Formula 1: Ramming of angry Verstappen – Piatri wins

An angry Max Verstappen has collected a difficult setback in the fight for its fifth World Cup triumph in series with a relapse into bad old attack times. In a tactically high-exciting Grand Prize of Spain, the Dutch and its Red Bull racing team failed with a risk strategy against the dominant McLaren duo with winner Ocar Piatri and Lando Norris.

In a spectacular final phase after a Safety car insert, Verstappen rammed the Formula 1 Mercedes from George Russell and received a ten-second penalty. He slipped back to the completely disappointing tenth place.

49 points behind frustration for frustration

Meanwhile, Piatri already celebrated the fifth victory in the ninth season race. Teammate Norris could not endanger the Australian a week after his Monaco Triumph. Third came to Charles Leclerc in Ferrari, against whom after a maneuver against Verstappen was also investigated. Nico Hülkenberg drove a famosen fifth place in the clean, and he also left Lewis Hamilton’s record champion in Ferrari after a great maneuver.

Racing winner Piatri expanded his lead before the upcoming Canada trip in two weeks. He now has 186 points, Norris comes to 176. Verstappen only got one point and only has 137 – and thus 49 points less than Piatri.

It was a more than heated racing final on a more than hot Sunday. The ranks were packed, over 300,000 fans came on the race weekend. The sun burned. And the asphalt was over 50 degrees hot.

The great concern of the drivers and engineers: What are the tires doing? “Heat is on the side of McLaren”, predicted by Red Bull’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko immediately before the start. It was all the more important for Verstappen, who had won in his first Red Bull race in Barcelona in 2016 at the start. And he did that.

In the slipstream of Polesetter Piatri, he passed Norris. To the dismay of Bayern center strikers Harry Kane, who used the upcoming training camp in Barcelona with the English national team and coach Thomas Tuchel to form the Formula 1 excursion and kept his fingers crossed. In the Red Bull Box, Poland’s football star and ex-Bavaria scorer Robert Lewandowski was delighted.

Hamilton criticism of re-enactment: “waste of money”

Passing Norris, Verstappen went on the persecution of Piatri. The 27 -year -old Dutch did not seriously dangerous to the 24 -year -old Australian. Piatri already won four of the eight Grand Prix until the Spanish race. Two, including the classic in Monaco, won Norris.

From the weekend in Catalonia, however, the rule of rule applies, the front wings can bend even less. Some believed that McLaren had exhausted this and could be more suffering. But they saw themselves deceived. Record world champion Lewis Hamilton from Ferrari even described the measure as a waste of money: “Nothing has changed.”

In front cruiste Piatri on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is quite alone. Verstappen decided to change the first tire early. A week after the Langweiler of Monaco, the Spain race quickly became a strategy battle. With Verstappen, Red Bull risen to put McLaren under pressure. Because he also had to have Norris overtaken without much resistance.

Verstappens Attacke tactics: full throttle with new tires

The strategy first worked. The last year’s winner caught up with the fresh tires so much that he was lying in front of Norris and Piatri when they came back on the track after their first tire change. But Verstappen was not satisfied with the car. “It is so difficult to drive, you can’t brake,” sparked Verstappen. Shortly afterwards he came – not even half of the 66 rounds drove, he came in for the second pit stop.

The next catch -up started with fresh rubber. He came to Charles Leclerc in Ferrari. Now there were only Piatri and Norris ahead of the Barcelona winner of the past three years. But it didn’t seem to work.

Displacement of astonishment about the final tire selection

But then a defect of the Mercedes from Kimi Antonelli caused a safety car phase. He jerked into the gravel bed and had to be towed. Everyone was able to change the tires quickly. The opportunity for Verstappen! But in astonishment, he found that he had received the toughest tire mix. There were no other options, the command stand replied.

Six laps before the end there was a showdown: Piatri defended the lead when the Safety Car went back in, behind it stayed Norris, Stappen slipped with the hard tires, Leclerc then passed. And then he also has to let George Russell pass in the Mercedes because he had given him an unauthorized advantage beforehand. Verstappen also rammed slightly into the British car and zeterte over radio.