Monday, 16 May 2016

2016 Spanish Grand Prix Review, Max Verstappen Wins!

Review of the fifth round of the 2016 F1 season at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, on the outskirts of Barcelona, for the Spanish Grand Prix, includes thoughts on Max Verstappen first Grand Prix win and thoughts on Mercedes duo Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

Overall, I thought it was the best race of the season so far. Lewis Hamilton on pole and Nico Rosberg on the front row for Sunday's race, you would have thought it will be another one-two Mercedes finish. Until the fourth corner of the first lap in the race when Nico Rosberg who got around the outside of Hamilton in turn one, but coming out of turn three Hamilton and Rosberg collided ending the race of both Mercedes drivers. In my opinion it was a racing incident, possibly a clumsy attempt to overtake from Hamilton a complete poor error of judgement from the Formula 1 World Champion.



With both Mercedes drivers out, Daniel Ricciardo took the lead with Max Verstappen behind and Sebastian Vettel gaining. Then on lap 39, Vettel came in for his third and final stop, while Ricciardo stayed out for another four laps he returned were he was behind Vettel, despite on fresher tyres he could not overtake his former team-mate.

Despite all of that, Verstappen and Räikkönen opted not to pit for fresher tyres with Verstappen leading and Räikkönen and co catching up on the young leader. With Räikkönen closing on Verstappen was not enough at the end to overtake him, to give Max Verstappen with his first race win of the season and becoming the youngest ever race winner in Formula One just only eighteen years old beating Sebastian Vettel old record at twenty years old. Also, the first Dutch driver to win a Grand Prix to conclude this seasons Spanish Grand Prix.



While, Kimi Räikkönen finished in second place in the Ferrari, Räikkönen was half a second behind Verstappen at the end.

Meanwhile, Räikkönen's team-mate Sebastian Vettel finished in third place in the Ferrari to complete the podium, Vettel was six seconds behind Verstappen at the end of the sixty-six lap race.

Rate the Teams and Drivers

Mercedes - 5
Lewis Hamilton - 5 (pole, DNF, Collision with Nico Rosberg)
Nico Rosberg - 6 (DNF, Collision with Lewis Hamilton)

Ferrari - 8
Sebastian Vettel - 8 (finished third)
Kimi Räikkönen - 9 (finished second)

Williams - 7
Valtteri Bottas - 8 (finished fifth)
Felipe Massa - 7 (finished eighth)

Red Bull Racing - 9
Daniel Ricciardo - 9 (finished fourth)
Max Verstappen - 10 (race win)

Force India - 6
Nico Hülkenberg - 6 (DNF, Oil leak)
Sergio Pérez - 7 (finished seventh)

Renault - 5
Kevin Magnussen - 5 (finished fifteenth, lap down)
Jolyon Palmer - 6 (finished thirteenth, lap down)

Toro Rosso - 8
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 9 (finished sixth)
Daniil Kvyat - 7 (finished tenth, fastest lap, lap down)

Sauber - 5
Marcus Ericsson - 6 (finished twelfth, lap down)
Felipe Nasr - 5 (finished fourteenth, lap down)

McLaren - 7
Fernando Alonso - 8 (DNF, Engine)
Jenson Button - 7 (finished ninth, lap down)

Manor - 5
Rio Haryanto - 5 (finished seventeenth, lap down)
Pascal Wehrlein - 6 (finished sixteenth, lap down)

Haas - 6
Romain Grosjean - 6 (DNF, Brakes)
Esteban Gutiérrez - 6 (finished eleventh, lap down)

Next stop Monte Carlo for the Monaco Grand Prix in two weeks time.

No comments:

Post a Comment