The sixth race of the World Championship is here. The 20 riders on the grid will meet this weekend at the Spanish Grand Prix, which will take place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, in Montmeló, and whose race will take place this Sunday. The competition returns to Europe after debuting in Miami with Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) as the leader, but with Max Verstappen (Red Bull) following in his wake.
The Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix race will start this Sunday at 3:00 p.m. at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montemeló and can be seen live on DAZN. You can also follow minute by minute on the La Vanguardia website.
The Mercedes team has been the dominant team in the last five years at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where Lewis Hamilton has won five races in a row. There are seven victories achieved by the 'silver arrows' on the Catalan track since 2012, divided between the British driver and Nico Rosberg. Only Pastor Maldonado, Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen were able to break this monopoly.
Precisely, this year it seems more complicated than ever for Mercedes to repeat its success. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton currently occupy fourth and sixth place in the standings, respectively, but between the two they have only added a couple of podium finishes this season with a single-seater that is causing them problems: Toto Wolff arrived to describe it as "undrivable".
After the Emilia Romagna and Miami races, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen are running as the favorites to open the champagne. Although the Monegasque started the championship with an overwhelming superiority, the reigning monarch of motorsport has reduced the distance considerably after climbing to the highest step of the podium in the last two Grands Prix. There are already 19 points that separate the two drivers in the general classification, with Sergio Pérez being the third in discord.
The two Spanish drivers on the grid, Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), will arrive in their homeland relegated to supporting roles. Luck has turned its back on the Asturian. After reaching the finish line in Bahrain ninth, everything started to go wrong. He was unable to finish the Emilia Romagna and Saudi Arabia races, while in Australia he finished seventeenth due to excessive tire degradation.
When it seemed that things were getting back on track in Miami, where he crossed the finish line ninth, two penalties made him fall to eleventh position, outside the points. Right now, he is sixteenth in the standings, with just two units. “Let's see if we can complete a good weekend in Barcelona. We have made good performances, but on Sunday we have never completed with the points that we deserved or those that we had worked for. I am happy with the start of the season, not with the points, but with the performance”, he valued.
For his part, Carlos Sainz is fifth in the table, with practically half the points of the world leader. Although he has been on the podium in each and every one of the races he has finished, two retirements have taken him away from the top positions. “Five minutes were enough for Madrid, I have 17 runs to come back. There is still a lot left. Zeros will have them all. I have to focus on not having any more, ”he commented.
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