Verstappen zero to hero in Spain as Russell claims podium

Chaos, drama, tension – three words easily used to sum up a thrilling Spanish Grand Prix.

Heading into the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, many fans write off the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya due to the circuit’s poor history in delivering exciting Grands Prix.

However, this year, the race delivered a thrilling show with collisions, car failures and wheel to wheel action filling the 66 laps on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Barcelona.

Ferrari started on pole position but it was Red Bull who ended the race with a 1-2 finish, their first win in Spain since Max Verstappen’s debut victory in 2016.

This did not seem nailed on though, when the reigning world champion found himself in the gravel trap at turn four before battling DRS issues as he attempted to overtake George Russell.

Verstappen’s race engineer summed it up to his driver over the team radio, saying:

“Sometimes you’ve got to do it the hard way.”

It seems now that the championship sits firmly in the control of Red Bull after today, but with Monaco delivering home support to Leclerc, anything can happen in the coming week.

A nightmare for Scuderia Ferrari in Spain

The Scuderia entered Spain leading both world championships, with Leclerc leading Verstappen by 19 points and Ferrari holding a six point lead over Red Bull Racing.

This looked to be continuing after the Italians scored a 1-3 in Qualifying yesterday, and polesitter Leclerc storming off into the distance in the opening stages.

But their day began to sour when Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari spun at turn four on lap seven, heading into the gravel trap and plummeting into the midfield.

As the race neared half-distance, Leclerc’s F1-75 slowed, with an engine issue forcing the Monegasque to retire from the race lead.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Leclerc said he had no indication that there was any issue before the car began to slow.

He said:

“I don’t know anything more than what happened, basically, I had no indications before and it just broke and then lost the power.

“It’s a shame, in most moments I believe that there’s nothing else I can do apart from looking at the positives and there are plenty this weekend.

“There’s the qualifying pace, the race pace and, most importantly, the tyre management, it has been a weakness in the last few races. I think we have definitely found something this weekend on that.”

This comes a year on from Leclerc’s DNS at the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix, perhaps leaving 21 May as a cursed date for the Ferrari driver.

A near-miss for Mercedes and Russell

Mercedes’ brand-new upgrade package cemented the outfit’s place as a top-three team after a difficult start to 2022 so far.

In Qualifying, Russell and Lewis Hamilton were able to secure fourth and sixth, before Russell grabbed third in the opening stages of the Grand Prix.

After a spin for both Verstappen and Sainz, Russell found himself in second defending from a pair of angry Red Bull cars, with the young Brit defending valiantly.

When Leclerc began to slow, Russell inherited the race lead, leaving fans of Mercedes jumping for joy in hopes that he could grab the first win of his F1 career.

But the team were eventually out-matched by the Red Bull strategy team combined with the better pace of the RB18.

Meanwhile, Hamilton was forced onto a recovery drive after a collision with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen sent him to the back of the pack.

Using the new-found speed of the W13, the seven-time world champion stormed back through to snatch fourth from Sainz in the closing laps.

Alarm bells were surely ringing in Brackley as water leaks emerged in final three laps of the race, with both race engineers instructing their drivers to lift and coast due to the “DNF risk.”

But eventually, the drivers cruised over the finish line to claim their third podium of the season and a solid fifth place finish.

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