Verstappen drops out after first lap at Spanish GP: “Bad luck”

Published on 14 May 2017 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen was not able to give a repeat performance at the Spanish Grand Prix this time round based on his win last year. Almost immediately after the start, the Dutchman came in contact with Kimi Raikkonen, which meant the end of both of their races. The Ferrari, that first came in contact with Valtteri Bottas, caused considerable damage to Max’ car. Verstappen was however still able to get his Red Bull Racing-automobile to the pits, but was forced to retire prematurely from the race due to a broken wheel suspension. Lewis Hamilton took the victory home as Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo both rounded up the top three.

“I suddenly saw a Ferrari jump to the left”, says Max. “I left some space. It could also have gone well: if the other two hadn’t collided with each other, I would have immediately gained two positions. This time it wasn’t the case.” The gap was definitely there according to Verstappen: “Absolutely, or else I wouldn’t have gone for it. They came together on the inside, causing me to get hit on the outside. Unfortunately that meant the end of my race. Too bad no points, but we’ll keep going on.”

When the lights turn green on Circuit de Catalunya, Vettel has a good start off the line, he gets immediately next to Hamilton and grabs the lead. Behind of them, things all go south. Verstappen takes the outside line at turn one, on the inside are Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas. Bottas manages to briefly make contact with Raikkonen, who in turn hits Verstappen. Both Max and Kimi suffer from a broken wheel suspension. This means a one way ticket for the Dutchman to the pits. Raikkonen doesn’t even make it to the pits and needs to park his car track side.

Even Fernando Alonso has a flawless start. The Spaniard, who managed to qualify his McLaren in seventh on Saturday, is hit by Felipe Massa in turn two. This drops the McLaren-driver out of the top ten.

Vettel puts the pedal to the metal and quickly creates a gap to Hamilton. After a handful of laps, the gap is already some three seconds. However, the Brit is unable to follow and soon the gap behind the two frontrunners also starts increasing. After thirteen laps, it is Fernando Alonso who is the first to pit. At the same moment, Hamilton is starting to gain on Vettel and is slowly closing the gap.

After this, the cat and mouse game between Vettel and Hamilton gets very strategical. On lap fifteen, the Ferrari-driver comes in for a new set of the soft compound tyres. Hamilton is able to go on longer and comes in seven laps later. The Brit opts for the mediums on which he intends to do a longer stint. Vettel has by now sufficiently decreased his gap in order to retake the lead.

Valtteri Bottas also goes on longer on the softs, causing Vettel to get stuck behind the Fin. This plays into Hamilton’s hand as he is able to gain some time again. Eventually, the Ferrari-driver manages to get pass Bottas, albeit with two wheels on the grass.

On lap 34, Stoffel Vandoorne makes a mistake by turning in as Massa is alongside him in turn 1. The Belgian failed to see the Williams-driver and breaks his own suspension, bringing out the virtual safety car. Many drivers take advantage of this by going in for their pit stop. Lewis Hamilton as well, he swaps the mediums for the softs. One lap later, Vettel also comes in for his second stop. The German straps on the medium compound tyre. After exiting the pit lane, he and Hamilton both head in to turn one, they briefly make contact but Vettel retains the lead.

On lap 39, Bottas’ Mercedes gives up on him, promoting Daniel Ricciardo to third. The dropping out of the Fin means that only one car of the three top teams reaches the finish line.

For quite a while it remains thrilling who will take the lead. On lap 44 Hamilton snatches the lead from Vettel and keeps it all the way to the finish.

Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon both achieve a great result for Force India by finishing fourth and fifth. Pascal Wehrlein also does a great job by finishing eighth fastest for the Hinwil based team.

Spanish Grand Prix - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya - Sunday 14 May

RACE RESULTS 

01 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                   	66 1:35:56.497  25
02  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                    	66 +3.490s      18
03  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer  	66 +75.820s     15
04 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes       	65 +1 lap       12
05 31 Esteban Ocon        Force India Mercedes       	65 +1 lap       10
06 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Renault                    	65 +1 lap       8
07 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso                 	65 +1 lap       6
08 94 Pascal Wehrlein     Sauber Ferrari             	65 +1 lap       4
09 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso                 	65 +1 lap       2
10  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari               	65 +1 lap       1
11  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari             	64 +2 laps      0
12 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda              	64 +2 laps      0
13 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes          	64 +2 laps      0
14 20 Kevin Magnussen     Haas Ferrari               	64 +2 laps      0
15 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                    	64 +2 laps      0
16 18 Lance Stroll        Williams Mercedes          	64 +2 laps      0
NC 77 Valtteri Bottas     Mercedes                   	38 DNF          0
NC  2 Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren Honda              	32 DNF          0
NC 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer  	1  DNF          0
NC  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                    	0  DNF          0