TOPS
He dominated the three free practice sessions, took pole on Saturday with a disconcerting lead and on Sunday he paraded to clinch his fifth success of the season. With the best time as a bonus. Max Verstappen seems untouchable this season and it seems so easy at times that we feel sorry for the competition. Only one question remains: how many wins will the Batavian get this season?
Fourth and fifth in Monaco, second and third in Barcelona: yes, Mercedes is much better. The German brand has raised its head after an average start to the season and the drivers are delighted. Lewis Hamilton, 2nd, and George Russell, 3rd, when he started 12th, were the only ones in Spain to follow Max Verstappen’s lap times. Sign that the Mercedes is fine. It’s been a season-best 33-point weekend for the black cars, giving Mercedes the second place constructors.
Promising race for the Chinese driver. Zhou Guanyu was very solid on the Montmelo circuit. Starting only 13th, he constantly fought for the top 10 which he ended up winning with a fine ninth place. It thus equals its best result of the season (Australia) and allows Alfa Romeo to take two important points at the bottom of the classification.
FLOPS
“We don’t understand what to do with the tyres. Honestly, it was a catastrophic weekend ”: Charles Leclerc broods. The Monegasque had another very difficult weekend. Released in Q1 with the 19th lap on Saturday, Leclerc, starting from the pits, was in difficulty on his first stint with hard rubber, unable to warm them up. He then lost time in traffic and settled for a modest 11th place. As he puts it, “there’s a lot of work.”
Frustrating. This is how to define the French driver’s weekend. On Saturday, Pierre Gasly had done the job on the track by setting the fourth fastest time in qualifying. A short-lived joy since the Habs then suffered a double penalty of three places. Starting tenth in the end, Gasly then completely missed his start, quickly finding himself 14th. Eleventh at the finish, he gleaned the point for tenth place following the penalty inflicted on Yuki Tsunoda. A lesser evil.
He had achieved impressive qualifications. Lando Norris started third on Sunday with the ambition to score big points. However, everything was shattered from turn 1. A little too aggressive, the McLaren driver touched Hamilton and this forced him to quickly return to the pits to change his front wing. His race then became a hassle with three stops and a modest 17th place.
