Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari on a dominant win in Barcelona. I love witnessing first-hand the greats like Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, and now Lewis, who took the first victory for this famous team. I wish we had the same opportunity for Ayrton.
Formula 1 has had, and will continue to have, some truly great teams over the decades, but somehow Ferrari is the most emotional, with all their incredible victories and championships, as well as periods of chaos and decline. They are an enigma in our game.
The story of the weekend, as always at this track, was about keeping the tyres alive, especially given the 50°C track temperature. Long, sharp corners and relatively short straights in the middle create incredible energy, which in turn raises tyre surface temperatures.
Pirelli chose the mandatory three dry tyre compounds, which are a step softer and less durable than last year, and with less downforce on the cars, more sliding and wheelspin and even higher temperatures, it meant we had a great view for me, a decent stretch to get home competitively with two pit stops, and three times the necessary risk with the necessary tracking.
George Russell was in excellent form over the weekend, having decided to follow his instincts and set up with his Mercedes. He seemed calm and composed on the track, keeping his car well on the edge of grip without putting too much stress on the tyres, especially in the corners I was standing in.
Karun Chandhok explains how George Russell managed to pip Lewis Hamilton to pole position at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
Lando Norris completed the second row for McLaren, the reigning world champion driving very well in a car that is not yet Mercedes’ fastest and has been well served by Ferrari’s recent successful car updates in Montreal and Spain.
The grid was generally tightly contested, and while Red Bull is the fourth-fastest team, both Max Verstappen and Isaac Hajar, who once again look the closest to Max in the team, were also close to the fastest.
This scenario is good for fans and spectators for long drag races to the first corner. The days when Ferrari had a big advantage from the start, or indeed any advantage, are now over. Mercedes and McLaren are on the fast track, although Red Bull may still have a few shockers in place, such as Verstappen in Monaco and Hadjar in Spain.
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Watch George Russell hold off Lewis Hamilton at the start of the Barcelona-Catalunya GP
Was Mercedes’s strategic call the right one?
Given that the race would be about tyres and strategy, there was no point in taking risks in the first few corners, and the drivers all filed through largely thanks to their excellent behaviour.
Then we settled for some tyre management; Charles Leclerc made up three places after starting 10th, having hit the wall at Turn 4 in final qualifying, and there was a bit of ducking and diving, especially when Hajar recovered some ground. Outside, the power around the overpass was in fashion.
The first pit stop to return his soft compound starting tyres was Hamilton’s on lap 11 of 66.
To maintain the lead and avoid a powerful undercut from a rival on fresh tyres, Mercedes held off Russell, the leader, on the next lap. George was a bit annoyed as he felt that if he had known, he could have got more life out of the tyre and extended his lead further, believing he was on a successful two-stop strategy while Lewis was now committed to three stops.
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Lewis Hamilton cools down in Rome with George Russell and Lando Norris looking at his first Ferrari win at the Barcelona-Catalunya GP.
Norris stopped on lap 13, and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri stopped on lap 14, while Antonelli gave him a small but significant tyre-life advantage over Russell and Hamilton.
Judging by the transmitted radio calls, Mercedes appeared more concerned with the continued presence of Norris than the trio blocking Hamilton.
In the second half of the each-tyre stint, Antonelli had the speed advantage to catch Russell but was unable to sustain the overtake long enough. This scenario has been a common theme so far this season and George will have to do something right if he wants this championship. Nevertheless, he maintained the most important lead of the two and would pit again on lap 36. Antonelli was on lap 37 to hold off Norris.
Lando would stay in the top three but was far behind with no real chance of catching or passing. Piastri was curious at full speed and would move up to fifth but 58 seconds from the lead.
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Lando Norris says Lewis Hamilton has hit back at his critics with his first Ferrari win, after revealing the seven-time world champion faced criticism online.
Hamilton would have won without the VSC
Hamilton made his second stop early on lap 27 and was flying on more durable tyre compounds. He was certainly an increasing threat to the two Mercs as a ‘virtual safety car’ was finally deployed to recover Fernando Alonso’s stricken Aston Martin on lap 40.
It was perfect for Hamilton and Ferrari. While all your rivals are at much lower speeds, a pit stop here costs 12 seconds at full racing pace instead of 22, meaning Lewis can keep up despite three stops.
The Virtual Safety Car was easily eliminated just as Lewis left the pit lane. He could certainly have won his first Grand Prix for Ferrari, and thereafter, he impressively checked out and won by 19 seconds. Would he have won if he saved 10 seconds at that third and final stop? It’s difficult to be sure, as he would have needed to overtake Norris and the two Mercedes normally, but I have a feeling he would have won anyway, such were his speed and fatigue advantages in the closing stages.
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Lewis Hamilton took the lead in the Barcelona-Catalunya GP, taking advantage of the Virtual Safety Car after Fernando Alonso retired.
Antonelli finally held off Russell with four laps to go after his car passed through the ground. It was agonising for the championship leader, and suddenly, just a week after his stunning victory in Monaco, he now leads Hamilton by 41 points and Russell by 50 points. With 399 points still available this season, that doesn’t feel anything like the lead it did on Saturday evening.
Antonelli was on the verge of a five-second penalty for the track limit for the final part of the race, and oddly enough, as a classified finisher but one who did not see the chequered flag, he actually received the penalty after the race.
One lap after Antonelli retired, the unfortunate Leclerc also had to park his Ferrari. He has struggled of late and needs a forceful performance in the upcoming Austria and Silverstone races to re-establish himself, as Hamilton now looks like the clear team leader. Lewis’ last three race results read second, second, first.
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Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli reflects on his Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, which saw him retire late with engine trouble.
Speedy fines and appeals in Monaco ‘messy’
125,000 people attended on race day but Spanish fans had a tough time rooting for their potential heroes. Carlos Sainz was 12th for Williams and two laps behind, and as reported, Alonso retired his Aston Martin on lap 37.
Franco Colapinto received a 10-second delay penalty for not slowing down enough under the yellow flags, which dropped him to 10th. His team-mate Pierre Gasly was seventh for Alpine, having finished third in Monaco a week before being reinstated after an appeal saw his two speeding penalties overturned in the race.
This is a very complicated and uncomfortable decision. The other drivers at Monaco paid their penalties and adjusted strategies accordingly, and Russell’s race was ruined, but as they were not post-race penalties, nothing changed retrospectively for him in the results.
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Oscar Pastry believes a ‘strange precedent’ was set when Pierre Gasly’s Monaco penalty was overturned.
It will now be appealed by Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull, all of whom have lost. Ferrari isn’t too worried, as it costs Mercedes and McLaren points. It also sets a precedent of not serving minor race penalties to preserve the right to compete after the race.
It’s all a mess with no easy solution. It turns out that one of the timing loops in the Monaco pit lane was 77 cm shorter than calibrated, so there were many 60.1 km/h recordings when the limit was 60 km/h. The issue had been a topic of correspondence since the first practices, and some teams adjusted their limits. With so many similar crimes, something was clearly wrong, and it is a wonder that those responsible were not alerted. No doubt, people will learn lessons, and the story will probably continue for a while.
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Red Bull team principal Laurent Mackies spoke to Sky Sports F1 about the surprise decision to hand Pierre Gasly his Monaco podium at the expense of Isaac Hajar.
As a Brit and a former British F1 driver, I was very proud to see three Union Jack flags on the podium for Hamilton, Russell and Norris.
At 41, Lewis was the oldest winner of an F1 race since Jack Brabham in 1970, a full 19 years after his first victory for McLaren in 2007. This is dedication and stability for you.
Ferrari and McLaren will continue to successfully develop their cars and power units, as will Mercedes, and I have no doubt now that we are in for a wide-open and unpredictable season.
