example, Donnington 1993 (one of the greatest victories of Senna), or 1996 Spanish GP (First victory of Schumi with Ferrari)?

    I do not give this race more than 4-5 points and I’m pretty sure everybody will not remember anything interesting of this race after some few months (Only Keith will keep some stats & facts for the history of F1)

    1. Today’s race was more entertaining than both those races put together. Both races were completely dominated by the victors In devastating fashion. A snooze fest. Great victories but hardly entertaining. I’m here to rate how much I enjoyed this race and due to some very tense inter-team battles, and a storming drive from Vettel, I give this race a 7/10. A slow burner that turned into one of the better Spanish grand prixs.

  70. Pretty average race, which means an average grade. A 6.

    To the guys above me; people on the internet generally vote within a range of 5-10. I believe this is because the things they rate lower, they either don’t bother reviewing online, or give a 1 out of anger. For me personally, a race like Hungary 2004, with absolutely nothing going for it would be a 3. A 2 or a 1 would have to be a race like Indy 2005. Even a 4 would have to be a race with virtually no on-track overtaking or a scandal of some sort.

    I think if the people who vote here now were subjected to some races from the late 90s and early 00s, they probably would vote lower than 5.

    1. @npf1 I’ve been following F1 since I was old enough to say “cars”. Andretti’s JPS Lotus 79 and Hunt’s McLaren M23 are my earliest memories of watching F1 on TV as a toddler. I’m in my mid 40s and I’ve probably missed no more than 10 races in 30 years.

      I rated this one an 8 – and I vote for the whole weekend (I’m particularity enjoying the Mercedes’ utter dominance. It will not last forever, ask Red Bull.)

      Nostalgia famously looks better through proverbial rose tinted specs.

      “The Overtake” is NOT the be all and end all of F1. F1 is a much richer, deeper and more technical sport than possibly any other. It is why I love it. When there’s a (none DRS) highly accomplished pass, it’s thrilling, exciting and indeed awe inspiring. There may be less of them in F1 than other motorsport simply because the margins are so fantastically small and the drivers of such a high standard that genuine passing (as in none assisted) is rare. It is this rarity that makes it special. If you have several passes per lap it’s no longer a highlight. They wouldn’t be hard fought over many laps. Passing would no longer be special.

      It’s a race. A race to a single winner. If you don’t like it then F1 is possibly not for you?

      1. @psynrg If you hadn’t put in that final remark, I would have gladly given an in depth reply..

      2. @npf1 It’s just a rhetorical question born of your assumptions about how you would rate a race vs how you think others should rate a race.

        1. @psynrg

          people on the internet generally vote within a range of 5-10

          For me personally, etc

          I do not remember indulging in sharing how I think others should vote.

          1. @npf1

            I believe this is because the things they rate lower, they either don’t bother reviewing online, or give a 1 out of anger.

            OK, my mistake, they were your assumptions on how others are voting. I misinterpreted this to mean you know how and why others are voting the way they do; with some strange reference to a bygone era and how it could/should/would influence the way people vote now.
            My suggestion. Just vote and don’t worry about what or why others are voting.

  71. @keithcollantine maybe it might be interesting to add the standard deviation to the data… see how controversial a rating of a given race was. Should be some interesting reading…

  72. Have not rated the race yet, need to think about it more, probably 6 or 7.
    I have never watched a Formula 1 race I did not like. There is always something interesting going on, maybe not at the front. Some of you are so harsh, it is totally unfair. It is still great entertainment. It has been my sport since 1962, helping unload F1 cars at Zandvoort. I love F1 and for me there are no boring races! Grow up.

  73. This race had some good parts, but i don’t like it.

  74. As usual for a SPanish GP, it was quite a technical and somewhat boring race. Mixed strategies and some desicions gave us some exciting last laps. It wasn’t easy to watch and there wasn’t any particular drama to remember from this race. Quite average and will be forgotten soon.
    I got to say, though that this year F1 is more balanced than previous years. Not as per team performance, where Mercedes is well ahead, but the tyres are not drawing attention away from the race, the DRS is not overpowering and there are not so many mechanical failures as we feared before the season.
    In conclusion, a grade of 6/10 is fair, imo, mainly because of Vettel’s drive and the battles in the closing laps.

  75. 5/10

    Last 10 laps were ok, the rest was like watching a chess match. Let’s see how the season progresses, but at the moment Bahrain is looking like a one off.

  76. I gave it a One. Why? Because it didn’t deserve anything more that that. Boring from start to finish and very predictable.
    How can this even be called racing? Calling it a race is an insult to racing!
    I was watching Ricciardo coming up on Bottas then his team tells him to drop back to a two second gap to save the tires! That is not a race. The whole point of a race is to push yourself to finish first. Isn’t far more effective to get up right behind the next driver and harass him until he makes a mistake? They should be giving these guys tires that allow them to actually do that.
    To me, the only reason a driver should have to stop and change tires is because he was pushing the car to the brink of exploding. The points are only given to the top ten drivers, so then they should push as hard as they can to get into the top ten. I would rather my driver push his car to until it dies on him then finish outside of the points.

    1. @irejag

      The whole point of a race is to push yourself to finish first.

      Actually the whole point of a race is to win as slowly as possible. Thus conserving resources and decreasing the possibility of a failure and increasing the likelihood of the win.

  77. I enjoy all of the f1 races, obviously some are much better than others and a lot of the racing quality is due more to the track that offers more passing availability than other tracks. Monaco being an exception because there are very, very limited passing areas so desperation is more common as drivers become frustrated and try near impossible passes. I just wonder how many of the F1 respondents watch football/soccer? Hours go by with a single point being scored, now this is boring to me. I am sure this soccer comment will get more responses than it deserves……………… Thanks, RnR

  78. Woops, forgot to mention SVettle …. is this a race where Red Bull lets us know that they are back in the game. SB seemed to have some magic charm last year and this year to date seems only bad luck is on his side. Really wanted Nico to win ……. RnR

  79. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but I gave it a four because there was no surprises for me. Once I saw the strategy, I knew how they were going to finish. What iced it was knowing when Nico went through his graining cycle on the last stint, that’d provide Lewis the margin needed to keep Nico back.

    Maybe I pay too much attention, and no, Bernie, I’m not asking for a Mario Kart element of surprise, but I was underwhelmed.

    Give us ground effects and neuter the wings already. More non-DRS overtaking would make this far more entertaining.

  80. GB (@bgp001ruled)
    12th May 2014, 5:31

    what? the end was exciting? really? for me the race was 3/10 and i still wonder why i rate it so high! and the end? well, i didnt get to see it: i was so bored out of my skull that i went back to bed! in my country it was a 6am race! two thirds i watched: horribly boring!!!!

  81. BOOOOOOO

  82. Antonio (@frosty-jacks-racing-team)
    12th May 2014, 11:39

    7 for me thanks to the last laps.

    I would be curious to see what these ratings would be like if Hunt and Walker still did the commentary, I find with BBC this year that Ben Edwards misses SO much events as they happen plus DC starts every post analysis incident with ‘well…’. Personally I think my post race reflection on excitement would be much more positive without ‘Lights out awaayy wee gooo’. Avid watchers opinion of course, I’m sure Ill eat my words come Silverstone.

  83. 3/10 boooooring and predictable.

  84. 3/10
    Got so bored I actually forgot to follow the race almost completely from around lap 5. Wasn’t even sure what positions some drivers were running in. Vettel had a good comeback, Raikkonen and Alonso fought well, but I’m not sto hyped of Rosberg failing to beat Hamilton yet again, despite the “he’s coming for him!” that was being shouted for the last 10 laps and which led to nothing.

  85. so so so boring just at the end when Nico was closing the gap to Lewis was interesting

  86. I gave it a 7.

    The early part of the race wasn’t that good and I thought it would be a typical Barcelona GP, in other words quite boring.

    However Vettel and Alonso three stopping and charging the field added enough excitement later in the race and when Rosberg was chasing down Hamilton in the final stint I was on the edge of my seat wondering which way it would turn out, and I thought it would be in Rosberg’s favour.

    So overall a decent race.

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