Analysis of the Spanish Grand Prix, brought to you by Bahrain International Circuit
Formula One arrived in Madrid for its debut outing at the Madring, full of excitement, peppered with a fair amount of uncertainty and unknowns.
F1 was last in Madrid back in 1981, but this new hybrid venue offers a very different type of challenge.
It’s known as a hybrid as there are elements of street circuit, combined with some permanent sections. Many have likened it to somewhere between Jeddah and Monaco in terms of the racing style.
The only experience that drivers could draw from would have been a few sessions on the sim (with some saying they went into the wall on every corner), plus some limited information from an F3 test undertaken in August.
What became very clear as the drivers progressed through Friday practice was that it was set to be a major challenge of ability and concentration.
The walls are there – even on the permanent sections – to punish even minor mistakes. The landmark corner that attracts the most attention is known as “La Monumental”, a banked curve with a 24% gradient and is over 550 metres long.
To add to the spice, the grandstands alongside that corner have a capacity of over 40,000 people, giving an amphitheatre feel to it.
Remarkably, in qualifying there was not a single accident, safety car or red flag. Whilst the previous practice sessions had claimed a few scalps, most notably Hamilton and Bearman, every driver had a fair shot when it mattered in qualifying.
It was clear throughout the session that any of the top four teams had the pace to get on pole.
McLaren may have looked the least likely of the top four to land pole, but a masterpiece last lap effort from Lando Norris put him at the front, in a lap that some felt was the best of his career.
Even a slight error on the last corner couldn’t get in the way of what was a remarkable lap.
Showing how tight it was at the front, there was less than 0.2 seconds between the top four and we ended up with four different teams taking the first two rows.
Alongside Norris on the front row was Antonelli, with Verstappen and Hamilton in third and fourth.
Leclerc, Russell, Piastri and Lawson followed, ensuring that the top four teams covered the top eight places on the grid.
Planning race strategy was a challenge, with almost no data available on tyre degradation for long runs, plus the uncertainty of the high likelihood of race stoppages and safety cars wouldn’t have helped either.
As the race got underway, Antonelli left the track twice in the first three corners. Verstappen pounced and took second behind Norris.
This left Antonelli in third, followed by the two Ferraris of Hamilton and Leclerc, whilst Piastri lost three places at the start and was back in tenth.
However, amongst the jostling at the start, Verstappen had been adjudged to have left the track and gained an advantage, so had to give Antonelli and Hamilton their places back.
Just two laps later, Hamilton looked to be having car trouble as Verstappen went for an easy pass.
Hamilton continued to fall back, clearly with a braking issue, and he came in the following lap to retire.
By lap 10, Norris had extended his lead to five seconds over Antonelli, with Verstappen a further five seconds back.
However, the shape of the race changed dramatically with a virtual safety car on lap 14 as Stroll went into the barrier. Antonelli was first in, as Norris had already passed the pit entry.
Norris came in the following lap but the virtual safety car had ended. Adding a slow stop to the mixer, he came out in fifth place.
Up front, Leclerc was the only car not to stop so was leading on race resumption. Antonelli, Verstappen and Russell followed ahead of Norris.
Norris went back on the charge and caught Russell, but the Mercedes driver pitted on lap 29 before Norris needed to think of an overtake. By lap 44, Norris had also caught up with Verstappen in third but quickly found the challenging nature of overtaking on the tight circuit layout.
Leclerc finally took his pit stop on lap 49, with the Ferrari driver coming out in fourth. This left a tight finish, with Antonelli up front, just a second ahead of Verstappen, with Norris a further second back. But, again, the challenges in overtaking on a tight circuit of this nature was evident.
In the end, Antoneiil was left untroubled up front to take the chequered flag by three seconds. Verstappen held off Norris for second, with the British driver unlucky for his third-place finish, given where he was before the Stroll incident.
Leclerc held out for fourth, marginally ahead of Russell. Lawson was sixth, followed by Colapinto and Piastri. Lindblad and Hulkenberg completed the top ten.
The result increases Antonelli’s lead to 81 points in the championship as F1 heads to Baku in two weekends’ time.
* Laurence Jones is senior manager, Marketing and Communications, Bahrain International Circuit
l.jones@bic.com.bh
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