In a circuit in which surprise was expected from Ferrari and Aston Martín, it was Mercedes who stole the show. Red Bull with Max Verstappen are still unstoppable and took their fifth victory so far this season.
First modification:
“What an incredible crowd. What a result for our team. The Red Bulls are still a bit ahead, but we’ll keep chasing them”, declared Lewis Hamilton happily, after taking second place in the Spanish Grand Prix. The feeling of tranquility and hope is no wonder, because since Australia, the seven-time F1 champion has not been on the podium.
The race, although dominated from start to finish by the Dutchman and currently the best driver in the world, Max Verstappen, had its difficulties managing the performance of the tyres. The strategy of starting on soft tires worked for many teams, as was the case with Red Bull, who added the points for first and fourth place, after Sergio Pérez climbed from position 11 to position 4.
Although there was a rain alert and it was one of the concerns of the sports directors, the GP took place relatively calmly. There were no red flags, not even yellow at any time. The rotations in the positions occurred, in large part, due to the strategies used by each team in entering the pits.
mercedes resurrection
Since qualifying, the performance of the Mercedes cars gave a glimmer of hope for what could be a fresh start to the season for Hamilton and Russell, who were seeing their chances of fighting for pole positions with Red Bull and even doomed. with Aston Martin.
But Lewis and George stole all the applause after making it 2-3 in Spain, something that hadn’t happened since the Brazilian GP in 2022, when the two drivers took the podium. Without a doubt, and after the modifications that have been made to the vehicles of this house, a new era begins.
“Congratulations to the team for giving me a great car today. It was a fun race for us, starting in P12 and working our way up to P3. Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come for us.”with great enthusiasm expressed the British Russell, after his climb in this race.
GEORGE: “Kudos to the team for giving me a really great car today. That was a fun race for us starting in P12 and coming all the way to P3. Hopefully a sign of things to come for us” #SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/v4qrskrxIA
—Formula 1 (@F1) June 4, 2023
Ferrari and Aston Martín, the disappointments of the Spanish GP
One of the most anticipated competitions for fans, and especially for Spaniards, was precisely this award. Seeing Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martín) as locals represented an illusion due to the level they have shown so far this season. The Ferrari driver occupied second position in the standings and the excitement of seeing a surprise on the podium awoke. For his part, Alonso did not have a great performance and started in P8.
But this Sunday and at the start of the race, everything quickly changed. Sainz was unable to hold second place and was overtaken by Hamilton. In the case of Alonso, it has been one of the lowest days so far this season, in terms of performance, he finished seventh.
After this competition, Aston Martin lost the second place in the constructors’ championship, which is now occupied by Mercedes with 152 points, preceded by Red Bull with 287 units. The British team is now in third position with 134 points.
This is how the positions of the Spanish GP were:
- Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Russell (Mercedes)
- Perez (Red Bull)
- Sainz (Ferrari)
- Stroll (Aston Martin)
- Alonzo (Aston Martin)
- Ocon (Alpine)
- Zhou (Alfa Romeo)
- Gasly (Alpine)
#Formula #Verstappen #wins #Mercedes #reappears #Spanish