A Hot Sunday Race in Barcelona: Red Bull 1-2
Verstappen triumphant, Leclerc loses out, and the World Drivers' Championship blown wide open.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc got away nicely from the pole position that he took in qualifying on Saturday, and after he built up a comfortable lead, his power unit failed.
The Monegasque was forced to retire his F1-75 on lap 28, yielding the lead of the race to George Russell, who tried desperately to keep the Red Bulls behind. He went wheel to wheel with Verstappen several times, each time defending bravely until Verstappen pitted from second for soft tires.
Sergio Perez then closed in on Russell and brilliantly overtook him around the outside of Turn 1 on lap 31, then Verstappen closed the gap on soft tires, so Russell pitted for new mediums.
The new Mercedes driver kept his head down and managed the hot track impressively to finish on the podium. He also showed how competitive Mercedes can be moving forward after the new upgrades that they tested this weekend, and it seems they have solved their aerodynamic problems.
The Red Bulls swapped places on several occasions, and team boss Christian Horner made some team orders. Perez drove a great race and was in a position to win the Grand Prix when he was instructed to allow Verstappen through. Perez was the ultimate teammate today, and naturally, he was disappointed with the decision.
The Dutchman cruised to the checkered flag comfortably to collect the 25 points, without any pressure from the parked Ferrari of rival Charles Leclerc. Perez pitted for softs and set the fastest lap of the race as he followed Verstappen for P2; 19 points for Checo, and a 44-point sweep for Red Bull.
At his home Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz could only manage 4th to limit the damage for Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship, he took a trip across the gravel in Turn 4 on lap 7. Two laps later, Verstappen did the same, and from P2 he rejoined behind teammate Perez.
Lewis Hamilton who started 6th and had an incident with Kevin Magnussen on lap 1 drove impressively to recover from 15th and show what the W13 can do from the back.
Valteri Bottas stayed near the front all race, but he succumbed to tire degradation on the last few laps and was overtaken by Sainz and Hamilton to finish 6th for Alfa Romeo.
Big points for Alpine this weekend, Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso finished P7 and P9 respectively. Alonso had a mismanaged qualifying session that left him to start at the back in P20; a very impressive recovery from the Spaniard at his home race. Ocon also felt that his team left some lap time on the table in qualifying, he started P12 but will leave Barcelona with 6 points.
McLaren’s Lando Norris did well to finish 8th, despite rumors that he was feeling ill before the race, he improved by three places.
Yuki Tsunoda picked up one point for Alpha Tauri to deny Aston Martin’s Sebastien Vettel, who finished just outside the points in 11th.
Charles Leclerc did everything that he was supposed to throughout the weekend and he came up short, but more importantly, in the same way, that Verstappen lost out on points in Bahrain and Australia, Ferrari left big points on the table for Red Bull.
Driver Standings (top 4) after round 6 in Spain:
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 110
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 104
Sergio Perez (Red Bull) - 85
George Russel (Mercedes) - 74
Next weekend is Monaco…
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