That didn’t happen. During Friday’s practice sessions, Hamilton could do no better than fifth, behind various combinations of Mercedes, Verstappen, and McLaren. On Saturday, Leclerc managed to beat him in qualifying, claiming second on the grid, with Hamilton in third. Antonelli was in fourth, having aborted his final run after Verstappen crashed and brought out a yellow flag at turn 9.
The Ferraris made OK starts in the race, though the rocket-like advantage they had in early races is long gone. But the superior tire wear from Barcelona was gone here, and both red cars soon began losing time. Hamilton finished fifth, with Leclerc in an even more distant eighth place. McLaren had a slightly less mediocre time, finishing fourth (Oscar Piastri) and seventh (Lando Norris), with Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull in sixth. Red Bull’s other F1 team, Racing Bulls, took best of the rest by claiming the final two points places with Liam Lawson in ninth and Arvid Lindblad in 10th.
The race itself was a lot like classic V10-era F1, at least after the first few frenetic laps. From then on, there was little on-track action, with teams trying to use tire strategy to pass rivals in the pits. That said, we witnessed some good battling between Verstappen and Hamilton, albeit with a bit of the pass-repass yo-yoing that these current hybrids can cause.
