2021 Spanish GP performance analysis: Ferrari improves race pace. Ferrari improves race pace.

Looking at the “others’ race” (given that once again Hamilton and Verstappen had their own race), Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc took his own particular victory. An excellent start allowed Charles to better manage the race. On the other hand, at the Circuit de Catalunya he drove an SF21 very much on the ball compared to Portimao, especially in tire management. Wear did not affect it, allowing the drivers a more competitive pace. The graph below shows the trend change on the race pace, much better than in the first rounds of the 2021 Formula 1 season. Today we can say with certainty that in Spain the third force was the team from Maranello. However, we are waiting for confirmation in the next rounds in very poor asphalt conditions as last Sunday the track was rather cool compared to the other days. Almost 10 °C less.

As for McLaren, we haven’t seen one of their best performances. In Spain, the papaya-colored cars have lost that advantage we have seen in previous rounds. Compared to Charles Leclerc’s SF21, Daniel Ricciardo lost 4 tenths of an average pace in both the first and second stint.

Alpine with Ocon ran the race behind the other McLaren, that of Lando Norris. With the French driver they tried to get to the end of the race with a single stop, but the strategy was not ideal. Esteban really lost a lot of pace in trying to reach the finish line with the yellow band compound. Also from the graph you can see how his times have flown upwards.

The graphic of the third stint is not very significant, since not all the drivers did the same number of laps. However, it allows us to notice an interesting aspect on the Alpha Tauri, a car that is losing a bit in terms of performance as the season progresses. In Spain they took home a DNF and a tenth place with Gasly. The Frenchman complained a lot on the radio, claiming that the ST02 was very difficult to drive. The single-seaters from Faenza did not show a good pace with any compound. Nonetheless, Pierre still pulled out a good result at the Circuit de Catalunya.