Spanish Grand Prix – The 7 highlights

Verstappen in the History books (2016)

We could also have mentioned the Hamilton / Rosberg crash. But Verstappen’s first major achievement will forever be engraved in the history books.

Starting from pole position, Hamilton missed his start and was overtaken by Nico Rosberg who has won the last 7 races in a row, including the first 4 of the 2016 championship. He is also the defending champion since he won here in 2015.

The German driver, however, makes a small but consequential mistake: he activates the energy recovery mode and loses a lot of speed coming out of turn 3. Hamilton tries to seize his opportunity but his teammate leaves him very little space.

The British champion goes off track but doesn’t give up, hitting Rosberg which caused both drivers to retire and the anger of the bosses of the Mercedes team.

The Mercedes are forgotten, Ferrari and Red Bull know that the opportunity will not come again so soon and engage in a fierce duel throughout the race. Favorites on paper, Sebastian Vettel and especially Daniel Ricciardo, are betrayed by a bad strategy and will play supporting roles in the second part of the race.

In front, Max Verstappen inherits the leader’s position following Ricciardo’s poor strategy and is ahead of a very insistent Kimi Räikkönen. However, even though the Finn appeared faster, Max will not crack and will go on to claim his first career victory… in his first race with Red Bull as a replacement for Daniil Kvyat who was demoted to Toro Rosso!

Dutchman becomes the youngest Formula 1 Grand Prix winner at 18 years and 7 months, beating the previous record held by Sebastian Vettel.

Monumental!

2. The unexpected victory of Pastor Maldonado (2012)

This 2012 season was completely crazy and this episode of the Spanish Grand Prix was no exception! Having set the fastest time the day before, Lewis Hamilton is disqualified for not having enough fuel in his tank at the time of weighing.

The Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado achieves his first pole position ahead of the local hero, Fernando Alonso. At the start, the Spaniard in his Ferrari takes the lead over the Williams driver. However, Ferrari makes a mistake in strategy, and Alonso comes out behind Maldonado during the second pit stop.

This is followed by a long tug-of-war that Maldonado will win without flinching against the double world champion! He becomes the 5th different winner in 5 Grand Prix, which will have 8 in total on 5 different cars.

For Williams, it is also a redemption. Deprived of victory since 2004 and Juan-Pablo Montoya after coming close with Nico Rosberg in 2009, the team makes a resounding comeback. So much so that during the post-race celebration, the team’s garage catches fire, depriving them of part of the celebration.

To this day, Maldonado’s only victory remains Williams’ last in F1.

3. Mika Hakkinen’s bad luck (2001)

The beginning of the end for Mika Häkkinen. World champion in 1998 and 1999, the Finnish driver surrendered his crown in 2000 to his great rival Michael Schumacher and was determined to make up for it in 2001. Unfortunately for the McLaren driver, it will not be the case, and this Spanish Grand Prix perfectly sums up the nightmare season of the two-time world champion.

Starting behind Schumacher on pole, Hakkinen adopts a different strategy and definitively takes the lead halfway through the race, where he creates a gap that will grow to 40 seconds… Even until the last lap of the race!

Betrayed by a clutch problem, he is forced to retire in the last lap, handing the victory on a silver platter to a Schumacher who didn’t expect it! It is also the first career podium for Juan-Pablo Montoya and BAR Honda through Jacques Villeneuve.

If he wins two more Grand Prix that year, Häkkinen, tired of Formula 1, decides to take a sabbatical year in 2002… which will eventually turn into a permanent retirement.

4. Schumacher’s first victory for Ferrari (1996)

Leaving Benetton with whom he had just won the last two championships, Michael Schumacher embarked on the project to rebuild the Ferrari team, deprived of a title since Jody Scheckter in 1979.

In a season dominated by Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve’s Williams, Schumacher will remind everyone of his talent by delivering an absolutely masterful performance.

Starting from pole position, Damon Hill misses his start and sees Villeneuve taking the lead. Fourth and then third after Hill’s off-track excursion, MSC overtakes Jean Alesi and then Villeneuve to take the lead of the race on the 11th lap and never relinquish it.

The German driver achieves the first of his 72 victories with the Scuderia in style, finishing ahead of Alesi, who was second, by more than 45 seconds. It is also the second of his 6 wins at the Spanish Grand Prix, of which he holds the record.

The beginning of a long story in Red!

5. Alonso prophet in his homeland (2006)

Rare are the drivers who can win a Grand Prix in their career. Even more so at home, especially as a world champion! Deprived of victory the previous year by a Kimi Räikkonen at his best, Fernando Alonso will not miss the opportunity the following year.

Launching from pole position in front of his teammate Fisichella and his title rival Michael Schumacher, Alonso takes a perfect start and widens the gap on his rivals. He then manages his race calmly to win the victory with a 28-second lead over the Baron Rouge.

He thus becomes the first Spanish driver to triumph in Spain. Grandiose.

6. The Hamilton / Vettel battle (2017)

Sometimes, there’s no need for a lot of wheel-to-wheel fighting for a battle to become memorable. This is the case of the Hamilton/Vettel fight in 2017. With Rosberg gone after his world championship title, Lewis Hamilton’s number 1 rival is now Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari.

Hamilton on pole position misses his start and sees Vettel take the lead at the first corner. The Ferrari driver stops on the 13th lap allowing Hamilton to take the lead for 7 laps, until the Englishman’s pit stop. Mercedes, however, has implemented a perfect strategy: leaving Bottas on track to make Vettel lose as much time as possible.

The Finn will hold on for 3 laps before giving in to the four-time world champion, who makes an epic overtake with two wheels in the grass at the beginning of turn 1.

But the time lost behind Bottas, coupled with a less than optimal tire strategy compared to the competition, Vettel comes out side by side with Hamilton during his second pit stop but manages to resist the Mercedes driver. However, a few laps later, Hamilton shatters Ferrari’s hopes and overtakes his German rival on the 44th lap of the race.

If the rest was more monotonous with Hamilton pulling away to go and pick up another success, but the battle remained in the memory as one of the most beautiful between the two multiple champions.

A flying start and a 32nd victory: Alonso’s most recent win in F1

What better way to end this list of highlights than with the local hero’s latest great performance? We are in 2013, still in the heyday of the Red Bull era and on the verge of Mercedes’ domination. It is Nico Rosberg who secures pole position ahead of his teammate Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel is in 3rd place ahead of Kimi Räikkönen. Alonso, on the other hand, starts from 5th place.

At the start, Rosberg retains the advantage over Vettel who has overtaken Hamilton while Alonso is going to make one of the best starts of his career. He overtakes both world champions Hamilton and Räikkönen in the very difficult turn 3 and finds himself in 3rd place behind the two Germans.

He quickly overtakes Vettel to find himself in 2nd place behind Rosberg. On the 13th lap, after the pit stops, the Spaniard comes out in the lead and will calmly go on to claim victory ahead of Räikkönen and his teammate Felipe Massa.

This is his 32nd career victory. At that precise moment, no F1 observer could have guessed that it would still be the last for now.

And to think that it’s already been 8 years!