George Russell kicked off the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix by conducting a grid interview from his scooter, which is definitely one way to assert dominance before the race even begins. “In these conditions it’s never going to be nice and comfortable,” he noted, before adding that Lewis Hamilton is “on form” and Kimi Antonelli “nothing seems to stop him at the moment.” Russell, who scored pole position yesterday, said he felt “like my old self again” after a difficult run, and is looking to win his first grand prix since the season opener in Australia.
Lando Norris, keeping his feet firmly on the ground for his interview, declared: “We’re here to race. We want to try and win, so I’m going to go for that. But at the same time we’re against some fast cars, so we’ll play it as we should.” The drivers lined up for the Spanish national anthem, with a Spain flag and the Catalan senyera unfurled on track, while Carlos Sainz, the other home favourite, starts back in 16th with Williams.
The trackside DJ played One More Time by Daft Punk - surely a coincidence and not a pointed reference to what is expected to be Fernando Alonso’s 23rd and final F1 race at Barcelona. The 44-year-old has won here twice (with Renault in 2006 and Ferrari in 2013), with another five podiums. Just coaxing his Aston Martin home today would be enough, but that won’t bother the thousands waving Spanish flags in the stands, including his own grandstand. The DJ’s back-up dancers, clad head to toe in Park Güell-themed stone pattern material, remain a mystery.
Reader Tomas Barbosa, writing very formally, asked about tyre strategies. Pirelli’s head of motorsport, Dario Marrafuschi, expects at least a two-stop strategy: “In theory, we expect that the best strategy is medium-hard-hard, also because teams have saved the hard tyres. The common sense lets us think that the two stops with medium-hard-hard could be an option with a first stop between 15 and 21 and the second between 38 and 44.” For someone like Max Verstappen, starting 5th, a three-stop strategy might be quicker, but risks overheating soft tyres when overtaking. Track temperatures reached around 50C for qualifying yesterday.
Fernando Alonso, starting from the pits after being outqualified by teammate Lance Stroll for the first time in 42 races, was not happy yesterday: “We knew we have the worst car and the worst engine and we’ve been very clear in every race so far that we have to work. We repeat the same thing and it’s exhausting. We’re last, we know it, and we have no problem admitting it. We have the worst engine, very poor energy deployment, gearbox problems and aerodynamic problems. We’re waiting for the second half of the year, and I hope we can improve a bit when the new car arrives.”
George Russell, reflecting on his pole, said: “Really happy to be back in my groove. It’s been a difficult few races, obviously bad luck, and some poor performances in there, but I went back to an approach I knew works for me. Car setup, mentality … Going back to basics. These cars are so complicated … it’s challenging to get on top of things, especially when I’ve got a guy like this [Antonelli] next to me performing so well … I’m just glad to feel myself again, feel at one with the car again.” The grid lines up with Russell first, Hamilton second, Antonelli third, Norris fourth, Verstappen fifth, and a full field including Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas at the back with Cadillac.
Welcome, benvinguts. Is this the day George Russell reignites his title challenge? Kimi Antonelli, flying the sporting flag for Italy this summer in the absence of the Azzurri at the World Cup, starts third and leads the drivers’ standings by a whopping 66 points after five race wins on the spin, capped with victory at Monaco last weekend. Lights out in Catalonia is at 2pm BST - time to inject some variety before another football onslaught.