Last Updated on June 1 2025, 5:45 pm
What a difference tyre degradation makes to a Formula One spectacle. The Spanish Grand Prix held at the circuit de Catalunya is often snooze-fest and once again the race was won for the 32nd time in 35 outings from the front row.
Yet something changed this year in terms of Pirelli’s choice of tyres for the Barcelona event, which is usually a one stop strategy. By developing a complete set of dry weather compounds which are a step softer than in 2024 together with the fact the hard compound tyre was not fancied today by all the F1 teams, a two stop race became inevitable.
Even then the result would again have been processional with the front runners saving their tyres and slowing the field behind but for Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen. They clearly decided prior to the race they were going to race flat out and three stop, using all the rubber available and it almost paid off.
Red Bull forced to three stop
Verstappen admitted after the race part of the reason for this decision was that the degradation in tyres he suffered in practice forced Red bull’s hands into running more sets of fresh rubber than their nearest rivals intended. As the race entered its final ten laps, it appeared Red Bull had made a brave attempt to wrestle the win from McLaren, but were just coming up short.
The rookie Kimi Antonelli suffered an engine failure in his Mercedes car, forcing the young Italian off into the gravel and into retirement from the race. The subsequent safety car decision fell with the leaders around half the way through the lap at the circuit de Catalunya, allowing plenty of time for the teams to decide whether to stop for an extra and unexpected set of tyres, or continue on and hope to cling on to track position.
To have any hope of winning the race, Red Bull were forced to stop Verstappen and hope the McLaren’s ahead stayed out. They didn’t but the surprising result of this final stop for Verstappen was that he emerged with a fresh set of hard tyres, whilst his nearest rivals had softer and quicker tyre options fitted to their cars.
At the restart the inevitable occurred, Verstappen on the harder tyre – not up to optimum temperature – struggled for grip out of the final corner almost binning his car into the pit wall. The sheer skill of the Dutchman kept the car on the track, but gave the opprtunity to Charles Lerclerc behind to make a easy pass on the approach to turn one.
Late safety car disaster for Max
Yet having almost completed the move, the Ferrari driver appeared to steer into Verstappen, something the Red Bull driver was not happy about. At the time of writing, two hours after the chequered flag, the stewards are yet deliberating that incident which proved to be the first domino of many to collapse for the F1 world champion.
The move by Charles allowed Russell to make a desperate effort down the inside into turn one. Yet the Mercedes driver lost control of his car forcing Verstappen to take to the exit road. Max returned to the track ahead of his Mercedes rival, although within a lap he was being told by his race engineer to relinquish the place to Russell.
An incensed Max Verstappen was adamant he had been pushed off the circuit by George, yet Gianpiero Lambiase insisted his advice was to allow the Mercedes driver through into fourth place. Verstappen appeared to slow to allow Russell through, who in turn hesitated as if uncertain what was happening between the exit of turn four and turn five.
Having moved just ahead of the Red Bull, Verstappen appeared to decided the apex was still available for him to claim the corner for his own. Yet the front end of the RB21 was not compliant and Verstappen appeared to carry straight on into the side pod of Russell’s car. As the chequered flag fell, Max was hit with a ten second penalty for the latest incident with Russell and three penalty points which takes the world champion to 11 of the 12 allowed before he suffers a race weekend ban.
Stewards did not penalise Max for track limits
The final decisions of the stewards over the incident was posted some 90 minutes after the chequered flag and is an embarrassment for the Red Bull strategy and analysis teams. As far as Verstappen leaving the track and gaining an advantage as Red Bull thought, the Barcelona race stewards said this:
“The Stewards reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing and in-car video evidence.
Car 63 attempted to overtake car 1 on the inside of turn one. The driver of car 63 momentarily lost control of the car and collided with Car 1, forcing it wide and into the escape road.
Car 1 re-entered the track at turn 3 ahead of car 63. Given that the reason for car 1 being forced off the track was the loss of control and resulting contact from car 63, car 1 did not deliberately leave the track.
We accordingly took no further action.”
Red Bull strategy/analysis team embarrassed
So Red Bull’s call to their driver telling him to allow Russell through, was trying to anticipate the thoughts of the stewards. Yet with teams of people back at base in Milton Keynes and them all capable of reviewing vast amounts of video and telemetry data, this proved to be a disastrous call from the team creating the second incident where Verstappen was handed a ten second time penalty dropping him to the last points paying position.
The following decision regarding Max hitting George in turn five maintained the ten second penalty adding three points to Verstappen’s F1 driver’s duper license, just one more and its a race ban for the world champion.
Myth about F1 overtaking in Barcelona debunked
For fans of F1, Madrid winning the right to host the Spanish Grand Prix from nest year onwards may well bring a sigh of relief. Barcelona remains on the calendar for next year, but in the 34 runnings of the Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya the winner has come from the front row on shocking 31 occasions.
The track built as part of the 1992 Olympic bid by the city has been used for years as an extensive test venue for the teams before the recent switch of pre-season testing to there predictable weather in Bahrain. It is generally accepted that the circuit configuration is the best all round test of a Formula One car, despite its design being originally driven for International two wheel racing.
There’s a myth which has developed around F1 racing at the Circuit de Catalunya which suggests this is one of the most difficult circuits for the drivers to make overtake moves. Yet since the advent of the new ground effect car designs in 2022, the data does not support this theory… READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
