Max Verstappen looked like he was going to win his second win of the year at the Spanish Grand Prix. However, a tactical master class of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team and Lewis Hamilton denied this feat.
Verstappen got the jump on pole sitter Hamilton in the first corner to take the lead. Hamilton continued, but could not overtake Verstappen even after the first pit stop.
The race was predicted to be a one-stop, but Hamilton made the risky decision to look for fresh tires on lap 42. Verstappen stayed out and that ultimately became the wrong decision when Hamilton recaptured victory on lap 60 with a slight DRS overtaking maneuver. Verstappen then pitted to get a set of new soft tires and set the fastest lap.
Verstappen said: “I tried everything I could today and took the lead at Turn 1, but from then on we just lacked a bit of speed for Mercedes. Of course we wanted to win, but I can’t feel too disappointed as I did everything I could and maximized the chances. Even if we had looked at a different strategy and made two stops and pitted before them, we wouldn’t have made up the time because they were just faster than us.
“I know how fast I can drive and where the limit of the car is and when you can take a free stop behind it, it will be easy for you to pursue a different strategy. I knew pretty well that when he pitted for the second time he would come back to me a bit like Hungary in 2019 with the new tires, and although I did everything I could, I was a bit of a sitting duck.
“The speed difference on the tires made it easy for Lewis, and then I was able to at least hold second place and set the fastest lap. It was just one day when we lacked a bit of speed and the second was the best possible result. Now we need to look at why they seem to have leaped up a bit in terms of racing pace. “
Pérez – “I knew what to do”
Sergio Perez posted his second fifth place of the season. Pérez knew that he would still have a lot of work to do to get on the podium, especially with a starting position of eight.
The biggest obstacle he faced during the entire race was the McLaren F1 Team driver Daniel Ricciardowho spent many of the early stages as fifth. He finally cleared it on lap 46, but was too far away from it Charles Leclerc in fourth place at this point to climb even higher.
“This is not an easy track to overtake, which made for a tough race. We had a good first lap and gained a few positions, but it took me a long time to get past Daniel. The McLaren was extremely fast on the straights so it was really difficult to try a move, but we made sure it worked outside of Turn 1.
“I knew what to do, I went ahead and made it work, but we didn’t have much tire life after that so it was difficult. I’m getting safer with the car now and every time I’m at the end of a weekend I think, “I wish the weekend was just beginning.”
“Every track is different too, so what I’m learning here will be different from what I need in Monaco, but the main thing is that I still adapt and hopefully soon be 100%. I’m really looking forward to Monaco, especially with this car as it has historically been competitive and I think we have a chance to win. “
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