Race Week in Spain
2024 FORMULA 1 ARAMCO GRAN PRIMIO DE ESPANA
It's race week in Spain.
F1 stops at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.
Spanish GP History: One of the oldest GPs on the F1 calendar, the first Spanish Grand Prix was placed on the official F1 calendar in 1951. The GP was held once more during the 1950s at Petralbes and then began as a consistent race during the 1967 season held at Jarama Circuit in Madrid. Catalunya became the host site in 1991 and has hosted the GP since.
About the Track: It is a motorsport race track at 4.657 km (2.894 mi) in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was built in 1991 and began hosting the Spanish Grand Prix. Construction also coincided with the Olympic Games scheduled to take place in Barcelona the next year, where the circuit acted as the start and finish line for the cycling event. The circuit's F1 deal was extended to 2025 as the last year the Spanish Grand Prix will be held at Catalunya. A new circuit in Madrid will replace it in 2026.
Weekend Highlights:
The Constructors & Driver’s Championship is still up in the air. While I believe Max Verstappen will clinch his fourth Driver’s Title this season, Red Bull's dominance does feel like it’s fading. We were used to seeing winning gaps in the 20+ second range; even in the races Max is winning this season, the margins are getting smaller. There is a good chance that a team other than Red Bull wins one of the next triple-header weekends.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen continues to assert his dominance, maintaining his position as the front-runner. However, the recent races have left us with some uncertainties. On the other hand, Sergio Perez, fresh off a new contract extension, faced a series of setbacks with back-to-back DNFs.
McLaren's performance has been standout. They consistently demonstrate their speed week after week. They came close to securing their second win of the season and have accumulated more points than any other team in the last four races, a remarkable 116 points in four races.
Mercedes took a step forward. With the first podium of the season with George in third place and Lewis in fourth, Montreal was a much-needed successful weekend for Mercedes. Ferrari left the door wide open in Montreal, and Mercedes took full advantage.
Did Ferrari have a Monaco Hangover? Unfortunately, Ferrari missed a golden opportunity in Montreal. Was it a Monaco hangover? They had a chance to bridge the gap between the constructors and drivers championships, but they failed to capitalize on it. Ferrari's desire to challenge Red Bull is evident, but they might find themselves battling McLaren for second place if they don't step up their game.
VCARB keeps going. Usually, Yuki gets the highlights this season, but Montreal was very much in Daniel Ricciardo’s favor. Both cars reached Q3; Yuki started in eighth and Daniel in fifth position. Yuki would have a late racing excursion while in ninth place, which knocked him out of the points, and Ricciardo brought it home in eighth place, bringing home four more points for VCARB—Sitting comfortably in sixth position in the constructors’ championship with 28 points.
Alpine bounces back. After a highly controversial Monaco GP, Alpine had a huge double-point finish in Montreal. Gasly finished in ninth place and Ocon in tenth, so the team took home three much-needed points. A double-point finish eased the tension in the Alpine team; without that strong finish, the tone could have been very different. Montreal was a much-needed weekend for the Alpine team.
Haas missed the mark in Montreal. Haas had a hot streak, but the last two races were short. With the double DNF crash in Monaco and a miscalculation in Montreal pit strategies, Haas has been unable to keep up with the streak of success they were having.
That was a big let-down for Williams. What started as a very promising weekend. Logan and Alex both found themselves in Q2 for the first time together. After a strong Q2 and Q3, Albon started in tenth and Logan in thirteenth. The team would end the race with a double DNF, Logan spinning and making contact with the wall, and Albon being collected by Sainz in a spin that would take him out of the race. Montreal had so much promise for Williams, and it ended sourly; hopefully, the team can shake this bad luck and get some strong finishes during the European races.
What team is in the hot seat the most? Stake F1 has still yet to score a point. Even with Bottas’s back-to-back season-high thirteenth-place finishes in Monaco and Montreal, Stake is still looking to find success this season.
