Weekend motorsport round-up: F1 Spain & Formula E Monaco

The past weekend saw the start of the European legs of two very different global single-seat, open-wheel racing series. Near Barcelona Spain, at the Circuit de Catalunya, the FIA Formula 1 World Championship's Spanish Grand Prix was held and saw Nico Rosberg of Mercedes get the better of teammate and defending F1 champion Lewis Hamilton by taking a lights-to-flag win, while former world champion Sebastian Vettel took third place in his Ferrari.

The all-electric FIA Formula E Championship's inaugural season entered its seventh round at Monaco, with the race being held on a variant of the Monaco Grand Prix circuit. A shortened 1.76 km circuit that left out sections like Casino Square, Mirabeau and the following hairpin as well as the tunnel section held the 47-lap, 83 kilometre race that was won by e.dams Renault's Sebastien Buemi who became the first multiple race winner in Formula E by taking the chequered flag ahead of Lucas Di Grassi and Nelson Piquet Jr.

F1 SPANISH GRAND PRIX

Nico Rosberg got his championship challenge well and truly going with a win over Lewis Hamilton in order to cut the difference between the two in the F1 drivers' standings to 20 points. The German showed signs of reversing a relatively tame outing in the first three races of the season in Bahrain with his forceful overtaking manoeuvres.

A comfortable pole position and a win on a different strategy than Hamilton has made him the most likely driver to prevent Hamilton from winning a second straight title as compared to Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel who finished over 45 seconds behind his compatriot.

The second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen would probably have finished fourth behind Vettel but the 2007 champion paid the price for a poor qualifying session that saw him start from seventh on the grid. Raikkonen harried fellow Finn Valtteri Bottas' Williams-Mercedes but ultimately had to settle for fifth.

Toro Rosso-Renault, the surprise package of qualifying, were unable to hold on to their fifth and sixth places on the starting grid as F1's youngest driver duo of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Max Verstappen finished ninth and eleventh. While the senior Red Bull-Renault squad's Daniel Ricciardo was able to leapfrog the duo and finish seventh, Daniil Kvyat was beaten by one Toro Rosso as the Russian took the final points scoring position in tenth.

The race's home hero Fernando Alonso was running as high as seventh at one point in his McLaren-Honda but had to retire after 26 laps due to brake failure. His teammate and 2009 champion Jenson Button limped home in 16th place, with only the lowly Manor cars behind him.

FORMULA E MONACO ePRIX

Sebastien Buemi became the first driver to secure two wins in Formula E. The Swiss driver won the first ever race of the series to be held in Europe, adding to his previous victory in Punta del Este. It was also the third win for a driver from the e.dams-Renault team, as Nico Prost had come out on top in Miami, thus extending its lead in the teams’ standings.

The race started in chaotic fashion with Daniel Abt's Audi Sport Abt car suddenly coming to a halt on the short straight following the first turn on the circuit. This caused Mahindra Racing's Bruno Senna to plough into the back of him and be launched into the air before landing with a resounding smack that damaged his machine beyond repair.

With that the team's chances of scoring any points vanished Karun Chandhok could only manage 13th place in the second Mahindra machine, which turned out to be last place on the road after seven cars failed to finish the race.

With four races over three rounds still left, Abt's Lucas Di Grassi leads the championship with 93 points as the previous round's winner Nelson Piquet Jr. is just four points behind. A further ten points behind is Buemi with teammate Prost just six points behind him.