Round 5 brought the F1 caravan to Barcelona, Spain, which is known as strong Mercedes territory. That is fair to say, as Mercedes have conquered every pole since the modern turbo hybrid era started in 2015. Knowing this fact, it was very predictable, that the Silver Arrows were stamping their authority all over the place again this year. In order to bounce back stronger, Ferrari had brought an engine update to the Spanish GP weekend, which was earlier than they had initially planned. In spite of the upgrade, the Red Team were missing performance badly. The only significant question in the qualifying was, which one of the Mercedes aces was to snatch pole.
The flying Finn Bottas gave his answer already on his first flyer in Q3. The beard-faced Finn set an incomprehensible lap time, which left the reigning world champion massive six tenths off his teammate's outstanding pace. The third place seemed to be the maximum for Sebastian, who was eight tenths shy of time sheets -topping Bottas. Sebastian's teammate Charles had a single run only, which made the Monegasque only fifth in the standings. Neither one of the top four drivers managed to improve their positions in the end, which meant a magnificent third pole in a row for the reborn "Bottas 2.0". Predictably, Hamilton made it a front-row lock-out for the world champion team. Sebastian was the faster one of the red-suited drivers, making it 3rd. Verstappen managed to split the red cars, as Max was fourth and Charles fifth. In addition to these familiar names, the top ten included Red Bull's Gasly, the Haas duo of Grosjean and Magnussen, Toro Rosso's Kvyat and Renault's Ricciardo.
As the teams had been unbelievably unanimous about the tyre strategy in Q2, all top ten drivers started to the race on the red-walled softest compound. The lights out was the most exciting moment of the Spanish GP. An aggressive and fiery duel between the Mercedes teammates was expected. However, pole-setter Bottas had an unexpected issue with his clutch, which had a remarkable effect on the Finn's start. Hamilton stormed into the lead, going into Turn 1. Sebastian, who had started from P3, made a venturesome move at the end of the start straight, diving into the outside of Bottas. The German locked up his front tyres, which caused a big flat spot on his front-left tyre. He ended up going wide, which was a relief for Bottas, who managed to secure his second place. The Red Bull lion Verstappen smelled his chance and took full advantage of Sebastian damaging his tyres. The Dutchman made a successful overtaking move on Sebastian, jumping third in the race. Leclerc was behind his teammate in P5.
Race leader Hamilton took control of the race right from the opening laps. A few seconds behind Bottas, Sebastian was struggling with his flat-spotted tyres. Charles was right at Sebastian's tail, and it seemed, that the Monegasque had more pace than his teammate. They drove closely in single file for many laps. At the end of the main straight Charles often showed himself in Sebastian's mirrors, lurking for a chance to get past. On lap 12 they finally switched positions, and Charles immediately opened a gap to his teammate.
There was interesting variety in terms of the teams' tyre strategies. Sebastian pitted for a fresh set of medium Pirellis, as did the Mercedes duo. Charles instead, pitted for a fresh set of white-marked hardest compound. Verstappen, on the other hand, opted for another set of soft tyres, whilst teammate Gasly switched to the medium rubber.
Towards the halfway point of the race, the tables had turned in terms of the Ferrari aces. Sebastian, who was on softer tyres, was lurking behind his teammate. Now it was Sebastian, who was clearly faster than his teammate. Once again they lost valuable time racing each other. On lap 36 they swap places again, and this time Charles let Sebastian by. Sebastian opened a gap to his teammate right away.
The second round of pit stops brought no changes to the top five. With 20 laps to go, McLaren's Norris attacked Racing Point's Stroll, which led into contact between the two. Both drivers ended up on the gravel, and the race was over for both of them. Safety car was deployed. However, the re-start didn't prove to produce any crucial turn in the race. The order of the top six maintained unchanged. Hamilton drove amazing couple of laps, building up a several-second gap to his teammate. Hamilton crossed the finish line as the race winner for the 76th time in his career. Flying Finn Bottas made it the astonishing fifth 1-2 in five races for Mercedes, which is the ultimate jackpot indeed. Verstappen completed the podium, which was well-deserved. In spite of the engine update, Ferrari had to settle for modest P4 (Sebastian) and P5 (Charles). Gasly finished 6th for Red Bull and Magnussen 7th for Haas. McLaren's Sainz, Toro Rosso's Kvyat and Haas' Grosjean scored the final points.
Hamilton has now snatched back his lead in the drivers' championship standings by 7 points to his teammate. Thanks to Verstappen's third place, the Dutchman moved third in the standings, leaving Sebastian fourth. The Red Team definitely seem to be in a crisis, more or less. They are not only a light year behind Mercedes, but also Red Bull are lurking right behind the Scuderia's back. The Austrian-based team have insidiously caught the Red Team in terms of performance. Not even the second place in the constructors' standings can be taken for granted by Ferrari. Something must be done in order to turn things around. Easier said than done. Hopefully the in-season tests at Barcelona will bring some useful answers to the current situation. Never give up! Forza Ferrari!
With passion for racing red,
Iina Huhmarniemi
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