Max Verstappen’s sheer class rather than a car advantage helped him win again today
After the rain-impacted Canadian round a fortnight ago, Formula 1 has returned to its European heartland for a series of rounds, and following this afternoon’s Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, it was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who reigned in Spain after resisting significant pressure from McLaren's Lando Norris.
2024 Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix
1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1hr28m20.227s
2 Lando Norris (McLaren) +2.219s
3 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +17.790s
4 George Russell (Mercedes) +22.320s
5 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +22.709s
6 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +31.028s
7 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +33.760s
8 Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) +59.524s
9 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1m2.025s
10 Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +1m11.889s
11 Nico Hülkenberg (Haas) +1m19.215s
12 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) Lapped
13 Zhou Guanyu (Sauber) Lapped
14 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) Lapped
15 Daniel Ricciardo (RB) Lapped
16 Valtteri Bottas (Sauber) Lapped
17 Kevin Magnussen (Haas) Lapped
18 Alex Albon (Williams) Lapped
19 Yuki Tsunoda (RB) Lapped
20 Logan Sargeant (Williams) LappedThe track is situated in Montmeló, a short drive north of Barcelona itself, and has long been the home of F1 in Spain. However, the arrival of a brand new facility in Madrid as the Spanish Grand Prix's replacement host in 2026 casts doubt on the future of the current venue. The latter has long had a reputation as a valuable testing track, but it has also frequently delivered less action-packed races. Its infrastructure is also in need of improvement on various fronts, including its car parking and catering facilities, to justify further visits from the Formula 1 circus and large numbers of fans from home and abroad.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, set to be dropped at the end of this season to make way for the incoming Sir Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes, knew he would be asked endlessly at his home Grand Prix this weekend about whether his F1 future might lie with Williams or Sauber, who will become a fully-fledged Audi works entry with effect from 2026, and so it proved to be. In the Barcelona paddock on Friday, he indicated that he and his advisers were still “brainstorming” the options on the table and that he hoped to make a decision shortly.
Williams has hardly set the F1 world on fire in recent times, but there are signs of improvement under the leadership of new team principal James Vowles, even though both cars were to be the first to exit yesterday’s qualifying hour. The bright green Sauber cars hardly feel like an attractive proposition for a driver of Sainz’s undoubted quality. Therefore, the Spaniard is taking his time to make a decision, as there are clearly more attractive opportunities available with companies such as Red Bull and Mercedes. Audi is part of a global automotive giant, but Formula 1’s history has been littered with examples of overly ambitious plans from the senior management of car companies hoping to simply breeze in and succeed at the pinnacle of world motorsport, only to fall short and leave with an egg on their faces and a vast amount of money wasted.
The teenage Italian is now the most likely candidate to replace Hamilton at Mercedes next year, racing alongside George Russell, and the rule change could allow Antonelli to gain some current F1 experience prior to his next birthday and possibly with Williams
.On another driver-related front, since Montreal, the FIA governing body has made a significant announcement, reducing the minimum age for a driver to obtain a Super Licence required to compete in Formula 1, from 18 to 17, provided that the driver has "consistently demonstrated outstanding ability and maturity in single-seater formula car competition." This change of stance would appear to help Mercedes and its 17-year-old racing prodigy, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who is currently competing in F2 and isn’t 18 until late August. The teenage Italian is now the most likely candidate to replace Hamilton at Mercedes next year, racing alongside George Russell, and the rule change could allow Antonelli to gain some current F1 experience prior to his next birthday and possibly with Williams. His father, Marco, who is a former racing driver himself and owns the AKM Motorport team, which competes in the Italian F4 Championship, chose to give his son the middle name Kimi because of a certain F1 driver from Finland called Räikkönen, whom he so admired.
: Lando Norris knew that, with a better start, he might have won
Elsewhere, in terms of Formula 1 personnel developments, it has emerged that the future of legendary designer Adrian Newey, who is set to leave Red Bull early next year, is not as clearcut as had been thought. A move to Ferrari to work for the first time alongside Hamilton had been believed to be pretty much a done deal, but this has now been called into question after it became apparent that Newey has recently made a secret visit to the impressive new Aston Martin facility at Silverstone. The team’s owner, Lawrence Stroll, is a highly ambitious Canadian who made a personal offer to 65-year-old Newey back in March, and the latter may prefer involvement with a UK-based team rather than face the personal upheaval involved in a move to Maranello in northern Italy. McLaren, Mercedes, and Williams are also understood to still be keen to acquire his services, and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso has made it clear that he would love an opportunity to team up with Newey, who is already financially very secure and is simply looking for a new F1 project that would stimulate him before retirement.
Sergio Pérez had arrived at the previous round in Canada, buoyed by a surprise two-year contract extension with Red Bull, but the Mexican performed poorly throughout the Montreal weekend, culminating in a self-inflicted crash and retirement from the race. The team instructed the Mexican to limp his damaged car back to the pits to prevent a potential Safety Car intervention that could have impacted his teammate Max Verstappen, who held a five-second lead at the time. However, this left some debris on the circuit, and subsequently, the stewards awarded Pérez a three-place grid penalty for today’s Grand Prix and fined Red Bull 25,000 euros. With Red Bull still having concerns about how well its latest car, the RB20, is able to ride kerbs compared to its predecessors and seeking to find solutions to this problem, Verstappen made a detour via Italy’s Imola circuit on his way to Barcelona to undertake a private test on Wednesday of the team’s 2022 car, enabling accurate comparisons to be formed.
However, the stewards were clearly in a generous mood and subsequently punished Stroll and Leclerc with mere reprimands for their misbehaviour, which most feel simply set a dangerous precedent.
Two days later, it was warm and sunny when the Spanish F1 ontrack action began at 13.30 local time, with a fairly similar forecast for yesterday but a threat of initial rain for today before improving. A brief red flag period interrupted the opening free practice session to allow Alonso's Aston Martin to recover from some bodywork after he rattled over the Turn 9 exit kerbs. At the end of the session, McLaren's Lando Norris and Verstappen led the way. Following Friday’s second practice hour, it was the turn of Hamilton and Sainz to top the timing screens, with yesterday’s final practice session and qualifying still to come.
After that final practice period, the leading quartet was composed of Sainz, Norris, Charles Leclerc, and Verstappen, with their times covered by a mere 0.074 seconds. Now that’s what you call close! Unfortunately, the session included a couple of F1-style road rage issues after Hamilton and Norris ruined flying laps for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Leclerc, respectively, and the latter duo then showed their annoyance with the former pair by making car-to-car contact. However, the stewards were clearly in a generous mood and subsequently punished Stroll and Leclerc with mere reprimands for their misbehaviour, which most feel simply set a dangerous precedent. Meanwhile, a fire forced the evacuation of the McLaren hospitality unit in an offtrack incident prior to final practice.
Lewis Hamilton completed the podium trio
Yesterday’s crucial three-part qualifying hour began at 16.00 Spanish time in cooler, cloudy, and blustery conditions, and, following the top ten shootout, the many McLaren fans sitting in the main grandstand opposite the pits were absolutely delighted to see Norris snatch a last-gasp pole position from Verstappen to claim only the second such starting position in his Formula 1 career to date. To their rear, Hamilton and Russell helped themselves to the second row on the grid for Mercedes, with the Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz the best of the rest. Pérez’s penalty meant he would line up in only the 11th position.
Still, the highly likeable McLaren driver was thrilled to be the polesitter, and, when those famous red lights went out, he moved significantly to his right in an attempt to eliminate the threat of Verstappen, almost squeezing the reigning champion onto the grass.
So, as the start of today’s Grand Prix neared in front of a packed crowd, the sun was shining, although the wind had increased and was twice as strong as for yesterday’s qualifying session. It was brilliant, though, that at least six drivers were genuinely in with a real chance of a potential race victory here in Spain, even if statistics showed that being on the front row certainly increased your chances. With F1 riding an ever-increasing wave of global popularity, this all simply added to the incredible sense of excitement and anticipation, which was absolutely tangible. It’s a long 600-metre downhill run from the grid to the opening right and left sweeps, though, and being on pole position can actually be a disadvantage if someone behind you makes a great start and benefits from an aerodynamic tow to slip ahead, a factor that Norris was well aware of.
...we had a superb example of hard, but clean, and close racing between the pair, which ended in Norris’ favour.
Still, the highly likeable McLaren driver was thrilled to be the polesitter, and, when those famous red lights went out, he moved significantly to his right in an attempt to eliminate the threat of Verstappen, almost squeezing the reigning champion onto the grass. However, this opened up a brilliant opportunity for fourth-placed Russell to sprint round the outside of Turn 1 into an immediate lead ahead of Verstappen, Norris, and Hamilton. This was not to last though, as, just two tours later, Verstappen usurped Russell at the same corner with a DRS-assisted pass and immediately started to pull clear of the British driver. The latter was then the first of the leading drivers to pit, exchanging his soft tyres for medium specification ones on lap 16, but a problem with the right rear delayed the stop. Two laps later, Verstappen made his own first stop for the same switch of rubber, and, in contrast, the Red Bull crew did an amazing job as the car was stationary for a mere 1.9 seconds!
This left the yet-to-pit Norris out front, and after he had done so on lap 23, he rejoined the action in sixth position. Verstappen proceeded to consolidate his lead, but a flying Norris worked his way up to third behind Russell, and on the 35th tour, we had a superb example of hard, but clean, and close racing between the pair, which ended in Norris’ favour.
Fernando Alonso had a disappointing 21st home Grand Prix, being lapped and only finishing 12th
Mercedes pitted Russell for aggressive tyres two laps later, as did Ferrari with Sainz, and this was to be crucial to the outcome of the race as these tyres proved not to be competitive. Hamilton, Verstappen, and Norris were subsequently called down the pit lane to receive soft compound tyres, and these proved to be the ones to be on at this stage of the Grand Prix. Hamilton's grip advantage helped him close on third-placed Russell and sweep by at Turn 1 with the help of DRS on lap 52.
During the remainder of the race, second-placed Norris was unable to close the gap to the leading Verstappen and had to settle for the runner’s-up spoils, knowing that, with a better start, he might potentially have been the winner. This left Hamilton to join them on the podium, with Russell and the Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz completing the top six finishers.
The Red Bull Ring at scenic Spielberg in Austria…is truly one of the best F1 locations I have ever visited …
At least Norris also earned the extra point for setting the fastest lap of the race, but this seemed of little comfort to him knowing what might have been. Still, that’s motor racing, and, on reflection, he will know that he and Verstappen were the class of the field at Montmeló this afternoon. In contrast, Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Pérez, could only finish eighth, and Aston Martin’s Alonso, making his 21st appearance at his home Grand Prix, was lapped and only 12th.
Following today’s race, there was an urgency within the teams to get packed up as quickly as possible and hit the road, bound for the Red Bull Ring at scenic Spielberg in Austria. With the cars due on track for opening practice in just five days, there was no time to lose. In Europe, over three hundred specially designed and brightly colored HGVs transport everything the teams, race officials, and FIA governing body need to conduct an F1 weekend from Grand Prix to Grand Prix. They often travel in small convoys, and if you come across them while en route yourself, they make an impressive sight. On top of that, the Red Bull Ring is truly one of the best F1 locations I have ever visited and reported from, and I can thoroughly recommend it. I suspect it will again be packed with Verstappen’s orange-clad travelling army of fans.
2024 Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship
1 Max Verstappen 219
2 Lando Norris 150
3 Charles Leclerc 148
