Lewis Hamilton drove aggressively, sometimes easily overtaking his rivals. George Russell made his way up the pitlane at the start to gain ground and hold off Sergio Perez’s late challenge. A great day for Mercedes.
And they finished 2-3.
At Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen once again fled the F1 field to claim pole position and hold no position other than first on race day. The final margin was 24 seconds.
With five wins (and two seconds) out of seven races, he’s on his way to a third consecutive F1 title, barring any major shocks.
Any drama had to be discovered late in the race without any major incidents or crashes. In addition to the spectacular performance of the Mercedes, Verstappen’s team-mate Perez advanced from 11th to 4th after a poor qualifying.
The rain, which was hoped might make things interesting, didn’t really come down.
At the end of the race, Verstappen was cautioned for veering off course at several corners, but even if he had been penalized, his time would have been around five seconds and would not have taken the race.
As has been the case for weeks, his rivals and their teams will be shaking their heads and wondering how they can stop him.
where the race changed
When Verstappen takes pole position? When he starts the race without incident? When he pits without incident?
To be honest, Verstappen never looked like he was going to lose this weekend.
best day ranking
1. Max Verstappen. See above.
2. Mercedes. After a rocky start to the season, including an embarrassing clash between the two drivers in qualifying on Saturday, race day almost everything went smoothly. It was the team’s first double podium of the year.
3. Perez. He made up for bad qualifying by racing to fourth.
A week in pictures
Qualifier 101
The first rule of qualifying is “Don’t hit your teammate.”
Drivers’ Championship Standings
The lead over Verstappen is now 53 points. Expect it to grow.
