Formula 1 Spanish GP: Verstappen Reigns Supreme Again, But What About the Rest of the Field?
Max Verstappen proved his dominance once again at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, claiming his third consecutive Formula 1 Grand Prix victory in the 2024 F1 Spanish GP. However, with narratives unfolding throughout the Formula 1 field, how did the rest of the drivers fare?
Verstappen’s win marked his 61st victory, solidifying his position as one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time. Despite losing ground to George Russell at the start, Verstappen recovered quickly to take the lead into Turn 1 on Lap 3 and controlled the race from there.
Meanwhile, Sergio Perez’s recovery drive from 11th to 8th might have been a confidence booster, but it also raised eyebrows. With only eight points scored across the last four Formula 1 race weekends, Perez’s performances have been inconsistent. His lowly starting position was partly due to a three-place grid penalty carried over from Canada, but when your teammate is fighting for pole positions and race victories, you can’t afford to be scrapping in the bottom half of the points-paying positions.
Lando Norris’ sensational pole position had fans hoping for a fight, but a lackluster start saw him drop down to third. Despite being the fastest man on track for most of the race, one slip-up cost him the chance to add a second Formula 1 win to his tally.
“Oscar Piastri was struggling with his McLaren, complaining that the car didn’t feel ‘natural.’ This pushed him into overdriving in qualifying, and he started the race from 10th.”
Lewis Hamilton emerged from his doldrums to put together his best weekend of the year so far. First in qualifying, he out-paced his teammate to secure third on the grid, just three-tenths off pole position. A minor setback at lights out saw him lose position to Charles Leclerc and Russell, but he quickly recovered to pass the former coming out of Turn 1.
George Russell put together another strong weekend, backing up both his and Mercedes’ near-victory charge in Canada last time out. Despite being out-qualified by his teammate Hamilton for just the second time this season, Russell evoked Fernando Alonso with a sweeping move from fourth to first at lights out at Turn 1.
Charles Leclerc was ultimately limited by Ferrari’s pace, which put a ceiling on what he could achieve from fifth on the grid. A brief moment ahead of Hamilton at lights out was undone when necessary avoiding action was required to avoid contact with Norris, and Leclerc found himself fifth coming out of Turn 1.
Carlos Sainz delivered what was possible from his Ferrari Formula 1 package, perhaps to a fractionally lesser degree than his teammate. The Spaniard’s clumsy overtaking maneuver on Leclerc in a bid to impress the home fans compromised his race slightly, but he performed suitably enough to ensure he finished ahead of one Red Bull and McLaren respectively.
Pierre Gasly led a double Q3 and points-scoring charge for Alpine, qualifying seventh and converting it into a ninth-place finish. His teammate, Esteban Ocon, did his best to complement a positive Grand Prix result for the Anglo-French squad, converting a surprise Q3 appearance into a 10th-place finish.
Fernando Alonso’s positive attitude towards his current Formula 1 employers, Aston Martin, was put to the test as the team’s permanent slip in performance continued. With the AMR24 failing to give Alonso the platform to make it into Q3, he was on damage limitation from the off as he fought from the outside looking in during an unsuccessful points-winning bid.
Sebastian Stroll couldn’t fare better, scraping through into Q2 by just half a tenth of a second. The Canadian driver had no hope of progressing further and was resigned to a P14 starting berth.
Valtteri Bottas’ remarkable qualifying effort saw him secure 12th on the grid for Sunday’s race, missing out on a Q3 appearance by just two-tenths of a second. However, a poorly conceived soft, soft, hard tire strategy from Sauber compromised the Finn’s race entirely.
Zhou Guanyu’s confidence this season has been at an all-time low, prompting him to revert to his old Sauber chassis last used in Miami back in May. Immediately, the Chinese driver looked in better form and delivered his first Q2 appearance of the season.
RB introduced a substantial upgrade package in Barcelona but was unable to build on its recent encouraging results as both drivers dropped out in Q1. Although Daniel Ricciardo qualified behind Yuki Tsunoda, the Australian led RB’s glorified testing run in the race to maximize his prospects and come home in a distant 15th place.
Tsunoda held a slight advantage over his more experienced teammate once again last weekend, but he was perplexed with his lackluster pace in the race as he dropped to second last.
Alex Albon had expressed earlier in the week that Williams would not be in a position to match the heights he achieved in Monaco and Canada, and it transpired in that manner. The Anglo-Thai driver managed to have the edge over a hampered Sargeant as the team locked out the back row and that prompted his car to be reverted to a pit lane start to change engine parts.
Logan Sargeant headed into the weekend hopeful that being on the same specification as team-mate Albon would deliver a marked upturn in competitiveness. However, the American qualified as the slowest car amid Williams’ struggles and later revealed that his floor was not delivering the downforce anticipated.
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