Valtteri Bottas was second on Sunday to cap a almost flawless weekend for the Mercedes drivers, who set the fastest times in practice and qualifying before Hamilton ultimately cruised to victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Hamilton described it as a relief that they finally had the tyres working after second practice, when he was quickest, a feat he repeated in the final session yesterday.
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Let’s be honest, after the excitement of the opening three corners, the Spanish Grand Prix was a bit of a snoozefest.
Red Bull once again had a weekend where they couldn’t get the qualifying performance they needed, but the race pace was again very good. From the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, Ferrari will have to revert to the car-mounted mirrors – one that every team in the paddock has been using for years. The team will likely have to change it for the next race, but no penalties were expected in Spain.
“I think the last couple of races we were a bit closer in terms of pace, we had a vehicle fighting for the win, having winning pace”.
“I’ve said many times this team is strong and we have a lot of potential, but we also need to make sure we address the problems that we have and work together in the same direction”. The young Canadian driver, who is trying hard to shrug off the “pay driver’ tag, didn’t seem settled in the auto and the circuit – a reminder of the troubles he faced and couldn’t get on top of in the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix”.
There’s no doubt that the new shallower Pirelli tyre construction hurt Ferrari more than most. It was the first time this season Mercedes showed the type of dominance many fans had grown used to seeing from the Silver Arrows.
The 33-year-old Englishman was so thrilled by both his own personal return to form and the team’s work on improving his car’s performance at the Circuit de Catalunya that he suggested, after the race, that he may sign a long-term deal. “We still need to add performance to the vehicle throughout the year, so that’s what we’re going to be continuing to be working on”. “We had it in the past, Shanghai was trading track position versus fresh tyres”. It looks different and it looks wrong, but from the inside I think it was the right thing to do. Ferrari called Vettel into the pits for on lap 18 causing Mercedes to bring in Bottas on the next lap.
Lap 13/66 Astounding pace from Hamilton at the moment.
Mercedes has struggled compared to Ferrari at times this season, with Sebastian Vettel winning the opening two races and taking three consecutive pole positions as the Scuderia had a more consistent vehicle.
“That feeling that I’m going to sleep like a baby tonight, because I know I’ve done my job this weekend to the maximum and I didn’t leave anything on the table, there’s no better feeling”.
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“But it took everything from us to get this result, and to get a one-two in qualifying is fantastic”. Sainz having pitted caught Ericsson around Lap 30 and had a cushion over Charles Leclerc in the other Sauber. In a way, while it was a shame for Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly, it was lucky that there weren’t more cars wiped out in that or drivers injured. And rightly so, for last Sunday he was at his imperious best.
