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Formula 1 in Barcelona: Verstappen cracks Hamilton in lap one, but loses on the last laps

2021-05-11T23:59:01.379Z


At the Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull and Mercedes fought for a better tire strategy. This resulted in a spectacular final in which Lewis Hamilton had the upper hand.


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The duel in Barcelona: Max Verstappen (Red Bull) ahead of Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

Photo: 

LLUIS GENE / AFP

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the Formula 1 race in Barcelona.

At the Spanish Grand Prix, the world champion fought an exciting duel with Max Verstappen (Red Bull), who was followed by Hamilton for large parts of the race.

The second Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas also came third on the podium.

Verstappen made an outstanding start in second place and found himself next to Hamilton after just a few hundred meters. Verstappen risked a lot in turn one and went so hard into the chicane that Hamilton had to brake to avoid a collision. Verstappen took the lead. Behind them, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) overtook the second Mercedes driver, Valtteri Bottas, in the first corners. A dissatisfied start to the race for the world champion racing team.

Even in the last places there was a lot of movement in the start phase of the race.

Mick Schumacher even jumped to 15th place because Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) had to park his car with engine problems (9th).

In the following safety car phase, Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) pitted before his team noticed that the Italian was about to get a flat tire.

As a result, Giovinazzi fell back to last place.

At the restart, Verstappen defended his lead, but the field closed due to the safety car phase.

On the course, which is very demanding on the tires, the top drivers threatened to fall far behind due to pit stops.

Both Verstappen (25th) and Hamilton (29th) pitted late, Hamilton stayed out a little longer to try the overcut.

Mazepin causes trouble

The world champion lost time, among other things, because Haas driver Nikita Mazepin stopped him a little while lapping (26th).

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff complained personally to the race management.

Hamilton returned to the track after his pit stop behind Verstappen.

As a result, Hamilton managed to reach Verstappen on the straights within striking distance, but lost in the corners. That is why Mercedes decided to go for an undercut, and Hamilton came into the pits (43rd) to hunt him down with fresher and therefore faster tires. Instead of getting a new set of tires, Verstappen fell by the wayside and stopped at a pit stop. As a result, Verstappen had to struggle with tire wear in the final phase of the race so much that Hamilton could no longer be held. In the 60th lap, the world champion passed his challenger.

Aston Martin again disappointed in the rear.

Sebastian Vettel did not get past 13th place after good attempts in the training units, and his teammate Lance Stroll did not score any points with eleventh place.

After finishing 17th in Portimão, Mick Schumacher couldn't get past the penultimate place, but again had a large lead over Mazepin, who was around half a minute behind.

hba

Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2021-05-11

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