Verstappen Suffers in Spain: Goodbye to the Championship?
Max Verstappen’s championship hopes suffered a harsh blow at the Spanish Grand Prix, where frustration led to an incident with George Russell. This crash resulted in a 10-second penalty, relegating him to tenth place and adding a single point in a weekend where the podium and 15 points were within reach.
This result leaves the defending champion 49 points behind the championship leader, Oscar Piastri, and 39 points behind Lando Norris, in second place. After the incident, Verstappen was reluctant to talk about his chances in the championship.
If there is any hope, we are too slow to fight for the title. I think that was clear today.
Max Verstappen
Before the Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull expected that stricter front wing deflection tests would slow McLaren’s progress. However, the Formula 1 championship leader appeared to be the least affected by the technical directive, reporting a performance difference that was “within the noise” of typical circuit-to-circuit variation once modifications were made to their wing to comply.
Piastri and Norris dominated the qualifying at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and achieved a comfortable 1-2 victory on Sunday. Despite the negative headlines, Verstappen’s Instagram post and a troubled Red Bull, it would be risky to rule him out of the title fight.
Why Verstappen Isn’t Out of the Fight Yet?
In the first race of the European F1 triple-header, Verstappen led Piastri into the first corner and secured a convincing victory ahead of both McLarens. Upgrades in Miami and Imola helped Verstappen find a better balance in his car, allowing him to manage his tires more effectively. However, in Monaco and Spain, the results were less convincing, exposing some of Red Bull’s remaining weaknesses, especially in Spain, where McLaren shone.
Somehow, I’m surprised we had such a clear advantage in Spain.
Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal
McLaren demonstrated its strength in managing overheated rear tires, something that was also evident in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Miami. The combination of high temperatures and the characteristics of the Barcelona circuit, with long corners, favored McLaren.
Despite McLaren’s advantages in Barcelona, Verstappen stayed close during the race. Red Bull’s three-stop strategy, theoretically slower than McLaren’s two-stop strategy, kept Verstappen competitive until the end.
It was fast and, when we put the medium tires on in the second stint, we were pushing, controlling the pace and he was catching us very quickly, faster than we expected.
Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal
The safety car that followed the pit stops exposed the risk of Red Bull’s three-stop strategy, as Verstappen only had one set of hard tires available. This led to an additional stop, and in the last six laps, Verstappen underperformed.
However, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner commented that the three-stop strategy was the right decision given the circumstances.
The description of Verstappen’s Instagram post.Despite the performance gap, the next 15 Grand Prix will be held on different types of circuits. The upcoming events in Canada, Austria, and Great Britain could favor Red Bull and might have cooler conditions, which would be crucial for Verstappen’s campaign. Furthermore, if the battle between the McLaren drivers remains competitive, it could open opportunities for Verstappen, as Norris and Piastri could take points away from each other.
Verstappen is one penalty point away from a race ban. If he behaves, he needs to outperform Piastri by an average of 3.27 points per race and Norris by 2.6 points to be champion.
There is a significant gap now, but there are still many points available. We are not even halfway through the year, so McLaren is in a very strong position, but we never give up.
Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal
