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2018 Spain Thoughts

THE BIG PICTURE: It has become tradition that Lewis Hamilton turns it on during the European swing. And Mercedes domination in Spain has a familiar tone to it. But, it's a bit more complicated than that as this excellent ESPNF1 article explains.

TRACK: As expected, not much passing. Also, the fact this track is so known by the teams since they all test on it makes the situation worse. No one has a weak spot to exploit.

EVENT: The crowd did not appear to be at capacity, but Spain has always struggled. MotoGP is a much bigger deal in this country.

QUALIFYING: Hamilton gets the diva to work, Bottas ensures a Mercedes front row, Ferrari and Red Bull slot in behind, and the Hulk fails to make it out of Q1 for the first time since 2015 ... also at Spain.

RACE: We knew this was going to be a letdown after the last few races. So, let's just leave it at that.

START: Hamilton provides a tow to the wrong car, enabling Vettel to get past Bottas, while behind them Grosjean does everything idiotic, taking out two drivers along with himself.

HAMILTON: This is the way Lewis likes it. Not like Baku.

BOTTAS: Not even in the same zip code. But then, nobody was.

MERCEDES: They took full advantage of the different Pirelli tires for Barcelona.

VERSTAPPEN: Podium? Yes. Clean race? No.

RICCIARDO: Fastest lap? Yes. Clean race? No.

RED BULL: Drivers behaved themselves? Yes. Competitive? No.

VETTEL: Frustrated. And suddenly, the points gap is now 17.

FERRARI: They took full disadvantage of the different Pirelli tires for Barcelona.

MAGNUSSEN: Kevin put the Haas right where most people expected at this track. Not like his teammate.

GROSJEAN: Good heavens! Can it get any worse for this dolt? First thing you learn in race driver's school -- keep the brakes locked when you are spinning off track. Instead, Romain doesn't just release the brakes, he nails the throttle, shooting himself across the track into the field and for good measure throws up a blinding tire smokescreen. Perhaps dotard is a better word for him...

HAAS: Jumps up to sixth in the points. Not bad when you consider just one driver is scoring points in what many believe to have the best of the rest car.

SAINZ: A fairly strong race.

HULKENBERG: Bad luck starting in qualifying.

ALONSO: Once again, performed better than the car because...

MCLAREN: ...the car still sucks even after all the updates and the "real" 2018 chassis making it's debut.

VANDOORNE: Sure, it's tough to have Alonso as your teammate -- just ask Massa and Raikkonen -- but Stoffel has got to perform better if he wants to stick around.

LECLERC: While Charles is performing a lot better now. If Ferrari thinks he is not ready for prime time next year, maybe they can get Haas to take him to replace a certain scoreless first lap, safety car wrecker.

HARTLEY: Sadly, Brendon's days in F1 may be numbered. Too many mistakes with the most impatient driver development team.

WILLIAMS: Technical heads are beginning to roll in this disaster of a season.

F1 TV: Fail!

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Smokescreen.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 0 -- The number of points Romain Grosjean has despite having the best car in his Haas career. Australia wasn't his fault, but the rest of the season is squarely on him.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: It is always amazing to think Pastor Maldonado actually won an F1 race. It happened exactly six years ago to the day of this year's Spanish GP. Maldonado inherited pole after a technical infraction on Hamilton's car. It was an eventful filled race which eventually saw Maldonado come out on top, becoming the only Venezuelan winner in F1 and the last time Williams won, all on Frank Williams 70th birthday. However, it was the post-race fire in the Williams garage that overshadowed it all. Thirty-one people were injured with seven taken to the hospital. Maldonado rescued his 12-year-old cousin who had a broken foot by carrying him on his back while others whisked Williams in his wheelchair away. (Some things never change -- Grosjean hit Perez at the third turn on the first lap.)

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Words other drivers fear when Lewis Hamilton says, "I think today has been a rejuvenating experience."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Sometimes, direct and to the point is best. Sebastian Vettel after his uncompetitive race, "We didn't have winning pace today, that's why we didn't win. Why find excuses? The bottom line is we're not quick enough to win."

SCHEDULE: The last few years has seen some strange stuff at Monaco. We can always hope for that. Plus, there's always Verstappen on a tight street course to give us thrills. And we can't forget the suspense of a Grosjean start.

Copyright © 2018 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.



RACE RESULTS
  Driver Laps
1. Hamilton 66
2. Bottas 66
3. Verstappen 66
4. Vettel 66
5. Ricciardo 66
6. Magnussen 65
7. Sainz 65
8. Alonso 65
9. Perez 64
10. Leclerc(R) 64
11. Stroll 64
12. Hartley(R) 64
13. Ericsson 64
14. Sirotkin(R) 63
NC Vandoorne 45
NC Ocon 38
NC Raikkonen 25
NC Grosjean 0
NC Gasly(R) 0
NC Hulkenberg 0

Time of Race
1:35:29.972

Margin of Victory
20.593 sec.

Safety Car
1 for 6 laps

Virtual Safety Car
1 for 2 laps

Lead Changes
2 among 2 drivers

Lap Leaders
Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen

Fastest Race Lap
Daniel Ricciardo

Pole Position
Lewis Hamilton

CURRENT STANDINGS
  Driver Pts.
1. Hamilton 95
2. Vettel 78
3. Bottas 58
4. Raikkonen 48
5. Ricciardo 47
6. Verstappen 33
7. Alonso 32
8. Hulkenberg 22
9. Magnussen 19
  Sainz 19
11. Perez 17
12. Gasly(R) 12
13. Leclerc(R) 9
14. Vandoorne 8
15. Stroll 4
16. Ericsson 2
17. Ocon 1
  Hartley(R) 1

  Team Pts.
1. Mercedes 153
2. Ferrari 126
3. Red Bull 80
4. Renault 41
5. McLaren 40
6. Haas 19
7. Force India 18
8. Toro Rosso 13
9. Sauber 11
10. Williams 4
 
 

2024 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Japan
China Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco
Canada Spain Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Azerbaijan Singapore United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Qatar Abu Dhabi

2023 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Azerbaijan
Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco Spain
Canada Austria Great Britain Hungary
Belgium Holland Italy Singapore
Japan Qatar United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Abu Dhabi

2022 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Emilia Romagna
Miami Spain Monaco Azerbaijan
Canada Great Britain Austria France
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Singapore Japan United States
Mexico City Sao Paulo Abu Dhabi

2021 Thoughts
Bahrain Emilia Romagna Portugal Spain Monaco
Azerbaijan France Steiermark Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Russia Turkey United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Qatar Saudi Arabia Abu Dhabi

2020 Thoughts
Austria Steiermark Hungary Great Britain Anniversary
Spain Belgium Italy Tuscany
Russia Eifel Portugal Emilia Romagna
Turkey Bahrain Sakhir Abu Dhabi

2019 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
Mexico United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2018 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2017 Thoughts
Australia China Bahrain Russia
Spain Monaco Canada Azerbaijan
Austria Great Britain Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2016 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Russia Spain
Monaco Canada Europe Austria
Great Britain Hungary Germany Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2015 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore Japan Russia United States
Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2014 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia Bahrain China
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan Russia
United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2013 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Great Britain
Germany Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore South Korea Japan India
Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2012 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2011 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Turkey
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi Brazil

2010 Thoughts
Bahrain Australia Malaysia China
Spain Monaco Turkey Canada
Europe Great Britain Germany Hungary
Belgium Italy Singapore Japan
South Korea Brazil Abu Dhabi

2009 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Turkey Great Britain
Germany Hungary Europe
Belgium Italy Singapore
Japan Brazil Abu Dhabi


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