FERNANDO ALONSO sent the home fans into delirium with his victory in the Spanish Grand Prix.
His Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa produced a stunning drive to go from ninth to third.
The race descended into a tyre management exercise rather than a flat-out racing contest.
Ferrari’s decision to nurse the widely-debated Pirelli tyres with four pit stops allowed their drivers to finish either side of Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen.
Reigning champion Sebastian Vettel was fourth while Jenson Button finished eighth after his McLaren teammate, Sergio Perez, abandoned his late challenge to finish ninth, following a radio message.
Lewis Hamilton meanwhile had a dreadful afternoon.
He started in second but finished down in 12th -- and was even LAPPED.
His Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg, who started the race on pole, was sixth.
It was a shock as the Merc duo had looked so quick during Saturday’s qualifying session but just as in the previous race in Bahrain, they struggled when it came to the race.
Rosberg was able to maintain his first spot going into turn one but he was under pressure from Vettel immediately.
But it was not such a good start for Hamilton, who was quickly overtaken by Vettel while Alonso then squeezed past.
Button also made a nightmare start and he was running in 17th place at the end of the first lap, having started in 14th.
Hamilton continued to drop like a stone while Rosberg was struggling to fend off the challenge from Vettel.
Further back, Romain Grosjean saw his race ended on the ninth lap when his Lotus suffered a broken rear suspension.
But there were not any problems however for his teammate Raikkonen, who had a solid race after being
The Finn needed to be quick too, for Alonso started to stretch his lead having seen off Rosberg and Vettel — much to the delight of the home crowd.
The Ferrari ace benefitted from an early stop to pass the German and gave a faultless display, as his teammate Massa also came into the reckoning.
The Brazilian, who picked up a three-place grid penalty, for impeding another driver, looked quick like Alonso.
The same cannot be said for Mercedes’ two drivers.
Rosberg held his nerve to remain in the top six but Hamilton appeared to give up the fight.
He was passed by Paul Di Resta on lap 26 while the sluggish Williams of Pastor Maldonado also trundled past, prompting the Brit to complain into his team’s radio “now I have been overtaken by a Williams”.
There were more glum faces down at Sauber, as Nico Hulkenberg was penalised for an unsafe release when he clattered into Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso in the pitlane.
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