From scorching hot Miami the F1 caravan travelled to scorching hot Barcelona for round 6. In recent history Circuit de Catalunya has been known as Mercedes' playground, as 9 previous pole positions has been claimed by a Mercedes driver. Many teams have brought smaller or bigger upgrades for Barcelona, including Ferrari. The Red Team run an upgraded rear wing and floor on their cars this weekend.
Mercedes had shown improved performance in the free practice sessions, as they had been able to fix their porpoising issue. Ferrari's Leclerc had topped all three practice sessions, and the top form continued in the qualifying. The Silver Arrows had definitely taken a huge leap forward pace wise, as Russell was topping the time sheets after the first runs in Q2. At the end of the session Sainz went fastest, and a moment later Red Bull's Verstappen deprived the home hero of the top spot. Both Haas drivers delivered as well, Magnussen making it as high as P4. For teammate Mick Schumacher it was the very first time in his F1 career, that he made it in Q3. The biggest name casualty in Q2 was McLaren's Norris, whose lap time was deleted due to exceeding the track limits at Turn 12.
Red Bull took the battle to Ferrari in Q3 as well. Verstappen claimed provisional pole by 0.35s to home hero Sainz. Perez in the sister Red Bull was third, followed by the Mercedes duo of Russell and Hamilton. The Silver Arrows were extremely competitive in the first two sectors, but they were struggling in the last sector. Leclerc was setting a stunning lap time on his first flyer, but he span at Turn 14, which saw the Monegasque with no lap time. However, Charles bounced back on his last run, storming on pole by three tenths to Verstappen. Meantime, Max reported on the team radio, that there was power missing. The reason was obvious, as his DRS didn't work, so he aborted the lap. Charles took his fourth pole of the season already. Teammate Carlos made it P3 and Mercedes' Russell P4. Perez in the other RB18 qualified 5th, and Hamilton completed the third row for Mercedes. Alfa Romeo's Bottas, Haas' Magnussen, McLaren's Ricciardo and Schumacher in the sister Haas rounded out the top ten. Out of all tracks on the current calendar, in Barcelona the pole position plays the most significant role. 74 % of all races at Circuit de Catalunya have been won from pole.
Air temperature was +37 degrees Celsius, as the lights went out. Everyone else was on soft Pirellis, except for Mercedes' Hamilton, who had opted for the medium compound. The acceleration of pole-setter Leclerc and Red Bull's Verstappen was very evenly matched. Max did everything to challenge his rival for the lead, but Charles defended his lead convincingly. Sainz in his Ferrari got a poor start, dropping from P3 down to P5. Russell, on the other hand, gained a position at the start and moved up to 3rd. Perez in the sister Red Bull was fourth.
On the opening lap there was also drama. Haas' Magnussen hit Hamilton's Mercedes; their front wheels touched, and Magnussen ended up on the gravel. Hamilton got a puncture, and both had to pit for a new set of tyres. On lap 5 Hamilton was driving in P19 at the back of the pack. The 7-time world champion suggested on the team radio, that maybe they should save the engine, which meant retiring the race. The team encouraged their driver saying, that P8 would still be possible in the race.
The Spanish GP saw mistakes from two top drivers. On lap 7 Ferrari's Sainz span in Turn 14, which made him go wide on the gravel. Luckily the home hero was able to continue, but this error came with consequences. Only two laps later Verstappen lost control of his RB18 in the very same corner, going wide on the gravel as well. The team told him, that there was gusty wind in that corner. Max lost his second place and dropped down to P4.
After his first pit stop and switch to the medium compound Verstappen had problems with his DRS, which didn't always open. Without DRS overtaking proved quite impossible. Verstappen tried every ace up to his sleeve to attack Russell, who was significantly slower than him. At one point the Dutchman managed to make it alongside the Briton, but then again the DRS didn't open, and Russell maintained his position ahead of Max. Russell played it on the grey area as well, changing the line under the braking. Max got his emotions running high and he relieved his frustration on the team radio.
Race leader Charles pitted not until on lap 22 for medium Pirellis. He rejoined the track in front of "the train" of Russell and Verstappen with a margin of five seconds. By lap 27 Perez had made it at the very back of his teammate. He asked on the team radio, whether he could overtake Max, as he felt he had more pace and fresher tyres than Max and could make it ahead of Russell. However, his request was denied by the team.
Lap 27 was a crucial turning point for race leader Charles, whose SF75 was hit with a technical failure, and the Monegasque's red challenger was pushed into the Red Team's pit garage. Meanwhile, Verstappen pitted for the second time for a fresh set of soft tyres. He rejoined the track in P4 behind Alfa Romeo's Bottas. Perez attacked Russell at the main straight, and dived into Turn 1 as the race leader. Verstappen's pace was wind fast, and in no time he had chased down Bottas and executed a successful overtaking move on the outside of the Finn.
After both Russell and Perez had pitted for the second time, Red Bull had a double lead in the race. Verstappen had a firm lead, with teammate Perez second, 16 seconds down on Max. Russell was third, six seconds down on Perez. The order of the Red Bull pilots changed, as Verstappen pitted on lap 45 for the third time already. However, he rapidly chased down his teammate, who didn't make it difficult for Max to get past and take the lead.
As Russell pitted for the third time, Alfa Romeo's Bottas was now third in the race. The Finn was on a two-stop strategy, but the last stint proved too long in terms of tyre management. Russell made it easily past Bottas after his pit stop, depriving the Finn of the third place. With just eight laps to go, both Sainz and Hamilton opened their DRS on the start/finish straight and moved ahead of Bottas, whose tyres were gone. In a blink of an eye P4 turned into P6.
Verstappen was dominating the race in the lead, as the flying Dutchman had a massive 19-second gap to his teammate. Perez's second place was secured as well, as Russell was eight seconds off the Mexican. In spite of the almost desperate start to the race, Hamilton was now 11 seconds behind his teammate in P4. However, on the closing laps of the race Hamilton's Mercedes was hit with a water leak issue. Sainz managed to make it past Hamilton on the second last lap in front of his cheering home crowd.
Verstappen triumphed to the victory, with Perez making the day perfect for Red Bull by securing 1-2 and the maximum points for the energy drink team. Russell, the only driver to have made it among the top five in every race of the season, completed the podium, with Sainz fourth, Hamilton fifth and Bottas sixth. One of the most positive surprises of the day was Fernando Alonso, who had started to the race from the back of the pack, due to a power unit element change. Alonso drove a fantastic race, entertaining the home crowd with lots of overtakes, making it P9 in the end.
Charles' DNF cost both him and the team the lead in the championship standings. Verstappen snatched the top spot from Charles by six points. Red Bull, on the other hand, took over the lead in the constructors' standings by 26 points. Mercedes are now 49 points down on the Red Team. However, the breathtaking battle for championship points continues in Monaco next week already! Forza Ferrari!
With passion for racing red,
Iina Huhmarniemi
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