(Reuters) – Team by team analysis of the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, round six of the 22-race season (listed in championship order):
RED BULL (Max Verstappen 1, Sergio Perez 2)
Third win in a row and fourth in six races for Verstappen, who now leads Leclerc by six points. The champion started second but reacted slower than the Ferrari driver. He battled Russell for second but dropped to fourth after going into the gravel on lap nine, blaming the wind. Verstappen made three stops, starting on soft tyres and ending on mediums. His drag reduction system was erratic. Perez led on lap 30, pitting again on lap 40 and obeying orders to let Verstappen pass. The Mexican took a bonus point for fastest lap. Red Bull took the lead in the constructors’ standings from Ferrari.
FERRARI (Carlos Sainz 4, Charles Leclerc retired)
Leclerc was fastest throughout practice and took pole, leading until he lost power on lap 29 – his first retirement of the season. Verstappen might have caught him later on strategy but he looked comfortable. Sainz fell to fifth at the start when the anti-stall kicked in. He was caught by the wind and spun at turn four on lap seven, dropping to 11th. The Spaniard’s car was damaged, sliding around, but he fought back and passed Hamilton late on after Mercedes told the Briton to ease off due to a water leak.
MERCEDES (George Russell 3, Lewis Hamilton 5)
Russell took his second podium finish of the campaign and continued his run as the only driver to finish every race in the top five. He led the race for a while. Hamilton was alone in starting on medium tyres. The seven times champion dropped to 19th after a collision with Magnussen on the first lap left him nursing a puncture. His fight back from 50 seconds behind at the end of lap one was a highlight of the race and left him feeling wins might be possible, with Mercedes overcoming their bouncing car problems with upgrades. The podium was the 250th for the modern Mercedes team.
MCLAREN (Lando Norris 8, Daniel Ricciardo 12)
Norris started 11th and made sure of points in a hot and tough race made even harder by him suffering tonsillitis. Ricciardo, who lined up ninth and was passed by his team mate on track, said it had been a struggle with little grip.
ALFA ROMEO (Valtteri Bottas 6, Guanyu Zhou retired)
Bottas ran as high as third early on and his points helped Alfa reduce the gap to McLaren to 11 points. The Finn was passed late on by Sainz and Hamilton, who had fresher tyres. Zhou was heading for points when he had to retire with an unspecified technical issue.
ALPINE (Esteban Ocon 7, Fernando Alonso 9)
Alonso went from last on the grid, due to an engine change, to solid points. He was 12th already after nine laps. Ocon, who started 12th, has now scored in five races this season.
ALPHATAURI (Yuki Tsunoda 10, Pierre Gasly 13)
Tsunoda scored for the third time this season and is now level on points with Ricciardo. His final stop was to prevent Vettel getting ahead. Gasly picked up front wing damage on the opening lap and then collided with Stroll, for which he took full responsibility.
HAAS (Mick Schumacher 14, Kevin Magnussen 17)
Schumacher qualified in the top 10 and moved up to sixth on the opening lap, running a two stop strategy that soon unravelled. Magnussen started eighth but was in the gravel before the end of lap one after a collision with Hamilton, which also gave his car a puncture.
ASTON MARTIN (Sebastian Vettel 11, Lance Stroll 15)
Aston’s controversial updated chassis failed to emulate Red Bull but Vettel gained five places on his grid position while Stroll moved up two. Stroll lost half a minute in the pits after the clash with Gasly as the mechanics checked
WILLIAMS (Nicholas Latifi 16, Alex Albon 18)
Albon made four stops and suffered significant damage to the floor after his first, which meant he had lots of tyre degradation and lost speed.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by Stephen Coates)
