Verstappen breaks Hamilton’s hegemony and scores sublimely on the circuit where he booked his first victory

Every driver is different and every driver excels in different conditions. For example, the current Formula 1 grid has true street fighters, while others feel great on extremely smooth asphalt, for example. What about the form of riders on the track we travel to next weekend? In the form check we see who is good at the circuit that is on the agenda. After a thrilling Monaco Grand Prix, the drivers travel to Barcelona. On the circuit, which is known as a track where the teams can test well, some teams will want to take a step.

The Spanish Grand Prix was a prey for Lewis Hamilton for years. The seven-time world champion has won the race six times since 2014 and is tied with Michael Schumacher. In recent years, the other drivers have tried to break Mercedes’ hegemony. However, other riders do not have enough experience in Spain in recent years and are not included in this form check. This is of course about the rookies (Nyck de Vries, Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant, ed.), Zhou Guanyu and Nico Hülkenberg.

Hamilton’s hegemony broken

Hamilton therefore has an excellent past on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The Mercedes driver scored two victories in the past three editions and once he crossed the line in fifth. In 2020 there was no doubt who would take the victory. The man from Stevenage started from pole position and did not lose first place during the race. In the end, Hamilton crossed the line under the Spanish sun with more than 23 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, who managed to catch Valtteri Bottas at the start.

A year later it was made a lot more difficult for Hamilton. Again the Briton started in pole position, but now Verstappen had a clear path towards the seven-time world champion. The Dutchman pushed his title competitor aside at Turn 1 and led the Spanish Grand Prix from then on. On a strategic level, however, things went wrong at Red Bull Racing. Mercedes decided to bring Hamilton in twice and that gave him the victory. It reminded the Austrian team of the Grand Prix of Hungary in 2019, when Hamilton also stopped once more than Verstappen, but still managed to win the race.

Verstappen can chase the record Hamilton and Schumacher

Last season, Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix. It was not an easy race for the driver who took his first ever victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 2016. Verstappen started from second place and seemed unable to attack Charles Leclerc. Moments later, the Red Bull driver shot off the track due to a strong gust of wind and had more work on his hands. There was one piece of luck for the multiple race winner: Leclerc’s engine failed.

With one Ferrari less, there was still plenty of work to do for Verstappen. The driver had to compete against George Russell, who did not want to give way for a moment for the Limburger. It became a tough duel between the two drivers and the irritation in the Red Bull cockpit grew. This was mainly due to the DRS mechanism that just did not want to work. The Austrian racing stable decided to put Verstappen on an alternative strategy and it turned out to work. Sergio Pérez was then told to let his teammate past and Verstappen managed to win the race. If the Dutchman can win again this weekend, he only needs three more victories to level with Schumacher and Hamilton when it comes to victories in Spain.

Success for Sainz in home race?

Carlos Sainz is the luckiest Spaniard in his home race in the past three editions. Fernando Alonso of course only drove two of those three races, but Sainz managed to score points each time. Last year he came close to a podium, but it was not to be for the Madrilene. Leclerc showed that there was enough potential in the F1-75, but the engine problems prevented him from winning. This year, Ferrari is bringing updates to Barcelona and the Scuderia hopes to show the same competitiveness as last year.