Max Verstappen once again emerged victorious in Spain on Sunday, securing his third consecutive victory in the Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. However, let’s analyze how the other competitors fared in the 2024 Spanish F1 GP.
“It wasn’t an easy race,” commented Verstappen after the event. This can be attributed to the stories that unfolded among the 20 Formula 1 participants, which had an impact on each driver’s position and our evaluation.
Starting from second position on the grid and finishing in first place, Verstappen consistently emphasized that Red Bull’s rivals in Formula 1 have narrowed the gap in terms of pure speed. This became evident when Lando Norris overtook the Dutchman and secured pole position. However, for those questioning Verstappen’s ability to excel without a dominant car, the answer was clear. Despite losing ground to George Russell at the start, Verstappen quickly recovered and took the lead on lap 3, maintaining control throughout the race. With 61 victories and counting, it is clear that defeating the reigning champion requires more than just a fast F1 car – perfection throughout the entire weekend is essential.
Starting the race in 11th position on the grid and finishing in eighth place, Sergio Perez’s recovery may have provided a boost of confidence publicly, as recognized by Christian Horner. However, particularly, his recent performances may be causing some concern. Perez secured the coveted second place at Red Bull for another two years, but he has only accumulated eight points in the last four Formula 1 race weekends. Although his low starting position was partially influenced by a three-place grid penalty in Canada, it is crucial to note that when his teammate in F1 is contending for pole positions and race wins amidst an increasingly fierce hierarchy, struggling in the lower-paying points positions with Alpine is simply not acceptable.
Grid position: First place, Race result: Second place
Norris’s notable pole position, only the second of his career in Formula 1, left fans eager for a showdown – eagerly awaiting another battle between Verstappen and Norris. Unfortunately, a poor start caused him to drop to third place, and McLaren immediately went into recovery mode. Norris was the fastest driver on the track for most of the race, but a single mistake cost him the opportunity to secure a second victory in F1. Understandably, he was pessimistic as he crossed the finish line, but he has truly become Verstappen’s most formidable challenger.
Grid position: Tenth place, Race result: Seventh place
While Norris fought for pole position and victory in the race, Oscar Piastri battled against his own car. For the first time since McLaren introduced their updated MCL38, the Australian driver struggled to feel comfortable in his Formula 1 machine throughout the Spanish GP weekend. Piastri complained that the car didn’t feel “natural,” which led him to push too hard in qualifying and end up in the gravel trap on his last attempt in Q3. As a result, he had to start the race in tenth place. However, managing to overtake both the Alpines and Perez brought some consolation to Piastri, who hopes that this setback will be a minor obstacle in a second competitive campaign in F1.
Grid position: Third place, Race result: Third place
A talented driver like Lewis Hamilton cannot be kept down, especially not a legendary Formula 1 record holder. Hamilton bounced back from his setback to deliver his best performance of the year so far. In qualifying, he managed to overcome his Saturday curse and outperform his teammate, securing the third position on the grid, only three tenths of a second behind the pole position. Although he initially lost positions to Leclerc and Russell at the start, Hamilton quickly recovered and overtook Leclerc coming out of Turn 1. From there, his improved pace and better tire management led Mercedes to favor him in their team strategy, helping him finish ahead of his teammate and secure third place. This marked his 198th podium in F1, extending his own record.
Grid position: Fourth place, Race result: Fourth place
Despite being surpassed by his teammate at Mercedes, Hamilton, in qualifying only for the second time this season, albeit by just two thousandths of a second, Russell had another strong weekend, building on the almost victorious charge he and the Mercedes team showed in Canada. At the start, Russell made an impressive move, going from fourth to first at Turn 1, reminiscent of Fernando Alonso. However, once DRS was enabled, he fell behind Verstappen and couldn’t keep up with Norris’ pace throughout the race, despite being involved in an exciting wheel-to-wheel battle with the McLaren driver early on. Russell’s real competition, however, was with Hamilton. A challenging intermediate period with the medium tires led to a switch to the hard compound for the final stint, as there were no new soft tires available. With Hamilton using soft tires for his final stint – a strategic move by Mercedes to protect third and fourth places – Russell was destined to finish just outside the podium positions. Nonetheless, it was an extremely positive weekend for the King’s Lynn driver.
Grid position: 5th, Race result: 5th
After the commotion that followed the qualification for the Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix on Sunday, it became evident that Ferrari had the fourth fastest car in Barcelona. This immediately limited what Leclerc could achieve from his fifth position on the grid. An initial advantage over Hamilton at the start was nullified when he had to take evasive action to avoid contact with Norris, causing Leclerc to drop to fifth place coming out of Turn 1. In interviews after the race, Leclerc revealed that Ferrari’s plan was to manage the first stint with the soft tires. Therefore, it was frustrating for Leclerc when Sainz overtook him on the outside at Turn 1 on lap 3, resulting in contact and loss of ground. Despite this setback, Leclerc managed to surpass his teammate and finish just behind Russell in fourth place, which was the best possible result for Ferrari in Barcelona.
Grid position: 6th, Race result: 6th
In the same way as Leclerc, Sainz reached the maximum potential of his Ferrari car in Formula 1, although to a lesser extent. The Spanish driver’s clumsy overtaking maneuver on Leclerc, in an attempt to impress the local fans, compromised his race to some extent. However, he performed well enough to finish ahead of a Red Bull and a McLaren, both faster cars throughout the weekend.
Grid position: 7th, Race result: 9th
The boss of the Alpine team, Bruno Famin, did not expect his Anglo-French team to score points during the Spanish GP weekend. However, to the surprise of everyone involved, Pierre Gasly led the team’s charge with a double appearance in Q3 and a point-scoring performance. Gasly qualified an impressive seventh and translated that into a ninth-place finish in the race. It was unrealistic for him to finish ahead of Piastri and Perez, who had superior race packages, but surpassing both in qualifying positioned Gasly to extract the maximum potential from the constantly improving Alpine Formula 1 car.
Grid position: 8th, Race result: 10th
While Gasly excelled for Alpine, Ocon did his best to contribute to a positive result for the Anglo-French team. Being three tenths of a second behind his teammate in qualifying meant that Ocon was the second driver in the team. Both he and Gasly followed the same strategy, although Ocon made his pit stops one lap later. However, converting an unexpected appearance in Q3 into a tenth-place finish ensured that Alpine achieved a double points result, ending the weekend on a positive note.
The consistent drop in performance from Aston Martin has not revealed any signs of weakness in Fernando Alonso’s optimism towards his current Formula 1 team. However, the AMR24’s failure to allow Alonso to qualify for Q3 (despite Perez’s penalty securing him a 10th place starting position) meant that Alonso was already at a disadvantage, unable to secure points in an unsuccessful attempt. Furthermore, dropping to 12th place behind Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas only heightened the growing concerns. Although Alonso’s talent and dedication cannot be questioned, he acknowledged that it was time to address the team’s issues.
The difficulties of Alonso were mirrored by his teammate, Lance Stroll, who also couldn’t make any progress in his Aston Martin. Stroll managed to qualify for Q2 by just half a second, but it was clear that advancing further was out of reach. Starting in 14th position, Stroll’s hopes for points were frustrated from the beginning, as Aston Martin’s ongoing difficulties persisted.
On the other hand, Sauber was the only Formula 1 team that has yet to score points in the 2024 season. Despite a commendable effort in qualifying by Valtteri Bottas, securing 12th place on the grid by a margin of just two tenths of a second, a failed tire strategy compromised his race. Bottas struggled with tire wear during the middle stint, allowing Zhou Guanyu to overtake him. This led to a cautious approach in the final stint, opting for the harder Pirelli tires.
Zhou, who has been struggling with confidence this season, decided to go back to his previous Sauber chassis, last used in Miami in May. The Chinese driver showed an immediate improvement and achieved his first Q2 appearance of the season. With a more favorable strategy compared to his teammate, Zhou managed to convert his 15th starting position into a 13th place in the race, marking his best weekend performance in 2024 so far.
RB revealed a significant upgrade package during the Barcelona race, but unfortunately, both drivers failed to make it through the first qualifying session. Despite starting behind Yuki Tsunoda, Australian driver Ricciardo led the experimental RB race and finished in a distant 15th place.
On the previous weekend, Tsunoda once again outperformed his more experienced teammate, but was disappointed with his lackluster performance in the race, dropping to second-to-last position. Tsunoda, who recently renewed his contract with the Faenza-based team, hopes that RB can regain their previous form in Austria.
Albon had already predicted that Williams would struggle to match their previous successes in Monaco and Canada, and his prediction proved true. Despite surpassing his teammate Sargeant, Albon’s car had to start from the pit lane due to engine part replacements. To make matters worse, Albon had a setback when he went off track at Turn 4 due to a sudden gust of wind.
Sargeant entered the weekend with high hopes of matching his teammate’s performance, as both cars were equipped with the same specifications. However, he ended up qualifying as the slowest car, and later discovered that his car’s floor was not providing the expected downforce. As a result, Sargeant finished last in the race, despite Albon’s off-track incident and Tsunoda’s difficulties.
© 2024
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