Nico Rosberg began preparations for his home Grand Prix in strong fashion to top both free practice sessions for the Monaco Grand Prix on Thursday. The German, who grew up in the principality, beat Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to the headline times as the Silver Arrows underlined their one-lap pace over the rest of the field.

The Ferrari pair of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa finished close behind in third and fourth, while Mark Webber in the Red Bull was fifth in the afternoon.

Following the Spanish conquest by Fernando Alonso in Barcelona, Formula 1’s next destination is a short hop up the Mediterranean coast to the azure waters of Monte Carlo. The streets of the seaside principality of Monaco host round six of the season, arguably the biggest and most prestigious event of the year.

What le Tour de France is to cycling, the Superbowl is to American football, the Indianapolis 500 to Indycar, Wrestlemania  to wrestling entertainment, the Monaco Grand Prix is to Formula 1. The race is one of the oldest events on the calendar, and indeed the longest running Grand Prix to be held on the same circuit. And coupled with the setting in the millionaires’ playground that is Monte Carlo, the blue riband event invariably is unparalleled in terms of glamour and atmosphere surrounding the race.

Fernando Alonso took victory in the Spanish Grand Prix in front of a raucous home crowd at the Circuit de Catalunya this afternoon. The Ferrari driver came out on top in a battle of tyre strategies, a measured race ensuring he beat the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen by a comfortable margin of 9 seconds. The scarlet cars’ performance was underlined by a strong performance by teammate Felipe Massa coming in third.

Championship leader Sebastian Vettel had to settle for fourth with the Red Bull not quite there on race pace, dropping out of contention mid-way through the race.

Sebastian Vettel brought home career win number 28 at the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir this afternoon, in a race he controlled from the front in an unbeatable Red Bull. Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean flanked the German on the podium, underlining the black and gold cars’ pace on the weekend. The result is a repeat of the event from 2012, but the coming together of that outcome was a rather different race to a year ago.

It was an entertaining race with battles up and down the field right upto the last corner, action that was afforded by different pit-stop strategies employed by the teams. The favoured plan was a three-stopper for the majority of the front-runners, but Raikkonen proved a two-stop strategy was not far off by finishing 9 seconds adrift in second.

Mercedes were the surprise package in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir this afternoon, with German Nico Rosberg dominating proceedings through clinical one-lap performances. The result is Mercedes’ second pole in a row, and only the second in Rosberg’s career.

Initial expectations pointed to a three way battle between Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, with the Mercedes struggling in practice sessions. Steady improvements through the Saturday and cooler conditions however came together perfectly for the German marque’s first consecutive pole since the 1950s.

Kimi Raikkonen grabbed the headline time for Lotus in free practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir this afternoon. The Finn, who clocked 1:34.154, lead a close pack of drivers with the top four covered by one and a half tenths of a second. Mark Webber was ahead of Red Bull teammate and world champion Sebastian Vettel, a mere three hundredths off the Lotus at 1:34.184.

The form book seemed to have carried over from the Chinese Grand Prix, with the Shanghai victor Fernando Alonso putting his Ferrari fourth on the timesheets. Notably, this time was set on the hard compound tyre - not the preferred compound for 1-lap pace. The other Ferrari of Felipe Massa came in sixth on the faster medium compound rubber, the scarlet cars sandwiching Paul di Resta’s Force India which enjoyed a strong outing in the either session.

Fernando Alonso was on song as he drove a flawless race to hand the Maranello based Ferrari outfit its first victory of the season in an absolutely dominant performance in the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai. Indeed, the Ferrari driver came into this weekend on the back of a DNF in Malaysia but the Spanish Matador beat his rivals into submission as he clinched victory by a huge 10 seconds over the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen.

Felipe Massa could not deliver a podium finish having started from 5th place on the starting grid, as the Brazilian capped a difficult race in a below-par 6th place.