What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Spanish Grand Prix.
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Rate the 2018 Spanish Grand Prix out of ten
- 10 (1%)
- 9 (0%)
- 8 (4%)
- 7 (13%)
- 6 (23%)
- 5 (19%)
- 4 (16%)
- 3 (13%)
- 2 (5%)
- 1 (6%)
Total Voters: 360
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2018 Spanish Grand Prix
- 2018 Spanish Grand Prix Star Performers
- F1’s Spanish stars remain closely matched in fourth season as rivals
- Top ten pictures from the 2018 Spanish Grand Prix
- Commanding win puts Hamilton’s bid for a fifth title on track
- Sirotkin was in severe pain from “dangerous” seat problem
Debates and polls
- Will Alonso win a world championship title with Aston Martin?
- How long should Red Bull give Ricciardo to prove he’s not lost his touch?
- Were stewards right to penalise Alonso over his driving before Russell’s crash?
- Are Williams right to bench Sargeant so Albon can race after crash?
- Is the FIA right to make ten seconds the new standard for penalties?
Jonathan (@jonny705)
13th May 2018, 15:49
5
Jere (@jerejj)
13th May 2018, 15:52
The worst race of the season so far although there were quite a few battles further down the pack at different parts of the race.
Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
13th May 2018, 16:04
No, this was better than Australia
bosyber (@bosyber)
13th May 2018, 16:29
Australia had being the first race going for it though @justarandomdutchguy, and in the end strategy made the not-faster car win. Here the winner was just way faster all around, even a VSC+SC couldn’t have saved Ferrari.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
13th May 2018, 16:38
@justarandomdutchguy no not really. Australia always suffer on ratings undeservingly. Melbourne is beautiful and a street track and has it’s challenges, this tracks has everything that does not work in f1 and so in the end completely uneventful.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
13th May 2018, 20:59
This was imo worse than australia, they at least were close and we had to find out the 2018 speed values, I gave it 4 and I think I’ve been kind, voters have been way too kind with 6 being the most voted option.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
13th May 2018, 16:19
It’s hard to see any positives. Big Drs still single file. Serious PU management, endurance tyres. tyres have not been a problem don’t know why they were changed for 1 team.
hobo (@hobo)
14th May 2018, 15:43
@peartree – Too right. This may be a good test track (and even that is not clear) but there is really nothing here for racing. When the most quoted stat is that the front row occupants almost always win, it is a problem.
In the last 10 races Catalunya (2009-18) has as many wins from the front row as the last 10 Monaco races (2008-17). In both cases 8 of the last 10 races have come from the front row. This includes the Mercedes double wipe in Spain, meaning that if ROS/HAM had raced more reasonably on the first lap (at the very least not taking each other out), it would be 9 of 10 in Spain.
There are downsides to the Monaco circuit, including near impossibility of a pass near the front. But Spain, an actual track, not on city streets and no compelling reason why it needs to be so processional other than not being suited for an F1 race, is as impossible to pass as Monaco, if not worse. Don’t get rid of the Spanish GP, just find a better track.
Understeer (@abdelilah)
13th May 2018, 15:52
Good race but nothing special, another blunder from Ferrari and I fear they will fall back further.
Great job by Lewis, flawless all the week end.
Grosjean : will this be his last year in F1 ? I can’t see any team wanting him.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
13th May 2018, 16:34
I guess you’re reffering to the way he rejoined the track. Other than that, it was nothing bad, MAG just slowed down in front of him on a section where they’re supposed to be fully accelerating. Almost impossible to do something on such moments. It was pretty much the same thing with VET vs KVY in Sochi 2016 or VER vs RIC in Baku. VER crashes are way more ridiculous and easily to avoid.
Gary
13th May 2018, 16:48
“Other than that Mrs Lincoln, how was the Play?”
Justin (@boombazookajd)
14th May 2018, 3:04
At least the play ended with a bang
Broke84 (@broke84)
13th May 2018, 15:52
6,very average. Nothing to moan about though.
Todfod (@todfod)
14th May 2018, 7:32
Gave it the same. It wasn’t absolutely terrible but definitely the most boring race if the season so far.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
14th May 2018, 16:42
A solid six, for sure.
juan fanger (@juan-fanger)
13th May 2018, 15:52
Snoozefest. Trailing cars cannot get within 2 seconds at this track. Very sad.
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
13th May 2018, 15:55
@juan-fanger Wasn’t just that they ‘couldn’t’ get within 2 seconds.
There were plenty of radio messages on the app/Pits channel where drivers were been told not to get within 2-3 seconds of the car in-front in order to look after the tyres.
Keith
14th May 2018, 5:23
Further evidence that a bigger delta between tyres would spice up the racing by allowing more-stop strategies to actually work!
IMO the tyres need to be such that the softer tyre is quick enough that doing multiple stops with them is the obvious optimal strategy on an empty track, with the one caveat that the driver has to do some overtaking to make it work in the actual race.
This almost-everyone-is-on-an-identical-strategy-and-thats-the-one-stopper racing is super boring, especially when combined with the dirty air effects preventing close following.
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
13th May 2018, 15:52
I gave it a 7.
I thought it was a fun race, Some good racing on occasions in the mid-field & a bit of good overtaking. Yeah not much happened at the very front but there was some stuff going on behind.
dex022 (@dex022)
13th May 2018, 16:04
You probably watched some different race.
3 max and that is generous.
Sam (@)
13th May 2018, 16:06
+1
MacLeod (@macleod)
13th May 2018, 17:08
+1 just some positive moments
Owen Smart (@smartez)
13th May 2018, 15:53
So much for the 80% of rain
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
13th May 2018, 16:26
This. Only 80% of Alonso’s radio messages were about rain.
LosD (@losd)
13th May 2018, 19:18
Well, there’s a reason its a chance. It might not rain even if there’s a 99.9% chance of rain.
juan fanger (@juan-fanger)
13th May 2018, 22:58
Rain might have saved it. Pity.
At least the last 3 races have been good.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
14th May 2018, 16:43
It rained less than an hour after the race ended… Close!
Doc Dockter (@dock130)
13th May 2018, 15:54
Boooooorrrring…..
montreal95 (@montreal95)
13th May 2018, 15:57
Gave it a 6. For Barcelona circuit it’s like a 10 except on rare occasion with crazy circumstances once every 20 years or so(1996 and 2016)
This circuit is extremely bad for the racing. Can’t wait to see it gone someday(yes I know, I know but one can dream)
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
13th May 2018, 16:08
Fine it may not be great from a racing standpoint but it’s still a great track which is fun to drive & a challenge for car/driver which is why it’s a track drivers generally enjoy driving on.
How good/bad a track is & what tracks end up on the calendar should not be determined based on racing alone else we would just end up with a lot of tracks that look/feel the same with similar characteristics.
FlatSix (@)
13th May 2018, 16:12
@stefmeister Really? I have not once seen any driver say he likes this track? With T14 now being flat out there is not a single challenging corner left on this track…
montreal95 (@montreal95)
13th May 2018, 18:18
@stefmeister Once it was true what you had said. But the last sector has been emasculated with that awful chicane, the current version of turn 10 just breaks the rhythm of the lap, turn 3 is absolutely flat in qualy and for top cars in the race as well(where’s the challenge in that? Borderline flat is challenging, easy flat isn’t). The resurfacing this year took out all that remained of the track’s character( Hamilton’s words not mine). The only good turn left is turn 9 and that’s not worth the rest of the track being boring.
I agree with you that not all the tracks must be cookie cutter. I’m an unashamed fan of Monaco and the Hungaroring(and Red Bull Ring and Montreal etc.) And I would never dream of suggesting getting rid of Suzuka despite it being bad for(modern) F1 racing. But this Montmelo track just bores me to death more and more with every year. Surely Spain can do better…
Ju88sy (@)
13th May 2018, 18:34
@montreal95 Totally agree! Getting rid of the last chicane would be a good start here, even Valencia served up some better races than this monstrosity.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
13th May 2018, 15:57
Pretty boring, particularly since the rest of the season spoilt us. I think it really goes to show how important a competitive and reliable Ferrari and Red Bull are.
Max (@mhomega)
13th May 2018, 15:59
6. It had some battles near the back of the top 10 and some interesting strategy, with Vettel getting screwed over again. Although I feel like people are going to slam this race even though it wasn’t that bad. We have been spoilt with 3 fantastic races on the trot and it was bound to get less exciting at some point.
Philip (@philipgb)
13th May 2018, 15:59
Not a thriller, but not a dull race either. The top 6 were having a strategic of not an on track battle and some decent midfield battles 6/10
Sam (@)
13th May 2018, 16:08
+1
Adam (@adamgoh)
13th May 2018, 16:00
4/10, little action except for LEC/ALO and reliability spoiling races is never nice to see.
Aldoid
13th May 2018, 16:06
I’d call it a 7. Nothing particularly thrilling, but enough battles throughout the field & close enough lap times that even though Lewis had sodded off, the threat of rain & uncertain tire wear meant the conclusion wasn’t a given until after Ferrari flinched first. & even then it could have gone either way with rain or an ill-timed safety car. So all in all, not bad.
Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
13th May 2018, 16:06
a tad boring, but still had it’s moments. Ericsson did okay-ish, and Leclerc scored more points.
And neither Verstappen and Magnussen made a big blunder, making Gorsjean look even worse
Dennis
13th May 2018, 19:48
VES made a huge blunder – he was lucky to escape with a decent handling car.
Illusive (@illusive)
13th May 2018, 16:09
Was hoping for rain so much, only that could have salvaged an otherwise ordinary race. Great job by charles, back to back points.
Minardi (@gitanes)
13th May 2018, 16:09
I gave it a 3. I didn’t see anything exciting in the whole race to be honest.
Jonny Edwards (@racectrl)
13th May 2018, 20:03
Same here. Struggled to think of anything that was enjoyable. A couple of moves from Alonso and Vettel threading the needle when Bottas came out of the pits was about it. 3/10. Instantly forgettable.
FlatSix3.6 (@kegguts)
14th May 2018, 7:10
Yeah 3 for me also, would have been lower but a bull got on the podium so for me that was a tiny bright spot.
JohnNik (@johnnik)
13th May 2018, 16:10
Boring. Never grabbed my attention. Did anything actually happen after lap 1?
Every time it looked like a race might happen, it didn’t.
Even with a smashed up front wing, Max stayed ahead of Seb easily.
Kimi is the unlucky Ferrari driver again, support role for the rest of the season.
budchekov (@budchekov)
13th May 2018, 16:11
4, ruined by VSC, whatever happened to local yellows?
A few observations.. (sarcasm smiley)
The pre race grid is now composed of 99% white males
The opening ceremony’s about as exciting as Lenin’s funeral (Fernando couldn’t wait to get away)
Chase Carey’s becoming the Tom Tucker of F1.
Austin…bring it on.
KaIIe (@kaiie)
13th May 2018, 16:13
Typical Barcelona race, i.e. nothing much happened. The difficulty of following another car closely and the lengthy VSC period at the start guaranteed a one stop race (plus wiped out some cars from the midfield battle), and the most exciting thing was to wait for a few pitstops and see who would come out first.
In the bigger picture, this might be an extremely important race in the championship, as Hamilton seemed to finally click with his car.
Sonics (@sonicslv)
13th May 2018, 16:15
7 from me. The midfield battle is really good. Everyone except Magnussen (who secured his 7th position early) has genuine chance to get points, including Stroll in Williams who ultimately ended in 11th. Who would’ve thought that Williams could actually finish that high before the race? Sure it doesn’t have splashy moments aside from Grosjean too early donut but equating those kind of cheap thrills as good race is what pressuring FOM to increasing overtakes number and DRS. This race is enjoyable and not boring at all.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
13th May 2018, 16:18
5.
Pretty boring indeed. The champs’ starting to look already a lot worse than last year this moment of the season. RAI is nowhere, his car is a mess regarding reliability and things will get messier for him in the 2nd half of the season when penalties will be ”awarded” to him. VET not luckier either except AUS, he did a mistake in Baku which costed him the win + precious points, Ferrari messed up this race by doing an extra pit-stop just to fit the same tyre compound, a tyre which doesn’t suit their car etc etc. Pretty weird move, wonder what was the real reason behind it, I mean what made Ferrari think VET’s gonna recover a 15sec deficit to BOT on a tyre which doesn’t suit their car and when Mercedes drivers were breaking the lap record every few laps?!?! Even RBR was a lot faster than Ferrari on Mediums, RIC lapping close to 1:18 while VET close to 1:20 although on fresher tyres. Ferrari better start thinking already what they’ll do at Silverstone ’cause I do not see them doing better than last year on these “new” tyres.
Hope I’m wrong, but I have the feeling HAM is starting to run away with it. Such a shame…
RicoD (@ricod)
13th May 2018, 19:22
Agree with your score and reasoning. I don’t know why Ferrari think they have the better car. Squandering points for a couple of races now while they need all the points they can get before Mercedes runs away with it…
Good to see Sauber consistently finding connection to the midfield. And Verstappen losing only an end plate and not his head this time.
Otherwise 95% boring procession after lap one…
TGS
13th May 2018, 16:19
(1) really boring!
Moi
13th May 2018, 16:22
I kind of liked it. Not spectacular, but some interesting pit stop strategies (unsuccesful doesnt mean uninteresting) and decent midfield battles. 7.
Neil (@neilosjames)
13th May 2018, 16:24
Extremely dull.
Just can’t get excited about races where there’s absolutely zero tension… for example, when Vettel fell behind Verstappen, in a faster car on fresh tyres, I wasn’t thinking ‘oh wow, we’ll get a good fight!’… I was thinking, ‘Oh, he’ll be sat (at best) a second behind for the rest of the race, and he’ll finish fourth’. This circuit + these cars = horrible, processional races.
I’d normally give it a 2, but Alonso’s overtake around the outside of Turn 3 after the VSC period was worth a point on its own. So, a generous 3.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
13th May 2018, 16:28
Not the worst race I’ve watched. 4
F1 just made sure to deliver the very worst they could. Tyres were not a factor, 1 stop was easy. The problem here is the old aero issue and the endurance focus of f1, 7 race engines, no refuelling, prevelance of the 1 stop strategy, being quick is irrelevant its all about using the car as an aero weapon. the cars just didnt want to run within 2.5 s of each other and often, the teams realised they were not getting anything out of thee race and gave up, save pu.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
13th May 2018, 16:32
I’m not going to dwell on incompetence of Ferrari or what the drivers or teams did on track, I rate on racing, I saw Alonso racing a clearly slow car on the straight and good defending by Leclerc, the rest a couple drs and so nothing worth mentioning.
Dave
13th May 2018, 16:31
A real failure.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
13th May 2018, 16:34
A bit boring. The rain never came and exept a nice pass or two from Alonso there have been only DRS passes. Attrition didn’t spice up especially too. Grosjean making too many mistakes these times. Very nice job from Magnussen though he had a solitary race. Also, well done to the Saubers, the team has really improved. Bad day for Ferrari which is loosing further ground on flawless Mercedes. Finally the two local heros finishing in the points was nice.
GnosticBrian (@gnosticbrian)
13th May 2018, 16:35
Boy wonder crashes, yet again.
MacLeod (@macleod)
13th May 2018, 17:11
Grosjean certainly did. Major mistake with his burnout.
Dennis
13th May 2018, 19:54
Yea, VES can’t seem to run a whole race without screwing up.
But RBR keeps massaging his ego.
Move on Danny..
Adam (@rocketpanda)
13th May 2018, 16:42
Really, really dull.
Painfully ominious for the championship.
ECWDanSelby (@ecwdanselby)
13th May 2018, 17:17
3. Very disappointed to see the tyres changed for the benefit of a team. Pirelli have had it spot on so far until now.
Ju88sy (@)
13th May 2018, 18:54
@ecwdanselby Help me understand exactly why it is in Pirelli’s interest to favour one team?
Or perhaps this is Tin Foil hat internet conspiracy with no basis in reality….Joe Saward covered this on last week’s podcast with Missed Apex.
Patrick (@anunaki)
13th May 2018, 17:17
Actually had a really good time watching this GP. The bulls going for a one stop against the others that might have been on a 2 stop strategy.
Funniest moment was RIC telling on the radio he had more pace being the moment Max driving away.
Bottas again showing no killer instinct at all at both the start and coming out of the pits.
Ronald (@mosquito)
13th May 2018, 17:17
A 7 for me. No real action for the top positions, but Ferrari going 2 stop (why???) resulted in some tension. We have had races here that were far worse.
Alexandre
13th May 2018, 18:27
I give it a 3. Typical “barcelonesque” race.
Some people say the races there are so boring because that’s the track that hosts the pre-season tests of all teams.
So, why do not change the track layout just for the race weekend? Let the teams run their pre-season tests using the current layout and for the race weekend, use the previous layout instead (from the nineties, that includes Nissan curve and removes that horrendous last chicane).
Paul A (@paul-a)
13th May 2018, 18:58
This was hardly even a race, let alone an F1 GP. Predictable and boring. Score it a zero, add one for a couple of mid-field attempts, deduct one for Red Bull not calling one of their cars back in before it dropped carbon fibre on the track, deduct one for Damon Hill’s commentary after the race, deduct three for (Canadian) TSN advertizing based on US ESPN, add one for perhaps starting to get grid-girls back instead of under-age children, and add FIVE because I’m an F1 fan….
TOTAL = 2
joe jopling (@jop452)
13th May 2018, 19:58
Sorry its a 5 from myself…..It was not a great advert for a motor race…..F1 fans like me can always find something in the race to focus on, but think of the new spectators, they will soon lose interest and move on to watch something else……Ferrari had the fastest car before today and the worst strategists……well now they still have the worst strategists…….Grosgean should be swapped for LeClerc (who is impressing me)…..and I also think the circuit is not suitable for the faster F1 cars…a couple of those barriers are very close to the track….too close??
And lastly…and its not to do with today…we go to Monaco…and should they be allowing the Williams cars to race there?? there is no way they will not end up heavily in the barriers…anyone bet they won’t???
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
13th May 2018, 20:34
5/10 for me. After lap 1 there were a few midfield battles but it was all pretty processional at the top. Quite dull compared to the last 3 races. I gave it the same score as Australia. Spain often seems to disappoint though.
Ferrari were also a let down. They were nowhere today really. Hopefully in Monaco the top 3 will be a lot closer.
Captain Pie (@captainpie)
13th May 2018, 21:17
I voted 3 for this race. It was dull aside from the first lap shenanigans.
The only overtakes I can remember are Alonso on lap one and later on Leclerc.
Did anything else even happen?
I wish the tyres had been as aggressive as possible to force something more than a 1 stop, and let’s not even get into the tinfoil hattery of the Last minute tyre tread change. If there is something to investigate in regards to the sporting aspect of it I am sure Ferrari will not be shy in raising an investigation with the FIA.
Captain Pie (@captainpie)
13th May 2018, 21:20
An unrelated note to the rating for this race.
Can people vote truthfully please?
For example people voting 5 and commenting it was boring and a procession.
5 indicates an ok race, not great, but not bad.
I get people never like to vote too low, but if something is truly bad in your mind give it an honest score.
DaveW (@dmw)
14th May 2018, 2:21
Maybe people apply a curve. Historically you might say this was close to a typical f1 race. Thus, a 5.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
13th May 2018, 23:32
3 for me. Easily the worst race so far this season.
No real battles, cars seemed incapable of closing more than 2 sec to the car in front.
DaveW (@dmw)
14th May 2018, 2:19
First race I aggressively fast-forwarded this year. I was sneaking peaks while I manned the grille, but kept finding no reason to pause again and eventually ff’d the last 15 laps.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
14th May 2018, 13:49
@dmw Same here – that’s the worst thing that can happen in a race. It’s so boring that you’d rather skip ahead.
Justin (@boombazookajd)
14th May 2018, 3:08
you have to have these boring races to have the exciting ones. That said, Pirelli needs to rethink this new tread depth for the upcoming French and British GP’s. It’s clearly benefitting only one team, hence why I don’t think any rational person can agree with Wolff’s claim that it’s “rubbish”.
The criticism is absolutely fair and the FIA needs to (but won’t) realize this was a bad move. Liberty should look into Michelin or Bridgestone bringing a better tire into the series. I though the previous three GP’s have been perfect as far as the tires and their performance deltas.
I gave it a 5. Nothing special about the race, not one battle stands out in my mind other than Leclerc and Alonso. Typical Spanish GP really.
DM Retro F1 (@docm)
14th May 2018, 5:04
Oh dear. I’ve definitely seen worse races over the years, even on this very track, but don’t remember ever going ahead and turning off the broadcast during a GP in my time as a fan of Formula One. No matter how dire a procession there’s been on the track or how poorly things turned out for the drivers I liked, I’ve always stuck with the race all the way to the end. I’m pretty much the definition of a die-hard F1 fan.
That finally changed with this Spanish GP as I switched it off out of boredom and frustration with 6-7 laps to go, which is why I have to give this race a score of 1. This score absolutely is overly harsh and based less on the race itself (not great but again, I’ve seen worse), and more on the fact this particular GP just happened to be the moment I realized I no longer actually enjoy watching F1 and finally decided I’d rather do something else instead.
Of course I’ll keep watching for now because you don’t break a longstanding habit that easily, but any enthusiasm for the modern F1 product is long gone by this point.
Gary
14th May 2018, 13:17
I would give this race a “1”, not because the race was incredibly boring (it wasn’t that bad, really more typical or a “5”), but rather because this race suggests that Mercedes has figured out its car and therefore it is Game Over on the season.
Joseph (@bigjoe)
14th May 2018, 13:57
Those empty seats all around the track were awkward, especially the amount of money and indulgence going on in the paddock. the fans are either being priced out or bored.
Bryan (@ruz234014)
15th May 2018, 1:28
3. Boring. Alonso/Lecerc and the entertainment of the Grosjean smokescreen are all that saved it from being a 1.
Paul2013
15th May 2018, 2:08
Boring, as usual.
PJA (@pja)
16th May 2018, 20:31
I only gave it a 5.5
Although there was not much going on near the front there was some action further down the field so it wasn’t as dull a race as I feared it would be but it didn’t live up to the high standards of recent races.
Hamilton got away with no problems at the start from pole, and after retaining the lead, the only time there was any doubt over his victory was if he had to make a second tyre stop after Mercedes and Hamilton had missed out by not pitted under the virtual safety car again, but he had no problems with his tyres and took a dominant win.
Vettel managed to get past Bottas to take second at the start, but after the safety car pulled in he could not match Hamilton’s pace and seemed to be holding Bottas up, if Bottas had not had a slow pit stop then he probably would have retaken second then, but as it was Vettel and Ferrari opted to make a second pit stop when the VSC was called, the only car out of the leaders to make two stops, this dropped Vettel down off the podium promoting Bottas and Verstappen.
After the events in Baku there was probably more focus than usual on the two Red bull cars especially as they lined up next to each over on the grid.
Early on in the race Ricciardo suggested on team radio he could go quicker if Verstappen let him, but the gap between the two was about the same as the gap from Verstappen to Raikkonen, so Verstappen probably felt he could also go faster if he had the chance, we never heard if anything else was said on team radio about this, so we don’t know if they mentioned it to Verstappen.
Near the end of the race Ricciardo was setting fastest laps I thought he must be in a position to move up the order but when they showed a shot of Verstappen and Vettel on track I couldn’t even see where Ricciardo was, they then mentioned in commentary that he had spun during the VSC and lost a lot of time, I thought it was a bit odd that this was never broadcast even during the analysis section after the highlights.
In the race Hamilton and Mercedes were significantly quicker than their rivals which is in contrast to recent Grand Pix. It will be interesting to see if Mercedes now understand their car better, or if this performance was a one off where the circumstances, such as colder temperatures, worked in their favour.