Dirty Sunday for Ferrari.
Overall leader and starting on pole on the Montmelo track with his rival in the driver standings, Max Verstappen (Red Bull), Charles Leclerc seemed on track to achieve a solo at the Spanish Grand Prix, which he ultimately couldn't finish.
🗨️ "It hurts, I don't know what the problem is yet. But we showed that we were very fast"
Charles Leclerc talks about his retirement due to an engine problem 🗣️#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #F1
▶️ https:// t.co/7plkVVV12v pic.twitter.com/VRIQk5JYR9
– CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) May 22, 2022
On the 27th lap, and while the race was under his control, the Monegasque was forced to retire, overtaken by an engine problem in his single-seater.
A cruel scenario for the Scuderia driver, which will have benefited Verstappen, winner in Catalonia ahead of his teammate Sergio PĂ©rez, and therefore Red Bull who becomes leader in the constructors' championship ahead of Ferrari.
Mercedes' return to business
A big blow behind the helmet for the Italian team and Leclerc, who had managed to stand up to the reigning world champion at the first corner before being quickly relieved of his pressure.
Verstappen, winner of the last Miami GP, got into it alone, getting into the gravel on lap 9, before coming back very strong despite a failure in his DRS.
Well helped by Pérez, who complied – grumbling – with the team strategy to give way to his teammate on the 49th lap, “Mad Max” flew to his fourth success of the season, the third of in a row after Miami and Emilia-Romagna.
The Dutchman takes the lead in the drivers' world championship 6 points ahead of Leclerc, while the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, who started on the second row, finished 4th.
Max Verstappen wins for the 3rd time in a row ❗️
🏆 The Dutchman takes advantage of Charles Leclerc's retirement to win the race ahead of Perez and Russell
📊 He also takes the lead in the championship at the expense of Monegasque#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #F1
▶️ https ://t.co/7plkVVV12v pic.twitter.com/2RjKu2VIEc
– CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) May 22, 2022
6th at the start and 5th at the end, Lewis Hamilton, who had won the last five editions of the Spanish GP, made the progress seen on the Silver Arrows engine profitable, but lost a place on the penultimate tower for mismanagement of gasoline.
His teammate George Russell also completes the podium, a ticket that confirms Mercedes' return to business.
Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Alpine) is 7th and in the points, unlike Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), 14th on the line and finally 13th.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/TQLCMIDFSEQIOND2G54CLLK6VQ.jpg)
