F1 Spanish Grand Prix: Max Verstappen wins as Leclerc retires
22nd May 2022Max Verstappen led a one-two finish for Red Bull as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was forced to retire from the lead with a mechanical issue.
How the race unfolded…
It was an even start from the pole sitter, Leclerc and Verstappen but the Ferrari Monegasque led into the first corner. Mercedes’ George Russell moved up to third place before the first corner as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz suffered with anti-stall at the start.
But, Russell’s final podium spot came under immediate threat from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez who made contact with the young Briton into the second corner.
As the pack ventured around turn four, on the opening lap, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton made contact with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen. Magnussen ended up skipping across the gravel while Hamilton suffered a puncture with his front left tyre. After returning to the pits, as quickly as they could, Hamilton dropped down to P19 while Magnussen fell to last.
On lap eight, Sainz’s rear tyres gave way into turn four which caused his car to spun out on its own and he ended up in the gravel trap. Fortunately, the Spaniard was able to return to the track without beaching himself into the trap.
A lap later, Verstappen had a carbon-copy incident at the same corner, as Sainz, and ended up in the gravel trap himself. Fortunately, the Dutch driver was able to return to the track. It was suspected a gust of wind had knocked his RB18’s stability off balance.
In the early stages of the race, Russell came over his respective team radio complaining of ‘cool car’ warnings despite driving in clean air, 10-seconds behind Leclerc.
Of the front runners, Russell and Verstappen jumped into the pit lane to make their mandatory stop at the end of lap 13. Verstappen, and Red Bull, were the quickest to change their tyres but the Dutch world champion returned to the pit lane behind Russell.
As the race wore on, Verstappen was plagued with a malfunctioning drag reduction system in the early laps of the race. As he chased Russell for P2, down the pit straight, the DRS flap would open, open but quickly close or not open at all.
However, on lap 24, Verstappen finally had his DRS activiated down the main straight and made a move to overtake turn one. The overtake looked done, as he moved down the inside line, but Russell managed to squeeze his car back up the inside of turn two.
As the two drivers ventured around turn three, Russell squeezed Verstappen to the edge of the track. This was quickly noted by the stewards but it was soon declared no further action was necessary.
On lap 27, Leclerc suffered a mechanical failure as he reported his car lost power. The Monegasque managed to return to the pit lane to retire from the race. This meant Russell inherited the race lead.
As Leclerc returned to the pit lane, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll made contact with Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly into the first chicane. The Canadian was sent into a spin but he was, fortunately, able to continue.
The lead of the race changed hands once again as Perez managed to overtake Russell into turn one, on lap 30, with assistance from DRS.
Despite a fall to the bottom to the field, after his contact with Magnussen, Hamilton managed to recover up to P6. When the race reached its 40th lap, the seven-time world champion sat nine seconds behind Sainz, in P5, but over 10 seconds ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, in P7.
On lap 44, Verstappen gave up the lead of the race to his teammate, Perez, as he came in for his final stop of the race. In the stop, he changed his worn soft, red-ringed, compound tyres for a fresh set of the yellow-ringed mediums. The lead was later swapped around again between the Red Bull drivers as Perez was instructed to give up his lead.
Hamilton’s recovery drive continued as he began to eye up a P4 finish, which was occupied by Sainz, despite falling to the bottom of the field. On lap 60, Hamilton secured fourth place from the Spanish driver as he outbroke the Ferrari into turn one.
With only two laps left on the board, both Mercedes drivers were issued to ‘lift and coast’ as they were at risk of not being able to finish the race. It was reported to be a suspected water leak on the power unit.
Podium:
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull
- Sergio Perez, Red Bull
- George Russell, Mercedes
That’s it for the article: F1 Spanish Grand Prix: Max Verstappen wins as Leclerc retires! What do you think, would Max Verstappen win without Sergio Perez sacrificing his track position? Let us know in the comments!
Read more Formula One here!
- F1 Spanish Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc secures pole in qualifying
- F1 Spanish Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc tops final practice
- F1 Spanish GP: Charles Leclerc tops FP2 as Mercedes look promising
- F1 Spanish Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc tops FP1
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
