May 23 (GMM) Sunday's was the best drive in the meteoric career of Sebastian Vettel.

That is the claim of triple world champion Niki Lauda, who said despite Spain being the reigning world champion's fourth win of 2011, the pressure applied by Lewis Hamilton made it clearly the best.

"I've always said Sebastian is a great racing driver, but today he drove the biggest and best race of his life," Lauda said on German RTL television.

Barcelona did, however, raise a crucial question: how could McLaren's Hamilton apply so much pressure in the race following Red Bull's clear superiority in qualifying 24 hours earlier?

"I cannot give the answer," Alex Wurz said on Austrian television ORF, "or I could immediately sell it for a lot of money."

Asked the same question, Vettel is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport: "We've got a few theories."

The mystery raises an interesting prospect for Monaco, where Fernando Alonso expects 'DRS', KERS and the Pirelli factors to not be great enough to overcome the overtaking problem on the famously tight street circuit.

"In Monaco, if you are in front, it will be difficult for anyone to pass you," the Spaniard, who was lapped on Sunday despite leading the Barcelona race early on, told reporters in his native tongue.

"We know the important day in Monaco will be Saturday," Alonso continued. "For the first time this year qualifying will be more important."

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