Max Verstappen dominates at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to win his fifth out of seven races and extend his lead in the championship by 53 points. Meanwhile, some of his rivals struggled under the Spanish sun. Here are the winners and losers from the Spanish Grand Prix:
Winner: Max Verstappen
The Red Bull driver made an impressive start, fending off Carlos Sainz and converting pole position into his fifth victory of the season. He now has an impressive lead in the championship, with 40 career victories under his belt.
Loser: Charles Leclerc
Leclerc had a weekend to forget, qualifying 19th and finishing 11th. It was a disappointing performance for the Monegasque who won this race last year.
Winners: Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton secured his seventh podium finish in a row, finishing second behind Verstappen. Meanwhile, George Russell secured his first podium finish of the season, battling his way from 12th to third. The double podium finish helped Mercedes move up to second in the constructors’ championship.
Loser: Yuki Tsunoda
Tsunoda missed out on points again, finishing 12th after being handed a five-second penalty for forcing Zhou Guanyu off the track.
Winner: Lance Stroll
Stroll took sixth place after passing his Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso, who finished seventh. It was a welcome result for the Canadian who had gone two races without scoring.
Loser: Sergio Perez
Perez struggled throughout the race, finishing in fourth place, and falling further behind Verstappen in the championship race.
Winner: Zhou Guanyu
Zhou secured his second points finish of the season, finishing ninth and helping Alfa Romeo draw level with Haas in the constructors’ championship.
Winners: Alpine
Esteban Ocon finished eighth, securing his third consecutive top-10 finish, while Pierre Gasly finished tenth despite receiving two three-place grid penalties for hindering qualifying.
Loser: Lando Norris
Norris had a promising start, qualifying in third place. However, he was forced to pit for a new front wing after making contact with Hamilton and finished in 17th place.
Summary: Max Verstappen wins his fifth race of the season and extends his lead in the championship. Mercedes secures a double podium finish, while some of Verstappen’s rivals struggle. Zhou Guanyu and Alpine secure points finishes, while Lando Norris suffers an early setback.
Additional Piece: The Red Bull vs. Mercedes rivalry is heating up, with Verstappen and Hamilton locked in an intense battle for the championship. Verstappen has had a strong start to the season, winning five out of seven races and establishing himself as the early favorite for the title. Meanwhile, Hamilton has been consistent, finishing on the podium in every race so far this season.
The battle between the two has been exciting to watch, with both drivers pushing each other to the limit. Verstappen’s aggressive driving style has put him in a strong position, while Hamilton’s experience and skill have kept him in the hunt.
However, the championship race is far from over, with plenty of races still to come. The next race in Monaco will be crucial for both drivers, as it is a difficult track that requires precision and skill. If Verstappen can continue his winning streak, he will have a commanding lead heading into the mid-season break. But if Hamilton can pull off a surprise win, he will be back in the game and ready to challenge Verstappen for the title.
—————————————————-
| Article | Link |
|---|---|
| UK Artful Impressions | Premiere Etsy Store |
| Sponsored Content | View |
| 90’s Rock Band Review | View |
| Ted Lasso’s MacBook Guide | View |
| Nature’s Secret to More Energy | View |
| Ancient Recipe for Weight Loss | View |
| MacBook Air i3 vs i5 | View |
| You Need a VPN in 2023 – Liberty Shield | View |
Max Verstappen continued his relentless march to a third consecutive world championship with a commanding victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but it was not such a pleasant day for some of his rivals under the Spanish sun. Here are our picks for this week’s edition of Winners and Losers…
Winner: Max Verstappen
Once Verstappen fended off Carlos Sainz at the start, the Red Bull driver rarely had to look in the rearview mirror as he converted pole position for a fifth victory in seven races, and set the fastest lap despite his team warned him not to. because he had been given the black and white flag for the limits of the track.
This was Verstappen’s 40th victory, seven years after the first, which incidentally was his first race for Red Bull and also in Spain.
The Dutchman, who has finished in the top two in every race so far this season and finished 26 consecutive Grands Prix, now has an impressive 53-point lead in the championship, which is more than two wins and two fastest lap bonuses. .
Loser: Charles Leclerc
This was a weekend to forget for Charles Leclerc, the Monegasque qualified for Sunday’s race in a painfully low 19th, just a year after starting the same event on pole.
Ferrari made adjustments overnight which meant he had to start from pit lane but although his pace seemed fine in the final part, it was disappointing for the rest of the race and that put him out of contention.
READ MORE: ‘I did my best’ says ‘gutted’ Sainz as he misses out on a podium finish at home
He finished 11th for his third scoring absence in seven races this season and trails Verstappen in the championship by 128 points.
Winners: Mercedes
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reckons the cool and consistent conditions helped the team put the car in the right window as they secured their first double podium of the season with a display achieved with a heavily updated car.
Lewis Hamilton was an impressive second (his last seven podium finishes have been for second) and it is the 11th time he has stepped onto the grandstand in Barcelona.
READ MORE: ‘Our sights are set on victory’: Russell wants more after excellent run to third from P12
George Russell battled his way through the field from 12th to secure an unlikely first podium finish of 2023. Together they helped move Mercedes past Aston Martin to second in the constructors’ championship.
Loser: Yuki Tsunoda
For the second race in a row, Yuki Tsunoda saw a couple of points slip through his fingers. The Japanese racer worked his way into the top 10 with a series of impressive overtakes.
But the AlphaTauri driver was handed a five-second penalty for forcing Zhou Guanyu off the track as they battled for ninth at Turn 1, and that left him 12th at the flag.
Winner: Lance Stroll
Lance Stroll made the most of a weekend off for his Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso to take sixth place.
The Canadian passed Alonso for the first time this season before ending his two-race streak outside the points.
HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the Spanish Grand Prix action as Verstappen dominates to take victory
He was able to relax in the closing stages when Alonso told his team over the radio that he would not attack his teammate, having fought his way up from tenth to seventh after a late stoppage.
Spanish Grand Prix 2023: The battle with Zhou that earned Tsunoda a late penalty in Barcelona
Loser: Sergio Perez
Sergio Pérez’s disappointing run of form continued as he fell further and further behind Verstappen in the title race with a mediocre race weekend performance.
He was eliminated in Q2, following his troubled weekend in Monaco, and then struggled to progress fast enough through the race to finish fourth.
Winner: Zhou Guanyu
Zhou Guanyu followed up his best qualifying performance since the second round in Jeddah with a big push on Sunday afternoon in Barcelona to secure his second points finish of the season.
Ninth matched his best result of 2023 (scored in Australia) and that pushed his Alfa Romeo team level on points with Haas for seventh place in the constructors’ championship.
Loser: Fernando Alonso
Seventh was not a bad result for Alonso in 2022, but the bar has been raised significantly for him this season, as he took five podium finishes from the first six races.
But the two-time world champion Spaniard couldn’t conjure up some magic for his fervent home fans, first making a mistake in qualifying that left him in eighth on the grid, his worst start to the year.
READ MORE: What the teams said – Race day in Spain
In the race, the Aston Martin didn’t look particularly fast on either the soft or the hard and as a result a podium comeback was never realistically on the cards.
Winners: Alpine
Alpine continued his recent recovery in form with a third straight double points finish as Esteban Ocon took eighth, his third straight top-10 finish, and Pierre Gasly finished tenth.
It could have been a lot better if Gasly hadn’t received two three-place grid penalties for hindering qualifying.
Spanish Grand Prix 2023: Alonso overtakes Ocon with a very late move on the main straight
But another fine run of points has cemented their fifth place in the constructors’ championship, putting a good light between them and the bottom five teams.
Loser: Lando Norris
Lando Norris put in one of the best qualifying performances of his career in Spain to finish in an excellent third place.
But he barely spent 30 seconds in that position after the lights went out, the McLaren driver making the smallest contact with Hamilton as the field packed into the opening corners.
He was forced to pit for a new front wing and that left him at the rear of the field, out of contention. Norris said after the race that he would have had trouble staying in the points even without that contact, but at least it would have been fun to watch him try.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.5-winners-and-5-losers-from-the-spanish-grand-prix-who-shone-in-spain.6r4xNdnmHiRndG6BYCCv28.html
—————————————————-