Lewis Hamilton drove aggressively and overtook rivals, sometimes with apparent ease. George Russell gained a few places by closing down the stretch at the start and fending off a late challenge from Sergio Pérez. It was a great day for Mercedes.
And they finished 2:3.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen once again raced away from the Formula 1 field at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona on Sunday, winning pole position and then never finishing anywhere but first on race day. His final margin was 24 seconds.
With five wins in seven races (and two seconds), he is on course for his third straight F1 title, no big shocker.
Any drama had to be found further back in the race without major incidents or crashes. In addition to Mercedes’ spectacular performances, Verstappen’s team-mate Pérez fought his way up to fourth after starting 11th thanks to poor qualifying.
The expected rain that could have made things interesting never really came.
At the end of the race, Verstappen was cautioned for going off track in some corners, but even if he had been penalized it would very likely have been five seconds, not enough to throw the race off.
As they have for weeks now, his opponents and their teams will be scratching their heads wondering how to stop him.
Watch Verstappen not lose the lead
Not even once. The whole day.
Where the race turned
When Verstappen won the pole? When did the race start without incident? When he had a problem-free pit stop?
Truth be told, Verstappen never looked like losing this weekend.
Best days, rated
1. Verstappen. See above. And every other race.
2. Mercedes. After a lengthy start to the season and an embarrassing collision between his two drivers in qualifying Saturday, on the day of the race, almost anything went. It was the team’s first double podium of the year.
3. Perez. He made up for a bad qualifying day and missed the track by fighting his way up to fourth place.
What are they saying
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“I had a harder mix. I knew the beginning might be a bit complicated.” — Max Verstappenlike we all try to find some drama.
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“What a result for our team. We definitely didn’t expect the result we had today.” — Lewis Hamilton
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“I think they are too fast at this point. Working on it. If not, maybe next year.” — Hamiltonrealistic about Red Bull.
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“I thought it was going to rain at one point, but it was sweat from my hair. — George Russell.
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“It was just a misunderstanding, a lack of communication in the garage during an intense moment, so no one is to blame. — Mercedes team boss This is Wolff, cleared the qualifying collision between Hamilton and Russell. Spoiler: Someone was to blame.
Drivers’ championship standings
Verstappen’s lead is now 53 points. Expect it to increase.