♦ No incidents on the opening lap for a change but Lewis Hamilton lost his lead at the first corner to Max Verstappen, while Charles Leclerc slipped past Valtteri Bottas to take third place. Not a great start for the two Mercedes-AMG drivers.
♦ There was some puzzlement as Pierre Gasly seemed to have started in the wrong position, which the Stewards looked into. They later found that he had moved too soon at the start and gave him a 5-second penalty.
♦ Although Leclerc had gotten in front of Bottas, he could not run away and the Mercedes-AMG driver was cautious too. Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez ere getting closer to the front.
♦ On lap 9, Scuderia Alphatauri’s Yuki Tsunoda had to pull to the side of the track as his car seemed to lose power (it was later reported to be a fuel pressure issue). His parked position being hazardous brought the Safety Car out. The day before, the Japanese driver had made critical remarks about what he felt was difference in performance between his car and team mate Gasly’s – but later apologised to his team, saying he was frustrated by the way the car behaved.
♦ The Safety Car was only required for one lap and by lap 10, the race resumed, with Verstappen still ahead and trying to extend the gap from Hamilton again.
♦ While the Safety Car was on the track, Antonio Giovinazzi raced into the Alfa Romeo pits to get the tyres changed… but a delay saw him fuming for longer than necessary and when he rejoined, he had dropped all the way to the back.
♦ Lance Stroll was waiting to pounce on Fernando Alonso the moment the Safety Car moved off, and when he did so, he timed it perfectly and powered past the Spaniard on the outside of Turn 4 to take 10th position.
♦ Going to lap 20, Hamilton was still behind Verstappen but the gap was not changing much. However, the British driver had concerns about his tyres although he is well known at being able to manage them when things get tough.
♦ At the one-third mark – 22 laps – the watching began as the leaders waited to see who would head to the pits first. The Safety Car had made a one-stop strategy a realistic possibility but for Verstappen, the gap was still too small. Further back in the field, though, the rush to the pits started as one driver after another came in.
♦ Bottas came in on lap 24 and on the next lap, Verstappen decided to also come in and spent just 4.2 seconds getting the tyres changed. When he rejoined, he slotted into fifth, just behind team mate Perez. But it was only momentarily as Perez dutifully moved aside to let him start the chase. Hamilton, in spite of tyre concerns, decided to stay out a bit longer and see if he could get a good gap in the lead.
♦ Toto Wolff was unhappy seeing that Haas driver Nikita Mazepin making it difficult for Hamilton to get by. He informed the officials and asked for action to be taken to make sure the Russian driver did not cause unnecessary problems. When other drivers have complained about him, Mazepin has used his rookie ‘inexperience’ as an excuse.
♦ Hamilton was finally called in on lap 29 and a hard-charging Verstappen quickly took over the lead. The chase was on again for Hamilton, now with fresh tyres and a gap of 2 seconds to close. As an indication of his determination, he set the fastest lap as the race crossed the halfway point.
♦ At the other end of the field, Nicholas Latifi pushed Giovinazzi to make a mistake on lap 37 and swept by to take 16th position, just behind his Williams team mate Georg Russell. Sebastian Vettel and Alonso, both past world champions, were also engaged in a battle for 11th place.
♦ Ricciardo was trying whatever he could to prevent Perez from passing him and eventually, his weaving was noticeable and he received an official warning (via his team) to stop such driving tactics.
♦ On lap 43, Hamilton was asked to come in for a set of mediums which would be advantageous when the race entered its final stages. His position was taken by Bottas who kept the Red Bull in sight and when Hamilton got back, he was 22 seconds behind Verstappen. He was about a second quicker per lap than the Red Bull driver, and if he kept that pace, he would catch up by the last lap as 22 laps remained.
♦ By lap 48, Perez finally out-manoeuvered Ricciardo on the outside and grabbed fifth place, with Leclerc next on his list.
♦ On lap 53, Hamilton was trailing his team mate and ready to pass, but Bottas didn’t seem to want to give up his position readily. But he got called in for another set of tyres so Hamilton was able to see Verstappen right in his sights. The gap was around 10 seconds and the number of laps remaining in the race was 12.
♦ With 9 laps remaining, Bottas was in fourth but with fresh tyres, he would be able to displace Lerclerc (who had done only one tyre change) and get up on the podium. There was even the possibility of second place if the Red Bull tyres couldn’t last till the end.
♦ As the 60th lap started, Hamilton was slipstreaming Verstappen’s car and going into Turn 1, the Mercedes-AMG surged past on the outside and took the lead. Having dropped a place, the Red Bull team decided to bring him their car in for a new set of tyres, by which time the gap to Hamilton had stretched to 23 seconds. He therefore had to just keep ahead of Bottas who was about 11 seconds behind. The new tyres gave Verstappen to set a very fast lap so he could get that 1 extra point.
♦ Once again, it was Hamilton who took the chequered flag at the Spanish Grand Prix, the victory being his 98th in his 14 years of racing in F1. The top four finishers ended the race as they had started it, and Tsunoda was the only non-finisher.
