BARCELONA, Spain — The Spanish Grand Prix hit the reset button on Formula One’s 2022 championship. After six rounds, just six points separate Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc at the top of the championship and there is next to no margin between the performance of the Red Bull and Ferrari on track. Meanwhile, Mercedes has finally started to unlock the potential of its car, introducing the prospect of three teams fighting for wins in the coming races.
The reliability issues that cost Verstappen 36 points earlier in the season were partly cancelled out by Leclerc losing 25 points to his own issues on Sunday. Ferrari, which has enjoyed strong reliability up until this point of the season, finally showed some mechanical weakness, although it should be noted that Verstappen’s Red Bull remains a temperamental beast, with the Drag Reduction System (DRS) on the rear wing refusing to obey his commands while fighting for position with George Russell‘s Mercedes.
Leclerc’s shortened race leaves unanswered questions hanging over the true performance difference between Ferrari and Red Bull, but up until lap 27 he looked like he had the race firmly in control as Verstappen had to battle back from an uncharacteristic mistake. The upshot is a championship that is incredibly difficult to call between the top two, combined with the added spice of Russell and teammate Lewis Hamilton entering the battle.
A new championship leader but still no clear favourite
Verstappen’s victory in Spain means he has won every race he’s finished this season. The two times he hasn’t secured victory — in Bahrain and Australia — his car’s reliability let him down, making it easy to draw the assumption that he’s verging on being unbeatable this year.
But as impressive as Verstappen’s win record in 2022 is, it only tells a fraction of the story. At the two events where Verstappen retired, he did so from second place after being outperformed by Leclerc. What’s more, his most recent win in Barcelona was…
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