The Spanish Grand Prix was one of the most anticipated stages of this start of the world championship. Barcelona has been known for many years as an open-air wind tunnel thanks to its layout, but also as a track that provides some more indications about the values on the field.
Without a doubt, over the years, the layout of the track, as well as the calendar, have undergone changes that have altered some balances, but the tenth round of this world championship has nevertheless provided some important answers about the values on the track, both at the car and team level.
When the differences begin to reduce and positions on the verge of the hundredth are disputed, as in this phase of the championship, two elements above all emerge: the driver and the team. Barcelona demonstrated this in the best way, with a challenge that continued until the final rounds, while also showing what is, realistically, the best combination that F1 can offer at the moment, that is, the one formed by Max Verstappen and Red Bull. On the one hand, a driver that the team can trust and, on the other, a team that the driver can blindly trust.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, second Lando Norris, McLaren, third Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG
Photo in: Red Bull Content Pool
Formula 1 is a team sport, above all, and with such small gaps the qualities of the collective emerge. Both the Dutchman and Lando Norris rightly pointed out that a large part of the race was played at the start, with that exchange of positions that totally changed the scenarios on the table. In itself, the first phase of the Briton’s start, that is, releasing the clutch, was good, but it is in the following moments, those of the transition between first and second, where Verstappen knew how to make the difference, with fewer slips. . and better momentum.
Even more decisive, however, was the moment of overtaking George Russell, who had gone ahead at the start taking advantage of the double slipstream of his two rivals. Although the three-time world champion managed to quickly resolve the practice sessions, thus being able to impose his pace and gain those useful seconds to build a safety margin, Norris remained stuck in third place for much of the first stint. , at least until the British Mercedes pit stop.
From the beginning of the third lap to the end of the fifteenth, Verstappen managed to put about 5 and a half seconds between him and the McLaren, which then progressively decreased by almost a second at the time of the stop planned by Red Bull, despite The same Milton Keynes team had told the driver to start pushing. Potentially, at this point there were two scenarios on the table: stop or extend, each with their pros and cons.
Red Bull read the situation perfectly and, as soon as they realized that they did not have the rhythm to resist a possible comeback from Norris, they opted for the most obvious, but also most effective, decision, which was to immediately call Verstappen. In reality, on paper the Woking strategists could have anticipated and done something similar: Lando would undoubtedly have finished behind Russell again, but he would still have finished ahead of Hamilton and Sainz, the most critical aspect.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images
McLaren, for its part, was seduced by Norris’ excellent times in clean air and preferred to stay on the track and extend the first stint on the new soft tire. A partly understandable choice, one that many strategists would make, but in scenarios like these a central question always arises: how much to concede to rivals and how much to expand to create compensations. A delicate and thorny issue, especially because of the consequences.
The Briton was the penultimate to make his first pit stop, followed on the next lap by Charles Leclerc, with a strategy that basically presents the same critical problems for the Ferrari driver as well. In those six extra laps covered with the new soft compared to Verstappen, Norris’s difference increased from just under five seconds to almost sixteen seconds, with the aggravating factor that the Woking team driver had to get out of traffic.
Of course, the 7/8 laps less rubber compared to the Sainz/Hamilton/Russell trio also helped them find the overtake quite quickly, but to find themselves in that window in which they could have stopped at the first stop, that is, between both. Mercedes, the Englishman turned nine laps. This gave Verstappen plenty of time to manage the lead while also allowing him to lose several seconds. In essence, part of the gain Norris made by extending the first stint was lost in the fact that he still had to move up the standings. In fact, the overtake on Russell occurred with about 30 laps remaining, but at that time the difference with the leader was still more than nine seconds, not exactly an easy mountain to climb.
Precisely that margin was Red Bull’s fundamental tool to play the cards that later allowed it to win the Grand Prix. Once outdoors, Norris began to lower his times by around 7/8 tenths, showing that there was a very important untapped potential. Once again, Red Bull read the situation very well, beginning to improve their corner times, but without too many pauses, in order to extend the stint and install the soft for the end. In fact, from the beginning it was clear that the Milton Keynes team’s choice would be to ride the softest compound for the final, as they had opted to exploit the set of softs used at the start of the race, while maintaining the new set. for the concluding season.
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
This allowed Norris to take advantage of those six extra laps of tire life to get closer, but he only managed to halve the gap – effectively the same disadvantage recorded when Verstappen stopped at his first stop. Also in these details you can see the reactivity and excellent reading of Red Bull, which found the ideal moment for the pit stop with two effects: on the one hand, it did not return too soon, which would have compromised the final stint, once again , this put Max in a position to find himself with a margin of safety when returning to the track.
If in the first part of the race Norris had created a tire delta of six laps, in the last stint the compensation was reduced by half, because McLaren called its driver to the pits only three laps after the Dutchman. A difference that was certainly useful on a track like Barcelona, very aggressive with the tires, but that certainly would not have altered the race, opening the fight more to the qualities of the respective cars in terms of pure handling. pace and tires.
Basically, the Woking team followed the tactic that it considered most useful and effective, also taking into account its position on the track, but in the comparison with Red Bull it was never able to obtain a real advantage, opting for a middle ground that did not suit it. a key role at a strategic level. Of course, tactical opportunities were limited, but potentially McLaren could have played the race differently, given that in terms of pace they seemed to have something else available. Added to this were two not exactly exceptional pit stops, where other crucial tenths were lost.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Lando Norris, McLaren F1 team
Photo by: Andrés Ferraro
In fact, if we look at the data from the final stint, we can see that even when Verstappen was told to try harder, given that Norris was not doing any particular checking, the three-time world champion’s times actually fell, but the MCL38 Even so, it was much more effective with only three laps of lag, recovering six seconds in less than twenty passes.
On Sunday in Spain, the value of the car was felt, as evidenced by the times, with a McLaren proving that it probably has more than just Red Bull. However, in a race like this, there were two elements that made an even more important difference: the team and the driver, and in this, the Milton Keynes team showed that they were generally one step ahead of their rivals, with a excellent management of an impeccable track. In the last 4 Grand Prix, three victories have been achieved as a result precisely of this strength and this ability to take advantage of the opponents’ mistakes. To beat Red Bull you don’t need (only) the car.
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