Red Bull leader Max Verstappen was out of competition at the Spanish Grand Prix

Max Verstappen won another, already fifth, victory this season. The Red Bull leader was out of competition at the Spanish Grand Prix. In Barcelona, ​​he scored a hat-trick: starting from first place, triumphing in the race and demonstrating the fastest lap. Much more interesting than watching the “lonely” Dutchman was watching the Mercedes team drivers, who had competitive cars for the first time since the beginning of the season. As a result, Lewis Hamilton became the second, and George Russell – the third. However, still far behind the winner.

What happened at the Spanish Grand Prix, probably best described by the head of Red Bull Christian Horner. Immediately after the finish, he got in touch with Max Verstappen and called the actions of his rider a master class. In response, the two-time world champion, in a tone already tired of the endless praises of the master, said something like: “Yes, it turned out well.” It can be assumed that after the race in a more relaxed atmosphere, Horner and Verstappen continued to discuss the Spanish stage in the same imposing style. How else, if for the entire race Verstappen did not encounter any difficulties. Yes, there was a crazy attempt by Carlos Sainz to jump forward at the start (crazy, because the Ferrari driver would not have been able to hold the position, as further events showed), but she was skillfully repulsed, and that’s all – Verstappen went ahead and, I would like to say that no one else saw him. The most tense moment in the boxes of Red Bull was caused by the fact that their leader, carried away, went through turns over and over again, crossing the limit line, for which he received a black and white flag (a kind of last Chinese warning before a fine) and a call to stop chasing and just go to the finish line. In response, the Dutchman gave the fastest lap and only after that he calmed down, confidently, with a hat-trick, also called the Grand Slam (starting from first place, winning the race and the fastest lap), reaching the fifth of the season and the 40th victory in his career , which further strengthened his leadership in the championship. From second teammate Sergio Perez, who, as in Monaco, failed the qualification, but this time at least he didn’t get stuck in the bottom of the peloton, but climbed to fourth place, Verstappen ran away by 53 points already. The closest pursuer from the representatives of other teams, Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), who interrupted the series of finishes on the podium that had lasted since the beginning of the championship, is already ahead of the Dutchman by an awesome 71 points. Here, at least in advance, congratulate him on his third championship title.

Much more interesting to contemplate the steps of the hegemon was to watch Lewis Hamilton. After the finish, for the first time in a long time, he praised his car, team, factory employees. And during the race, which is very rare in the last two seasons, he did not complain that the rubber burned out immediately after the start, but said that everything was fine with him. Mercedes looked really worthy. The upgrade package presented by the team at the Monaco Grand Prix a week ago did not show itself at all on the first try. This is not surprising, given the specifics of the track in Monte Carlo. But in Barcelona, ​​Mercedes was driving with new clothes. If it were possible to magically put Verstappen somewhere with his shamelessly fast creation of the genius Adrian Newey, one could even say that Mercedes, as in the old days, tore everyone. Hamilton and George Russell caught the pace and somehow dealt with Carlos Sainz without nerves. A few races ago, there was no question of Mercedes pushing the Scuderia like that. Now this is reality. Hamilton was second, Russell, who started from 12th place, was third. This is Mercedes’ best result of the season and it looks like the team is on the road to recovery.

Well, Ferrari has to do something to look like a great team. Sainz explained his inexpressive performance after the race (fifth place, 45 seconds behind the leader) by the fact that the track in Barcelona was not suitable for the Scuderia. On it, they say, the passion of red cars for devouring rubber is especially pronounced. This, however, is little consolation for Ferrari fans.

Alexander Petrov