The Barcelona weekend brought surprises even on Sunday. The race was packed with constant drama, from varied strategies to technical issues and on-track incidents. Undoubtedly, one of the key moments that reshaped the race came from the technical issue that forced Antonelli to retire on lap 55 of 66.
The deployment of the Safety Car reset the race, giving drivers a free chance to pit and switch to Soft tyres. One of the few drivers to go against this trend was Max Verstappen, who, having already made one more stop than the others, had no fresh C3 Soft or C2 Medium sets available. Before discussing the pit wall decisions that determined the final result of the Spanish GP, let’s recap the strategies seen during the race.
Strategy Recap
Pirelli’s predictions came true. The abrasive Spanish circuit led most teams to plan for two-stop strategies, which turned into three for many due to the Safety Car brought out by the incident involving Antonelli. Only three drivers stuck to two stops without pitting under SC: Lawson and Bortoleto on S-M-S, and Ocon on S-M-M.
Both Red Bull drivers ended up on four stops. Max Verstappen was attempting to chase down McLaren with a three-stop strategy to always have fresh tyres, and without the Safety Car, he might have finished very close to Norris in third (S-S-M-S for the Dutchman). Less effective was Tsunoda’s M-S-S-S strategy from the pit lane, which failed to yield points.
Verstappen’s race took a dramatic turn when, called into the pits during the Safety Car, he was fitted with Hard tyres. The four-time world champion was furious on the radio, but calmed down once informed that it was the only available set. He finished on the S-S-M-S-H sequence, while Yuki Tsunoda, eliminated in Q1 on Saturday, ran M-S-S-S-S.
Summarizing all strategies:
S-M-S-S for Piastri, Norris, Russell, Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Hadjar, Alonso and Colapinto
S-M-M-S for Leclerc and Bearman
S-S-M-S for Gasly and Sainz
Retirements: Antonelli and Albon
Lance Stroll did not participate due to a flare-up of wrist pain from a 2023 injury.
Two Stops Were Necessary, Verstappen Goes Threatening with Three
Pirelli’s expectations were accurate. Earlier today, it was speculated that someone might try a one-stop strategy, but the heavy degradation seen during the race confirmed that two stops were the best solution at Montmeló. S-M-S was clearly the fastest.
Red Bull gambled with Max Verstappen by bringing him in three times, but if the Safety Car hadn’t intervened, the constant access to fresh tyres might have kept him close to the McLarens, finishing just seconds off third. At the time of the SC, Norris was second and lapping about 3–4 tenths quicker than Max, with a gap of around 2 seconds.
Red Bull Throws Max to the Lions
When the Safety Car came out, nearly all drivers pitted. McLaren executed a perfect double stop despite having only 3.1 seconds between their cars, maintaining position under pressure from Max.
As for Red Bull’s decision to put Max Verstappen on Hards, it can be summed up as: they threw him to the lions. With only 11 laps to go and the rest of the grid on Softs, fitting Hards was absolutely the wrong move. The team’s excuse—immediately relayed to the complaining driver—was: “We had no other sets available.” Still, putting on the Hards clearly exposed him. Perhaps they should have left him on the Softs fitted eight laps earlier. Yes, those would’ve been worn compared to rivals’ fresh rubber, but it might have prevented the slide at the final corner before Charles Leclerc’s overtake.
The Safety Car Allows Leclerc to Capitalize on Q3 Strategy
Charles Leclerc once again delivered an exceptional race. At the start, he quickly passed Antonelli (who later retired due to a power unit issue confirmed by Mercedes: oil pressure loss) and settled into Lewis Hamilton’s slipstream. Ferrari may have taken too long to swap positions between its drivers, as Leclerc clearly had more pace. Thanks to good pit calls, he overtook Russell and secured P4.
His strategy: S-M-M. Had the race ended like that, Leclerc wouldn’t have used the extra Soft set he saved by compromising Q3 and qualifying only seventh. But the Safety Car arrived at just the right time, letting him finally use that Soft compound he’d fought to keep. A masterstroke—helped by either Red Bull’s error or bad luck—that allowed him to finish third while Verstappen struggled on Hards in the final 11 laps.
Hulkenberg Fifth Ahead of Lewis Hamilton. What Happened to the Seven-Time World Champion?
We considered all the possibilities, and the only available data to explain how Hulkenberg in a Sauber overtook Lewis Hamilton are the tyre differences. Nico had new Softs, Lewis had used ones. Still, that alone doesn’t fully explain the pace gap.
The most plausible theory is that Lewis poorly managed his tyres behind the Safety Car. As a result, when Nico hit the performance peak of his fresh C3s, Lewis might’ve had his tyres out of the operating window. It may sound like nitpicking, but for now, that’s our best guess.
Leave a Reply