With one of the hottest temperatures in memory at the Spanish Grand Prix, all Pirelli’s forecasts regarding pit stops were fulfilled and that caused the race at the Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya to have much more movement than usual.
At the start, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen took advantage of their privileged positions to maintain first and second place with great respect for each other, while Carlos Sainz, who started third in discord, lost several places after a bad start.
A few laps later, Sainz was spinning at Turn 4 and losing many positions, with Verstappen doing the same soon after, although in his case, losing less time. This left Leclerc with a clear lead in the race.
However, an engine failure forced him to retire before the halfway point of the race in a totally unexpected way, leaving Russell and the Dutchman from Red Bull fighting for victory. A battle in which Verstappen had a clear disadvantage, as his DRS was not working properly and that prevented him from overtaking on the track.
Finally, Red Bull managed to steal Mercedes’ wallet through strategy , while Sergio Pérez took the lead at a point in the race in which his teammate opted to make more stops and overtake Russell in a less orthodox way.
Towards the end of the race, the two cars from Milton Keynes moved into the first two places, but the Dutchman had much more pace and his teammate let him pass after a radio message from the Austrian team, thus achieving another double which translates into an important blow on the table in the face of the Leclerc debacle.
Behind, Russell completed the podium, ahead of a Sainz who overtook Hamilton on the penultimate lap due to an engine problem in the Briton’s Mercedes , who had come back after a puncture on the first lap.
Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso (who started last) and Yuki Tsunoda completed the last five points positions in a race that, although there was no safety car, was spectacular from start to finish.
Formula 1 Spanish GP 2022 race results
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | Km/h | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
 |
66 | – | 25 | |||
| two |  |
 |
66 | 13,072 | 13,072 | 13,072 | 19 | |
| 3 |  |
 |
66 | 32.927 | 32.927 | 19.855 | 15 | |
| 4 |  |
 |
66 | 45,208 | 45,208 | 12,281 | 12 | |
| 5 | |
 |
66 | 54.534 | 54.534 | 9.326 | 10 | |
| 6 |  |
 |
66 | 59.976 | 59.976 | 5.442 | 8 | |
| 7 |  |
 |
66 | 1’15.397 | 1’15.397 | 15.421 | 6 | |
| 8 | |
 |
66 | 1’23.235 | 1’23.235 | 7.838 | 4 | |
| 9 | |
|
65 | 1 lap | 2 | |||
| Ten |  |
 |
65 65 | 1 lap | 1 | |||
| see results | ||||||||
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Summary of the 2022 Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix race
The starting grid underwent a small change before the race started, as Fernando Alonso changed the engine of his Alpine and was forced to start from last position.
At the start, everyone was on the soft compound except for Lewis Hamilton, who was on the medium. Charles Leclerc kept the lead, ahead of Max Verstappen, while Carlos Sainz lost position to George Russell and Sergio Pérez, falling to fifth.
Just behind, Kevin Magnussen was too optimistic trying to overtake Lewis Hamilton and touched his left front tyre, causing a puncture to the Mercedes driver’s car and with the Dane falling to the last place on the grid.
At the back of the grid, Fernando Alonso, who started last, gained five positions and placed 15th, looking for a comeback that would take him to the points zone.
On lap 7, when Alonso and Ocon were giving the fans a real overtaking recital, Carlos Sainz lost control of his Ferrari under braking at turn 4 and had a small excursion through the gravel that left him in 12th position , complicating his podium options.
Two laps later, Verstappen had a mishap very similar to that of Sainz in the same corner, although in his case he would only lose positions with Russell and Pérez, falling to fourth, 10 seconds behind Leclerc, who was putting everything in his face .
First pit stops
On lap 11, the drivers began to make their first pit stops and, between them, Sainz and Alonso went through the pitlane to set up a new set of media, just as the rest of the drivers would do in the next two or three laps. .
In the lead, Russell and Verstappen were the first to enter, both on lap 14, so the Red Bull team’s strategy went wrong, with the Dutchman falling behind the Mercedes, in a virtual third position.
As if that were not enough, the driver of the energy drinks team suffered problems with his DRS, which sometimes opened and others did not when he was trying to overtake Russell, giving Leclerc even more breathing room, who was leading without complications and without any rival .
On lap 22, Leclerc, with a large margin of advantage, made his first pit stop to mount the medium and maintain the lead, five seconds ahead of the duo formed by Russell and Verstappen, who on lap 24 staged a spectacular duel with victory for the Mercedes driver after a masterful defense.
Engine problems for Charles Leclerc
When he was leading calmly, Charles Leclerc lost power and was forced to withdraw his car due to an obvious reliability problem on the day when everything was smiling at him, giving the lead to Russell, Verstappen and a Pérez who had already joined to the fight.
On lap 29 and seeing that he could not overtake in part due to his DRS fault, Red Bull made the decision to call Verstappen to the pits to set up a new set of softs and try to gain position strategically.
Behind, Carlos Sainz was approaching the fight for the top positions after climbing several positions after his initial error, placing fifth, with Alonso, who had started last, coming back to sixth position in a masterful race.
A few laps later, Sergio Pérez overtook George Russell at turn 1 and became the leader of the race, while behind, another Ferrari engine, that of Zhou’s Alfa Romeo, failed and forced the young driver’s car to be withdrawn Chinese.
The second stops arrive in laps 32-35
After Verstappen, it was the turn for Sainz, Alonso, Ricciardo and many other drivers who were struggling to get into the points zone, causing many changes in the middle zone and opening the range of the three stops.
Ahead, Checo Pérez slipped away little by little and opened the lead with Russell, who in turn saw Verstappen approaching in the rearview mirror. Just when the Dutchman was behind, the Mercedes driver entered the pits to mount a new set of media, which would be his last stop.
A lap later, in 38th, Checo Pérez did the same and copied Russell’s strategy, falling to second position and giving up the lead to a Verstappen who was on 13-lap softs and still had to stop at least once plus.
Meanwhile, Norris and Vettel (who still had to stop) were involved in a nice battle for the last positions of the points zone, with Alonso also in the battle, occupying the tenth position.
Behind the podium positions, Bottas maintained fourth place, with a Sainz on the prowl that little by little got closer and closer and that on lap 42 managed to overtake, being the only Ferrari still on the track, trying to minimize damage.
Verstappen beats Russell to position
Verstappen, on well-worn softs, continued to improve or match the times of his two pursuers, until on lap 45 he was called to the pits to make his third and final stop and mount a new set of softs, taking to the track just ahead Russell, in second position, making the Austrian team’s strategy a good one.
Seeing that Sainz could not overtake Bottas on the track, Ferrari decided to call the Spanish driver into the pits to mount new softs, falling to seventh position and looking for a new comeback that would allow him to get up to that desired fourth position.
Meanwhile, Verstappen cut Pérez by more than a second per lap, getting fully into the fight for victory. In turn, from Red Bull they radioed the Mexican to allow himself to overtake if the Dutchman fell behind with a much higher pace.
In the last points positions the race began to stabilize, with Ocon seventh, five seconds ahead of Norris (ocon), who in turn was six ahead of Alonso (ninth) and the latter four ahead of Tsunoda, who was ahead by more than 10 seconds to Mick Schumacher.
Verstappen leads the race
On lap 49, Verstappen caught up with his teammate and with a much higher pace, he saw Checo Péres move away from the line to let him pass, setting the Spanish GP on track again for another one-two for Red Bull, which dealt a very strong blow. on the table.
In lap 52, Mercedes surprised by calling a Russell to the pits, who was not likely to make any more stops, losing position only to Bottas, whom he would overtake a few laps later, regaining third place on the podium.
Behind, Hamilton also stopped in the pits and rode a set of new softs that allowed him to start registering fast laps and get closer to Carlos Sainz, with whom he would have a spectacular battle for fifth position.
With 10 laps to go Alonso, who was seventh, pitted for his final pit stop, but his front right wheel seized and he lost several key seconds in his fight for eighth after starting from last starting grid square.
Coming towards the end of the race, Bottas was down two positions over two corners to Sainz and Hamilton due to excessive wear on his medium compound after being the only driver in the top ten who opted to go two browns rather than three.
Surprisingly, the Briton from Mercedes suffered a problem with his power unit and received a radio message to be careful in the final five laps. Although he was flying at the time, he ended up losing a position with Sainz and fell back to a final fifth position that had a bittersweet taste.
Verstappen’s victory and top 10 of the Spanish Grand Prix
While Verstappen crossed the finish line very calmly and Checo Pérez completed a new double for Red Bull, in front of a spectacular George Russell. Ocon, Norris, Alonso and Tsunoda closed the first ten places, ahead of a Vettel who stayed at the gates.
Despite his various setbacks throughout the weekend, the Asturian driver returned to the points zone for the first time since the inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix, confirming the good feeling of an Alpine that seemed to be a different car in qualifying and in the race.
