Tag: Spain

Six in a row for Red Bull

Posted on by James Mackenzie

Apologies again for the lack of activity – work has been crazy, but a highlight being my namecheck from Crofty on Sky F1…

Anyway, I’m back for another multiple-races-into-one report!

Last time it was three for the price of one. This time it’s six! And they’ve all been Red Bull wins…

The tide begins to turn in Imola

Really testing my memory here but let’s take a crack at a summary of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Having taken his first pole of the year, Max Verstappen got off the line poorly in the first Sprint Race of the year and was jumped by Charles Leclerc. He would make amends, though, reclaiming the lead on the penultimate lap.

Meanwhile, the title rivals’ respective teammates – Sergio Pérez and Carlos Sainz – fought their way through the field to third and fourth respectively, having started seventh and 10th after a chaotic, wet qualifying session which also saw the Mercedes caught out by a red flag and eliminated in Q2.

Image credit: Getty Images

The rain returned on Sunday and this time it was Leclerc with the poor getaway, dropping behind Pérez and Lando Norris.

All of Sainz’s hard work during the Sprint was undone immediately as he was punted out at the first corner by an understeering Daniel Ricciardo.

Leclerc reclaimed third from Norris but was never quite able to pass either Red Bull and then made his first mistake of the season as he desperately tried to catch Pérez.

A bad day for the onlooking Tifosi got worse as Leclerc spun at the Variante Alta chicane.

He recovered to sixth – and the fastest lap – after a pit stop for a broken front wing but saw his title lead shrink as the Red Bulls picked up their first 1-2 since the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix, with Norris taking McLaren‘s only podium of the year so far.

Further back, George Russell made a great recovery drive to fourth, but teammate Lewis Hamilton was less fortunate on the opening lap and found himself stuck in a DRS train for the next 90 minutes.

Welcome to Miami

Will Smith references perhaps became a little less palatable thanks to a certain slap a month or so earlier, but the above was somewhat inevitable as F1 headed to Florida for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix.

In a race that appeared to want to be America’s version of Monaco, celebrities came from far and wide for a look at some F1 cars and a dip – or perhaps not – in the infamous fake marina.

Image credit: Reuters

On track, Ferrari locked out the front row for the first time in over two years but Verstappen would have them split by the first corner.

And eight laps later, he would have the lead.

The next hour or so was largely dull until a somewhat bizarre clash between Norris and Pierre Gasly brought out the Safety Car.

Leclerc gave it his all in the closing laps but Verstappen had enough to hold onto the lead, with Sainz also holding off Pérez for the final spot on the podium.

After a poor performance in qualifying, Russell got lucky with the timing of the Safety Car – not for the first time this season – allowing him to continue his run of top-five finishes, whilst Mick Schumacher threw away a chance of his first points with a clumsy lunge on hero and mentor Sebastian Vettel.

The Pain in Spain Falls Mainly on Leclerc

Having waited over five years for their last 1-2, Red Bull wouldn’t even have to wait five weeks for their next one.

Image credit: Motorsport Images

This time, though, it was not on merit.

Leclerc picked up another pole and proceeded to sail away at the front as Sainz and Verstappen behind him each took a trip into the gravel at Turn Four thanks to a couple of rogue gusts of wind.

That dropped the Dutchman behind Russell and Pérez. Whilst his teammate was predictably easy to pass, the Mercedes would prove far trickier – Verstappen spending almost half the race staring at the INEOS-branded rear wing as the DRS flap on his own rear wing developed a fault.

Their battle became one for the lead when Leclerc suffered an engine failure, his despairing calls over the radio reminiscent of those at Sakhir in 2019.

Red Bull decided to mix things up with a three-stop strategy for Verstappen and it paid off.

However, that was in some part due to the team asking Pérez to let him through, the displeased Mexican saying “that’s very unfair, but okay”.

Russell would take a second podium of the season, whilst his teammate provided arguably the performance of the day.

Hit by Kevin Magnussen on the opening lap, Hamilton had fallen to the very back of the pack but produced a stellar drive through the field to fourth, before a late engine issue saw him fall back behind Sainz.

Toto Wolff said he believed a 104th win would have been possible for the seven-time world champion without the early incident. Signs of life from the Silver Arrows?

The Leclerc Monaco Curse Strikes Again

Image credit: Getty Images

F1 returned to the setting of its favourite real marina in late May, with Leclerc surely standing the best chance to end his run of horrible luck on home soil.

And things looked even better once he’d secured the all-important pole position around the streets of Principality.

In terms of admin and organisation, it was a pretty shocking weekend for the under-pressure event.

A downpour and a local power cut saw a delay to the start of the race that was equal parts embarrassing and confusing, whilst the TV direction was once again poor at the only race on the calendar that insists upon having its own local director.

By the time the race finally got going, most of the rain had disappeared and Leclerc appeared comfortable out front.

Then came the Ferrari strategy blunder, though.

An erroneous stop for intermediate tyres put Leclerc in trouble; a belated call to stay out sealed his fate.

The end result was a top-four order of Pérez, Sainz, Verstappen and then Leclerc.

A nasty-looking crash that ripped Schumacher’s car in two brought out a red flag – as well as adding further pressure to the young German – and gave the leading cars a choice to make.

The Red Bulls chose the medium tyre for the final 45 laps of the race whilst the Ferraris went with the hard.

Ultimately it proved to be a moot point as passing was shown to be impossible once again on the tight streets, even when Pérez’s tyres were well past their best.

Image credit: Getty Images.

So, a third career win for the popular Mexican and one that almost brought him to tears on the podium.

A Definitive Swing in the Title Battle?

A fortnight later and the F1 circus headed to its often-far-more-chaotic street race in Azerbaijan.

It was yet another pole for Leclerc – his sixth in eight races – after a stunning final Q3 lap, but once again things would unravel on race day.

He was passed into the first corner by Pérez, but had been holding Verstappen at bay when teammate Sainz trundled into an escape road with a hydraulic issue.

The Spaniard’s painful 2022 season continues, but his misfortune did allow his team to take a strategy risk and bring Leclerc in for a cheap pit stop under the ensuing Virtual Safety Car.

Despite Verstappen having been tucked up behind his title rival, it was Pérez whose tyres were struggling and he was soon caught by his teammate.

The team informed the Mexican that there should be “no fighting” and car number one sailed past on the start-finish straight.

The race appeared to be heating up nicely with Leclerc retaking the lead on his alternate strategy as the Red Bulls pitted, but the weekend was about to get yet more painful for the Scuderia.

The cameras cut to a plume of smoke emerging from the back of the remaining prancing horse of Leclerc, who pulled into the pits to retire.

Image credit: Formula 1

From there it was a comfortable run to the chequered flag for Verstappen, with Pérez and Russell equally at ease in second and third.

If there was one thing that the weekend wasn’t for many of the drivers, however, it was comfortable.

The new regulations’ bouncing and porpoising issues hit new heights – both metaphorically and literally – with Hamilton barely able to get out of his car at the end of the race due to severe back pain.

F1 Finally Returns to Canada

After three years away, the sport finally made its return to the popular setting of Montreal, and the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve showed F1 what it had been missing.

Another eventful wet qualifying session saw Verstappen secure pole, with Fernando Alonso on the front row for the first time in over a decade and Leclerc starting at the back with an engine penalty.

It was Pérez suffering an early mechanical failure this time and bringing out a Virtual Safety Car under which Verstappen and Hamilton pitted.

Once things had shaken out it was a clear front three of last year’s title rivals either side of Sainz.

With 20 laps remaining, Yuki Tsunoda embarrassingly slid straight into the barriers at the pit exit, bringing out a first full Safety Car of the race.

On fresher tyres, Sainz hounded Verstappen to the end but the Red Bull’s superior traction meant he was always able to stay just out of reach in the DRS zones.

Image credit: Getty Images.

So close, yet so far once again for the Spaniard, who now has 11 podiums without a victory and is closing in on Nick Heidfeld’s unwanted record.

No such problems for Verstappen, though, who further extended his championship lead despite Leclerc recovering to fifth.

After two painful weekends – in every sense – on street circuits, Hamilton and Mercedes showed signs that they might be able to challenge on upcoming smoother tracks, whilst Mr-Saturday-turned-Mr-Consistency Russell continued his impressive record of finishing in the top five at every race.

F1 fans feared that Red Bull’s early-season mechanical woes would ruin the title battle as Leclerc dominated.

With a sixth consecutive race win for the Austrian team and now a 49-point margin to Leclerc in the championship, it appears that it may, in fact, be the other way round.

2021 Spanish GP report | Hamilton hunts down Verstappen to take victory

Posted on by James Mackenzie
Hungary 2019, take two.
Lewis Hamilton celebrates winning the Spanish Grand Prix.
Image credit: Motorsport Images

What had been threatening to become a trademark soporific Spanish Grand Prix was reignited by a Mercedes strategy gamble, which paid off in the form of a fifth consecutive victory for Lewis Hamilton at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Saturday saw Hamilton claim his 100th pole position in Formula 1 – a simply mind-boggling achievement – and many assumed he would move one step closer to a century of wins on Sunday. But that assumption was immediately brought into question thanks to a bullish move into the first corner by Max Verstappen.

The two title rivals got away fairly evenly – the Dutchman aided by an unusual level of rubber on the normally dirty side of the track – and, with the Red Bull in his blind spot, Hamilton felt unable to move over and claim the inside line. Verstappen is not a driver that requires more than one invitation. He braked very late and, not for the first time this season, got his elbows out at the first corner, leaving Hamilton nowhere to go on the outside.

The World Champion avoided contact and held onto second but, as teammate Valtteri Bottas struggled in his dirty air, Charles Leclerc pulled off an Alonso-in-2013-esque move around the outside of Turn 3 to claim third.

Max Verstappen leaves the first corner in the lead.
Image credit: XPB Images

Verstappen and Hamilton streaked away at the front, the Mercedes driver hounding his rival but never getting quite close enough to threaten a pass. With Sergio Pérez too close behind for Mercedes to attempt an undercut, it was Verstappen who pitted first.

It was unscheduled – Verstappen sensing Hamilton was about to pass him on the straight – and resulted in an uncharacteristically slow Red Bull pit stop. That offered Mercedes an opportunity, but they declined – they had a different plan in mind…

Hamilton extended his stint a further four laps, rejoining a little over five seconds behind Verstappen. But, with the Mercedes clearly well-suited to the medium tyre, Hamilton was once more closely inspecting his rival’s rear wing within a few laps.

As ever, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya provided little in the way of passing opportunities, though – especially since the recent reprofiling of Turn 10 – and it appeared likely that we would watch Hamilton follow on the brink of the DRS window for the next 45 minutes.

Lewis Hamilton and His Place in History

But this is when Mercedes produced their surprise.

Hamilton darted into the pits on lap 42 to fit another set of medium tyres. This had been in Mercedes’ thoughts throughout the weekend and they were the only team to have kept two fresh sets of the medium compound for the race. So, it was to be a repeat of the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix, as Hamilton set about closing down a gap of more than 20 seconds in just over 20 laps.

The Red Bull computers predicted that Hamilton would catch their driver on the last lap, but that would prove to be an optimistic forecast as Hamilton took nearly two seconds per lap out of the gap. Despite not getting much help from his teammate – more on that later – the Briton was on the back of Verstappen by lap 59.

The Red Bull weaved along the start-finish straight, desperately trying to break the tow he was providing, but the pass was an inevitability, Verstappen later describing himself as a “sitting duck”. Hamilton used the extra grip from his much younger tyres to brake later and comfortably claimed the lead as they entered Turn 1.

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton discuss their wheel-to-wheel battles.
Image credit: XPB/PA

Behind them, Bottas had pitted in an attempt to claim the fastest lap, but in doing so allowed Verstappen to do the same. There was to be no repeat of his mistake in Portugal this time and the Dutchman took the extra point with ease. It was Hamilton who took the chequered flag, however, and extended his lead in the championship to 14 points.

Is the Mercedes Now the Fastest Car?

It has only been six weeks since Verstappen took pole by four tenths in Bahrain and the F1 status quo appeared to have been turned on its head. And yet now, without us really noticing, Hamilton has equalled his best ever start to a season. Three wins and one second place were also his results during the first four races of 2015 – a season that would prove to be one of his most dominant – so are we kidding ourselves that there is such an exciting title battle?

In a word, no.

But for some small yet costly mistakes – and some luck on Hamilton’s part – Verstappen would be the one leading the championship. Bahrain was his race to lose, but he did. Hamilton was very fortunate to recover to second in Imola, and the complexion of the race in Portugal would likely have been different had Verstappen not lost pole position due to a track limits violation. These are the minute differences that can swing a championship one direction or another, and Mercedes are very experienced in ensuring that they swing their way.

An overhead view of a Red Bull pit stop.
Image credit: Honda Racing

However, in terms of pure speed, the Red Bull looks a genuine match for them this year. Spain has always been a Mercedes circuit – that’s five wins in a row for Hamilton – but Red Bull were right there with them, three hundredths of a second behind in qualifying and leading for 90% of the race.

Monaco in two weeks time will be a very different challenge. The Mercedes car has looked strong in slow corners – of which Monaco, obviously, has many – but it also has a very long wheelbase and Red Bull have performed well through the streets of the Principality in recent years. The circuit provides such a unique test of a Formula 1 car that there’s no way of knowing who will do well until the cars are being driven in anger, millimetres from those infamous walls.

Hamilton may have the edge right now, but this title battle remains very much in the balance.

The Best of the Rest

Leclerc had another excellent weekend. He qualified in fourth for the third time in four attempts this year and the predictable combination of Ham-Ver-Bot is almost now extendable to Ham-Ver-Bot-Lec.

Charles Leclerc and Valtteri Bottas at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

After his excellent early pass, he kept the far superior Mercedes of Bottas behind for the first stint and eventually finished a comfortable 10 seconds ahead of Pérez to move to just one point behind Lando Norris in the standings.

Norris himself was a little anonymous this weekend on his way to eighth and, for the first time in 2021, was legitimately beaten by teammate Daniel Ricciardo. The Honey Badger’s trademark smile was very much back on his face as he finished a solid sixth, holding off Carlos Sainz in the final laps.

Alpine initially appeared to have picked up where they left off in Portugal with Esteban Ocon qualifying an excellent fifth but, on Sunday, their strategy was lacking and their pace disappeared. Ocon clung onto a points finish in ninth, but Fernando Alonso tumbled back through the field in the dying laps and eventually finished behind a Williams in 17th. There is still work to do for the French team.

Pierre Gasly recovered from a clumsy five-second penalty, for parking his AlphaTauri beyond his allocated spot on the grid, to earn the final point for 10th. But it was the rookie on the other side of the garage who made the headlines on Saturday. One of his infamous, expletive-ridden radio messages was followed up by an interview where he questioned whether he had the same car as his teammate. Undoubtedly, Team Principal Franz Tost will have had some very stern words with the youngster, who it appears has some growing up to do.

The Bottas ‘Block’

A disappointed Valtteri Bottas on the Spanish Grand Prix podium.
Image credit: XPB Images

As previously mentioned, Hamilton’s pursuit of Verstappen late in the race was made a little harder by his teammate. As the World Champion approached, Bottas was told by his engineer, “Don’t hold Lewis up”. But he did just that. Hamilton followed closely for the best part of a lap – losing at least a second to Verstappen – before somewhat having to force a pass into Turn 10.

“I definitely could have let him by earlier,” Bottas said after the race. “But I was doing my own race. I’m not here to let people by, I’m here to race.” He said at the start of this season that he would be more selfish and single-minded; it would appear he is following up on that promise.

Does his mindset reveal anything about Mercedes’ plans for next year? Is this a man who knows his time is up and, thus, is now going to do everything in his power to take the title in what would likely be his last ever chance? That is just conjecture for the moment. But, whether he likes it or not, Bottas has held onto his seat at Mercedes by being the ideal driver for their second seat. One that is fast enough to keep Hamilton on his toes and help with strategic battles during the race, but one that is also compliant when required.

If he ceases to be that driver, his chances of remaining with the team beyond 2021 look slim at best.

The Spanish Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

Can Verstappen strike back in the title battle? Not quite, despite a valiant effort.

How will the teams fare without having had their usual pre-season testing at Barcelona? There was no noticeable difference and just the one retirement.

Can Alpine continue their good form from Portugal? On Saturday, yes. On Sunday, not so much.

Will the Aston Martin updates bring them back towards the front of the midfield? Nope, they still have quite a bit of work to do.

Will anyone pull a Maldonado? Not this time.

2021 Spanish GP preview

Posted on by James Mackenzie

The Burning Questions

Can Verstappen strike back in the title battle?

How will the teams fare without having had their usual pre-season testing at Barcelona?

Can Alpine continue their good form from Portugal?

Will the Aston Martin updates bring them back towards the front of the midfield?

Will anyone pull a Maldonado?

The Track

The Stats

  • Track Length: 4.676 km
  • Laps: 66
  • Race Distance: 308.424 km
  • Maximum Speed: 322 km/h
  • Lap Time at Full Throttle: 59%
  • First Grand Prix: 1991 (Barcelona) | 1951 (Spanish GP)
  • Race Lap Record: Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 2020 | 1:18.183
  • Outright Lap Record: Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 2019 | 1:15.406
  • Most Driver Wins: Michael Schumacher | 1995, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
  • Most Constructor Wins: Ferrari | 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2013

The Weather

The Quotes

Lewis Hamilton | “We have a good package but it has weak areas which we are working on. You’re seeing the closest battle you’ve seen for some time. Max is performing exceptionally well. He has a championship-winning car and team without a doubt who can really pull off the job this year if we don’t do our job.”

Max Verstappen | “I always try to get the best possible results out of it. I went twice outside of the track limits where it cost me basically a pole and a fastest lap but it’s also because I don’t settle for second or third. It is exciting and I am looking forward to every single battle.”

Valtteri Bottas | “There are still 20 races to go which is a huge amount of points and I am definitely not giving up on the goal this year. I believe the hard work will pay off and keep believing and I know the results will come and pay off.”

Kimi Räikkönen | “The worst thing was my son saying ‘you always tell me to look forward’ when he drives go-karts… He gave me a bit of that!”

The Friday Form

Practice 2 Top 5

1 | Lewis Hamilton | 1:18.170 | 32 Laps
2 | Valtteri Bottas | 1:18.309 | 31 Laps
3 | Charles Leclerc | 1:18.335 | 28 Laps
4 | Esteban Ocon | 1:18.466 | 29 Laps
5 | Fernando Alonso | 1:18.518 | 30 Laps

Practice 1 Top 5

1 | Valtteri Bottas | 1:18.504 | 25 Laps
2 | Max Verstappen | 1:18.537 | 19 Laps
3 | Lewis Hamilton | 1:18.627 | 22 Laps
4 | Lando Norris | 1:18.944 | 24 Laps
5 | Charles Leclerc | 1:18.996 | 25 Laps

Mercedes surprisingly appear to be slightly ahead of their title rivals over at Red Bull so far in Barcelona. Most had expected the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – with it’s long, sweeping corners – to suit the Red Bull but it was the German marque who topped both practice sessions.

Max Verstappen made a mistake on his flying lap in Practice 2 so his fastest time came on the medium tyre earlier in the session, but he was around a tenth of a second behind Hamilton at that point. Continuing the trend of 2021, it would appear to very nip and tuck between the two leading teams and will all come down to who is holding more back and who can nail that crucial Q3 lap tomorrow.

Behind them, the Alpines look to have picked up where they left off in Portugal and there was also promising pace for the Ferraris and AlphaTauris, who saw Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda finish Practice 2 in sixth and seventh.

The Photos

The Predictions

Podium

Pole Position

Fastest Lap

Driver of the Day

2020 Spanish GP report | Hamilton stays cool in the Spanish heat

Posted on by James Mackenzie
Another win, another record.
Lewis Hamilton wins the Spanish Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton took a dominant victory at the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix and moved one clear of Michael Schumacher to claim the outright record for the most podiums in F1 history with his 156th visit.

There were hopes in the paddock of another closely fought race, after last week’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix exposed a potential Achilles’ heel for the champions as they struggled with their rear tyres and Max Verstappen snatched an unlikely win. But those hopes were quickly extinguished when Hamilton “pulled the pin”, as Martin Brundle put it, and built a gap of almost ten seconds to the Red Bull in preparation for his first pit stop.

The usual Mercedes 1-2 in qualifying had been broken up by a poor start from Valtteri Bottas, the Finn suffering from a lack of a slipstream on the long run to the first corner and being passed by Verstappen and the opportunistic Lance Stroll. The Finn recovered to third quickly enough but spent the rest of the grand prix failing to get close enough to Verstappen in order to mount a real attack. Even on soft tyres towards the end of the race, he just didn’t seem to have the requisite pace and crossed the line 44 seconds behind his teammate, after making a late stop to claim the fastest lap.

It was a chastening weekend for Bottas, who is seeing his title aspirations crumble once again. “I have no idea what the points difference is,” he said, “but it is way too big and I can see again the championship drifting away. I will always bounce back, but right now I want to be somewhere else other than this.”

During the latest triple-header, the championship has transformed from a two-horse to a three-horse race and he is looking increasingly like the third horse.

Image credit: Mercedes

Hamilton, meanwhile, was imperious throughout – only denied his seventh career ‘grand chelem’ by his teammate’s late dash for the fastest lap and so “in the zone” that he didn’t realise he had passed the chequered flag.

Behind the front three, the Racing Points were ‘best of the rest’. Stroll continues to defy his critics and is really starting to cement his position as more than just a ‘rich boy driving for his dad’s team’; the Canadian took fourth ahead of teammate Sergio Pérez after the Mexican received a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags.

Carlos Sainz completed the top six with a strong drive at his home grand prix, seemingly having solved the overheating issues that have plagued his McLaren recently.

A Little Redemption in Red

Sebastian Vettel made the best of another bizarre Ferrari strategy to salvage seventh, impressively making a set of soft tyres last 36 laps and holding off a train of faster cars towards the end.

The incompetency of the Ferrari strategists has become a running joke at this point and they continued to add fuel to the fire here. A bizarre radio exchange played out for the world to hear as Vettel was ignored, then told to push, then told to go to the end, and finally had to tell his team the sums they needed to do for him.

Image credit: Reuters

The tension between the four-time world champion and his team is palpable and it feels as though both parties are just waiting for the season to be over.

Ferrari may also find themselves in hot water as it has now transpired that Charles Leclerc drove for two laps without his safety harnesses secured after his engine had cut out and spun him at the final chicane on lap 36. A massive lapse in common sense and safety that the FIA may feel the need to make an example of.

Pressure Continues to Increase on Albon

In the break before racing at Spa-Francorchamps last season, despite all the team’s previous reassurances, Pierre Gasly was replaced at Red Bull by Alexander Albon. But, as we head to this year’s Belgian Grand Prix, the team find Albon arguably underperforming as badly as the Frenchman was 12 months ago.

Red Bull are desperate for their second car to get, at least, reasonably close to Verstappen’s pace to aid their strategy options when attempting to outsmart Mercedes. Albon has certainly showed promise at times, but there is surely only so long people can continue to make excuses for him.

The London-born Thai driver is averaging a deficit of over half a second to his teammate in qualifying and, whilst he has often produced great recovery drives on a Sunday, that is still only getting him back into a position that would be the least expected of him.

Alexander Albon at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

This weekend, he did improve his qualifying slightly – if only to sixth on the grid – but was hampered in the race as Red Bull possibly used him as a guinea pig to test out the hard tyre for his teammate out front. That put him back into the many ‘DRS trains’ forming through the midfield and he only managed fight back to eighth place.

The fact is, however, that if he had shown the pace to get past the Racing Points into fourth earlier in the race, Red Bull would likely not have taken the gamble to switch to the hard tyres.

It was apparently Gasly being lapped by Verstappen in Hungary last year that was the final straw for the Red Bull bosses, so one wonders what must have been going through Albon’s head as he moved aside for his teammate here in Spain.

The Spanish Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

Will Mercedes experience issues with their tyres again? Nope.

And can Red Bull then challenge for another win? Also nope.

Will Sebastian Vettel leave his Silverstone troubles behind him? To some extent, yes. A rightful driver of the day.

How will Sergio Pérez deal with the strain of driving an F1 car post-virus? He coped fine, seemingly. Even with it being one of the hottest races in years.

Will anyone pull a Maldonado? Again, nope.

2020 Spanish GP preview

Posted on by James Mackenzie

The Burning Questions

Will Mercedes experience issues with their tyres again?

And can Red Bull then challenge for another win?

Will Sebastian Vettel leave his Silverstone troubles behind him?

How will Sergio Pérez deal with the strain of driving an F1 car post-virus?

Will anyone pull a Maldonado?

The Track

The Stats

Track Length: 4.655 km

Laps: 66

Race Distance: 307.104 km

First Grand Prix: 1991 (Barcelona) | 1951 (Spanish GP)

Race Lap Record: Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 2018 | 1:18.441

Outright Lap Record: Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 2019 | 1:15.406

Most Driver Wins: Michael Schumacher | 1995, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004

Most Constructor Wins: Ferrari | 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2013

The Weather

The Quotes

Sebastian Vettel | “At the moment it is not all plain sailing and all calm; it is rather rough seas. But I have to do the best I can which is staying focused and waking up and trying to do the best I can.

Lewis Hamilton | “[The ban on high-power modes in qualifying] is obviously to slow us down but I don’t think it will get the result they want.”

Sergio Pérez | “Any place I visited after Hungary was done being super cautious, with very extreme lines. I was well aware of what is going on. I haven’t done anything different to the rest of the paddock. I am not willing to take any blame for that because anyone can get it. I was just the unlucky one.”

Valtteri Bottas | “[Hamilton and I] have been neighbours. But this isn’t always as cosy as it sounds. Roscoe dropped a big turd outside my door last time.”

The Photos

The Predictions

Podium

Pole Position

Fastest Lap

Driver of the Day

2019 Spanish GP report | Another Mercedes 1-2

Posted on by James Mackenzie
Great first corner…not too much after that.
Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel go three wide into the first corner of the 2019 Spanish Grand Prix.
Image credit: Octane Photographic

Lewis Hamilton dominated at the 2019 Spanish Grand Prix as Mercedes secured yet another 1-2.

On Saturday, Valtteri Bottas, in full Bottas 2.0 mode, produced a stunning qualifying lap to take pole from his teammate, Hamilton, by 0.6 seconds. People don’t tend to do that to Hamilton… The reigning champion said he “just didn’t put the laps together” but was determined to make amends come race day. And that he did. Good starts from Hamilton and the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, combined with another poor one from Bottas, led to all three racing into the first corner side by side. Bottas found himself the filling in that sandwich and had to back out but Vettel, desperate to be the latest on the brakes, locked up and ran wide, handing second place back to the Finn. And from there, the remainder of the race turned out to be something of a formality.

Bottas believes his poor start was due to a mechanical issue rather than any failure on his part, saying “I had a strange behaviour on the clutch; biting, releasing, biting, releasing. I’ve never had it before. So I lost it there. I’m keen to find out why the start was so bad and why the issue happened.”

A late safety car, caused by a collision between the two youngest drivers on the grid in Lando Norris and Lance Stroll, closed the pack up but produced no further action at the front and Mercedes further extended their latest record, with a fifth consecutive 1-2 from the start of the season. Max Verstappen continued to impress with an excellent drive to take the final step on the podium, navigating the first corner with maturity and nous before flawlessly executing a move around the outside of both Ferraris when the chance presented itself.

Next up is the Monaco Grand Prix, where Mercedes have struggled in recent years. But judging by their performance in sector three at Barcelona – a sequence of slow corners, similar to the Monte Carlo track – where they were generally more than half a second faster than the Ferraris, another 1-2 is far from out of the question. It is beginning to look like Bottas 2.0 could be the only thing that keeps this championship interesting.

The Debate is Emphatically Over: Ferrari Are Just not Fast Enough

A result in Barcelona would have kept some hopes alive of the Scuderia taking the fight to Mercedes this year. But this was – along with the opening race in Melbourne – the most resounding defeat yet. Throughout pre-season testing, at the very same track, Ferrari had given the impression that they were the team to beat, but just over two months later the Silver Arrows were in a class of one. And to make it worse, their drivers’ squabbling for position arguably cost Ferrari third place to Verstappen.

Vettel’s daring attempt around the outside at the first corner ultimately ended in him running wide and, upon rejoining the track, he put his car very much in the way of Charles Leclerc. thus allowing Verstappen to sail around the outside of both red cars. From there, they never really challenged the Dutchman and instead got caught up again with whether to use team orders. Firstly, with Leclerc stuck behind Vettel, who was suffering with a flat spot from his first corner lock-up, and then the reverse when Vettel caught Leclerc with the young Monegasque on old, hard tyres. Hearing the two drivers’ team radios, it becomes clear that their respective race engineers were on different pages. In the situation where Leclerc was the driver in front, his engineer was somehow unaware that the two drivers were on different strategies. These are basic errors.

This was supposed to be Ferrari’s season. But, after missing out on potential victories in Bahrain and Azerbaijan through a combination of mechanical, operational and driver errors, they now find themselves 96 points behind Mercedes after just five races. Along with the obligatory aero update for Spain, a new power unit was rushed through and fitted two races earlier than planned. But the aero upgrade that Mercedes brought is believed to have been worth three to four tenths on its own and thoroughly trumped whatever improvements Ferrari had managed. It is starting to look like the Italian team are more likely battling Red Bull for second place than Mercedes for first, with team principal Matteo Binotto going as far as saying that the problem was “maybe even car concept”. If so, that is not going to be fixable during the season.

The Last Spanish Grand Prix?

The rumours are that this will be the last Spanish Grand Prix, for the time being at least and almost certainly with Barcelona as its venue. Spain is one of five races without contracts for next year, along with Great Britain, Mexico, Italy and Germany. The organisers for the Italian Grand Prix have agreed a deal in principle and Silverstone looks likely to follow. But there is apparently a good chance the other three could all fall off the calendar.

I would hope as a fairly recent addition, and with a clearly very passionate following, Mexico can figure something out. But Spain and Germany feel perhaps in need of a change. There have been few notable races in Barcelona’s 28-year history – barring Pastor Maldonado’s extraordinary victory in 2012 – and crowds this year have visibly reduced, most likely due to Fernando Alonso’s departure from the sport. Germany has been struggling for a while now, briefly alternating between the Hockenheimring and the Nürburgring, before the latter proved unable to host a Grand Prix any longer. And then having the event cancelled altoghether in 2015 and 2017. Spain and Germany are major European countries with a history of motorsport though so it would be good to see them reinvigorated and returned to the calendar in some way.

Image credit: Formula 1

Whether as direct replacements or not, there will be the brand new Vietnamese Grand Prix and – expected to be confirmed on Tuesday – a return to Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix. We will have to see how these work out. Vietnam is yet another new location in Asia without any significant motorsport heritage and will be another Hermann Tilke-designed circuit. Zandvoort is in need of a significant upgrade in the next 12 months to be ready for F1. Both in terms of infrastructure and the track itself.

Maybe the Regulations Have Worked

Whilst there was little to no action at the front, the midfield teams all continued to duke it out for the positions around the fringes of the top 10. And that’s on a track where passing has always been difficult. Romain Grosjean’s Haas seemed to spend more time in the run-off area around turns one and two than on the track, after wheel-banging moments with his teammate, amongst others. Scenes that I’m sure led to a few more coins entering Guenther Steiner’s swear jar.

Throughout Formula 1.5, there was a decent amount of battling so, whilst nobody seems to be particularly discussing it, maybe the stop-gap regulation changes for this year have helped somewhat when it comes to the on-track action. That bodes well for the major regulation changes in 2021. We live in hope.

The Spanish Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

Can anyone stop Mercedes and will Bottas 2.0 keep it up? An emphatic no to the first part and a tentative yes to the second. Bottas on Saturday was exceptional but Hamilton had him covered on Sunday.

With updates everywhere, will the pecking order change noticeably? Not particularly. Although Haas appear to have fixed their tyre issues and moved up the field.

Who will be the faster Ferrari driver this time? In terms of pure results, Vettel. But it was mostly strategy and a small error from Leclerc on Saturday that saw to that.

Will the Williams updates restore some credibility to the team? They were slightly closer to the pack – at least in the hands of George Russell – but there’s a fair way to go still.

Will anyone pull a Pastor Maldonado? That will be a no.

2019 Spanish GP preview

Posted on by James Mackenzie

The European season kicks off.

The Burning Questions

Can anyone stop Mercedes and will Bottas 2.0 keep it up?

With updates everywhere, will the pecking order change noticeably?

Who will be the faster Ferrari driver this time?

Will the Williams updates restore some credibility to the team?

Will anyone pull a Pastor Maldonado?

The Track

The Stats

Track Length: 4.655 km

Laps: 66

Race Distance: 307.104 km

First Grand Prix: 1991 (Barcelona) | 1951 (Spanish GP)

Race Lap Record: Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 2018 | 1:18.441

Outright Lap Record: Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 2018 | 1:16.173

Most Driver Wins: Michael Schumacher | 1995, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004

Most Constructor Wins: Ferrari | 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2013

The Photos

The Predictions

Podium

Pole Position

Fastest Lap

Driver of the Day