Formula 1 2025: Spanish Grand Prix Review

The Spaniards Return

The sunny Spanish weather welcomed the drivers for the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, and Carlos Sainz (Williams) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) returned to their home Grand Prix. 

The practice sessions gave us a sneak peek into the excitement of racing in Barcelona. Bearman had a tricky spin in FP2 but managed to keep his car on track, and Lawson dipped into the gravel in FP3. 

A Quick Qualifying 

A sunny start to qualifying as all cars are out on track in the Barcelona Grand Prix, but
A sudden sadness for Alpine as Colapinto is unable to continue with qualifying, his car unable to exit the pit lane. 

Sainz is out in 18th, an awful start for the hometown hero and a disastrous end for Red Bull as Tsunoda hits the floor hard on the lap before his flying lap, damaging his floor and securing his 20th position.

Ocon (Haas) and Hulkenberg sadly exit on the 17th and 16th, an unexciting end for them on Saturday, but let’s see what they can do on Sunday.

In Q2, Albon was pinned to the post by Hadjar, an excellent showing from the young rookie. His teammate, however, is a different story. Lawson couldn’t make it past the top 10, and Stroll just couldn’t cut it, and Bearman was unable to hang on, ending his qualifying in 15th. A good qualifying from Bortoletto secured his highest position yet in 12th. 

A cheeky move from Lando as he swipes a tow from Piastri, hoping to push it to the limit in Q3. Leclerc and Albon both decide not to do a final fast lap to have a spare set of tyres for the race tomorrow, we’ll see if it pays off. 

Leclerc and Alonso’s decision not to go out again ends their Q3 in 7th and 10th. Both McLarens are fighting each other to see who’s going to get the top spot. Piastri just inching ahead of Norris in the last moment, and Hamilton soars into 5th, Russel into 4th and Verstappen into 3rd, snagging a podium position. 

Piastri demonstrates his consistency and calm complexity compared to his teammate, who is desperate to clinch victory from him tomorrow in the race. 

It’s Race Day

And we’re already down a driver as Stroll is unable to take part in the race after suffering recurring hand injuries. We hope to see him back at the next race in a couple of weeks. 

The lights go out, and Piastri soars away, an exceptional start and storms ahead of his teammate. Verstappen had a masterful start as he overtook Norris on the opening lap, inching his car ahead into 2nd place. 
 
A tragic beginning for Russel as he’s overtaken by both Ferraris and is told off by Toto as Russel is flustered. Hulkenberg, with a fantastic start, gained five places within two laps, a hopeful beginning for the Sauber team. 

Lawson had a tricky start, nearly causing a collision that affected Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, and Albon due to a dodgy front wing. This issue, which was evident after seven laps, necessitated a replacement.

It will be a long game today for the tyres as there will be fluctuating tyre temperatures, with the drivers fighting at every turn. Tsunoda and Bearman have early pit stops on lap 10, and so do Hulkenberg and Sainz. 

Maybe aiming for a two-stop strategy?

The Ferrari cars are feisty and fight together as teammates before being ordered to swap cars, an unfortunate decision for Hamilton. Still, Leclerc is the obvious quicker driver in this race. 

A fierce fight between Norris and Verstappen as they fight against each other, Norris manages to overtake him and gain the 2nd position back at lap 13, but it’s all still to play for as there’s a long way to go. 

A tough battle between Lawson and Bortoletto fighting for the final position in the points, desperate to get the last one. And on lap 13, Alonso struggles on his tyres, going off the track and onto the gravel.

Verstappen pits on lap 14 and comes out in 8th position, potentially employing a possible undercut strategy or a two- or three-stop strategy. Hamilton joins him on lap 17 as he pits and is eager to protect the undercut, and hopefully, it’ll last him. 

With a few sassy radio messages amongst the drivers, tensions are high, and Antonelli falters, turning too wide, and Verstappen lunges ahead, taking advantage of his mistake. 

Russel enters the pits as McLaren speaks to Piastri about whether he can last till lap 25, another few to go as he flies ahead of Norris, who’s 5 seconds away.

Punishing Pit Stops

And then Piastri is ready to make his first pit stop as they’re trying to get him out ahead of Verstappen or will he be ahead of both McLarens? 

McLaren is frazzled as Verstappen now leads the race. 

Lawson and Albon collided again, damaging Albon’s second front wing of the race, both cars desperate to gain an advantage. 

A very disappointing weekend for Albon as he retired his car after several collisions in the Grand Prix and received a 10-second penalty (forcing him to go out for one more lap before retiring.)

Halfway through lap 30, Verstappen pits again, having some brake issues and just inches ahead of Hamilton on his return to the track. This leads me to think he is on a three-stop plan for this race, which is not usually the best strategy, but it might pay off for Verstappen. 

A big fumble between Lawson and Bearman as they banged tyres and managed to avoid a crash, but it was a very close incident—a common denominator here with Lawson. 

Antonelli and Hadjar doing a good showing for the rookies as they’re in 7th and 8th so far a steady result from them.

On lap 41, Leclerc is called in for his final pit stop, and that begins a chain of people coming in the pits, his brand new set of mediums that he didn’t use in the qualifying yesterday, so he’s hoping to achieve positions with it. 

Russel is catching Hamilton, desperate to close the gap and get close enough to make up for the places he lost at the beginning. 

With the dramatic heat, all the drivers must be feeling the pain of the Spanish summer. However, all drivers continue, determined to fight their way up as high as possible. The two Spaniards were fighting with 20 laps to go, and Alonso was steaming ahead of Sainz. A slow pit stop for Hamilton, a nearly 5-second stop and losing out to the fight with Russel. 

Norris comes in after Verstappen for their final pit stop on lap 50 a well-executed pit stop Norris comes out ahead of Verstappen and it’s now time for Piastri to pit also with an excellent pit stop. 

Piastri comes out just ahead of Norris and Verstappen as they’re fighting for the top three positions. It’s a tight end for the Spanish Grand Prix, but who will be dominant? 

A fiery moment as Lawson and Bearman are fighting hard, with Lawson nearly going off track. Not realising that Norris and Verstappen were fighting behind, and as they were trying to continue their race, they got tangled up. Verstappen waves his hand about at Bearman, an apparent frustration coming off of him for the lapped cars. 

Alonso can overtake Bearman after the fumble, and Norris and Verstappen have lost some time getting caught up in the fight for the lower positions. 

A sudden safety car with 10 laps to go, as Antonelli is off into the gravel as his car breaks down and the power unit fails. What a twist to an already thrilling race, and now what will happen to the cars? 

All cars take advantage as McLaren double stacks beautifully, and so do Verstappen, Ferrari, and Russel, the only Mercedes left. All are desperate to utilise the surprise safety car.

McLaren used soft tyres versus new hard tyres for Verstappen and Leclerc, who were on new soft tyres for the restart. So, what will be the winning tyre strategy for the final few laps once the safety car is done? 

The safety car ended with only six laps to go, and Piastri was off, leading the pack away immediately. Leclerc overtook Verstappen due to his struggle with the hard tyres. Hulkenburg jumps Hadjar at the restart and up into 7th. 

Leclerc and Verstappen tussle as Leclerc gets into 3rd and then Russel tries to take advantage of this fight.

Russel and Verstappen make contact with both tyres banging together, and Verstappen has to go out of the exit trying to stay on track. Verstappen is then ordered to give the place back, which infuriates Max and upsets him, his anger and frustration evident in the moment. 

As Russel goes to take the place back, Verstappen lurches forward, dive-bombing Russell and causing another collision, unsure if this was intentional or unintentional. There are three laps to go, with all cars desperate to claw back positions as Hulkenberg passed Hamilton, a fantastic display from the Sauber driver. 

A masterful finish for McLaren as they get a 1-2 finish with a surprise 3rd place for Leclerc, putting Ferrari back up and into the race. Verstappen received a 10-second time penalty, dropping him from 4th to 10th, and costing his team crucial points. 

Russell secured the 4th wish with an astonishing drive from Hulkenberg in 5th, earning very valuable points for Sauber. A perfect finish for Hadjar, as he secured 6th place as a rookie; he is clearly showing that he has the skills and talent for F1. 

Alonso finished 9th, scoring his first points at his home Grand Prix. 

So much action amongst the drivers on and off the track this weekend, but there is much more to come from the 2025 season. 

Next up… Canada!