The illusion of a seemingly inevitable triumph was shattered just before halfway through the race at Montmelò when a dominant Charles Leclerc was halted by a collapse, leaving the Spanish GP win to his title rival, Max Verstappen. Red Bull scored twice, with Sergio Perez and George Russell on the podium with Mercedes, while Carlos Sainz finished fourth after a murky race, taking advantage of a delay by Lewis Hamilton, author of an incredible comeback from last place. It is the first time in six races that Ferrari has had a reliability issue, punishing a Leclerc who had been doing everything to his best throughout the weekend but is able to comfort the Cavallino, as shown on the track, and the driver himself whilst he accusing the shot “hurts”, he is confident because “the car has returned to give me excellent sensations”.
However, next Friday Verstappen will be in Monaco as the leader in the Drivers’ Championship and Red Bull at the top of the Constructors’ Championship, urging Red Bull to react immediately, also because Mercedes are back on track and probably have the best pair of drivers. The sixth GP of the season holds no surprises right from the start, with Sainz being overtaken by Russell and Perez and a touchdown ensuing between Hamilton and Magnussen, with the former having to return to the pits with the Dane. On lap seven, Sainz loses control at Turn 4 and spins on the gravel, returning in 11th place.
Shortly after, it was Verstappen’s turn to make the same mistake in the same place and find his way from second to fourth place. Great job by the mechanics in the pits as Leclerc flies and ‘boots up’ until lap 22 and returns with the average and a six second lead over Russell and the Dutchman who is out with the Drs and struggling to close the Mercedes overtake. It’s a lap 24 show that sees the two rivals side by side at different corners with no position change, but Leclerc’s drama is soon over. The engine greets him and forces him to return to the pits. With half a race to go and Verstappen is bouncing back to take an important win, third in a row and 24th of his career, thanks in part to the team’s “moral persuasion” on Perez, which was prompted to give him the to give first place without taking risks. Despite the frenetic cheering, Sainz does not make his race shine, the podium is out of reach and in the finale he finds himself overtaken by Hamilton, who then gives him back his position and is content with fifth place.
There is disappointment in the Ferrari pits but Mattia Binotto invites us to “look on the positives despite a tough day this weekend”. “It’s going to be a long season, in the past it happened to others and today it happened to us – said the team boss – but I don’t think it’s a big problem.” Leclerc is also confident: “It’s our first big problem this year – he explained -. It hurts because it’s happening in a race where we were first and in good management, but the championship is still very long. , in moments like “So we can’t help but look at the positives of the weekend. I’m confident for the next races, let’s look ahead.” Verstappen is certainly even more so.