Here’s our report from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. And that’s all from me. Thanks for reading!
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How they finished
- 1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- 2 Max Verstappen (Red Bull, +15.8)
- 3 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes, +26.6)
- 4 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari, +54.6)
- 5 Sergio Perez (Red Bull, +63.6)
- 6 Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren, +73.9)
- 7 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari, +74.8)
- 8 Lando Norris (McLaren, one lap)
- 9 Esteban Ocon (Alpine, one lap)
- 10 Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri, one lap)
- 11. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin, one lap)
- 12. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo, one lap)
- 13. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin, one lap)
- 14. George Russell (Williams, one lap)
- 15. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo, one lap)
- 16. Nicholas Latifi (Williams, one lap)
- 17. Fernando Alonso (Alpine, one lap)
- 18. Mick Schumacher (Haas, one lap)
- 19. Nikita Mazepin (Haas, two laps)
- DNF - Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri)
Hamilton speaks: “I feel great after this, I feel like I could go again! I was hunting, I was so close so I wasn’t sure I could make the tyres last [in the dirty air] so it was a gamble but a great strategy by the team. A remarkable job by everyone in this team and yeah, what a day!”
Verstappen is feeling philosophical about giving up the lead: “In a way I could see it coming. Already at the end with the softs he was faster, and then when we were put on the mediums he clearly had a lot more pace. “There was not much we could have done. You could see every lap he was getting closer and closer. I was a bit of a sitting duck.”
A good race from Leclerc, who became the first driver not called Lando Norris to finish behind the Mercedes and Red Bulls this season.
Lewis Hamilton wins the Spanish Grand Prix!
That’s three wins in four races for him and 98th in total. Verstappen crosses in second with fastest lap. Bottas third. Then Leclerc, Perez, Ricciardo, Sainz, Norris, Ocon and Gasly. That was a real tactical victory for Mercedes. His engineer sums it up on the radio: “Get in there Lewis, you made that strategy work beautifully!”
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Lap 66: A nimble Gasly nips ahead of Stroll to get into 10th. Hamilton heads into the final lap a heady 17secs in front. Only the greatest of disasters will prevent him taking a third victory of the season.
Lap 63: Verstappen duly gets the fastest lap - and it’s a record at this circuit, albeit with the caveat that turn 10 has changed this year.
Lap 62: As Stroll and Alonso go toe-to-toe, Bottas laps them both. Verstappen pits, in pursuit of the fastest lap. Stroll goes at Alonso again and skirts around the outside of him. Followed by Gasly. And then Raikkonnen!
Lap 61: …and around the outside of turn one, Hamilton goes for it! And with almost disdainful ease, he takes the lead, sparking an eruption of applause in the Mercedes garage.
Lap 60: Norris overtakes Russell into the final points spot. Seven laps to go and Hamilton, flying, is almost within DRS range of Verstappen.
Lap 58: And he duly attacks Leclerc and it’s an easy pass, leaving the Monégasque behind him in fourth. Hamilton whittles another two seconds off Verstappen’s lead. “I might not have any tyres left by the end,” says Hamilton
Lap 57: If Bottas was after fastest lap, he’s now got it. He’s 3secs behind Leclerc, who’s in the last podium place.
Lap 55: Russell has snuck into the top 10, but with Norris hot on his tail. Hamilton gets his lap done 2secs quicker than Verstappen. With Bottas out of the way he looks a good bet to catch him now, and with fresher tyres.
Lap 54: Sainz makes a move on Ocon and with his fresher tyres he makes the move work. And Bottas pits. Is he after the fastest lap?
Lap 52: Bottas gets his instructions: “Don’t hold Lewis up.” But fails to get out the way neatly and Hamilton spends a lap trying to get around him. He lost a second and a half on that lap, which won’t please Toto Wolff.
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Lap 50: Bottas is 9secs behind Verstappen but will likely be asked to make way for his teammate, who is 3secs behind that. Meanwhile Sainz, with a huge tyre advantage, skitters outside Norris to take eighth.
Lap 48: Sainz makes another pit stop, as does Ricciardo, so Norris moves into seventh. “I don’t see how I can make it to the end,” yelps Verstappen, whose lead in being eaten away by Hamilton. He’s due to catch him in 10 laps time at this rate.
Lap 46: Perez overtakes Ricciardo for fifth, courageously round the outside into turn one. Another fastest lap for Hamilton.
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Lap 45: “It’s like Hungary all over again,” says Verstappen’s race engineer. After Hamilton’s second pit stop the gap is 22secs and Verstappen will be undercut if he responds. Hamilton needs to make up a second a lap – and he does exactly that on his first lap. “At this rate they’ll catch us on the last lap,” fret Red Bull. Don’t look away!
Lap 43: He was right on Verstappen’s tail there. Why did he stop? Well, for another set of mediums. That’s a 2.3sec stop and he comes out in third. Verstappen is staying out.
Lap 42: “Message from race control: No weaving on the straight.” That’s directed at Ricciardo, who was doing too much in his defence of Perez. And Hamilton pits again!
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Lap 41: Vettel is 17th having pitted for a second time. The gap at the top is now at about 0.8secs.
Lap 38: Earlier Toto Wolff called for blue flags for Nikita Mazepin, who Hamilton was coming up to lap. Raikkonen finally pits.
Lap 36: Hamilton has dropped back for the good of his tyres. That gap is now hovering at a second, with Hamilton’s tyres four laps younger. Ocon and Norris pass Raikkonen, who’s now 10th, while Giovinazzi streaks past Latifi.
Lap 34: The gap from Verstappen to Hamilton is now under a second. Hamilton will get DRS soon but on this track, he’ll have to choose his moment carefully.
Lap 32: Perez scoots ahead of Raikkonen into sixth. Ahead of Perez, Ricciardo is enjoying one of his best days for a while after that strong start.
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Lap 31: Hamilton gets a new fastest lap - 1.4secs quicker than Verstappen. That six-second gap has already been hacked to 2.7secs.
Lap 29: Leclerc pits - a late stop - and Bottas eases into third. Alonso has a go at Giovinazzi into turn one and takes the place. And Gasly follows in his footsteps: the Italian drops two places.
Lap 28: Perez pits and emerges behind Russell in P9. “It won’t be long” Mercedes tell Hamilton. And he duly pits at the end of the lap, 2.7secs. Verstappen now leads by nearly six seconds.
Lap 27: Hamilton laps Mazepin. Verstappen, with the bit between his teeth, puts in the fastest lap of the GP.
Lap 26: Will Hamilton pit? Not yet: he says his tyres are OK and his team tell him to stay out there.
Lap 25: Verstappen, who looks like he’s been slowing a tad, heads into the pits. And it’s a terrible stop - 4.2secs! And he comes back out into traffic. The ball’s in Hamilton court.
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Lap 23: The pit-stops come in like dominoes: Sainz first, then Stroll, both out within a couple of seconds. And then Bottas, who pits ahead of Leclerc and scoots away with new mediums. Hamilton has whittled the gap at the front down to half a second.
Lap 22: Bottas reports problems with his rear tyres. Alonso and Vettel both pit, the former getting away a second and a half quicker, the latter losing a position to Gasly.
Lap 21: Vettel goes after Alonso - 11th v 12th - with another world champion in Raikkonen on his tail. Up front, Max Verstappen has stretched his lead to 1.4secs.
Lap 20: Gasly heads in for a tyre change - to mediums - and he serves his penalty.
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Lap 18: Hamilton on the other hands says his tyres are starting to drop – his right rear tyres is blistering up a bit. Tyre management will be vital now. Hamilton is 1.2secs behind Verstappen.
Lap 16: Ferrari’s team make it known over the radio that the tyres are doing better than expected. That’ll be a one-stopper, then? The team decides it’ll be “Plan C” for Sainz and “Plan B” for Leclerc. Me neither.
Lap 15: Latifi overtakes Schumacher in 16th. Apparently it was a fuel pressure issue that ended Tsunoda’s race early.
Lap 13: Hamilton has DRS but politely declines the chance to attack. Three seconds or so behind, Bottas is having trouble getting ahead of Leclerc. Sainz is eyeing Ocon in seventh but there’s no room for manoeuvre so he too elects to wait it out.
Lap 12: Gasly has been given a five-second penalty for being out of position at the start of the race. He just went too far over the white line - sloppy.
Lap 11: Stroll tries to go round Alonso - and pulls it off to beat him around the outside and edge into the top 10.
Lap 10: Back underway. Verstappen steams away, no chance for Hamilton there. Leclerc is behind Hamilton in third. Then its Bottas, Ricciardo, Perez, Ocon, Sainz, Norris and Alonso in 10th.
Lap 9: Giovinazzi gambles by pitting early … and it takes 35 seconds. He joins the back of the train, where he would have been anyway.
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Lap 9: Tsunoda has stopped with an engine problem. Yellow flags, and now the safety car is deployed. Will anyone pit?
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Lap 8: Bottas has a go at Leclerc going into turn one but the Frenchman does well to block it. That battle is simmering away nicely.
Lap 6: Verstappen’s lead hovers at about 1.4secs until a good lap from Hamilton cuts it to 1.2secs. Mick Schumacher started well and has stolen a couple of positions into 16th. Raikkonen, the only driver to start on the mediums, sits in a handy 14th.
Lap 4: Great stuff from Red Bull so far, with Leclerc and Verstappen both rewarded for bold starts. Norris and Alonso sit ninth and 10th. And it looks like Gasly is under investigation for possibly being out of position at the start. He’s down in 13th, passed by Vettel off the line.
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Lap 2: So first blood Verstappen. Hamilton made a good start but he didn’t defend the inside and left it open for a lunge, and Verstappen did not need second invitation. Leclerc leapfrogged Bottas into third, round the outside in turn three. Stroll tries to overtake Alonso into 10th but gets no joy.
Lap 1: And we’re off. Hamilton starts well but Verstappen sticks tights. They’re side by side into turn one and a roaringly aggressive Verstappen nips ahead and takes it! Race on!
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The formation lap is under way, Hamilton leading, and with overtaking so difficult on this circuit we know the start will be vital today, with a 600-metre run towards turn one. It’ll be a big 13 seconds or so.
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There are 1,000 fans in the stands today and Carlos Sainz (P6) and Fernando Alonso (P10) get a great reception as they emerge from their cars.
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Some of the drivers take the knee as they all line up at the front of the grid for the F1 We Race As One campaign. Ten minutes until the formation lap.
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“A couple of small spots of rain, but very light,” says Lando Norris as he completes his lap.
Yuki Tsunoda has been talking tactics: “Overtaking is difficult here so first lap, strategy will be key. Just try to maximise every opportunity and see what will happen.”
A weekend of landmark hundreds. And Verstappen comes full circle here, competing on the same course he made his Red Bull debut as a fresh-faced 18-year-old in 2016, when he became the youngest ever GP winner.
1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣th race for @redbullracing 🎈🥳 pic.twitter.com/2FyX0Jh56K
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) May 9, 2021
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And here’s Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff expounding on the European Super League. “Purely driven by greed,” he says. Quite.
Before it all kicks off, a bit of pre-race reading. Our report from yesterday’s historic qualifying run:
Preamble
Lewis Hamilton made history in style yesterday and will be looking to cap the perfect weekend with a victory today. But the margin of his 100th pole in F1 – just 0.036secs ahead of Max Verstappen – is proof that doing so will be no easy task.
No driver has won from pole position yet in the 2021 season, a fact that will not be lost on a man whose rare blunder from pole at Imola handed victory to Verstappen only three weeks ago. He reaffirmed his authority with a thrillingly audacious win in the Algarve last week though, a bold display that dispelled any early doubts about his hunger to retain the championship.
Valtteri Bottas starts in third and is anticipating a tactical battle. “I think it’ll be close between us and Red Bull,” he said. “I think there are possibilities to do one stop or two stop but I’m not going to reveal ours”
“I’ll always remember that one,” said Hamilton after No 100 yesterday – but it’s his performance today that will determine whether his landmark moment will be worth more than just memories.
How they line up
1st Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 1:16.741
2nd Max Verstappen, Red Bull +0.036s
3rd Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes +0.132s
4th Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, +0.769s
5th Esteban Ocon, Alpine +0.839s
6th Carlos Sainz, Ferrari +0.691s
7th Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren +0.881s
8th Sergio Perez, Red Bull +0.960s
9th Lando Norris, McLaren +1.269s
10th Fernando Alonso, Alpine +1.406s
11th Lance Stroll, Aston Martin 1:17.974
12th Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri 1:17.982
13th Sebsatian Vettel, Aston Martin 1:18.079
14th Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo 1:18.356
15th George Russell, Williams 1:19.154
16th Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri 1:18.556
17th Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo1:18.917
18th Mick Schumacher, Haas 1:19.117
19th Nicholas Latifi, Williams 1:19.219
20th Nikita Mazepin, Haas 1:19.807
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