We conclude the weekend of the Spanish Grand Prix with the Key Points of the race.
Costly double podium for Mercedes
Mercedes leaves Barcelona with their best result of the 2023 Formula 1 season. A double podium that tastes even sweeter after George Russell’s superb comeback. Following yesterday’s statements, Lewis Hamilton finds confirmation in the race and begins to see light at the end of the tunnel.
“The hard work has paid off. On Friday, we worked on finding the balance both in the on-track sessions and with Mick (Schumacher) in the simulator,” explained the seven-time world champion.
Lewis Hamilton remains confident for the rest of the 2023 Formula One championship: “We know well that we shouldn’t get carried away after a great result, but usually, those who perform well in Barcelona perform well everywhere. I expect to do well in the upcoming weekends too.”
George Russell was the protagonist of a comeback from twelfth position to the third step of the podium. The young British driver, in post-race interviews, admitted to being surprised by the final result as the podium hadn’t even been expected. It was an excellent result that could have been called into question due to a violation (exceeding the limit for the number of mechanics allowed by the regulations) outside of the Parc Fermé regime. The Stuttgart-based team received only a fine of €10,000.
Ferrari disaster: now the problem is inconsistency.
A great performance by Mercedes that further highlights the disaster for Ferrari on Catalan soil. Carlos Sainz‘s Ferrari SF-23 started from second position, and especially considering the data seen on Friday, there was hope for a second podium of the 2023 Formula One season. In the race, the pace of the Spaniard was inconsistent, and he finished in fifth position, behind both Red Bull cars but also the superior Mercedes cars in terms of race pace.
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The Spaniard spoke of a track that was not favorable to this Ferrari car, but team principal Frederic Vasseur had a different opinion in the post-race comments: “The problem is not a specific area of the car or a particular circuit; the pace is inconsistent from one stint to another. We have a team of engineers working to address this issue.” – the French manager pointed out.
For Charles Leclerc, the comeback was a struggle and ended in twelfth position. The race pace was also inconsistent for the Monegasque driver.
Regarding the issue encountered on Saturday, Frederic Vasseur explained that it will be analyzed next week, and as a precautionary measure, everything was replaced on the SF-23 today.
Formula Boredom
Another race with very few thrills in Barcelona. Rain could have been the best ally for fans to liven up the race, but we witnessed 66 laps of nothingness. Max Verstappen’s dominance is no longer news, and the on-track hierarchy is so crystallized that the race becomes predictable.
A positive note for Formula 1 is the level of the drivers on the grid, who make few mistakes and reach the finish line, preserving the teams’ finances.
McLaren
The team that was hoping for rain and cooler temperatures the most was McLaren. After a great performance in qualifying, both MCL60s ended up outside the points. Lando Norris finished the race in P17, losing fourteen positions during the race, partly due to an incident with Lewis Hamilton.
The British driver clarified that there are no updates on the car since Baku, and with the heat, the race pace is not on par with the drivers in the top 10, making points difficult even without contact.
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