There was a moment in the opening stages of the Spanish Grand Prix that saw the race settle into a highly recognisable and monotonous pattern. But it lasted only for a brief moment as it delivered a dramatic series on events that injected into it a near consistent barrage of surprises.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led cleanly away from pole position, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen following in second place. George Russell made a good start in the Mercedes to run third with Checo Perez all over the back of his gearbox. It didn’t go as well for Carlos Sainz who seemed to slip into an anti-stall mode on the grid, which lost him a few places. It was even worse for Lewis Hamilton, starting fifth, who tangled with Haas’s Kevin Magnussen.
While the collision ran Magnussen into the gravel it left Hamilton to crawl back to the pits with a puncture. Without damage but effectively last, Hamilton told the team to retire the car and “save the engine”. The pitwall didn’t agree and instructed Hamilton that some points may be possible yet.
Up ahead, Leclerc was holding his own against Verstappen when Sainz, in fifth, spun on lap seven and dropped down to 11th place. It appeared that a gust of wind had caught out the Spanish driver. Then Verstappen had his own trip through the gravel at the same corner but only lost three places to go from second to fifth.
Leclerc was now enjoying a sizable gap in the lead, while Russell masterfully held off both Red Bull cars. Verstappen’s task of overtaking was made even more difficult as his DRS was malfunctioning.
The pair pitted on lap 14, while Leclerc and Perez stayed out longer to limit their pit stops. The soaring temperatures would ensure that this was, ultimately, not possible. While Perez would stop on lap 18 Leclerc would take to the pitlane on lap 22 and emerge comfortably in the lead of the race.
Disaster would hit Leclerc on lap 27, as a suspected power unit issue brought a dramatic end to his race. Russell and Verstappen were now fighting for the lead of the race. Knowing that Verstappen’s DRS problem was unlikely to be resolved, the Dutchman pitted for soft tyres and affected the undercut on Russell. Meanwhile Perez snatched the lead from Russell on lap 31.
Midway through the race, Verstappen had caught up to Russell, who promptly pitted for a set of mediums, followed by Perez, one lap later. Verstappen made a third stop to cover those behind him.
Fresh tyres allowed him to quickly close the roughly six second gap to Perez before being allowed into the lead of the race by his teammate. The Mexican driver was not too happy with the team call but surrendered the position, nonetheless.
Sainz recovered to a solid P4, while Hamilton recovered to an impressive fifth. The Brit would’ve been fourth had he not been required to lift and coast due to a suspected water leak. Alfa Romeo attempted to run a two-stop strategy, but it just wasn’t the way to go. As such, Valtteri Bottas eventually finished sixth, ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in seventh. Lando Norris, suffering from tonsillitis, finished eighth, while Fernando Alonso came from the back of the grid to ninth. Yuki Tsunoda was 10th overall for Alpha Tauri.
For a good part of the Spanish Grand Prix, Leclerc looked in complete control. In fact, the Ferrari driver had been well in control of the championship. But, in Formula 1, there is no such thing as ‘being in control’. Not only has Red Bull scored their second one-two finish off the year but taken the lead of both championships.
Leclerc will be as keen as ever to make amends in Monaco this weekend.
