Formula One’s return to Barcelona marks the sixth round of this compelling 2022 world championship, as focus shifts towards the intriguing upgrades to much of the grid to the Spanish Grand Prix. Be sure to catch live blog coverage of the race here on The Roar from 10:50pm (AEST).
Having witnessed the first running of these revolutionary 2022 cars during the pre-season, the 4.6km Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will represent the team’s first chance to compare their updated packages to what they started the season with.
Championship leader Charles Leclerc will hope that Ferrari have brought the right upgrades to this 66-lap race, having been answerless to Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the last two races.
What was a mighty 46-point margin between the Monegasque and the reigning world champion following the Australian Grand Prix has shrunk to just 19 points after just two more events.
Leclerc, despite a spin in his initial Q3 run, went on to clinch his fourth pole position of the season with Spanish teammate Carlos Sainz third. Verstappen in the Red Bull split the Ferraris, but suffered a loss of DRS on his final Q3 lap which cost him a potential pole.
The improved Mercedes saw George Russell on the second row, 0.643-seconds off the pole time and ahead of Sergio Perez in the Red Bull. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton though was sixth.
Daniel Ricciardo at last made it to Q3 in ninth, splitting the Haas cars of which Mick Schumacher was granted his first berth in the top ten shootout, as a result of Lando Norris’ best time from Q2 being deleted for running wide on the exit of Turn 12.
Barcelona has typically been a circuit on which overtaking has been difficult, with Turn 1 representing the only realistic passing point. However with these new cars being able to follow each other more closely through the corners, perhaps passing will be seen through the fast bends.
Two stops ought to be the winning strategy, given the hot conditions trackside. Red Bull last time out in Miami had the upper hand on Ferrari in terms of tyre management; however, from practice here, it looked to be more even.
Since 2014, Mercedes have won all races in Barcelona bar one, at which Verstappen took his maiden Formula One win on debut for Red Bull in 2016. Hamilton too has won the last five Spanish Grands Prix, so can a bit of red be injected to winner’s circle?
An intriguing race it will be and
Race Information
Lights out: 11pm (AEST)
Venue: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló
TV: Fox Sports
Online: Kayo Sports, Foxtel
Grid
1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 4. George Russell (Mercedes), 5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull), 6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 7. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), 8. Kevin Magnussen (Haas), 9. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), 10. Mick Schumacher (Haas), 11. Lando Norris (McLaren), 12. Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 13. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), 14. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), 15. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), 16. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), 17. Fernando Alonso (Alpine), 18. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), 19. Alex Albon (Williams), 20. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
Simoc
Roar Rookie
I thought that was pretty entertaining, especially the first dozen laps. There was lots of overtaking. Later on Verstappen pulled off a huge move going around the outside on a fast righthander. And so it looks like the Mercs will be in the mix for podiums and probably wins from now on. Perez had a change of heart and wasn't so upset after cooling down. He no doubt thought Verstappen going off on his own should allow him to race for a win. But anyone racing with Verstappen is as number 2 as Bottas was at Mercedes, and I think Sainz soon will be at Ferrari. Hamilton vs Russell should get interesting at some stage. Dan was slow, and didn't know why apart from lack of grip.
andrew
Roar Rookie
Good to see Max and Perez finish 1-2. I see Ricciardo’s saying his car was slow no matter what tyres he was using. Jawad, i was reading recently that a young American driver could be in the frame to take Dan’s seat at McLaren should he continue his lacklustre performances. The pressure is well and truly on Dan.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
That wraps up this live blog on The Roar of the Spanish Grand Prix then. Another win for Max Verstappen and that is the lead of the championship too for the Dutchman and his Red Bull team. Only seven days time until the jewel in the crown that is the Monaco Grand Prix, which is as well Charles Leclerc's home race. Until then, bye for now.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 110 - Max Verstappen 104 - Charles Leclerc 85 -- Sergio Perez 74 -- George Russell 65 -- Carlos Sainz 46 -- Lewis Hamilton 39 -- Lando Norris 38 -- Valtteri Bottas 30 -- Esteban Ocon 15 -- Kevin Magnussen 11 -- Yuki Tsunoda 11 -- Daniel Ricciardo 6 --- Pierre Gasly 4 --- Sebastian Vettel 4 --- Fernando Alonso 3 --- Alex Albon 2 --- Lance Stroll 1 --- Guanyu Zhou 0 --- Mick Schumacher 0 --- Nico Hulkenberg 0 --- Nicholas Latifi
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 195 - Red Bull Racing 169 - Ferrari 120 - Mercedes AMG 50 -- McLaren Mercedes 39 -- Alfa Romeo Racing 34 -- Alpine 17 -- Scuderia AlphaTauri 15 -- Haas Ferrari 6 --- Aston Martin Racing 3 --- Williams Mercedes
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT It was a day of pain in Spain for Ferrari, as Charles Leclerc retired from the lead of the race with a power-unit problem, to hand the Spanish Grand Prix victory and the lead of the championship to Red Bull and Max Verstappen. Polesitter Leclerc got the run off the front-row of the grid to lead Verstappen in the opening laps, before a gust of wind caught the Dutchman out at Turn 4 on Lap 9 and sent him into the gravel. This allowed George Russell and Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez to slot in ahead of Verstappen, all before the reigning world champion in pursuit of the Mercedes experienced intermittent DRS issues. Despite running within a second of Russell, the Red Bull’s DRS wasn’t working all the time. The pair took their first stops on Lap 14 with the Briton still ahead, while Leclerc led the race comfortably after his pit-stop on Lap 22. Not long after on Lap 27, more trouble struck Ferrari after Carlos Sainz’s earlier spin which was mimicked by Verstappen, as Leclerc lost power and was forced to retire from the race. Russell’s fight with the Red Bulls now became the battle for the lead and Verstappen on Lap 29 pitted for a second time and another set of soft tyres in attempt to undercut the Mercedes. Mexican Perez with a functioning DRS was free to pass Russell on this occasion and he did indeed, before they both took their second stops. Verstappen now led the race with a clear margin. A third stop followed on Lap 45 for Verstappen, which secured him a fourth win of the season. Perez and Russell also made third stops, which helped Red Bull to a one-two finish and a second podium of the season for the Briton. Sainz recovered to fourth, as the sole Ferrari to finish the race and achieve his best result on home soil. This was ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who had to slow down his Mercedes due to cooling concerns at the end of the race. There was an incident on the opening lap between Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen, which saw the Haas in the gravel on the outside of Turn 4 and the Mercedes needing a new front-wing at the rear of the field. Close to giving up, the seven-time world champion recovered to fifth ahead of former teammate Valtteri Bottas. Alpine vindicated their strong race pace in comparison to qualifying, with seventh for Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso from the back of the grid with some heroics to finish in ninth. A severely ill Lando Norris also starred from eleventh on the grid to secure points in eighth ahead of Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda. Ahead again of McLaren teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who was twelfth and a lap down.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Pedro de la Rosa VERSTAPPEN - "My DRS was not always working, it made it really tough." "We did our own race and eventually we won the race." "At the end I was happy to win and happy for Checo, it was a great result for the team." PEREZ - "I'm extremely happy to be on the podium at the Spanish Grand Prix." "It's a great team result." RUSSELL - "Today was quite tough, the guys have worked so hard." "All I was doing was my maximum to keep him [Max] behind." "It was a survival race and was proud to bring it home in P3."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 66-LAP SPANISH GRAND PRIX 1 M. Verstappen 2 S. Perez (Fastest Lap) 3 G. Russell 4 C. Sainz 5 L. Hamilton 6 V. Bottas 7 E. Ocon 8 L. Norris 9 F. Alonso 10 Y. Tsunoda 11 S. Vettel 12 D. Ricciardo 13 P. Gasly 14 M. Schumacher 15 L. Stroll 16 N. Latifi 17 K. Magnussen 18 A. Albon RET G. Zhou RET C. Leclerc
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX! Another one-two finish for Red Bull in 2022 as Sergio Perez delivers an excellent second for the team. And how about George Russell bringing home another podium for Mercedes in third.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 66/66: FINAL LAP
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 65/66: Both Mercedes cars told that they have cooling issues and they have to lift and coast as much as possible. This invites Sainz back into the picture for fourth, as he passes Hamilton for what should be his best finish on home soil. Ricciardo through on Schumacher for twelfth too.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 64/66: Just as that is said, Latifi makes an overtake on Magnussen for sixteenth!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 63/66: No other battles to report on then as this one slowly comes to an end.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 62/66: Verstappen has a solid 19 second lead over his teammate Perez then, as the Red Bulls lead one-two over Russell and Hamilton.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 61/66: Hamilton with the fresher tyres is through on Sainz for fourth. Who'd have thought that before the race, that Mercedes would fare better than Ferrari?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 60/66: VER PER RUS SAI HAM BOT OCO NOR ALO TSU VET MSC RIC GAS STR MAG LAT ALB the order of the field. Leclerc and Guanyu Zhou out of the race.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 59/66: Sainz now has his hands full with Hamilton in their battle for fourth. A race of recovery for both drivers. Who is going to take the prize of fourth in this one?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 58/66: Bottas on the older set of mediums now struggling to stay ahead of Sainz, who also has Hamilton on fresh tyres in right behind him. The Ferrari makes the move on Bottas going into Turn 1 and then Hamilton dances around the outside of Turn 3 to take fifth off his former teammate.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 57/66: Tsunoda too on fresher tyres, dispatches the Haas of Schumacher from the points paying places.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 56/66: Alonso passes Schumacher for ninth. The fresher tyres working a treat for the two-time world champion.