Charles Leclerc of Ferrari dominated the Spanish Grand Prix and aimed to increase his championship advantage back to the margin of a clean race win. However, his engine failed, and the race was handed over to challenger Max Verstappen.
Verstappen, on the other hand, had to suffer a spin into the gravel and 20 circuits behind Mercedes’ George Russell before he and his Red Bull crew were able to claw their way back to the front.
But, rather than slipping further behind Leclerc, Verstappen currently leads by six points at the top of the standings, which he holds for the first time this season.
Not only that, but Leclerc and Ferrari’s numbers aren’t looking good.
Verstappen has retired twice this season, but he has won every race he has competed. This was his third consecutive triumph. And, if reliability was once a significant concern for Red Bull – and it still is to some level – Ferrari now has its own concerns.
Meanwhile, there’s a complicating issue in what had been a private quarrel between the two men until Barcelona. Mercedes seems to be returning, or at the very least headed in that way.
Following a rough start to the season with a stumbling vehicle, both Russell and Lewis Hamilton now seem to be in a position to make life difficult for Verstappen and Leclerc.
