I have always been fond of watching drivers’ achievements during their home Grand Prix, even if those drivers weren’t my favorites. So, imagine my disappointment when I watched the Spanish Grand Prix and saw the home heroes finish the race in 6th and 12th places. This makes us wonder: what happened?
The race started with Lando Norris on pole, Max Verstappen in P2, and Lewis Hamilton in P3. However, George Russell had other ideas. He suddenly moved like a shooting star from P4 to P1, leading the race under the surprised eyes of many spectators, dropping Verstappen to P2 and Norris to P3.
The Spaniard Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz, started from P6. During Lap 3, Sainz tried to overtake his teammate Charles Leclerc for P5 while going into Turn 1, resulting in wheel-to-wheel contact that could have turned into a disaster. Fortunately, both drivers finished the race safely. Sainz managed to overtake Leclerc but eventually, they finished in their original starting positions.
Later, it was said that both drivers received pre-race orders from the team to manage their tyres. This strategy seemed slightly odd, given that it was a home GP for one of the drivers, who would need to push harder than in any other race. Sainz’s daring maneuver caused Leclerc to accuse him of disobeying team orders by being aggressive. On the other hand, Sainz said that his overtake was justified and within the rules.
The teammates were seen arguing aggressively after the race, with Valtteri Bottas present for the tea.
As for Fernando Alonso, his weekend wasn’t the best. He failed to reach Q3 on Saturday, qualifying only in P11. You might think that the two-time world champion would be able to level up his performance and overtake the cars in front of him easily. But things went from bad to worse, as he continued to struggle and finished the race in P12.
The two Spanish drivers ended their weekend with disappointment. One lost a position, and one remained where he was. I might be talking about the race results, or I might be talking about the teams. As you all know, Fernando Alonso remains with Aston Martin, while Carlos Sainz lost his seat at Ferrari. Where will he go next? We have no idea, but we shall find out soon enough.