(Montmeló) Winner in Canada at the end of a complicated weekend, triple world champion Max Verstappen and Red Bull can confirm that they remain the bosses of Formula 1 this weekend in Spain, where Ferrari must bounce back after a catastrophic GP in Montreal.
The Dutchman, helped by the intervention of the safety car which allowed him to get ahead of Lando Norris, unlike the Miami Grand Prix where he was trapped, leaving victory to the Briton, will try to continue on the Barcelona circuit -Catalunya in Montmelo, where he has already won three times (2016, 2022, 2023).
“I have very good memories on this track, especially since I took my first victory in F1 here. It’s a good mix of fast and slow corners and historically we’ve always been successful here so the objective is to continue our momentum,” said “Mad Max”, who is 56 lengths ahead of the Monegasque. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) in the world championship.
Less dominant than in 2023, Red Bull nevertheless sees the competition getting closer and closer, like McLaren, Ferrari and even Mercedes, very comfortable in Canada where the Briton George Russell had secured an unexpected pole position before finishing third in the race, ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton.
The Scuderia must react in Catalonia after missing its weekend in Quebec, where it missed the top 10 in qualifying and where both cars were forced to retire during the race.
“We have learned lessons from Canada and we will move forward. We should be able to regain our level of performance. Since the start of the season, it has been extremely tight so we will have to pay attention to the smallest detail and do everything correctly. It will be an interesting weekend where we intend to score a lot of points,” underlined Frédéric Vasseur, the French boss of the Ferrari team.
McLaren, which came close to victory on the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit, still hopes to join the fight for success in Spain, even if the track seems less suitable for the MCL38 single-seater.
“Our recent results give us extra energy for this return to Europe. Although we are confident that the car can perform well on different types of circuits, Barcelona will be a big challenge. Teams will come with improvements, so we will have to be focused,” explained Andrea Stella, the British team principal.
Mercedes also appears to be coming back into the equation after a difficult start to the season. The pace in Canada and the double podium obtained last season in Montmelo encourages optimism.
“We continued to make progress in the last few races and the performance in Canada was encouraging, even if the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit is very special. Barcelona will be a good test to assess the progress achieved thanks to our recent improvements,” said Toto Wolff, boss of the German team.
On the French side, Alpine will have difficulty repeating the encouraging result from Montreal, where it placed its two cars in the points (9th and 10th) for the first time this season despite mediocre starting positions (15th and 18th).
“There are some challenges ahead, so we’ll see how we get on. We remain focused and we work hard behind the scenes, argued Pierre Gasly. This is the start of an intense threesome. We have taken points in the last two races, so we must strive to continue this momentum. »
The Spanish Grand Prix will in fact be the first in a series of three consecutive ones, before Austria and Great Britain, and will mark the start of the European summer tour contested on more conventional circuits than Jeddah, Miami or Montreal.
