The Grands Prix follow and resemble each other during this Formula 1 season. On Sunday June 4, Max Verstappen won his third consecutive race – his fifth success of the season – by winning the Spanish Grand Prix without too much difficulty, at Barcelona. Starting from pole position at the wheel of his Red Bull, the Dutchman was not worried by the competition or the rain, finally sparing the circuit, and finished in the lead in a race led from start to finish.
“It’s a great pleasure to drive a car like this, we were able to show that again today. It’s a very good weekend for me and the team, I intend to continue like this, ”explained Max Verstappen at the finish, at the microphone of the organizers. Double reigning world champion, the Dutchman is starting to run out of words to explain his domination over other drivers, evoking that of Lewis Hamilton between 2014 and 2020.
On the podium, Verstappen is finally surrounded by two Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton (2nd) and George Russell (3rd). But the Dutch ogre did not leave them the luxury of leaving with the bonus point in the classification, awarded to the driver who achieved the best lap. Leading by more than forty seconds with fifteen laps to go, the Dutchman returned to the pits to put on soft tyres.
Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly in the points
A few minutes later, he took advantage of his new tires to bring the competition back into line and further increase his lead in the world championship standings. He is ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez (4th Sunday) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin). In front of his home crowd, the Spaniard overtook his former teammate at Alpine, Esteban Ocon, but finally refused to attack his new garage colleague, Lance Stroll, at the end of the race. He finished in 7th position.
Something rare enough to be underlined, all the drivers reached the finish line and the safety car remained quietly at the back of the garage. The twists and turns, you had to look for them the day before during the qualifying session. While Verstappen was laying the groundwork for his Sunday success, the other stars in the paddock were experiencing the worst difficulties. Like Charles Leclerc, unable to control his Ferrari and failing in a disappointing penultimate place. The Monegasque took advantage of his poor ranking to start from the pits by changing several elements of his car.
A counter-performance having notably benefited the Frenchman Pierre Gasly. After seeing his team-mate and compatriot Esteban Ocon on the podium the previous week in Monaco, the Normand was in turn off to have a great weekend under the overcast skies of Catalonia. But his fourth place in qualifying was quickly swept away by a six-place penalty imposed for “unnecessarily hampering” Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and then Max Verstappen, who were thrown into a fast lap. Gasly finally finished 10th, two places behind Ocon. Next meeting for the two Frenchmen and the rest of the Formula 1 garage: June 18, in Canada.
