Thanks to the recent progress of McLaren and Mercedes, Red Bull no longer has the unbeatable car from the beginning of the season. Yet Max Verstappen continues to dominate and in Barcelona he achieved his seventh success in 10 races.
In a sport where engine power, electronic management and aerodynamic choices are increasingly crucial, he is demonstrating how much the talent of those who hold the steering wheel can still make a difference, especially in an important aspect such as tire management.
All this while brandmate Sergio Perez struggles to get into the top-10 in both qualifying and the race. If the Dutchman wins his fourth consecutive world championship, this one will be ‘his own’ even more than the previous ones, sweeping away the competition also thanks to the added weapon of an objectively uncontainable single-seater.
ANSA Agency F1: Verstappen wins in Spain, Leclerc 5th and Sainz 6th – F1 – Ansa.it Second place for Norris, Hamilton also gets on the podium (ANSA) Meanwhile Super-Max, eight years after the first, again in Spain, yesterday achieved its 61st victory in Formula 1: it is the third ever behind Lewis Hamilton (103) and Michael Schumacher (91). With a success rate, compared to the races played, of almost 31%. Better than him only sacred monsters of the past, such as Juan Manuel Fangio (47.06%), Alberto Ascari (40.63%) and Jim Clark (34.72%).
In Barcelona, despite starting behind Lando Norris and after both had been overtaken by George Russell’s Mercedes, Verstappen was not conservative, but on the third lap he was already in the lead, passing Russell on the outside of Turn 1 with one of his spectacular gambles . One of those maneuvers that at the beginning of his career had cost him criticism from some colleagues and now make him shine in the eyes of those who dream of snatching him from Red Bull, despite the 10 million euro per season contract that binds him to the Anglo-Austrian team : three years starting in 2024, with the option for another two. A price paid not only to recognize the added value that he guarantees, but also to cool the aims of the competition. Starting from those of Mercedes, where team principal Toto Wolff did not fail to underline: “Yes, it’s Max who wins the races. He’s the one who makes all the difference”.
However, he can rejoice at Hamilton’s return to the podium. For the malicious, thanks to the anonymous email that accused the team of ‘sabotaging’ the seven-time world champion who has already signed for Ferrari. From this scenario of current and future competition, of strategies on and off the track, Ferrari remains extraneous for now, grappling with problems that it does not seem capable of solving. In Spain the Scuderia experienced another disappointing weekend, currently the fourth force in the world championship. The aerodynamic updates that had given Carlos Sainz hope for greater speed did not work. The Reds were especially notable for the useless – in the sense of irrelevant for the result – contact between the Spaniard and Charles Leclerc, who was overtaken by Norris in the drivers’ standings. At the end of the race, poisonous declarations were made between the two and for Vasseur in the 14 races remaining, in addition to the thought of the car not working, there will be the worry of keeping the nerves of the two ‘Carlis’ at bay. Sainz with nothing to lose because in 2025 he will say goodbye to Maranello, Leclerc increasingly prey to performance anxiety.
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA
