A weekend concluded with a haul consisting of pole position, second place, fastest lap and second place in the general classification certainly cannot be defined as negative. Yet, at the end of the Spanish Grand Prix Lando Norris had the face of a loser, something never seen even twelve months ago when on the Catalunya circuit he ended the race lapped after a contact at the first corner. There is obviously a reason. A year later, McLaren provided him with a single-seater capable of fighting for victory, an opportunity that Norris thwarted immediately after braking at turn 1, allowing himself to be overtaken by Russell and above all by Verstappen. A moment, a very slight indecision, and Max left no escape.
Russell, Mercedes F1 W15, Norris, McLaren MCL38, Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, Sainz, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
In Barcelona it was clear that to beat the Verstappen-Red Bull tandem the opponents must display perfection. Not even the fastest car (by a small margin, but still the McLaren was faster overall) is enough to guarantee success if the whole package doesn’t work perfectly. Whether it’s a strategic call, a pit stop, a lapping or, as in the case of the Spanish Grand Prix, the first braking of the race.
On the eve of the race only four drivers in the top-10 had new soft tyres, Verstappen, Norris and the two Ferrari drivers, but Max decided (unlike the rest of the group) to fit a set of used softs to guarantee himself a new set in the last stint. The difference was not evident at the start, in fact, at the first corner he was the one who overtook Norris. Both were overtaken by Russell, but this played into Max’s hands even more, as he managed to free himself from the Mercedes in the first attack while Lando remained behind him until the first stop.
“Lando’s was a good start – explained Andrea Stella in defense of his driver – the fact is that Russell took the double slipstream of Lando and Max and this allowed him to be in an excellent position at the entrance to the first curve. In the end I think Lando was really very wise, because in those circumstances it would have taken very little to throw everything away. Ok, you can get an even better start, and find yourself a meter ahead, but it’s really very marginal. We know Lando, he is often hard on himself in terms of responsibility.”
Lando saw his concrete expectations of taking his second success of the season vanish in a flash, but it was different compared to two weeks ago in Canada, when the safety car coming onto the track worked against him. Norris knows well that he has only himself to blame for the victory he missed in Spain and this hurts a rider, even if there are other very positive aspects that emerged from the weekend. The first is that Lando has a single-seater at his disposal capable of putting him forward for victory on all the tracks on the calendar, and even the general classification smiles on him, given that he is now second having overtaken Leclerc.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
Verstappen celebrated in style, on the run towards a world title that no rational evaluation can place in hands other than those of the Dutchman. It may seem paradoxical, but Max is enjoying Red Bull’s not particularly happy technical moment.
The RB20 is a good car, but today the competition has stepped up to the plate, coming alongside and in some cases surpassing the technical performance of Adrian Newey’s latest Red Bull. Verstappen can no longer stroll, as he did for a long time last year, and for two months now he has been called upon to keep the team afloat. These are assessments that also come from within the team, always impeccable in its management on the track, but today awaiting developments to get back to where it has been for a long time. In the meantime, Verstappen will take care of it, having never seen him so fit and so happy as in this period.
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