Pirelli expected their tyre choices for the Spanish Grand Prix weekend would produce a different kind of race at a circuit which isn’t known for close action.
However the biggest development of the weekend so far from a strategy point of view has been the poor performance of the super-soft tyres. So much so that only one driver among the top ten for Sunday’s race will start on them: Fernando Alonso.
This is a blow to Pirelli’s hope of enlivening the race by encouraging more drivers to use two-stop strategies. For any drivers starting on super-softs – which may turn out to be only Alonso – the quickest strategy would be to run two stints on soft tyres.But for those starting on softs, because they have to use another tyre compound and won’t want to fit the super-softs, a single-stop to switch to mediums is the way to go. The only remaining question for the front runners will be how early they dare to pit.
So on the face of it a fairly straightforward race is in prospect. But the weather may yet force the teams to throw their strategy plans out of the window.
Since early in the week teams have expected rain from Saturday night into into Sunday, but it was previously expected to stop several hours before the race. Now some forecasts indicate a strong possibility it will continue until later in the day.
Rain began to fall at the track late on Saturday. Will it turn out to be the story of Sunday?
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Qualifying times in full
Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 (vs Q1) | Q3 (vs Q2) | |
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’17.633 | 1’17.166 (-0.467) | 1’16.173 (-0.993) |
2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’17.674 | 1’17.111 (-0.563) | 1’16.213 (-0.898) |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’17.031 | 1’16.802 (-0.229) | 1’16.305 (-0.497) |
4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’17.483 | 1’17.071 (-0.412) | 1’16.612 (-0.459) |
5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1’17.411 | 1’17.266 (-0.145) | 1’16.816 (-0.450) |
6 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1’17.623 | 1’17.638 (+0.015) | 1’16.818 (-0.820) |
7 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1’18.169 | 1’17.618 (-0.551) | 1’17.676 (+0.058) |
8 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1’18.276 | 1’18.100 (-0.176) | 1’17.721 (-0.379) |
9 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Renault | 1’18.480 | 1’17.803 (-0.677) | 1’17.790 (-0.013) |
10 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1’18.305 | 1’17.699 (-0.606) | 1’17.835 (+0.136) |
11 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1’18.885 | 1’18.323 (-0.562) | |
12 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 1’18.550 | 1’18.463 (-0.087) | |
13 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1’18.813 | 1’18.696 (-0.117) | |
14 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber | 1’18.661 | 1’18.910 (+0.249) | |
15 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1’18.740 | 1’19.098 (+0.358) | |
16 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’18.923 | ||
17 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1’19.493 | ||
18 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams | 1’19.695 | ||
19 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 1’20.225 | ||
20 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso |
Sector times
Driver | Sector 1 | Sector 2 | Sector 3 |
---|---|---|---|
Lewis Hamilton | 21.525 (1) | 28.316 (1) | 26.326 (5) |
Valtteri Bottas | 21.528 (2) | 28.366 (2) | 26.319 (4) |
Sebastian Vettel | 21.551 (3) | 28.555 (3) | 26.199 (2) |
Kimi Raikkonen | 21.697 (4) | 28.561 (4) | 26.340 (6) |
Max Verstappen | 21.900 (8) | 28.609 (5) | 26.307 (3) |
Daniel Ricciardo | 21.819 (5) | 28.687 (6) | 26.159 (1) |
Kevin Magnussen | 21.842 (6) | 28.894 (7) | 26.771 (9) |
Fernando Alonso | 22.048 (12) | 28.913 (8) | 26.689 (8) |
Carlos Sainz Jnr | 21.990 (9) | 29.074 (10) | 26.681 (7) |
Romain Grosjean | 21.867 (7) | 29.011 (9) | 26.810 (10) |
Stoffel Vandoorne | 22.196 (16) | 29.199 (11) | 26.858 (12) |
Pierre Gasly | 22.119 (14) | 29.289 (12) | 26.843 (11) |
Esteban Ocon | 22.025 (10) | 29.560 (15) | 27.028 (14) |
Charles Leclerc | 22.078 (13) | 29.358 (13) | 27.157 (16) |
Sergio Perez | 22.027 (11) | 29.564 (16) | 27.106 (15) |
Nico Hulkenberg | 22.412 (19) | 29.544 (14) | 26.967 (13) |
Marcus Ericsson | 22.279 (18) | 29.750 (17) | 27.360 (17) |
Sergey Sirotkin | 22.190 (15) | 29.779 (18) | 27.544 (18) |
Lance Stroll | 22.219 (17) | 30.066 (19) | 27.576 (19) |
Brendon Hartley |
Speed trap
Pos | Driver | Car | Engine | Speed (kph/mph) | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sergio Perez | Force India | Mercedes | 326.0 (202.6) | |
2 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | Mercedes | 324.7 (201.8) | -1.3 |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Ferrari | 323.5 (201.0) | -2.5 |
4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 322.5 (200.4) | -3.5 |
5 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | Mercedes | 322.3 (200.3) | -3.7 |
6 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams | Mercedes | 322.0 (200.1) | -4.0 |
7 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | Ferrari | 321.9 (200.0) | -4.1 |
8 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | Honda | 321.1 (199.5) | -4.9 |
9 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | Ferrari | 321.0 (199.5) | -5.0 |
10 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | Ferrari | 320.6 (199.2) | -5.4 |
11 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber | Ferrari | 320.1 (198.9) | -5.9 |
12 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | Ferrari | 319.3 (198.4) | -6.7 |
13 | Lance Stroll | Williams | Mercedes | 318.5 (197.9) | -7.5 |
14 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | TAG Heuer | 318.2 (197.7) | -7.8 |
15 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | TAG Heuer | 318.0 (197.6) | -8.0 |
16 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Renault | Renault | 314.6 (195.5) | -11.4 |
17 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | Renault | 313.8 (195.0) | -12.2 |
18 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | Renault | 312.3 (194.1) | -13.7 |
19 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | Renault | 309.8 (192.5) | -16.2 |
Over to you
Will Ferrari or Red Bull take the fight to Mercedes? And who will emerge as best of the rest? Have your say in the comments.
Share your views on the Spanish Grand Prix in the comments.
2018 Spanish Grand Prix
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- Commanding win puts Hamilton’s bid for a fifth title on track
- Sirotkin was in severe pain from “dangerous” seat problem
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
12th May 2018, 22:43
Clever title ;)
Was 1996 the last wet race here?
Mach1 (@mach1)
13th May 2018, 0:13
That was my first thought…..
The question is…..was the track built on a plain?
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
13th May 2018, 5:19
Mainly
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
13th May 2018, 10:05
@fullcoursecaution: Good one! Too bad it fell flat despite the attempts rain a little humour in Spain
nase
13th May 2018, 0:34
@wsrgo
Yep.
Bleu (@bleu)
13th May 2018, 8:28
It was. Interestingly, three of first six races were wet on the circuit – then none in 21 years.
Kribana (@krichelle)
12th May 2018, 22:44
Who wants to bet that Kimi will be used a blockade to Mercedes like in China?
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
13th May 2018, 0:03
Who wants to bet that mercedes will sacrifice bottas for the 5th time since becoming a merc driver.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
13th May 2018, 0:10
@krichelle
You mean like Bottas was used as a roadblock last year?
Hamilton fans are outraged by the slightest hint of favouritism by Ferrari while turning a blind eye to all the help Hamilton gets.
Hamilton would not have won either Monaco 2016 nor Spain 2017 if not for team orders.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
13th May 2018, 0:10
You mean like Bottas was used as a roadblock last year?
Hamilton would not have won either Monaco 2016 nor Spain 2017 if not for team orders.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
13th May 2018, 8:16
No betting for me, but would be a smart move to do so. He has like -10000 chances to win the champ, like 0 chances to be even a title contender, so better help his team and team-mate win the WDC… might pour with some extra cash at the end of the year and/or might keep his seat for 2019. He has a new engine, still didn’t help him against VET. I’ve been waiting for quite some years for that performance to remember us of pre-2010 RAI, but did not happen. Might have been/be the car too, but mostly was/it’s just him, no doubt now. Almost sure won’t happen at all anymore.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
12th May 2018, 22:56
Between the Williams being in the state they are, the track catching quite a few out in terms of unforced errors with the wind or the surface, drivers being just as racey as they have been this season, and the threat of rain: I’d be betting on a safety car or two in terms of strategy and an exciting race with opportunities.
Here’s to hoping anyway! Looking forward to it.
Daves
13th May 2018, 2:53
I pray VES or MAG don’t take out half the field at the start.
Jere (@jerejj)
13th May 2018, 7:27
”Will Ferrari or Red Bull take the fight to Mercedes?” – Yes.
”And who will emerge as best of the rest?” – Mclaren.
Vettel fan 17 (@)
13th May 2018, 9:03
Please rain