Formula 1 2024: Spanish Grand Prix

Track Insights:
The track at the Spanish Grand Prix, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, has a rich history in Formula 1. Its first race was held in 1991, following the popularity of the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona. Over the years, the track has witnessed many memorable moments, including intense battles between legendary drivers like Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. The circuit's layout, with its mix of high-speed corners and challenging braking zones, has made it a favorite among both drivers and fans. The Spanish Grand Prix continues to be a highlight of the Formula 1 calendar, showcasing the best of racing in the heart of Catalonia.

This track sees drivers go through another set of 14 curves, corners and chicanes. There is 2 DRS zones and a lap length of 4.657km. Drivers are tasked with navigating this notoriously narrow and unforgiving circuit 66 times for a total of 307.236km.

Starting Grid:
Pole Position: Lando Norris: Mclaren
P2: Max Verstappen: Red Bull
P3: Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes
P4: George Russell: Mercedes
P5: Charles Leclerc: Ferrari
P6: Carlos Sainz: Ferrari
P7: Pierre Gasly: Alpine
P8: Sergio Perez: Red Bull
P9: Esteban Ocon: Alpine
P10: Oscar Piastri: Mclaren
P11: Fernando Alonso: Aston Martin
P12: Valtteri Bottas: Sauber
P13: Niko Hulkenburg: HAAS
P14: Lance Stroll: Aston Martin
P15: Zhou Guanyu: Sauber
P16: Kevin Magnussen: HAAS
P17: Yuki Tsunoda: VCRB
P18: Daniel Ricardo: VCRB
P19: Alex Albon: Williams
P20: Logan Sargeant: Williams

Race Highlights:
This season is really shaping up to be a better one than recent. Mclaren, Ferrari and even Mercedes are putting in the work to give Red Bull a run for their money and it shows. That being said, the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was eh in this writer’s opinion. To spoil the end of the race, we had no retirements and not even one safety car. We could call it a pretty “clean” race if you will. So let’s get into it.

To start, a notable change to the grid was that of Alex Albon and his Williams would start from the pit lane after changing his power unit under parc ferme. He was also the only driver on the grid to not start on a set of soft tires-opting for mediums. Once the lights went out and the race was underway, we got a first taste of the drama when pole sitter Lando Norris did his absolute best- although with a less than stellar start- to block Max Verstappen from getting past in him in turn one. His move however opened the door for a sweeping George Russell who cut across the track to overtake literally everyone in front of him to take the lead from the outside. Buuuuuuut- his lead lasted a whole three laps before Verstappen came charging in his Red Bull to overtake him for the lead.

As we moved through the race, we saw a good number of first pit stops around laps 13/14. Something that we don’t see much of is slow pit stops from multiple teams at the same time. Ferrari had a significantly slow pitstop with Carlos Sainz, coming in at 5.3 seconds (a “good” pit stop is about 2 seconds). Alpine also had an issue with Pierre Gasly’s pit stop, ringing in at 6.7 seconds (average pit stop is around 2.2 seconds) due to a stuck rear tire. While Alpine is fighting for middle of the pack, Sainz’s pit stop harmed him in his fight with Russell. Ferrari’s struggles seemed to be continuing from Montreal as both Leclerc and Sainz struggled for pace and were in constant battle with each other. Hovering around lap 18, the Spaniard’s troubles persisted when his battle for 6th with the Mercedes of Hamilton culminated in a dramatic ‘touching’ with Sainz complaining to his team that the 7x World Champion and future taker of his Ferrari seat, forced him off and demanded he give the place back. The stewards however did not agree and the race continued.

We get about half way through the race. We’ll say laps 34/35 for reference. Max is way out in front. His closest rival being Russell who was around eight seconds behind (Side note: If George is not in 1st, he’s a f*****g menace with no pace. And I will die on that hill. Pray for anyone behind him. If you’re in front of him, he’s an amazing buffer). However, this wouldn’t stop a charging Mclaren headed by Lando Norris. He hunted him down before making his move and overtaking on lap 35. This put Russell in a precarious situation as Norris had opened him up to another fight but this one was with his teammate- Sir Lewis Hamilton. Interestingly enough, the pit wall decided this was the time to bring George in for a tire change- a hard set to be specific. A few laps later, Verstappen’s lead was shrinking significantly and he had yet to come in for a new set of tires.

Here is where things got interesting. Lap 41, Verstappen gets called in for a stop, Norris takes the lead. Lap 46, Norris comes in- a slow stop-, Verstappen retakes the lead. Lap 51, gap between P1 and P2, 6.6 seconds. Lando’s opportunity to close this gap to the Red Bull was closing and quickly. With one lap left, he got the gap down to 2.3 seconds. However, his charge would fall short as the Dutchman secured his third win in Spain. Norris, visibly upset took P2 and surprisingly, Sir Lewis Hamilton grabbed his first podium of the season in P3. As a very special note because everyone should know that we are a Sir Lewis Hamilton Stan Blog, this P3 marks his 18th consecutive season with a podium win. We head to Austria next where we are gifted not only a Grand Prix but a Sprint as well.

Podium:
1st: Max Verstappen: Red Bull (25)
2nd: Lando Norris: Mclaren (19)
3rd: Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes (15)