Spain – Francophone Summary: Leclerc and Gasly Save the Day, Grosjean Falls Behind

Charles Leclerc: 5th (5th on the grid)

A weekend to forget for Charles Leclerc. After securing the fifth position in qualifying, one second and two-tenths off pole position this Saturday, the outcome of the race didn’t change much. For the Monegasque driver, this Spanish Grand Prix was somewhat of a nightmare!

The Scuderia driver had a relatively complicated start, being overtaken by Pierre Gasly and finding himself unable to pass Max Verstappen. Leclerc was then forced to battle with his teammate, Sebastian Vettel, for a meager 4th place. This time, the Italian team resorted to team orders to place Leclerc ahead of Vettel. Unfortunately for him, the former Sauber driver never managed to catch up with Max Verstappen!

Ferrari took a very risky gamble by switching Leclerc to a one-stop strategy. With hard tires, Ferrari’s young Prince held off his garage neighbor for a long time before Scuderia’s orders put an end to this internal battle. On the restart, he then fought against Pierre Gasly while falling behind the front-running drivers.

We had a very good first stint, but then we need to understand what happened. I struggled with the balance of my car on the other two types of tires. We need to look deeper into the race, but it’s clear that Mercedes was well ahead today.

Pierre Gasly: 6th (6th on the grid)

The Norman continues to learn how his RB15 works and seems more comfortable with his new ride, finishing 6th in the Spanish race. Even though Pierre Gasly is still far from the pace of his Dutch teammate, who finished on the podium.

On a two-stop strategy, the French driver led an anonymous race. He managed to create a significant gap with the pack but remained quite far from the leading group.

The first stint was good, we weren’t too far from the Ferraris, but then we started getting rubber on the front wing during the second stint. It became really complicated, I was sliding a lot. From there, I just tried to limit the damage and score as many points as possible. On the restart, it was a bit tricky with Charles, but I had the speed to fight with the drivers in front.

With this sixth place, Pierre Gasly matches his best finish for Red Bull, achieved in Shanghai. However, the main person concerned must continue his progress and absolutely get closer to Max Verstappen.

Safety car at the #SpanishGP after an off between NOR and STR. Max back up to P3 as LEC pits. pic.twitter.com/VAXVmGMgn1

— Aston Martin Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) May 12, 2019

Romain Grosjean: 10th (7th on the grid)

Probably the biggest French-speaking disappointment of the weekend. Having achieved a superb qualifying session on Saturday by finishing 7th, the Haas driver ultimately did not manage to finish the race as the best of the rest.

A regrettable outcome when we know that for three-quarters of the race, the Frenchman masterfully controlled that highly coveted position for Haas, his team.

Despite a very good race pace, driver number 8 got caught out by the safety car, subsequently conceding three overtakes: his teammate Kevin Magnussen, McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat. Nonetheless, we are pleased that Romain Grosjean finally opened his points tally even if it’s just a single point, marked by this tenth place finish.

« We had a good weekend. I’m happy to score my first point this season and to have been able to keep up with the leading teams at the start of the race. After that, I was more in my rhythm, so it’s positive. I’m a bit less happy with my end of the race but overall, I think we deserved better today. We showed that the car was working and that we were present. »

GOOD JOB BOYS! First double-points finish of the season 💪💪

P7 @KevinMagnussen (6pts)
P10 @RGrosjean (1pt)@LewisHamilton takes the win in 🇪🇸#HaasF1 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/2eeqPVwpiR

— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) May 12, 2019