F1. Spain 2024 Review

By Gavin Huet, Chelsea Wintle and Aiden McLaughlin

Driver of the day

Gavin – Max Verstappen. Whilst everyone else was trying to take the lead and jockey for position, the Red Bull driver was just better than everyone else out there. The Red Bull may not be the out and out best car at the moment but Max is still way ahead of his rivals.

Chelsea – Lando Norris’ poor start led to some dramatic post-race self-flagellation, but he still takes the win for me. His qualifying lap was pitch-perfect, and his hunt for Verstappen made every one of the 66 laps highly watchable. Max Verstappen and Red Bull are still the strongest driver/car pairing out there, but it’s Lando that’s bringing the entertainment.

Aiden – Mighty Max Verstappen showed his true quality in this race. When you’re winning by miles (literally) then it’s easy to take the three-time world champion for granted. But with Lando Norris and McLaren now ready to take race victories every weekend, whatever the track, the Dutchman needs to be at his precise best – and so he was in this race. When he’s on song, he really is the man in Formula One.

 

Moment of the weekend

Gavin – “It’s lights out and away we go” as George Russell went from fourth to first in the first corner. Brave and committed, it was fantastic to watch. Three drivers into one corner just does not work, and pole sitter Lando Norris opted for safety which dropped him down to third place. It was the correct decision because if he had tried to maintain position all three of the cars would have probably ended up in the gravel and ended their race. It was also the wrong decision as it ended any hope of the McLaren winning the race.

Chelsea – George Russell off the line. It’s a long run down to the first turn and potentially anybody’s game, but it was still a thrill to see Russell leading, if briefly, from fourth.

Aiden – The start. Simple as that. Why? Because the way that the cards fell at that opening corner meant that Verstappen, once he had overtaken George Russell on lap three, could eek out enough of a lead to keep the McLaren of Lando Norris at bay. With Verstappen starting behind Norris who was on pole, getting ahead at the first corner was massive. Then, with Russell holding up Norris and Verstappen on top of his game, Norris just couldn’t get close enough to get his second race victory. The Englishman and his team threw everything at Verstappen to try and get back in front, but Verstappen’s brilliance meant that it would be in vain.

 

Hot take of the weekend

Gavin – If Max Verstappen was not in the Red Bull then Red Bull would not be leading the Constructors Championship. First Ferrari, then McLaren, and now even Mercedes are right there and it is only the brilliance of the Dutchman that is keeping them at bay. It can even be argued that the McLaren is the better car right now. And Red Bull opting to keep Sergio Perez, who bless his cotton socks, is an average driver, may come back to bite them if Max leaves as they do not have a ready made replacement to step up.

Chelsea – Why are upgrades called upgrades and not experimental changes? A major challenge for all teams is continuous improvement of their vehicles across the season, but calling changes upgrades is possibly a misnomer. Both Ferrari and RB brought changes to the track in Barcelona, and both teams had forgettable races. I have downgraded my anticipation from excitement to wide-eyed optimism when teams wheel them out.

Aiden – Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso could only manage P12 – the third time in the last four races that he has failed to score. Has the bubble burst for his green machine? At the start of 2023, the car and team looked like it was ready to make an assault on Red Bull’s dominance, as Alonso took podium, after podium. But they ended up a disappointing fifth in the constructors championship last year, 22 points behind Mercedes in fourth and this time round they are still in fifth trailing the Silver Arrows outfit by 93 points after just 10 rounds. I wouldn’t like to see Lawrence Stroll when he’s angry, but I’m guessing there are plenty of uncomfortable people at their new factory at Silverstone. If money is no object Stroll will be going all out to get Adrian Newey for 2025 and beyond.

 

Cold take of the weekend

Gavin – Carlos Sainz should be a title contender, but without a drive for 2025 and only rumours of a move to Williams and, more recently Alpine, well there goes any hope of silverware. Sure Williams or Alpine could become competitive again but it would be a huge turnaround to go from the back of the grid to anywhere near the front, and even if they did that they could easily slip right back – last year we were all amazed at how well Aston Martin were doing, this year not so much. Alpine have Flavio Briatore back (who saw that coming?) so you never know what is going to happen, and they have even admitted that nothing is off the table which includes dropping their own (awful) works engine to become a customer team, in which case what are Renault even doing in the sport? So no easy option for Carlos, maybe sitting back with Sauber-soon-to-become-Audi is the best bet for him after all, if they offer it to him.

Chelsea – I’m getting that vague ill feeling in the pit of my stomach about Ferrari. After a double DNF in Canada, neither Sainz nor Leclerc filed mention-worthy performances this weekend. They did, however, manage to clash with each other on lap 3, and have a good moan about it later. With two forgettable weekends, three Max-friendly tracks to come, and the distraction of Sainz finding himself a new home, I hope Monsieur Vasseur can help the team retain focus.

Aiden – Red Bull’s RB20 is no longer the difference, Max Verstappen is. Red Bull have dominated F1 with their incredible cars for the last few seasons and since Verstappen took the 2022 World Championship lead after that year’s Spanish Grand Prix, no-one else has led the standings – that’s over 750 days ago. But now, McLaren’s 2024 car has caught them up and as much as the boos may have rung out as Verstappen climbed onto the top step of the podium yet again, this will have been one of his sweetest victories, much sweeter than the countless, dominant wins. He is showing just why he will be regarded as an all-time great.

Bonus Pictures of the Week

This Fernando Alonso waxwork from Madrid is the stuff of nightmares. I have seen this so now you have to too.

Lewis Hamilton needing to lie down after realising he has in fact signed for Ferrari.

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