The races follow one another and look alike in Formula 1: Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix, seventh round of the season, without trembling, on Sunday at the circuit of Catalonia in Montmeló. The Dutchman, who edged out the surprising Mercedes of Britons Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, picked up his fifth victory in seven races this year.
The reigning double world champion flew over the event after having made a good start by repelling the onslaught of the Ferrari of Spaniard Carlos Sainz. He then widened the gap inexorably by showing the superiority of his single-seater to win easily. “It is a great pleasure to drive such a car. There were different tire strategies, but in the end it worked and it’s another win here, it’s unbelievable. »
Verstappen consolidates his place as provisional leader of the world championship by scoring 26 additional points to bring his total to 170. He is now ahead of his Mexican teammate Sergio Pérez, fourth on Sunday after starting in 11th position, by 53 units (117). Sainz, who had started in front of his home crowd, was the loser of the day, taking only fifth place, far from the podium. Scuderia Ferrari experienced another frustrating race as Monegasque Charles Leclerc, who had started from the pits after changing several parts on his single-seater, took 11th place, failing to score points.
Hometown hero Fernando Alonso, eagerly awaited by his tens of thousands of green-clad fans, finished just seventh in his Aston Martin, his worst result of the season. For the first time this year, he was beaten by his teammate, Canadian Lance Stroll, who finished just ahead of him. A week after his unexpected podium in Monaco, Frenchman Esteban Ocon finished eighth, ahead of Chinese Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) and Pierre Gasly, his teammate at Alpine.
Apart from Red Bull, which continues to fly over the season, the nice surprise of the day is to be credited to Mercedes, which managed to place its two Silver Arrows on the podium. Russell, who only started in 12th position on the grid, made a superb comeback and managed to contain Pérez’s Red Bull at the end of the race, which seems to show that the improvements introduced in the Principality last week are beginning to to bear fruit.
“What a result for our team! We did not expect that. I really want to take my hat off to everyone at the factory. We are a little closer to the Red Bulls. We’ll keep chasing them, but it’s a great result for us and for George too, who put in a superb performance. At the moment the Red Bulls are going faster, but we are working on it, we hope to catch up with them by the end of the year and if it’s not this year, it will be the next, “said the sevenfold world champion.
McLaren, who had placed both of their cars in the top 10 in qualifying, including a surprising third place for Lando Norris, had a nightmarish day as the Briton hit Hamilton’s car at the second corner, damaging its wing, and eventually crashed. finished 17th. Australian rookie Oscar Piastri finished 13th after starting 9th. The eighth round of the Formula 1 World Championship will take place in two weeks in Canada.