New Delhi: Dutch racer Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Sunday, May 22, 2022. He won the Formula One title after Ferrari racer Charles Leclerc retired from a comfortable lead.
Verstappen was followed by Red Bull counterpart Sergio Perez in the second place, as Mercedes racer George Russell finished third after an epic bout with the eventual winner. Perez successfully secured the top spots for Red Bull during the event.
The match began with Carlos Sainz and Verstappen going off track due to huge gusts at Turn 4. On the other hand, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton too pushed back to a later rank. This provided Leclerc with a comfortable lead with Russell was in second place.
Magnussen jumped rank eight to challenge Hamilton through turn 4 but the pair banged wheels. The Haas driver went off-road before ending up last on the leaderboard whereas Hamilton settled for the 19th place with soft tyres.
However, Russell and Verstappen indulged in a wheel-to-wheel as they battled for the second place. The two had close shaves on numerous occasions. Russell tactfully prevented Verstappen from snatching the lead as the latter suffered from a DRS malfunctioning.
Though Leclerc led with a comfortable lead and a free pit stop on Lap 22, he had to retire at Lap 27 after citing issues in power unit and he sighed ‘no’ on the radio as the engine gave away.
When Verstappen pitted for the second time to switch tyres from medium back to softs, he caught up to Russell at Lap 37. Russell too had swapped a set for medium tyres. This gave Perez a brief lead.
Verstappen covered Perez’s alternate strategy and took advantage of Perez’s pit stop. The Dutch made a stop for soft tyres on lap 45 and gained a new set of mediums that gave him an opportunity to overtake Russell.
Russell made him play fetch before diverting for a pit stop. Verstappen was second with a 5.5 second difference from his leading counterpart. However, the team ordered Perez to let Verstappen take over the lead. Perez complied and the Dutch took over before thanking him, and eventually won the title.
Meanwhile, Russell was pushed to rank three as Sainz and Hamilton rose ranks on the leaderboard. The racing event ended with Verstappen in the first position, followed by Perez, Russell, Ferari’s Sainz, and Hamilton respectively.
The Grand Prix turned out to be favourable for team Mercedes as Russell made to the podium and Hamilton won the fifth place and a Driver of The Day recognition despite a severe clash.
(Avya Mathur)
