The first day of free practice for the Spanish Grand Prix ended with a new victory for Charles Leclerc over Max Verstappen, but the big news around the sixth race of the 2022 World Cup was the fight between three and not two at the brand level, with Mercedes (finally) being able to drive in the days of Ferrari and Red Bull almost going back to the good old days of the last few years. Would these upgrades be enough to put one of the cars ahead? At the moment, and in terms of qualification, not yet. But just as it did not arrive, Q3 also showed how In an instant everything can change.
Verstappen still dreaming, Ferrari did not disappoint: Charles Leclerc confirms favoritism and takes pole in Barcelona
7.56 seconds before the end of the decisive timed phase for the top ten of the starting grid, and in a zone that, being slow, had not proved to be a problem for any driver, Leclerc made a mistake that cost him not only fast laps but also a set of tires. Going from Turn 14 to 15 might have cost a few places on the starting grid, but with just 26 seconds to go, the Monegasque managed to claim fourth place for himself. pole position of the season with a 0.3 advantage over Verstappen. Carlos Sainz returned third, with the surprise of George Russell fourth between Sergio Pérez and Lewis Hamilton, sixth and last among the three dominant brands. One of the keys to the test could be there.
“We managed to change things since yesterday [sexta-feira] and the team did a fantastic job. We had a lot of problems in the first two free practice sessions, especially with the tyres. We analyzed the data and made significant changes overnight. I felt this improvement in the morning and we hope it will be enough to beat our competition”, commented Leclerc after qualifying. “We will start from second and it can be good. It was a shame because on the last lap the DRS didn’t open for me and I ended up aborting the lap because I was losing a lot of time. Ferrari looks strong and it will be hard to beat, tire management will also be important and it will be a long race.”
Red Bull radio Verstappen to say that his DRS does not open again. Same problem as qualifying #GPSpanish #WTF1 pic.twitter.com/0pJl60VOU4
— WTF1 (@wtf1official) May 22, 2022
With two wins in the last two races and a total of three at the time (more than any other), the Dutchman managed to reduce the gap with Leclerc to just 19 points, now fighting for his third win in a row to move even closer to the top. of the world table. However, and even due to the characteristics of the Barcelona circuit, in Montmeló, a pole position was a very important indicator, so good tire management was done, and that was the challenge of the Ferrari driver.
Charles Leclerc is a blessing. ❤️
After such a cruel end to his run from the lead, he went and hugged everyone in the team, including the pit wall, and just said ‘okay, we’ll come back stronger’. pic.twitter.com/vXGVzwtGAH
— Ferrari News (@FanaticsFerrari) May 22, 2022
At the start, the first part of the mission was accomplished: Leclerc did well, gaining position, closing the door on Verstappen before Turn 1 and taking a 0.9 lead over the Dutchman on the first lap. The emotion, that, was a little further behind: George Russell managed to jump to third position despite a small clash with Sergio Pérez, Carlos Sainz had a bad start that put him in a position in sixth before stabilizing in fifth, Lewis Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen were left with the race ruined after a crash that took both the dirt and the pit area (so much so that the Briton admitted giving up but the team was confident of an eighth finish).
LAP 1/66
Contact between Magnussen and Hamilton ????
The Dane runs out into the gravel at Turn 4. The Mercedes driver has damage and limps back to the pits for repairs. #GPSpanish #F1 pic.twitter.com/7mV0YAbGxF
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2022
The Alpines were the cars that surprised the most in the race, but attention would soon turn to turn 4 and some gusts that appeared from time to time on the Catalan circuit that changed the data of the race: Carlos Sainz had an out of track in the place that mortgaged the chances he could have of getting on the podium and, shortly after, it was Max Verstappen who also had a mistake in that area, passing through the gravel and falling behind George Russell and Sergio Pérez, with Red Bull later managing to overtake the Brit from Mercedes. Up front, Leclerc had the green light to return to victory.
LAP 9/66
Now Verstappen is in the gravel at turn 4! ????
Dutchman drops to P4 #GPSpanish #F1 pic.twitter.com/PVcG8slmPK
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2022
However, in just four laps between 23 and 27, everything changed radically: while discussing the problems with the DRS on the radio with the team, Verstappen unsuccessfully tried to overtake George Russell’s Mercedes, Sergio Pérez asked Red Bull to The Dutchman could pass and be able to gain position from Russell with a much faster pace and Leclerc, who was almost walking ahead, suddenly ran out of power and ended up not coming out of the pits anymore before a wave of frustration that passed from the pilot to all the members from Ferrari. Almost halfway through the race, Russell was the leader. Nobody imagined.
LAP 27/66
???? “No, no, no! What happened?” leclerc spokes
The Ferrari driver has lost power and is out of the race #GPSpanish #F1 pic.twitter.com/iA2VPKueqT
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2022
It was at this stage that Red Bull saw an opportunity in the midst of the crisis: Verstappen again went to boxes changing tires, Pérez managed to overtake Russell, the Dutchman wasted no time and took third position with a great overtaking by Valtteri Bottas and when the Mercedes stopped, a stage was already set up in front that could allow the world champion team a possible 1-2 victory as in Emilia-Romagna. That was exactly what happened: Verstappen finished in first position and advanced for the first time in 2022 to the World Championship lead ahead of Leclerc, Pérez was second, Russell showed the improvements of Mercedes with another podium and Hamilton, with a different strategy. tires, still running fourth but losing that position on the penultimate lap to Carlos Sainz.
LAP 60/66
Lewis Hamilton’s day just keeps getting better and better
Pass Sainz and go up to P4????#GPSpanish #F1 pic.twitter.com/5MSlPGQOhi
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 22, 2022
in update
Source: Observadora
