F1 was back Sunday after a 3-week hiatus as the European section of the schedule began in Spain. Who would come out on top in Barcelona? Come with me below the fold to find out…

Hamilton bests teammate Rosberg for 4th consecutive win in tense inter-team battle as Mercedes reigns supreme, Ricciardo a distant 3rd for Red Bull

Lewis Hamilton bitched and moaned his way to yet another victory in 2014, this time at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. With his stunning talent matched only by his now-legendary prickliness, Hamilton held off teammate Nico Rosberg while on the non-preferred harder Perelli tires, all the while questioning his team’s strategy in pointed terms over race radio as the laps wound down and the pressure mounted. With his 4th consecutive race win and first ever in the Spanish Grand Prix, the Englishman also overtook Rosberg for the lead in the Drivers’ Championship, as the two Silver Arrows proved themsleves untouchable and put a lap on every other car from 7th position down. While Mercedes and Hamilton are flying high, it remains to be seen whether the tension between driver and team is to be accepted as “heat of the battle”-type behavior and therefore understandable friction or if Hamilton’s prima donna act will lead to more serious fissures as the season progresses. Of course, winning is a fine deodorant and so as long as paranoid and cranky Lewis keeps on doing it, I’m sure Toto Wolff and the team will let such open questioning of authority and intentions slide.

The other issue has to be how Rosberg can regain the momentum in the face of his teammate’s brilliance or if in fact he can, having been bested by him in close combat in the last four tilts. But with the iconic Monaco race in a fortnight, the German and Monte-Carlo resident has fond memories of his breakthrough victory there last year so that seems as good a place as any to try to reestablish his early season flair and break Hamilton’s death grip on the team and the Championship. At this point, though, it’s hard to see how Hamilton does not win the majority of the remaining races even if Rosberg can score the occasional win. The Englishman has been nearly flawless in the blisteringly fast F1 WO5 Hybrid.

With Mercedes in their own league, Red Bull have established themselves as the “best of the rest” despite teething problems on their new RB10 chassis. Daniel Ricciardo earned the last spot on the podium with a strong 3rd place finish, racing all by his lonesome in clean air for the majority of the race. His veteran teammate, 4-time Drivers’ Champion Sebastien Vettel, had a remarkably gritty race, fighting back from a 15th position start after a gearbox failure in Q2 on Saturday and the resultant 5-spot grid penalty to take 4th. The German, who seemed snakebit for the majority of the weekend and has struggled to come to grips with the new technical regulations, drove with passion and élan, passing a gaggle of contenders for a result that could well turn his season around going forward.

Williams got another strong result from their young Finninsh pilot, Valtteri Botas, who drove a smart and solid race to claim 5th, although Filipe Massa was a disappointing 13th. Ferrari’s Fernado Alonso managed to pip his teammate Kimi Raikkonen after a spirited but respectful battle in the closing laps to come home 6th in his home Grand Prix, with Raikkonen settling for 7th. For a less proud team that would probably be considered a good result but for Ferrari it will probably just lead to more tears in their grappa, behind the scenes machinations and operatic depression.

Romain Grosjean had a decent race for beleagured team Lotus, finishing 8th for a good points paying position and a small ray of hope despite a sensor failure that hampered the Frenchman’s top-line performance. By contrast, his accident prone teammate, pay driver Pastor Maldonado, had another poor showing marred by a stop and hold penalty for avoidable contact with a Caterham. It’s a certainty that if the Venezuelan did not bring so much sponsorship money to the table he would not be participating in this highest echelon of the sport. The overachieving Force India teammates Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg claimed 9th and 10th respectively.

Top 10 finishers for the Spanish grand Prix below:

Complete race results at Formula1.com.

The next F1 race weekend is in two weeks time: the all-time classic street circuit in Monaco. And with the Indianapolis 500 and the Grand Prix of Monaco both on Sunday the 25th, there is no bigger contrast in open wheel racing and no better way to spend Memorial Day weekend (after honoring our fallen soldiers, of course) than watching that double header of European finesse vs. American brute power. Some might call it the best race day of the year. I know I do.