Wings or not, McLaren keeps flying: Charles Leclerc limits Ferrari’s damage in F1 Spanish GP. Charles Leclerc salvages points for Ferrari and Red Bull faces strategic errors in Barcelona..

That Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg, which overtook Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari on the Montmeló straight (a circuit considered a litmus test for car performance—those who win here often win the title), broke Ferrari fans’ hearts just as much as it likely delighted former team principal Mattia Binotto. There couldn’t have been a more telling image to portray the seven-time world champion’s struggle to make his Ferrari competitive. But that’s only one side of the coin. On the other is Charles Leclerc, the sole bright spot in Maranello’s season, a driver who has never stopped giving it his all: he finished third after starting seventh, cleared of any blame in a clash with Verstappen that he emerged from ahead, although only because of Red Bull’s poor decision to pit Max during the safety car.

They knew they only had one fresh set of hard tyres left (he had used up the others in a very aggressive three-stop strategy that still kept him close to the McLaren cars and well ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari). At that point, it would have made more sense to leave him out on track: on the restart, he would have been first, albeit on soft tyres that were far more worn than his rivals’, but it would have been up to them to pass him. It just goes to show—even the best pit walls make mistakes, not just those at Maranello.

The dominance—Ferrari leaves Barcelona still as the second-best team in the championship. Because McLaren’s dominance has not faded one bit, and the new technical directive on wings certainly didn’t hurt the British team, despite reassurances from team principal Frederic Vasseur, who had repeatedly pointed to Barcelona as the point where the performance gap between the two teams would narrow. Well, it didn’t happen: in qualifying, the gap to McLaren was half a second (and it’s hard to justify it by saying Charles sacrificed qualifying to prioritise the race, because the effect was barely visible), and in the race, there was never really a fight—starting from seventh always makes things harder. McLaren’s superiority was underlined by the 10.455-second gap that Oscar Piastri opened up on Charles Leclerc in the final six laps, despite both being on the same soft tyre compound. So we’re back to what was said after Miami: Ferrari ended 2024 just 16 points behind McLaren and with nearly equal performance, whereas now, after nine races, they have less than half McLaren’s points. Something hasn’t worked in year three of the Frederic Vasseur era. Should he be given more time? Yes—changing now would be pointless. But in Maranello, it’s time to acknowledge that the excuses are over. And it’s not worth fueling illusions about the game-changing powers of the new rear suspension expected around Silverstone. You can’t keep kicking the can down the road and hoping something clicks.

Only Max Verstappen—Red Bull isn’t smiling either. They’ve been racing with just one driver for over a year, and even for someone as exceptional as Max, he can’t do it all alone. This year, out of 144 points scored, only seven have come from the second car (first Liam Lawson, now Yuki Tsunoda), while last season Sergio Perez, after a strong start, managed just 49 points from Imola to Abu Dhabi (18 races). A fix is needed, or Verstappen will be left to fight everyone on his own. And now there’s also the looming threat of a race ban, as his collision with George Russell cost him three more penalty points—just one more and he’ll miss a Grand Prix. That would be a catastrophic blow. Finally, a special mention for Fernando Alonso: at 43, he ends his points drought and hasn’t lost a shred of his fighting spirit. Chapeau.