Fernando Alonso stormed to his second win of the season by claiming the Spanish Grand Prix to rekindle Ferrari’s hopes of winning the Championship.
The double world champion whipped his home crowd at the Catalunya circuit into a frenzy by beating Kimi Raikkonen and easily to take his 32nd career F1 win.
In a grand prix which did not reach the dizzy heights of the previous race in Bahrain, Alonso recorded his second Spanish GP crown.
Alonso perfectly executed a four-stop strategy devised by Ferrari after starting fifth. His Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa played a slick support role to finish third.
Massa had started from ninth after receiving a grid penalty for a blocking incident with Mark Webber in the second part of qualifying.
Sebastien Vettel struggled to keep in touch with the Ferraris and the Lotus to finish fourth, one spot ahead of Webber.
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Polesitter Nico Rosberg had a frustrating race for Mercedes with the car once again proving sluggish on hard compound tyres before salvaging sixth ahead of the Mercedes-powered Force India of Paul di Resta.
The McLarens were next with Jenson Button and Sergio Perez finishing in the points on a weekend where the team had been under huge pressure with its host of upgrades.
Toro Rosso driver Dan Ricciardo drove brilliantly to claim 10th and strengthen his position with the Red Bull organisation.
At the start Vettel fired into second into first turn splitting the Mercedes pair of Rosberg and Hamilton.
Soon after Alonso moved into third in a mega move around the outside which proved to be a pivotal moment in the 66-lap race.
By lap 36 Alonso pitted for a third time to take on medium compound rubber when he returned to the action in second place behind Raikkonen.
The race remained in the balance however on lap 39, Alonso swept past Raikkonen into turn one to regain the lead and it soon became clear that Lotus had to produce something special on their three-stop strategy.
Alonso would make his final stop 16 laps from the finish to take on hard rubber where he continued his flawless display to win comfortably.
Result
| Pos | Driver | Car/Engine | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 66 | 1h 39:16.596 |
| 2 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus/Renault | 66 | 23:20:43. |
| 3 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 66 | 23:20:43. |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull/Renault | 66 | 23:20:43. |
| 5 | Mark Webber | Red Bull/Renault | 66 | 23:20:43. |
| 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 66 | 23:20:43. |
| 7 | Paul Di Resta | Force India/Mercedes | 66 | 23:20:43. |
| 8 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Mercedes | 66 | 23:20:43. |
| 9 | Sergio Pérez | McLaren/Mercedes | 66 | 23:20:43. |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 65 | 1 Lap |
| 11 | Esteban Gutiérrez | Sauber/Ferrari | 65 | 1 Lap |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 65 | 1 Lap |
| 13 | Adrian Sutil | Force India/Mercedes | 65 | 1 Lap |
| 14 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams/Renault | 65 | 1 Lap |
| 15 | Nico Hülkenberg | Sauber/Ferrari | 65 | 1 Lap |
| 16 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Renault | 65 | 1 Lap |
| 17 | Charles Pic | Caterham/Renault | 65 | 1 Lap |
| 18 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia/Cosworth | 64 | 2 Laps |
| 19 | Max Chilton | Marussia/Cosworth | 64 | 2 Laps |
| 20 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 52 | Retirement |
| 21 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham/Renault | 21 | Retirement |
| 22 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus/Renault | 8 | Retirement |
Standings after Round 5
| 1 | Sebastien Vettel | 89 |
| 2 | Kimi Raikkonen | 85 |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso | 72 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | 50 |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | 45 |
| 6 | Mark Webber | 42 |
| 7 | Paul di Resta | 26 |
| 8 | Romain Grosjean | 26 |
| 9 | Nico Rosberg | 22 |
| 10 | Jenson Button | 17 |
| 11 | Sergio Perez | 12 |
| 12 | Dan Ricciardo | 7 |
| 13 | Adrian Sutil | 6 |
| 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | 5 |
| 15 | Jean-Eric Vergne | 1 |
