Mercedes on 2 and 3
Max Verstappen has won the Spanish Grand Prix for the third time with conviction. The Red Bull driver was not bothered by the competition from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who finished second and third a good distance away. For Verstappen it was his fifth victory in the seventh race of the season and his 40th in his Formula 1 career.
Due to his own dominant performance and the disappointing results of his main competitors Sergio Pérez (fourth) and Fernando Alonso (seventh), Verstappen further expanded his lead in the World Cup standings. The two-time world champion has 170 points, his teammate Pérez has 53 less. Alonso is third, 71 points behind the leader.
For Verstappen, the victory meant his fortieth in his career, seven years after his first victory in Formula 1. That also happened in Barcelona. Verstappen is the youngest driver ever with forty victories to his name. Verstappen was already dominant all weekend at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona. The Dutchman set the best time in all free practice sessions and also in qualifying. Behind the two-time world champion, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Lando Norris (McLaren) started from 2nd and 3rd.
Verstappen’s start on his ‘mediums’ was good. The rest of the top 10 started on soft tyres, but couldn’t really give the Dutchman a hard time. Norris could not continue his good starting position. After contact with Hamilton’s Mercedes, the Briton had to go in for a new front wing. On the 27th lap of a total of 66, it was time for Verstappen’s first pit stop, which went off without a hitch. His competitors had just gone in for new tires just before. As a result, Verstappen remained in the lead.
In the first part of the race Sainz was the main challenger to Verstappen at a suitable distance, but after about 28 laps that changed. Hamilton was faster than the Ferrari man and passed Sainz. Russell also turned out to be faster than the Spaniard, who will have hoped for a better result in front of his home crowd and with his starting place on the front row. Dark clouds regularly hung over the Circuit de Catalunya, but the rain failed to materialize. That meant that Verstappen could drive to victory unthreatened, just like he did last year. In the final phase, the Dutchman also recorded the fastest race lap. That resulted in an extra World Cup point.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl