Sebastian Vettel finished eleventh in the extensively modified Aston Martin. “It’s a shame that we can’t take anything with us,” said Vettel on Sky: “I’m satisfied so far, but it’s eleventh place, I’ve driven worse and was at the front, that’s what this sport is like.”
High temperatures make for severe conditions
The high temperatures bothered all teams even before the start. Head of Mercedes Motorsport Toto Wolff warned of melting tires on the asphalt, which at times was more than 49 degrees. “The heat makes things a little more unpredictable,” said Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko on Sky. His chief pilot Verstappen rolled onto the track just a few seconds before the pit lane closed. problems? “There were some,” said Marko.
At the start there was little to see. Verstappen got off to a good start and put pressure on his World Cup rival Leclerc from second place. The day before, the Monegasque had conquered pole position with a fabulous lap when Verstappen was no longer able to counteract due to a technical defect. Russell also got off to a good start, moving up to third place.
Hamilton and Sainz have problems
His teammate Hamilton, on the other hand, had to go to the garage after lap one. Haas driver Kevin Magnussen collided with the Brit and caused tire damage on the Silver Arrow. Hamilton was initially far behind, having always won in Barcelona in the previous five years. The 37-year-old advised his team to take it easy on the engine instead of trying to catch up. But Mercedes refused the record champion the early end of the day.
Things didn’t go well for local hero Carlos Sainz either. First he lost two places at the start and was only fifth. Then on lap seven he spun and slid into the gravel trap. To the horror of the tens of thousands of spectators, the series of accidents, mistakes and bad luck of the past few weeks continued for the Madrilenians.
Leclerc’s car gives up – Verstappen fails and wins
The shock for the Verstappen fans followed a little later: The 24-year-old was pushed into the gravel by a strong gust of wind and fell back to fourth place. His team-mate Perez let him pass quickly, but he got stuck behind Russell’s Mercedes due to a defective overtaking aid. “We can’t even get the DRS to work, unbelievable,” Verstappen fumed on the radio.
Everything pointed to an easy win for Leclerc. But then the drama: on lap 28, the Ferrari driver suddenly slowed down. “No, no, I’ve lost power,” exclaimed the Monegasse. With the last of his engine power, he rolled into the pits, his race was over. The Ferrari mechanics gave Leclerc a comforting hug, and he waved to the audience again from the pit wall. “It came out of nowhere. I didn’t feel anything before,” said Leclerc.