SPANISH GP - RACE - RE-CAP & RESULTS
Another race weekend is over and completed and it was Lewis Hamilton who took the victory after a drama-filled race at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Starting from pole position, the Mercedes driver had no easy task at the start. Sebastian Vettel proved faster as he pulled away from both Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, who had started from the second row. Bottas ended up in a tangle with Raikkonen, which sent the Ferrari driver bouncing into Max Verstappen.
Both Raikkonen and Verstappen had their race ended on lap 1 due to the collision. Raikkonen pulled to the side of the track with suspension damage, while Max was able to make it back to his garage before the team retired his car. A young Ferrari fan was seen bawling his eyes out in the crowd after Raikkonen's retirement. He later went to greet the young boy and take photos with him. While everyone wants to see their favourite driver finish a race, what could be better than getting to meet your F1 hero?
The collision was originally thought to be just between Raikkonen and Verstappen but no further action was called for. Then it was said that the accident had been involving Bottas, Verstappen and Raikkonen and was under investigation for a few laps before the stewards decided that once again, there would be no further action and no penalties.
There was also no action taken on an incident between Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso. Massa was seen forcing the McLaren off track, making Alonso have to run through the dirt. Massa suffered a puncture and headed to the pits, trying to keep his Williams from colliding with anyone else. While it looked like possible foul play, no penalties were handed out.
It was a clean and easy getaway for both Force India drivers, who stayed up in the top 10 throughout the whole race, despite a messy pit-stop for Sergio Perez. He and Ocon finished in the top 5 with Perez finishing 4th, just one spot away from the podium. Ocon finished 5th and scored his best ever F1 result. The young Frenchman hasn't completed a full season in the sport or with Force India, but he continues to prove he's more than just a rookie.
Vettel's lead came to a halt after he stopped for new tyres. Valtteri Bottas moved up in front and was holding on to first. It didn't last long however as Vettel came storming back, his speed at the maximum. His Ferrari swerved and wobbled as he dove past the Mercedes and back into the lead of the race.
More drama further back as Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen battled for 7th place. The two pitted at the same time and Sainz was clearly quicker. Magnussen headed down the pit-exit and Sainz tried to get past him, taking his Toro Rosso roughly through the grass. Both drivers nearly collided and both came over their radios, getting upset at one another. The stewards investigated it but once again, no action was taken.
What looked to be a promising day for both McLaren drivers, came to an end for Stoffel Vandoorne. Towards the end of the race, he ended up in a collision with Felipe Massa and it was race over. While it wasn't a power unit failure like everyone feared would happen again, it was still not what the team had hoped for. Fernando Alonso became the sole McLaren driver out on track and was able to bring the car home in 12th in front of his home-crowd. This also marked Alonso's first race finish so-far this season. Vandoorne was handed a 3-Place-Grid-Penalty for Monaco for his collision with Massa and 2 penalty points were also added to his license.
Pascal Wehrlein gave Sauber fans something to cheer about as he steered clear of all the collisions and incidents and remained unfazed by the drama around him. He gave Sauber their first top ten finish of the season and had looked to pick up 6 points by finishing in 7th. However, he had a 5-Second-Time-Penalty added to his final race time after he failed to stay to the right of the pit-entry and dropped to 8th in the final race results. Wehrlein also received 2 penalty points on his license.
Things had looked promising for Bottas, who had been holding on to 3rd place behind Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. However, things came to an end in the final laps after he suffered from a power unit failure. He managed to get the car off the track, but there was nothing he could do to save his race.
During the final laps, Daniil Kvyat collided with Kevin Magnussen and Magnussen suffered a puncture. He made a late pit-stop and was still able to finish the race in 14th, ahead of Palmer and Stroll. While Palmer didn't score any points, Nico Hulkenberg grabbed 8 points by finishing 6th in his Renault
Carlos Sainz also scored points in front of his home crowd after securing 8th originally but being promoted to 7th after Wehrlein's penalty was put into place. Team-mate, Kvyat also scored 2 points by finishing 9th. Romain Grosjean got the last point by bringing his Haas home in 10th.
Sebastian Vettel ended up taking second place while former team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo grabbed the last spot on the podium. Despite Hamilton claiming victory, Vettel still leads the driver standings with 104 points, just 6 ahead of Hamilton.
In 2 weeks, Formula 1 heads to Monte Carlo for the Grand Prix of Monaco, where Jenson Button will race for the first time since his sabbatical announcement in 2016. He will replace Fernando Alonso as he heads to Indianapolis to compete in the Indy 500.
RESULTS:
1. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 25 Points
2. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 18 Points
3. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Australia / + 15 Points
4. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / + 12 Points
5. Esteban Ocon / Force India-Mercedes / France / + 10 Points
6. Nico Hulkenberg / Renault-Renault / Germany / + 8 Points
7. Carlos Sainz / Toro Rosso-Renault / Spain / + 6 Points
8. Pascal Wehrlein / Sauber-Ferrari / Germany / + 4 Points*
9. Daniil Kvyat / Toro Rosso-Renault / Russia / + 2 Points
10. Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France / + 1 Point
11. Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
12. Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Honda / Spain
13. Felipe Massa / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil
14. Kevin Magnussen / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark
15. Jolyon Palmer / Renault-Renault / Great Britain
16. Lance Stroll / Williams-Mercedes / Canada
RETIRED - Valtteri Bottas / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland / Power Unit
RETIRED - Stoffel Vandoorne / McLaren-Honda / Belgium / Collision Damage
RETIRED - Max Verstappen / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands / Collision Damage
RETIRED - Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / Collision Damage
* - Notes Pascal Wehrlein originally finished 7th but was demoted to 8th after a 5-Second-Time-Penalty for failing to stay to the right of the pit-entry.
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Article Written By: Amy Hawk
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