Martin Brundle on the results of the Spanish Grand Prix…

Former Formula 1 driver, Sky Sport F1 commentator Martin Brandl summed up the results of the Spanish Grand Prix…

Racing is great this year. The usually static Spanish Grand Prix was led by four drivers – Leclerc, Verstappen, Perez and Russell. We saw many spectacular duels and some excellent performances, including Hamilton and Russell driving the redesigned Mercedes car.

Lewis’ contact with Magnussen on the first lap robbed him of his chances of a good result. Already on the second lap he was 50 seconds behind the leader, and at the end of the race he lost a little more – 54 seconds.

Lewis’ dialogue with the engineer after a flat tire placed him at the end of the pack and asked about the option of retiring to save the life of the power station, talked about how little he is enjoying this season. But then he showed great speed and looked satisfied after the race. Fans rightly chose him as “Rider of the Day”.

But Charles Leclerc really deserved to win. He won qualifying beautifully with the best time in one run in the final, then a perfect start from pole. Unlike Verstappen and his team-mate Sainz, he did not crash into the gravel during the race and rode confidently to victory, with plenty of time to choose a strategy when the power plant failed.

Leclerc didn’t finish 16 Grands Prix for the first time and lost his championship lead, although he still had a 46-point lead three races ago.

Max did not win his 24th Grand Prix too convincingly, allowing him to match the number of victories with the great Fangio. He flew into the gravel in corner four, had a tailwind, his DRS sometimes failed – and twice on command from the pits he was missed by team-mate Sergio Perez.

During the radio talks, Max was clearly angry with the team for the non-functioning DRS, preventing him from overtaking Russell. These emotions mean two things. First, he was fed up with the reliability issues as the team tried to debug the car and make it fast by reducing the weight.

Second, on the track, he quickly loses his temper. He lacks stamina compared to Hamilton, for example, we saw that during the brake test in Saudi Arabia last year.

It was interesting to watch him fight wheel to wheel with Russell, who defended hard but fair. On Sunday night, I happened to meet the race stewards – they believed George was fighting on the brink, but wasn’t breaking the rules. And his drive past Max between the first and second turns will be remembered for a long time to come.

Max acted cleaner and fairer in this fight than last year against Hamilton, which is more in line with championship status.

Pérez switched to fresh Medium tires on lap 37, Verstappen six laps later. The difference between their pit stops is only 10% of the race distance, and I’m not quite sure if this can be called a “different strategy” as Perez was later told when asked to move him back to the position on the road to victory.

Perez said he would let Max go, but that’s not fair – and he’s right. This is only the sixth race of a long season of 22 Grands Prix, the team would have taken a double win anyway, for Russell and if no safety car had appeared on track. Perez was in the lead because he was fast and didn’t fly off the track. The team should fix the position and let Perez win. But if I had been on the Red Bull pit wall at that moment, I would have made the same decision and took responsibility for myself.

Leclerc’s speed behind the wheel of a Ferrari is impressive, Verstappen was his only rival at the start of the season and the seven point difference between first and second place, as we saw last season, could be decisive in the final races. to be.

On the new tires Verstappen was very fast and although I obviously didn’t read Max and Sergio’s contracts, I wouldn’t be surprised if they both provide for such an exchange of positions. But now Max owes him something.

Interestingly, Sergio is just one race away from the championship lead and Russell has a chance if Mercedes makes his car fast.

In the closing laps Carlos Sainz slid past Hamilton’s fast but overheated car and finished fourth.

Valtteri Bottas had another impressive weekend with Alfa Romeo, finishing in sixth place, his decision to limit himself to two pit stops worked.

The Alpine cars were more competitive in the race than in qualifying. Esteban Ocon made many overtakes and finished 7th, while Fernando Alonso, who started last, earned two points for 9th.

Between them was McLaren’s Lando Norris, who had a great race, although he felt bad due to a sore throat and even refused to go to the press after the race. McLaren and Daniel Ricciardo should be very concerned that the Aussie lacks speed, whatever tires he uses during the race. Something has to change.