Spain Grand Prix

Spain is the final race of the “triple header” following on from Imola and Monaco, and the 9th round of the season.

There’s a new rule restricting front wing flexibility, so we’ll see if that makes any difference.

Free Practice

1. FP1: NOR (1:13.718), VER, HAM, LEC, PIA
   A couple of test/reserve drivers got to put in a few laps replacing ALB and OCO
   HAD made it hard for HAM to pass him; maybe that’s why LEC blocked LAW?
   Otherwise a pretty uneventful session
2. FP2: PIA (1:12.760), RUS, VER, NOR, LEC
   Ferrari duo HAM and LEC both ran a bit wide in Turn 9
   BEA lost the Haas’ tail in Turn 3, spinning into the gravel
3. FP3: PIA (1:12.387), NOR, LEC, RUS, VER
   NOR was pushing but ran wide in Turn 9
   HAM had a gear shift problem and coasted back to the pits
   SAI dipped a wheel in the gravel, as did BEA

Qualifying

Air temperature 29°C; track 48°C; humidity 34%

Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
COL 1:13.897
STR 1:13.699
HUL 1:13.499
LAW 1:13.482
ANT 1:13.344
NOR 1:12.799
TSU asks his team to check the Red Bull’s floor – he hit the kerbs hard on his out lap
PIA 1:12.551
5mins left; bottom 5 are HUL, OCO, SAI, TSU, BOR
COL’s got a problem with his Alpine, holding up those trying to exit the pit lane
BOR P7
HUL P10
BEA’s pulled onto the grass just after pit exit
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are COL, STR, LAW, OCO, TSU
LAW P7, pushing BEA to P16
OCO P15, SAI P16
BEA P11, OCO P16
TSU P19
STR P7, HUL P16
Back of the grid: HUL, OCO, SAI, COL, TSU – that’s bad news for SAI in his home race

Qualifying session 2
ALB 1:13.113
VER 1:12.358
NOR 1:12.056
PIA 1:11.998
Radio from RUS reporting dark clouds in Turn 13 but apparently the wind’s blowing in the opposite direction so rain is unlikely
Radio from RUS saying he’s happy to give ANT a tow if he needs it
5mins left; bottom 5 are BOR, LAW, ALB, STR, BEA
STR P12
ALB P10
BOR P11
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are BOR, HAD, STR, LAW, BEA
HAD P6, ALB P11
LAW P13
BEA P15
Middle of the grid: ALB, BOR, LAW, STR, BEA
Replay of ALB on his final flying lap, annoyed at BEA moving slowly in sector 3 causing dirty air

Top 10 shootout is between PIA, NOR, VER, RUS, HAM, HAD, LEC, ALO, ANT, GAS

Qualifying session 3
McLaren send PIA out first, followed by ANT
PIA 1:11.836
ANT P2
RUS P2
VER P3
HAM P5
GAS P6
NOR 1:11.819
LEC P4
Radio from RUS sounding quite frustrated – “I still don’t understand why we didn’t do what we discussed. It’s two tenths. Too conservative.”
(STR has been noted for failing to follow instructions re: getting weighed)
ALO P5
Order after the first run: NOR, PIA, RUS, LEC, ALO, VER, HAM, ANT, GAS, HAD* (*No time yet)
Everyone except LEC and ALO heading out for another run
NOR 1:11.755
Chequered flag; order is NOR, PIA, RUS, LEC, ALO, VER, HAM, ANT, GAS, HAD
PIA 1:11.546
ANT P4
HAM P3
VER P3
RUS P4 – identical time to VER
HAD P9
Front of the grid: PIA, NOR, VER, RUS, HAM, ANT, LEC, GAS, HAD, ALO

Provisional grid: PIA, NOR, VER, RUS, HAM, ANT, LEC, GAS, HAD, ALO, ALB, BOR, LAW, STR, BEA, HUL, OCO, SAI, COL, TSU
(No post-quali penalties)

With TSU’s poor qualifying (and less than stellar races) I wonder how long it’ll be before Red Bull demote him, and maybe HAD will get a chance in the parent team

“Aston Martin have announced that Lance Stroll will not take part in the Spanish Grand Prix” [FIA]
STR had been summoned by the stewards for failing to be weighed after Quali, but he only received a warning
Because STR was withdrawn after Quali, Aston Martin can’t replace him so it’ll be a 19-car grid with everyone after P13 will move up one place
Setup changes on TSU’s car during parc ferme means he’ll start from the pit lane, but he was going to start last anyway

Race

Pit lane is open; drivers can make their way to the grid
Air temperature 30°C; track 49°C; humidity 49%
Grid: PIA, NOR, VER, RUS, HAM, ANT, LEC, GAS, HAD, ALO, ALB, BOR, LAW, BEA, HUL, OCO, SAI, COL, TSU* (*from the pit lane)

PIA leads everyone away on the formation lap
Looks like they’re all starting on soft tyres (some new, mostly used) except TSU on mediums
It’s a long, hot wait while the rear of the grid forms up

01/66: PIA leads into Turn 1 but VER comes around the outside of NOR to take P2
HAM past LEC for P4
LEC inside RUS for P5

02: PIA, VER, NOR, HAM, LEC, RUS, ANT, GAS, HAD, ALO, HUL, BOR, LAW, ALB, BEA, OCO, SAI, COL, TSU
DRS enabled
HUL takes P10 from ALO

03: VER filling PIA’s mirrors
Radio from RUS complaining about people moving under braking; he’s told to concentrate

04: HAD looks for a way round GAS; the Alpine holds on to P8

05/66: PIA, VER, NOR, HAM, LEC, RUS, ANT, GAS, HAD, HUL
Replay of the start shows LEC squeezing between ANT and HAM, causing the Mercedes to run onto to grass

06: LEC has DRS behind teammate HAM

07: ALB pits from P14; he’s got front wing damage from lap 1; new nose goes on; more softs go on; rejoins P19
Radio for NOR telling him the tyres are up to temp so he can challenge VER

08: HAM seems to be struggling for rear grip; will Ferrari tell them to swap places?

09: LEC looks inside HAM into Turn 1 but HAM defends P4
BEA pits; mediums go on; P17
TSU pits; softs; P18
Radio for HAM telling him to swap with LEC

10/66: PIA, VER, NOR, HAM, LEC, RUS, ANT, GAS, HAD, ALO
HAM lets LEC take P4
HUL and SAI pit; new nose for SAI; mediums for HUL but more softs for SAI; they rejoin P15 and P19 respectively

11: GAS pits; more softs; P14, right in front of HUL
Radio from VER complaining he has no grip

12: NOR is right on VER’s tail
PIA is asked about his tyres; he says he’s struggling a little with the rears

13: NOR easily inside VER for P2
NOR is over 4sec behind teammate PIA
LAW takes P10 from BOR

14: ALO locks up, runs into the gravel at Turn 5; rejoins and now he’s got to defend P11 from OCO
VER pits; more softs go on; rejoins P8

15/66: PIA, NOR, LEC, HAM, RUS, ANT, HAD, VER, LAW, BOR, ALO, OCO, COL, GAS, HUL, BEA, TSU, ALB, SAI
COL pits from P13; mediums go on; P19
VER easily inside HAD in Red Bull’s junior team, so that wasn’t going to be a fight

16: ALO pits from 11; mediums; P19

17: HAM pits from P4; mediums; P9
Radio for LEC, “Full push please”; “That’s what I’m already doing”

18: VER around the outside of ANT to take P5
LEC pits from P3; mediums; P7

19: NOR doesn’t seem to be catching PIA
LAW pits from P8; mediums; P16
ALO around SAI for P17

20/66: VER outbrakes RUS and takes P3
HAD pits; mediums; P11

21: RUS pits from P3; mediums; P7
OCO pits; mediums; P19

22: NOR pits from P2; mediums go on; rejoins P3
ANT pits too; mediums; P8 but HUL is right on his tail

23: PIA pits from P1; mediums; P2 but VER will need to stop again

24: ANT past GAS for P7
HAD takes P9 from HUL

25/66: VER, PIA, NOR, LEC, HAM, RUS, ANT, GAS, HAD, HUL, BEA, TSU, ALB, LAW, ALO, SAI, COL, BOR, OCO
The ALB-LAW squabble has allowed ALO to catch up
LAW around ALB for P12, knocking part of ALB’s front wing off; ALO follows through and takes P13 from ALB

26: VER is 5sec clear of PIA, who in turn is 4.5sec ahead of NOR

27: Radio for ALB telling him to pit and retire the car
ALB’s been given a 10sec penalty

28: ALB pits; instead of retiring, he serves the 10sec penalty so that it’s not carried over to the next race; he’ll have to do one more lap before he can retire
Radio from VER saying he can’t brake, turn in and has no speed

29: ALB pits; he’s pushed into the garage

30/66: VER, PIA, NOR, LEC, HAM, RUS, ANT, HAD, HUL, GAS, BEA, LAW, ALO, SAI, BOR, OCO, TSU, COL; out: ALB
VER pits from P1; mediums; P4 just in front of HAM

31: NOR is still 5sec behind his teammate and falling back slightly
LAW dives inside BEA into Turn 1, hits the Haas; BEA runs wide and rejoins ahead of LAW; feels like that should be a penalty for LAW

32 GAS pits; mediums; P17
Radio from HAM, “Just no grip; the rear is nowhere today”

33: Radio from VER saying now he has problems upshifting gears

35/66: PIA, NOR, LEC, VER, HAM, RUS, ANT, HAD, HUL, BEA, LAW, ALO, SAI, BOR, OCO, TSU, GAS, COL
SAI pits; mediums; P18

36: VER easily takes P3 from LEC
Radio for NOR asking him to go faster in Turn 3 but NOR says his tyres are grained
BEA pits; mediums; P16

37: PIA laps GAS (P15)

38: NOR has closed PIA’s lead to under 3secs

39: TSU takes P13 from OCO

40/66: PIA, NOR, VER, LEC, HAM, RUS, ANT, HAD, HUL, LAW, ALO, BOR, TSU, OCO, GAS, BEA, SAI, COL; out: ALB
NOR continues to close on PIA

41: LEC pits from P4; set of new mediums go on; rejoins P6

42: RUS pits from P5; new softs; P7

44: ALO pits; softs; rejoins alongside SAI but the Williams takes P16
ALO dives inside SAI to go P16

45/66: PIA, NOR, VER, HAM, LEC, ANT, RUS, HAD, HUL, LAW
OCO pits; mediums; P17

46: PIA has opened his lead again – he’s just over 4sec ahead of NOR
LAW and TSU pit; softs for both; P13 and P17

47: HUL pits; softs; P10
HAM pits; problem with the front-right; softs; P7
Radio for BOR telling him to swap with teammate HUL

48: VER pits from P3; softs; still P3 but teammate TSU (who’s lapped) is just ahead

49: NOR pits from P2; softs; P2 but VER is only a few car lengths behind

50/66: PIA pits from P1; softs; P1 but there’s a lot of traffic ahead
ANT pits; slow stop; softs; P7

51: PIA, NOR, VER, LEC, RUS, HAM, ANT, HAD, HUL, BOR, GAS, BEA, LAW, ALO, SAI, TSU, OCO, COL
Radio from VER, “The ride of the car is completely broken”
BOR pits

52: LAW on the grass as he attacks BEA
That fight holds up NOR, letting VER close up

53: BEA lets LAW take P11, and ALO sneaks past to steal P12

54: PIA is 3sec clear of NOR; VER is 2sec behind NOR

55/66: PIA, NOR, VER, LEC, RUS, HAM, ANT, HAD, HUL, GAS
ANT has run off, into the gravel – he’s stuck
Safety Car deployed

56[SC]: PIA pits; softs go on
NOR pits; softs
VER pits; hard tyres go on!
LEC, RUS and HAM all pit
Radio from VER asking why they’ve put him on hard tyres; “That was the only option”
Replay shows something broke on the Mercedes as ANT was braking into Turn 10
HAD and GAS pit too

57[SC]: SAI pits
The top 9 runners all pitted for new (or barely used) softs except VER on new hards

58[SC]: PIA, NOR, VER, LEC, RUS, HAM, HAD, HUL, GAS, LAW, OCO, BOR, ALO, BEA, TSU, SAI, COL; out: ANT, ALB
Everyone from LAW (P10) down has been lapped, so they’ll be allowed past the SC soon … there they go

59[SC]: The lapped cars are about half a lap behind the front pack
LAW is leading the lapped cars and is in P10 so he wants to get close to GAS so he can defend that final points place

60/66[SC]: SC in at the end of this lap
PIA slows up as the SC heads into the pits; VER nearly rear-ends NOR

61: LEC takes P3 from VER
HUL takes P7 from HAD
VER’s hard tyres are so slow; he’s on the radio complaining LEC hit him

62: Replay shows VER lost the tail out of the final turn, but LEC didn’t touch him
In fact the replay shows VER hit LEC’s sidepod
Looks like RUS made contact with VER wheel to wheel

63: ALO has a look inside BOR but the Sauber keeps P11
VER is still on the radio whining about LEC

64: Radio for VER telling him to let RUS through
RUS tries to pass VER but there’s contact
VER ought to be getting a series of penalties

65/66: PIA, NOR, LEC, RUS, VER, HUL, HAM, HAD, GAS, ALO
Radio from RUS reporting damage, no doubt caused by VER deliberately hitting him

66: Incident involving VER/RUS incident – good

PAI takes the chequered flag
Provisional result: PIA, NOR, LEC, RUS, VER, HUL, HAM, HAD, GAS, ALO; LAW, BOR, TSU, SAI, COL, OCO, BEA
DNF: ANT, ALB

VER given 10sec penalty for causing the collision with RUS – that drops VER to P10
In the cooldown room, the top 3 watch replays of the incidents and when they see VER deliberately hit RUS, NOR says he does it too in Mario Kart 🙂

The FIA’s official docs page is unresponsive, presumably swamped by everyone wanting to check the penalties
An hour later, it’s still down!

It’s convenient that VER was only given 3 points on his license, given that one more would result in a race ban

Penalties

• VER left the track and gained an advantage – no further action
• VER caused a collision with RUS – 10sec penalty (dropping him from P5 to P10) and 3 penalty points
• BEA left the track and gained an advantage – 10sec penalty
• LAW caused a collision with ALB – no further action
• LAW caused a collision with BEA – no further action
• VER collision with LEC – no further action
• LEC collision with VER – no further action

Result: PIA, NOR, LEC, RUS, HUL, HAM, HAD, GAS, ALO, VER; LAW, BOR, TSU, SAI, COL, OCO, BEA

[2025 calendar and driver line-up]