Sunny. Dry. Air +38…36С, route +49…48С
The teams prepared many new products for the podium in Barcelona, but this had almost no effect on the balance of power. Someone stepped forward, like Mercedes, to solve the build-up problem, someone stepped back, like Aston Martin – the team brought a car very similar to Red Bull, after receiving allegations of plagiarism.
The African anticyclone had a much greater impact on the results, making it just as hot in Barcelona in spring as it was in August. For the first time since 2012, the region’s government warned residents of abnormally warm weather. Before the start, the air had warmed up to 36 degrees. The stands in Barcelona were already filled on Friday and on Sunday it was a real full house. The Spaniards missed Formula 1 and came to cheer.
Pirelli has traditionally brought the hardest tires to Barcelona – the compositions C1, C2 and C3 in the role of Hard, Medium and Soft. The hard tires were too slow and too stiff, while the medium and soft tires wore out quickly on hot surfaces. Not even Pirelli had expected this kind of wear and tear, saying on Saturday that the Barcelona race could turn out to be the biggest tire test of the season, with many pit stops.
Championship leader Charles Leclerc showed the best time in all practice and took pole position. He ruined his first try in the qualifier – he overdone it with the attack and the car turned around, but in the second he was faster than anyone else. In Max Verstappen’s car, the decisive attempt was denied by the DRS and he remained only second.
For the fourth time this year, the front row of the grid was shared by Leclerc and Verstappen, Sainz and Russell started the race from second, Perez and Hamilton from third.
Hamilton started on Medium, the rest on Soft – in the top ten only Leclerc had a new kit, which he saved in qualifying.
Leclerc kept the lead at the start. Russell advanced Perez and moved up to third.
Magnussen hooked Hamilton’s car, Kevin flew into the gravel and was able to get out, Hamilton came into the pits with a flat tire, Magnussen also changed tires. The stewards left the incident without consequences.
Top ten in round 2: Leclerc – Verstappen – Russell – Perez – Sainz – Schumacher – Bottas – Ricciardo – Windows – Norris.
On lap 5, Bottas overtook Schumacher for sixth. Ocon – Riccardo in the battle for eighth. Alonso and Zhou caught up with Stroll.
On lap 6, Ocon surpassed Schumacher and moved up to seventh.
In 7th place, Alonso overtook Vettel for 13th place.
Carlos Sainz made a U-turn and crashed into the gravel at Turn 4, returning to the track in 14th position.
Top ten in round 8: Leclerc – Verstappen – Russell – Perez – Bottas – Ocon – Schumacher – Ricciardo – Norris – Tsunoda.
On lap 9, a strong gust of wind caused Verstappen to fly off the track in Turn 4 – in the same spot as Sainz, and return to the track in fourth.
On lap 10 Norris and Schumacher were ahead of Ricciardo.
On lap 11, Perez missed Verstappen – Max moved up to third and pressed on Russell.
On lap 11 Sainz, Alonso, Gasly and Zhou switched tires, on lap 12 Tsunoda, Ricciardo and Albon, on lap 13 Norris, Schumacher and Latifi, on 14th Russell, Verstappen and Okon.
On lap 14 Sainz overtook Norris for 9th.
On the 15th lap Bottas and Stroll made a pit stop, on the 18th – Perez.
On lap 18 Sainz got ahead of Vettel and moved up to seventh.
Just like on Saturday, DRS occasionally did not work on Verstappen’s car, although the team changed the drive system and the steering element before the start. Max put pressure on Russell for a long time, but problems prevented DRS from overtaking.
On lap 20, Schumacher overtook Ricciardo for 12th.
On lap 22 Leclerc changed the tires and remained in the lead of the race. Vettel made a pit stop.
On lap 23 Hamilton made a pit stop.
On lap 24, Verstappen was ahead of Russell, but George immediately retook his position. Three turns of the car went side by side, Russell stayed ahead and the fight continued.
Top ten in round 25: Leclerc – Russell – Verstappen – Perez – Bottas – Sainz – Ocon – Norris – Tsunoda – Alonso.
On lap 27 Albon made a pit stop.
On lap 27 Leclerc, who was leading the race, lost power, drove slowly to the pits and withdrew from the race.
On lap 28, Gasly and Stroll made contact in the battle for position but kept moving.
On lap 29 Verstappen switched tires, on lap 30 he switched off.
The Ferrari engine in Zhou’s car lost power, Guanyu stopped in the pits and dropped out of the fight.
On lap 30 Hamilton overtook Vettel for 12th place.
On lap 31, Pérez overtook Russell to take the lead.
On lap 32, Verstappen passed Bottas for third. Alonso, Riccardo and Sainz switched tires.
On the 33rd lap Tsunoda made a pit stop, on the 34th – Norris – there was a hitch when mounting the right rear wheel.
On lap 35 Bottas switched tires, on lap 36 Ocon, on lap 37 Russell and on 38 Perez. Verstappen led the race.
Top ten in round 38: Verstappen – Perez – Russell – Bottas – Sainz – Hamilton – Ocon – Vettel – Norris – Alonso.
On lap 39, Norris Vettel was ahead in the battle for eighth place.
On lap 44 Vettel switched tires, on lap 45 Verstappen returned to the track in second.
On lap 46 Vettel overtook Gasly for 13th.
On lap 46 Sainz switched tires, on lap 47 Albon. Sainz was ahead of Okon.
On lap 48, Gasly and Stroll made a pit stop.
On fresher tires, Verstappen quickly closed the gap on Perez – and the team asked Sergio to let his partner pass. On lap 49 Max took the lead.
On lap 49 Hamilton switched tires, on lap 59 Ricciardo.
Top ten in round 50: Verstappen – Perez – Russell – Bottas – Sainz – Ocon – Hamilton – Norris – Alonso – Tsunoda.
On lap 51 Hamilton overtook Okon for sixth.
Russell pitted on lap 52, Norris on lap 52, Okon and Tsunoda on lap 53.
On lap 53, Russell was ahead of Bottas to slide into third.
On lap 54 Perez switched tires, on lap 54 Alonso had a hitch while pinning the right front wheel.
Alonso and Tsunoda for Schumacher.
Sainz crept into the attacking distance to Bottas, Hamilton quickly approached from behind – they rode in a close group. On lap 58 Sainz and Hamilton overtook Valtteri and they continued to fight each other.
On lap 60 Hamilton overtook Sainz to move up to fourth.
Top ten in round 60: Verstappen – Perez – Russell – Hamilton – Sainz – Bottas – Ocon – Norris – Alonso – Tsunoda.
The engineer told Hamilton the car had overheated and there was a risk of a shutdown. Lewis braked and Sainz took the lead and regained fourth place.
†
Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix with his fourth win of the season and 24th of his career, leading the individual classification for the first time this year.
Sergio Perez finished second – Red Bull Racing’s second double win of the season and first place in the Constructors’ Championship.
George Russell climbed to the third step of the podium.
The battle will continue in Monaco next week.
Race results
| pilot | Team | Time | Speed | Piet |
| 1. Mr Verstappen | Red Bull | 3 | ||
| 2. C.Perez | Red Bull | +13,072 | 3 | |
| 3. D. Russell | Mercedes | +32.927 | 3 | |
| 4. K. Sainz | Ferrari | +45.208 | 3 | |
| 5. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | +54.534 | 3 | |
| 6. V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | +59.976 | 2 | |
| 7. E. Okon | alpine | +75,397 | 3 | |
| 8. L. Norris | McLaren | +83.235 | 3 | |
| 9. F. Alonso | alpine | +1 circle | 3 | |
| 10. Y. Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +1 circle | 3 | |
| 11. S. Vettel | Aston Martin | +1 circle | 2 | |
| 12. D. Riccardo | McLaren | +1 circle | 3 | |
| 13. P. Gasly | AlphaTauri | +1 circle | 3 | |
| 14. M. Schumacher | hare | +1 circle | 2 | |
| 15. L. Walk | Aston Martin | +1 circle | 3 | |
| 16. N. Latifi | Williams | +2 laps | 3 | |
| 17. K. Magnussen | hare | +2 laps | 2 | |
| 18. A. Albon | Williams | +2 laps | 4 |
best lap: Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) – 1:24.108 (lap 55)
Reasons for leaving
| pilot | Team | circles | Cause |
| Sh.Lecler | Ferrari | 26 | Power Point |
| G.Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 28 | Power Point |
Championship position : Individual
Championship position : Constructors’ Championship
| Team | engine | Glasses | |
 |
1 Red Bull Racing | Red Bull powertrains | 195 |
 |
2 Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | 169 |
| † | 3. Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team | Mercedes | 120 |
| † | 4 McLaren Racing | Mercedes | fifty |
| † | 5. Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN | Ferrari | 39 |
| † | 6 Alpine F1 Team | Renault | 34 |
| † | 7 Scuderia AlphaTauri | Red Bull powertrains | 17 |
| † | 8 Haas F1 Team | Ferrari | fifteen |
| † | 9. Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | Mercedes | 6 |
| † | 10 Williams Racing | Mercedes | 3 |
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
