The great strategic battle is over. How did the Spanish Grand Prix turn out?

Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen? Mercedes or Red Bull? I guess this is how one could interpret not only the course of the race, but also the whole race weekend. Who won in the end and how did the Spanish Grand Prix turn out?

A very important point of the whole race was the start of the race itself. Max Verstappen overcame Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes in a difficult and close battle for first position to take the race lead. But there were significant changes in the standings. Sergio Pérez has moved up two places.

Daniel Ricciardo also moved up in the standings, while Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz dropped to the bottom of the top ten. Valtteri Bottas lost his third position after being overtaken by Charles Leclerc at the start.

Yellow flags were displayed on lap eight. This was because Yuki Tsunoda was stuck in turn 10 due to technical difficulties. Two laps later, Antonio Giovinazzi pitted in his Alfa Romeo due to an apparent puncture on his tyre.

On lap 11, Pierre Gasly was given a five-second penalty. He was not in the correct position on the grid and crossed the white line. On lap 24, the pit window opened.

Fernando Alonso complained of engine problems during the following laps and gradually dropped down the order. Hamilton was very close behind Verstappen. However, the British driver was unable to get close enough to overtake Verstappen at the end of the home straight thanks to the DRS system.

And so Mercedes came up with a not surprising move. On lap 33, the seven-time world champion pitted for a fresh set of tyres. Hamilton then began to set some very fast laps.

On lap 52, Hamilton caught up with his teammate, who was told over the team radio not to get in the way of the stable leader’s pursuit of first place.

However, the Finnish driver didn’t give Hamilton a free pass, something that stable boss Toto Wolff was not happy about. This matter is still very likely to be dealt with behind closed doors.

However, the strategic stop on lap 43 was absolutely crucial. Hamilton caught the Dutch driver on lap 59 and a lap later he also took the lead of this Grand Prix. It was Verstappen who then went to his mechanics for the softest set of tyres. As a result, he set the fastest lap of the race and gained an extra championship point for himself.

The Spanish Grand Prix was therefore dominated by Hamilton ahead of Verstappen in second and Bottas in third. Fourth place went to Leclerc and fifth to Pérez in the Red Bull. Ricciardo finished sixth, Sainz seventh. Ricciardo’s teammate Lando Norris finished the race in eighth position.

Despite a decent weekend, Ocon took just two points from Spain in his Alpino, with Gasly in the Alpha Tauri rounding out the top ten. Ocon’s teammate Alonso eventually dropped all the way down to seventeenth place!

Bottas was very stern in his post-race interview. Not only in the last few weeks, but especially towards the end of last year’s race, there is a sense of nervousness on the part of the Finnish driver. It is he who is acting more like a “helper” to Hamilton in the fight for the championship.

Verstappen was also frustrated after the race, but for completely different reasons. The talented Dutchman is slowly running out of patience, as he confirmed on the team radio. “We just didn’t have the speed we needed. Even a few laps after Lewis pitted for fresh tyres I knew how it was probably going to turn out, every lap he got faster and faster. My tyres were getting worse and worse and it was much harder to control the car. Now all I can do is put my head up and fight hard.”

The British driver can now enjoy a fourteen point lead over Verstappen in the drivers’ standings. Mercedes also leads the constructors’ standings with 141 points ahead of second-placed Red Bull, which has 112.

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