The extreme temperatures at the start of the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona mean the outcome would hinge on whichever teams could manage their tyres best and a three-stop strategy was always on the table today. The drivers were already feeling the temperatures take their toll before they even stepped into the car. One thing that has been notable about the Spanish GP this year is that the grandstands have been packed to the rafters, something we haven’t always seen here since Fernando Alonso’s best days with Ferrari.
A great start for Charles Leclerc (on the soft tyres, like all the top ten except for Hamilton) who was able to hold the lead from Max Verstappen into Turn 1! The Dutchman never really had a chance for a lunge there – nice work from the Ferrari! Unfortunately a poor start for Carlos Sainz, who dropped two places behind the Red Bull of Sergio Perez and the Mercedes of George Russell. Big moment early in the first lap as Magnussen tried to go around the outside of Lewis Hamilton and the pair bump wheels! Magnussen went off and the Mercedes driver was called into the pits with his car running very slowly: it as a change to soft tyres for Hamilton after suffering a puncture following that collision.
Max Verstappen was trying to hang with Charles Leclerc out in front – with the gap staying at around 1.3s so no DRS for the first ten laps, while George Russell just wasn’t able to match that pace in the Mercedes.
Carlos Sainz really needed a solid race today, but on lap 7 he made an unforced error, spinning into Turn 4 into the gravel. The Spanish driver was able to keep going – luckily – yet dropped down from fifth to 11th. But just a few laps later, Max Verstappen made the same mistake: it’s not often you see the Dutchman make an unforced error, and it was a carbon copy to Carlos Sainz’s spin! He was down to fourth, with Russell and Perez ahead.
This gave Charles the possibility to create a gap of more than ten seconds and manage the race lead more comfortably, as the buffer gave Ferrari a few different strategy options. The Red Bull Dutch driver was then involved in a close battle with George Russell, as both of them pitted for medium tyres, with Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez continuing on track on the used softs.
Charles Leclerc was running a lonely race out front and the drama unfolding behind between George Russel and Max Verstappen (who was only venting his frustration from inside the cockpit with intermittent DRS on his car) played in Ferrari’s favour. On Lap 22, the Maranello team called in Charles and made the switch to mediums, as the Monegasque driver returned to the track in P1, with a five-second gap to the duo of Russell and Verstappen after a nice 2.2sec stop from Ferrari.
Verstappen finally got his DRS working into Turn 1 and dived down the inside of Russell, but the Mercedes man produced some brilliant defensive driving to hold off his Red Bull rival through the first few turns and stay second (It looked like hard but fair racing between Russell and Verstappen, but most importantly their battle helped Charles increase his lead). Meanwhile Carlos Sainz tried to recover the lost ground and made up a few places by overtaking Sebastian Vettel and Esteban Ocon.
Unfortunately disaster struck Ferrari as Charles Leclerc suffered a power unit failure and was pulled back to the pits. A big moment in the world championship with the Ferrari driver having to retire while in the lead. What an agonising DNF for championship leader and the Maranello team, with the first reliability issue of the season, but one that could not have come at a worse time.
Charles was on another level today, but sadly leaves Spain by losing first place in the Formula 1 Driver Standings, with Max Verstappen able to overtake George Russell and win the Spanish Grand Prix, ahead of his Red Bull teammate.
This gave Charles the possibility to create a gap of more than ten seconds and manage the race lead more comfortably, as the buffer gave Ferrari a few different strategy options. The Red Bull Dutch driver was then involved in a close battle with George Russell, as both of them pitted for medium tyres, with Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez continuing on track on the used softs.
Charles Leclerc was running a lonely race out front and the drama unfolding behind between George Russel and Max Verstappen (who was only venting his frustration from inside the cockpit with intermittent DRS on his car) played in Ferrari’s favour. On Lap 22, the Maranello team called in Charles and made the switch to mediums, as the Monegasque driver returned to the track in P1, with a five-second gap to the duo of Russell and Verstappen after a nice 2.2sec stop from Ferrari.
Verstappen finally got his DRS working into Turn 1 and dived down the inside of Russell, but the Mercedes man produced some brilliant defensive driving to hold off his Red Bull rival through the first few turns and stay second (It looked like hard but fair racing between Russell and Verstappen, but most importantly their battle helped Charles increase his lead). Meanwhile Carlos Sainz tried to recover the lost ground and made up a few places by overtaking Sebastian Vettel and Esteban Ocon.
Unfortunately disaster struck for Ferrari as Charles Leclerc suffered a power unit failure and was pulled back to the pits. A big moment in the world championship with the Ferrari driver having to retire while in the lead. What an agonising DNF for championship leader and the Maranello team, with the first reliability issue of the season, but one that could not have come at a worse time.
Charles was on another level today, but sadly leaves Spain by losing first place in the Formula 1 Driver Standings, with Max Verstappen able to overtake George Russell and win the Spanish Grand Prix, ahead of his Red Bull teammate. Carlos Sainz finished in fourth place, after a final stint with the softs, gaining 20 seconds to Valtteri Bottas in the fight for P4, but losing a place to Lewis Hamilton with six laps until the end. However, with warnings of cooling issues coming over the team radio, Hamilton had to ease off and Carlos Sainz regaind the position on the final lap.
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