Spain GP: Charles retires, Max – Checo 1-2
Max Verstappen took the lead in the Championship for the first time after winning in Spain. Pole sitter Charles had to retire midway because of engine-issue after having a near-perfect start and cruising ahead of Max.
Charles : From Hero to Zero
It was all going perfect for Charles LeClerc. The upgrades that Ferrari brought to Spain seem to be working well. They were well ahead of the RedBulls and their tyre management was better too. Charles topped all the practice sessions and took Pole. The race start was perfect as he was able to cover Max well at turn 1 and was running away in the lead. Then out of nowhere he lost power and immediately had to retire. Not only did Charles did not get any point, his rival Max won the race and scored 25 points. Thus Charles has currently lost the leading position to Max.
Max : Tough race in Spain
Max had all sorts of issues in race but he ended up being the first one to cross the chequered flag. His race start was ok but couldn’t jump LeClerc at turn one. Max was unable to catch up with LeClerc to put up any fight. Then he lost his rear at turn 4 and heading into the gravel and losing two positions to George and Checo. His team-mate let him pass but George was in no mood to let go. To make matters worse Max had DRS issues, with the rear wing opening only intermittently and he was unable to catch up with George at turn 1. But thanks to some good strategy by the RedBull team and some philanthropy ( and team orders) by Checo, he was able to lead and win the race.
Checo would be a bit disappointed as he was asked – twice – to let Max pass through. Still he finished P2 and being a good team-player will not question much the RedBull team.
Home boy in Spain Carlos Sainz Jr would be disappointed with the race too. He did not get a good start and was struggling to match the pace of his team mate. Then at turn 4 he spun and ended up being in the gravel losing multiple positions. He crawled back to P4 but Ferrari would expect him to do better.
Mercedes drivers doing well
Mercedes finally seem to be having a handle over their porposing issue in Spain and now they can focus on performance. George Russell had a great start, getting ahead of Carlos. He kept Max behind him for a good chunk of the race, had consistent good pace and finished on the podium at P3. This is his second podium for Mercedes.
Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton showed us again why he is a 7-time World Champion. Mercedes had a completely different strategy for him than the rest as he started on the Mediums. Then at the race start he collided with Kevin Magnussen forcing him to pit right away and was 30 seconds behind the rest of the cars. Lewis had pretty much given up at one point and was suggesting to his team to retire and save the engine. But his team egged him to keep pushing. Lewis had a drive of his life and end up finishing P5, which is nothing sort of a miracle in the 2022 Mercedes.
Both Alpine drivers in point
Ocon had a great race, starting from P12 and finished P7. Local boy from Spain, Fernando Alonso, was even more impressive. He started from P20 ( for switching engine) and finished P9. Valtteri Bottas was consistent as ever and finished P6. Lando Norris was not feeling well but still managed P8. Yuki Tsunoda took the final point at P10.
At one point of the race Charles LeClerc seemed to cruising away to victory, Max was struggling with DRS issue and Lewis was 30 seconds behind everyone. How things changed in the race. Charles had to retire, Max won the race and Lewis screamed ahead to finish P5. This why F1 is so exciting.
Spain GP : Max wins race, leads Championship
