Lewis Hamilton conquered the FORMULA 1 EMIRATES GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA 2019 and achieved his third consecutive victory at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, taking over the leadership of the world championship. Moreover, Mercedes has clinched the fifth one-two finish of the season with the second position of Valtteri Bottas. It was an undisputed dominance of the Silver arrows, which were joined on the podium by Max Verstappen (Red Bull). Carlos Sainz (McLaren) finished in a commendable eighth position, in front of the 87,511 spectators who came out to the Circuit today -160,428 in total on the four Grand Prix days.
The first race of the European tour and the subsequent upgrades introduced into the vehicles, promised to provide for certain equality, but Lewis Hamilton swept away any possible forecast and statistic figures. To begin with, the Englishman broke the tradition of the poleman taking the victory (which happened in 21 races out of the 29 staged at the Circuit). Hamilton took that privilege from his team-mate Valtteri Bottas, after overtaking him shortly after the start. From that moment on, the Stevenage-born driver offered his own recital, clocking one fastest lap after the other with an unreachable pace, something that is becoming a custom for him in Barcelona. In 2016, the Catalan racetrack had witnessed 10 different winners in ten years, but Hamilton started to mark his own era from that moment on.
The start was one of the two most crucial moments of the race. Hamilton, Bottas and Vettel drove in parallel waiting to overcome the test of the first corner. Hamilton took the initiative, followed by Bottas and Vettel. The latter bore the brunt and lost all options when his single-seater was forced to go wide to avoid a collision, flatting out with his front right tyre. Max Verstappen took the chance to put himself on third position, where he remained until the chequered flag, after a discreet but impeccable race.
The focus of attention during the race went to both Ferrari drivers swapping positions and strategies. Vettel, having one of his tyres damaged, saw Charles Leclerc in his rear view mirrors coming closer and closer. The Monegasque driver was able to overtake him and made his own pit stop strategy. Vettel changed his tyres shortly after to avoid loosing pace, thus disclosing his two-stop strategy. Leclerc had planned to only stop once, which would have given him the fourth position. But the reality was different. The safety car was deployed, and the rookie of the Scuderia went back into the pit lane. That was the moment for Vettel to secure the fourth position, while Leclerc had to settle for fifth.
And while all of this was happening, a lot was going on behind the top 5. The safety car had to be deployed in the last third of the race, after an incident between Lando Norris and Lance Stroll, which was another point of inflection for all of them. Pierre Gasly, for example, was able to take the sixth position without any incidence, something that his closest rivals (Haas) were not able to do. Grosjean and Magnussen touched each other twice, but the battle went finally to the Danish driver, who finished seventh.
Behind Magnussen, Carlos Sainz. The McLaren driver thrilled the fans with his many takeovers. Starting from the twelfth position of the grid, the local driver did not stop working throughout the race, but it was not an easy job. Albon, Ricciardo and Grosjean were some of the men he was forced to overtake. Carlos Sainz did not break the tradition and scored again at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. “If there is a race in which you have to take a few more risks it’s your home race. It must have been the support of the fans, because the car did not have the necessary pace for a good race today”, the McLaren driver said when he stepped out of his car. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) and Romain Grosjean (Haas) took the last points available to be scored this weekend, for the ninth and tenth place.
The 29th edition of the F1 Spanish Grand Prix provided for unique moments that continue adding to the history of the top motor sport competition. Among the dignitaries that came out to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya there was the President of the Catalan Government, Quim Torra, who talked about the future of Formula 1 at the Circuit. “We are hopeful and confident that everything will end up fine” he said about the negotiations between Formula 1 and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. “The country needs to continue having Formula 1”, he concluded.
Tight victory of Nyck de Vries in F2
Nyck de Vries took the victory in Formula 2 this morning at the Circuit. The ART Grand Prix team driver, improved his fourth position on the starting grid at length, just as Luca Ghiotto, who finished second. The Italian driver drew everyone’s attention today, with impressive takeovers until the last lap, in which he managed to move up to second. Moreover, the UNI-Virtuosi team driver managed to take away valuable points from his closest rivals in the championship, namely Latifi (DAMS) and Aitken (Campos Racing), who finished on sixth and eighth position today. Callum Ilott (Sauber Junior Team by Charouz) stepped for the first time on the podium, after fishing third. The heat was less positive for drivers like Mick Schumacher, who received a 5-second penalty after touching Aitken. The German finished eventually on twelfth position.
Surprises in F3
The last race of FIA Formula 3 offered all types of attractions. After 22 laps, Jehan Daruvala (PREMA Racing) managed to take the win. The Indonesian driver took the lead right after the start and did not leave the position until the end, much to the detriment of Niko Kari (Trident), who started from pole and finished on third. In between them finished Juri Vips (Hitech Grand Prix). In order to provide for more excitement, the championship establishes that the top eighth positions of the first race are inverted for the second, and it really worked. There were several takeovers among the mid positions, as well as a few incidents, which led to the deployment of the safety car on two occasions. Yesterday’s race winner Swartzmann, almost made it on the podium, as he finished fourth, after starting from eighth.
Andlauer dethrones Ammermueller in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup
Julien Andlauer had already shown his talent yesterday, but today he confirmed his supremacy at the Circuit with a victory. The BWT Lechner Racing team driver dethroned the King of Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Michael Ammermueller. His team-mate was the winner of the two last events staged by the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup at the Circuit. Today, Ammermueller finished third. Good result for the team that wears the colours of the Racing Point team. The second participant to take the chequered flag was Ayhancan Guven (Martinet by Almeras). Despite having a nice battle, the top three managed to keep their starting positions intact.
Formula 1 will continue at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya next Tuesday and Wednesday, with the post-Grand Prix tests. All holders of a ticket for the FORMULA 1 EMIRATES GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA 2019, as well as Circuit Members and Officials, have free admission to the tests.
