Five Formula 1 Winners & Losers: Spanish Grand Prix

Photo by Mark Thompson from Getty Images

I missed the Monaco Grand Prix last week because I was on vacation, and this is a day late because I was sick as a dog yesterday.

Sue me. Sue me over this free content that I give you. I dare you.

Author’s Note: Please do not sue me I will cry.

Let’s get into the Spanish Grand Prix winners and losers.

Losers

5. Charles Leclerc

Charles, for his credit, did his best to get his Ferrari into 11th.

It’s not his fault that his broken car meant he qualified 19th, and that his team ignored his tire request through the race.

Still, a very frustrating weekend for the Monegasque driver.

4. Yuki Tsunoda

It was a really good race for Yuki, until an unlikely (and, in my opinion, questionable) 5 second penalty took him out of the points to finish in P12.

It doesn’t take away from the great drive he had, though.

3. Logan Sargeant

Driving Formula 1 cars is a different beast than anything else, so I’m willing to be patient with rookies. Especially if they are in bad cars like the Williams seems to be this season.

But man, this is not a good start to Logan Sargeant’s F1 career at all.

The results need to improve quickly, or else Williams could have a tough decision to make.

2. Vlatteri Bottas

I can appreciate that Bottas is pure relaxing vibes right now, but that doesn’t mean his races need to be.

His pace was slow, and his strategy was nonsensical.

I had no idea what he or Alfa Romeo were doing with his race yesterday.

1. Lando Norris

Poor, poor Lando.

He had a fantastic qualifying session to put McLaren in 3rd, which is perfection considering the frustrating year McLaren has had so far.

But on the opening lap, with Hamilton gaining on Sainz, Sainz lost pace forcing Hamilton to have to slow down in the corner.

The result? Lando smacks his front wing into Hamilton’s tire, which forces him to make a first lap pit stop and takes a possibly wonderful day for McLaren into a terrible 17th place finish.

Nothing he could do.

Winners

5. Zhou Guanyu

While his teammate Valtteri Bottas was having a horrible race, Zhou Guanyu was having a fantastic race, finishing 9th and getting Alfa Romeo some much needed points.

Zhou has continued to impress these first few seasons.

4. Lance Stroll

I have been critical of Stroll this season, mainly due to how well Fernando Alonso has been doing this season and how his performances were potentially costing Aston Martin 2nd in the constructors championship.

But this week was the opposite. Stroll finished 6th and finally got Aston some solid points to help their constructors title fight.

3. Max Verstappen

My favorite version of Max Verstappen is a bored Max Verstappen.

There was the 2020 race in Silverstone where he was so far ahead he was making sure his race engineer was staying hydrated.

Yesterday, he was so far ahead that he kept testing track limits and even went for fastest lap despite his engineer telling him it wasn’t necessary, as he was only one track limits violation away from a 5 second penalty (where he still would have won by 13 seconds).

After he got fastest lap, he jokingly agreed to finally stop pushing.

When Verstappen is competitive and frustrated, he can get annoying to the F1 fanbase.

When he’s enjoying a nice Sunday drive, he’s very very funny.

2. Lewis Hamilton

The Mercedes upgrades seem to be working.

Hamilton had fantastic pace all weekend, and a 2nd place finish was a great result for him, even if it was still very far away from Red Bull and Verstappen.

1. George Russell

But it’s his teammate that gets the top spot this weekend, because while Lewis started 4th and ended up finishing 2nd, George Russell started 12th and ended up 3rd.

Regardless, it was a fantastic weekend for Mercedes, as their new side pods may get them back on the path for title contention.

Not this year, obviously. This year is done and dusted.