Tragedy for Leclerc, great Red Bull! The Spanish GP brought plenty of drama or who dominated the seventh race of the season?

The sixth race of this season brought fierce battles and several technical problems. Valtteri Bottas again recorded a very solid result in his Alfa Romeo, while the Alpine team also scored important points. On the other hand, Ferrari fans will be sad after the Spanish Grand Prix, while Red Bull can celebrate another double.

The Spanish Grand Prix produced several dramatic moments. Yellow flags were waved after the start, due to contact between Kevin Magnussen and Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton missed the apex of the corner by 100% at Turn 4, which then took the seven-time world champion out of the corner, whereupon Magnussen wanted to take advantage, but he was too aggressive in the duel.

Magnussen subsequently ended up in the pits, but was able to continue in the Spanish Grand Prix. However, due to damage to his front wing, he had to go to his mechanics. Hamilton, on the other hand, suffered a puncture as a result of contact with Magnussen and was forced to stop for a tyre change.

Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell, Pérez, Sainz, Schumacher, Bottas, Ricciardo, Ocon, Norris – this is how the top ten order looked after the third lap of the race.

Alonso, it should be noted, started from the very tail of the field due to a power unit change. After seven laps, however, the legendary Spaniard had gained seven positions!

The eighth and ninth rounds of the Spanish Grand Prix produced some dramatic moments. At the incriminating Turn 4, the drivers were struggling with strong gusts of wind, and Carlos Sainz got a skid on lap eight of the race that sent him into a duck.

Max Verstappen was in exactly the same position a lap later, but both drivers were able to continue in the Spanish Grand Prix.

Thanks to this, leader Charles Leclerc also boasted a ten-second lead after eleven laps.

At the stroke of the eleventh lap, the drivers began to go to their mechanics for tyre changes and all but Mick Schumacher, Daniel Ricciardo and the two Aston Martin drivers changed to medium tyres.

The race in very hot and difficult conditions also presented a number of technical problems. In particular, then, the 27th round of the Spanish Grand Prix brought one infarct moment for Ferrari. Race leader Leclerc reported a loss of power on the team radio and had to retire early from the sixth race of the season!

It should be noted, Ferrari, led by Leclerc, had a really great run in this race, so this retirement is a big blow for the fans of the Italian team.

A lap later, Kuan-yu Zhou in the Ferrari-engined Alfa Romeo dropped out for the same reason. Around lap 34, the drivers then began to make their second pit stops and, with the exception of Dan Magnussen, who put on the hard tyres marked in white, all the drivers continued on medium or soft compound tyres.

Perez, Russell, Verstappen, Bottas, Ocon, Sainz, Hamilton, Vettel, Norris, Alonso – this was the top ten order at the halfway point of the race.

But then Verstappen got ahead of Russell, thanks to a better strategy. The world champion from last year was driving especially in the second half of the race at a great pace and gradually caught up with the first Pérez, who was instructed on the team radio to let Verstappen pass him.

The Mexican driver was running on more worn tyres at that point, and a mutual duel would have risked a potential double for Red Bull. So Pérez pitted on lap 54 for the softest hardness tyres in an attempt to capture the fastest lap of the race.

The order of the elite top ten in points was then unchanged at the end of the Spanish Grand Prix. Except for the battle for fourth place. On the penultimate lap, the Mercedes drivers were told by their team to save fuel, allegedly due to a drop in pressure in the hydraulic system.

Sainz has now moved back ahead of Hamilton into fourth position. That was not held by Valtteri Bottas with a few laps to go. The Finnish driver, with very worn tyres behind him, could not hold off Sainz and Hamilton, finishing sixth.

Lando Norris complained of fever and general physical weakness before the race, so his eighth place can still be considered a success, even considering the current performance of McLaren. A solid result and important points for the Constructors’ Cup for Alpine.

“During the race I had problems with the DRS, which didn’t always work. It was a difficult start with a good ending. I’m trying to stay focused, but it’s a great result for the team and I’m also happy for second place for Checa,” Verstappen said in a post-race interview.

Source: F1 TV