Fernando Alonso sure knows how to please his home crowd.

The Spaniard went into Sunday’s Grand Prix at the Catalunya Circuit qualifying fifth on the grid behind the two Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, followed by Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) and Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus).

Getting off to a quick start right away, Alonso jumped into fourth place and then up into third after making a quick pass on Hamilton, who was split from his teammate by Vettel out of the first corner when he had to slam his brakes to avoid taking out his fellow Mercedes.

Pitting on lap 10, Ferrari utilized the same four-stop strategy for both Alonso and Felipe Massa, who’s F138 was far easier on the Pirelli compounds than most cars on the grid.

Coming back out in third place ahead of reigning World Champion Vettel, Alonso took the lead on lap 15 ahead of Vettel, Massa and Raikkonen.

Starting from pole for the second time in a row and third in his career, Rosberg dropped down to fifth as his Mercedes struggled to show pace throughout the race.

His teammate Hamilton, who started from second, also struggled with the Pirelli tires, when he fell down the pack into 14th position. On lap 29, he was told over the radio to manage his tires, but responded “I can’t drive any slower!”

The Pirelli compounds seemed to struggle throughout the race weekend, after Paul di Resta (Force India) and Max Chilton (Marussia) both suffered tire delaminating during the practice sessions. During the race, Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne also suffered a right rear delamination on lap 40, throwing rubber and steel into a frenzy, nearly shredding his rear bodywork. He continued, but was later forced to retire after a collision in pit lane with Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg.

Meanwhile, Alonso stretched his lead to take the pits for the final time, still coming out first ahead of Raikkonen by eight seconds. Massa was in a comfortable third position after starting from ninth, showing the strength of the Ferrari strategy.

With ten laps remaining, Alonso was in prime form, running further away from Raikkonen by 13.1 seconds, followed by Massa (+21.9) and Vettel (+40.5).

Mercedes will surely be looking for answers as they failed to hold their strong qualifying position for the second weekend in a row. Rosberg finished better than his last plummet to ninth place in Bahrain, but still managed just sixth place. Hamilton was left scratching his head after dropping 10 spots to 12th.  

Alonso crossed the line for his second victory of the season. The win puts him ahead of Hamilton into a comfortable third place in the drivers standings with 70 points. Raikkonen, who has taken a podium spot in four of five races this season, including a win in Australia, sits in second with 85 points. Vettel’s fourth place keeps him in the lead with 89 points.

With the help of Mark Webber’s fifth place finish, Red Bull maintains top position in the constructors championship with 131 points, compared to Ferrari’s 117 and Lotus’s 111. Mercedes stays in fourth with 72 points, while McLaren is still searching for performance as it sits behind Force India with just 29 points.

The next round heads to Monte Carlo for the prized Monaco Grand Prix on May 26.

Note - Massa and Gutierrez qualified in sixth and 16th respectively but dropped three grid places for impeding.

Photos: LAT Photographic