Red Bull’s Max Verstappen proved very difficult to beat this weekend. After losing out on pole position, and being overtaken by George Russell on the opening lap of the race, Verstappen held out to win after all. Although this season has had more exciting races, he has shown that results will still go his way. Sergio Perez finished the grand prix in eighth place, gaining some points. He still underperforms when compared to his teammate.
The McLaren cars were fast again this week. They seem to emerge recently as Red Bull’s biggest challengers. Lando Norris performed well in qualifying to achieve pole; another great performance. Oscar Piastri had his worst start of the season in P9, which says a lot about the team’s performance this season. He climbed to P7 in the race. Overall, the team had a great weekend.
The Mercedes were not as fast in the race as many would have hoped. After rumours of sabotage, Lewis Hamilton managed to get a third place finish this weekend. Russell’s first corner overtake was a highlight for many. He dropped down the order over the course of the race.
Tension between the Ferrari drivers seemed the biggest news from the team. P5 and P6 was overwhelming.
Alpine more than doubled their total points for the season in what was a good performance for the French team. Pierre Gasly was overtaken by Perez on the final lap, but still managed to achieve points.
No points for either RB car. Nothing to report.
At Fernando Alonso’s home race, his team had their worst result of the year. They will want to move on quickly.
Williams did not perform well this weekend. Despite thinking their car was suited to the challenges of Spain’s track, their pace did not materialise.
Sauber had another uneventful weekend. A positive, however, came from Zhou Guanyu, who claims to have gained confidence this weekend. He is yet to score this season.
What a start for George Russell for Mercedes, who, from third position, launched himself on the clean side of the track passed pole sitter Lando Norris, who found himself in third position. Max Verstappen left turn one in second following Russell’s lead.
With DRS enabled, Russell only held a half a second lead over Verstappen, who swooped past on lap three to claim the race lead as Russell unable to defend the position over the Red Bull’s pace. Spaniard Carlos Sainz passed teammate Charles Leclerc from the start. Sainz gained a position just before leaving the track but was not further investigated and Sainz remained ahead of his teammate. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso dropped down a few positions with Stake’s Valtteri Bottas taking benefit of the slipstream off the start line. There was speculation around possible damage to Alonso’s car as he was evidently losing pace and performance.
Into lap nine, race leader Max Verstappen held the fastest lap time and created an over two second gap between himself and Russell. Following behind was Norris, Lewis Hamilton, and both Ferrari cars. By lap 13, Nico Hulkenberg, Zhou Guanyu, Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda had all pitted for medium tyres at the back of the grid. This triggered a chain reaction with those ahead also making an early stop onto medium tyres. Pierre Gasly unfortunately sat through a slow pit stop, placing him behind teammate Esteban Ocon after he came out. Haas driver Kevin Magnussen received a five second penalty for a false start.
By lap 17, Lewis Hamilton pitted onto medium tyres but was unable to slot himself back into a secure position. As he gained grip, the Mercedes passed Alonso with ease and headed on to chase Sainz. Sainz stood in seventh on lap 19 of his home Grand Prix after Hamilton took the inside curve and came incredibly close to coming into contact with the Ferrari. Hamilton then put forth a fastest lap of 1:19:307.
McLaren’s Norris reclaimed the race lead on lap 22. His teammate, Oscar Piastri, came out of the pits into eleventh position behind Hulkenberg, overtaking the Haas to come back into the points. Fernando Alonso made a clean overtake on the Haas of Kevin Magnussen to follow after teammate Lance Stroll.
Piastri successfully overtook Red Bull driver Sergio Perez by lap 28, putting him into ninth position as Perez didn’t make an attempt to defend against the McLaren’s pace.
As the race went on, the wind became more intense and inconsistent, particularly around turn three and four, becoming more of an impactful variable. After a couple of attempts, by lap 32, Norris was able to take the inside line on the main straight passed Hamilton, to take third position. Norris the set the fastest lap. Maintaining a fighting performance, Norris applied the pressure onto Russell. The two British drivers switched positions three times in the fight for second, with Norris prevailing. Mercedes interestingly pitted Russell after losing his second position to go onto the hard tyre. He came out behind the Alpine of Gasly, whom he quickly overtook before setting a new fastest lap. Russell, who was one of nine drivers by lap 43 on the hard tyres, complained about the lack of grip and traction as he struggled to catch up to Piastri.
In free air with no one ahead of him on the track, Norris is notified of his opportunity to create a race lead gap as Verstappen had to pit and came out behind the Ferrari of Leclerc. Nico Hulkenberg, just like teammate Magnussen, was handed a five second penalty. This was for speeding in the pit lane. McLaren had a slow pitstop. They were fortunate enough to just make it ahead of the Mercedes cars. RB driver Yuki Tsunoda in P20 received a five second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
After dominating over his teammate for the majority of his home race, on lap 55, Sainz was overtaken by Leclerc as the Ferraris held fifth and sixth position. Holding the overall lap record, RB driver Daniel Ricciardo found himself performing at his lowest on this track, placing sixteenth on lap 59 behind Valterri Bottas. Alex Albon slid into the gravel after racing with Yuki Tsunoda but seamlessly returned to the track, issuing a complaint over the radio with concern to the manner in which he was squeezed round the track.
With three laps to go, Leclerc chased down Russell. Similarly, Norris gave everything from his McLaren to close down race leader Verstappen. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough this time. This, however, makes it clear that the competition between the two is becoming closer as the season progresses.
For the third year running in Barcelona, Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix. Lando Norris clutched onto second and Lewis Hamilton claimed his first podium of the season in third.
Celebrating its 65th year as part of the Formula One calendar, the Spanish Grand Prix is hosted at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. This race is the home race to the two Spaniards on the grid, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz. The Barcelona Circuit is filled with history, spanning back to 1913.Â
One famous Grand Prix was in 2012, where Pastor Maldanado took his maiden win. This win, only in his second year in Formula One and his one and only win, makes the Spanish track very special to Maldonado. This was a significant moment for Venezuela as it was the first ever Venezuelan to win in Formula One.
Fernando Alonso marginally lost out, finishing his home race in P2, with Kimi Raikonnen finishing the podium for P3.
Few races go without conspiracy though! Following the race, a conspiracy emerged that Maldonado’s car was fitted with performance enhancing tyres in order to gain the success. These tyres the Williams team used were provided by Pirelli.
66 laps will take place on Sunday around this 4.657km circuit.
The Grand Prix is held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya which is in Montmelo, a small town roughly 30 km from Barcelona.
The track record was set by Daniel Ricciardo in 2018 (1:18:4410)
Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher share the record for most wins at the Spanish Grand Prix both standing on the top step six times.
Along with Barcelona, the Spanish Grand Prix has been held in four other cities in Spain previously: Pedralbes, Montjuic, Jarama and Jerez.
A track well known by all drivers and teams, the circuit consists of a mixture of slow and fast corners, along with long straights and hard braking points, making it one of the main circuits teams like to test their car at.
The Spanish Grand Prix is the home race of two drivers: Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz.
This weekend F3, F2 and F1 Academy will also be racing.
Grand Prix History
Mercedes hold the most wins for a constructor (14) in Spain. Their latest win was in 2021 for Lewis Hamilton. Fernando Alonso is the only Spanish driver to have won the Spanish Grand Prix, taking the top step on two occasions (2006 and 2013). Qualifying will be important since only four races between 2001 and 2019 were not won from pole.
24 drivers lined up for the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix, with Pastor Maldonado starting on pole (the first Venezuelan driver to do so). Lewis Hamilton was excluded as he failed to return to the pits under his own power and supply a fuel sample.
At lights out, Fernando Alonso took the lead going into the second corner. Sergio Perez ran wide going into turn three, causing a left rear puncture. Starting from the back, Hamilton had made his way from P24 to P12 within the first nine laps.
On lap 13, Michael Schumacher suffered the first DNF of the race after running into the back of Bruno Senna, who also later retired on the same lap. Within 17 laps, Hamilton managed to make his way up to P4 – behind Alonso in P1, Maldonado in P2, and Kimi Raikkonen in P3.
On lap 23, HRT driver Narain Karthikeyan had to retire due to wheel problems. Alonso went into the pits on lap 27, giving Williams’ driver, Maldonado the opportunity to take first position and set the fastest lap of the race so far. The following lap, Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa were handed drive-through penalties for ignoring the yellow flag.
Hitting the halfway point of the race on lap 33, Kamui Kobayashi made minor contact with Jenson Button while overtaking him for seventh place. Lap 37 saw Charles Pic retire due to a drive shaft failure. Three laps later, a young Perez retired due to a transmission fault. Vettel suffered damage to the left side of his front wing on lap 43 forcing him to pit for fresh tyres and a new front wing.
Raikkonen led the race for two laps, only for Maldonado and Alonso to overtake him using DRS. He later took a late pitstop in the hopes of putting pressure on the Williams and Ferrari drivers. However, he emerged fourth behind teammate Romain Grosjean. Raikkonen regained third position when his teammate pitted on lap 52.
Going into the last 10 laps, Vettel braked late and overtook Button for eighth. There was a collision between Kobayashi and Nico Rosberg into turn five and Kobayashi took the opportunity to overtake to get into fifth position. Vettel was able to hold off the McLarens and overtake a struggling Rosberg to take sixth.
Maldonado took his first win as he crossed the finish line, bringing home the first Williams team win in eight years. It is also Williams’ most recent win as of today. Maldonado also became the first ever Venezuelan F1 grand prix winner.
Despite overwhelming happiness from the Williams team, about 90 minutes after the race the Williams garage caught fire, reportedly due the fuel rig leaking. Williams, Force India, and Caterham pit crews worked together to control the flames. Bruno Senna’s car was damaged in the fire. The other teams were reported to have lent replacement equipment to Williams for the next grand prix. 31 people were injured, with seven of them were sent to a local hospital.Â
Hello friends, let’s take a trip down memory lane way back to Valencia in the year 2012 for a race weekend that perfectly sums up the 2012 season.
Background History:
Entering race 8 of the 2012 season each of the prior 7 races had been won by a different driver and no driver seemed to have a proven edge over the rest of the competition. The hometown hero would be Fernando Alonso following a P2 in Barcelona a few short weeks prior, looking to be the first driver of the season to win multiple races. It would be a weekend full of drama and memories.
Qualifying:
Qualifying went underway and at the end of Q1 the 8 drivers eliminated were as followed: VER, WEB, PET, DLR, KAR, PIC. The most shocking exit in Q1 being Mark Webber who won in Monaco just 2 races earlier. The end of Q2 saw the shocking exit of Alonso as well as exits from MSC, MAS, SEN, PER, KOV, and RIC. This shocking quali result for Alonso meant an uphill battle if he wanted to bring home triumph to the incredibly loyal Spanish fans. Q3 saw Sebastian Vettel take a 33rd career pole followed by HAM, MAL, GRO, RAI, ROS, KOB, HUL, BUT, and DIR. This would set the grid for what was sure to be an excellent race given how shaken up the grid was. Pole Time: 1:38.086
Race:
If I had to describe this race in 1 word I’d say chaotic. lights went out and immediately Vettel pulled off into a significant lead. Alonso made up places and was a man on a mission. Grosjean even overtook Hamilton to get into a podium place. Lap 33 saw a shocking turn in the tide of the race as we saw race leader Sebastian Vettel slowing at an alarming rate until he was eventually forced to retire, a brutal end to an incredible weekend. Further heartbreak struck on lap 40 when a podium certain Grosjean suffered the same fate as Seb when his car came to a slow stop. In what seemed to be an incredible battle between 2 race winners between Maldonado and Hamilton we saw Maldonado live up to the memes when he punted Lewis into a wall ending Lewis’ race and ruining his own race in that light, the bitter Spanish Alonso fans cheered as Lewis hit the wall as now it was a sure race win for the Spaniard. Amidst all of the chaos the legend Michael Schumacher in his Mercedes had made it all the way up to 3rd with Kimi in 2nd a beautiful sight for Ferrari fans in terms of nostalgia. At the checkered flag we saw Alonso take his second win of the season with the Ice-Man in P2 with the great Schumacher rounding out the podium. The rest of the top 10 went as follows: WEB, HUL, ROS, PDR, BUT, PER, and SEN, a beautiful recovery drive for Webber to muster solid points for Red Bull. An emotional view seeing Schumacher taking the podium for the last time in F1.
The Fastest Sector 
