The Spanish GP

 All eyes will be on Max Verstappen in Spain this weekend. The teenage sensation moves into a top flight team in F1, Red Bull Racing, with less than a year and a half’s experience of Grand Prix under his belt, and only one full year of single seater racing prior to that. It has been a remarkable climb, but let’s not forget that talent and ability will always shine through. Lewis Hamilton almost won the world championship in his first year of F1 with McLaren and both he and Jackie Stewart were able to win races in their very first year. Max isn’t able to claim that on his cv, but he still has the chance of setting a number of records for being the youngest achiever of certain milestones in the sport.


The question is, can the Red Bull car be competitive enough to give him a real chance of becoming the youngest ever pole sitter, or race leader or indeed race winner? Probably not in Spain, but look further ahead; just over the horizon is that jewel in the crown, the Monaco GP. Given the comparative power outputs of Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda and Renault, it is unlikely that a Renault powered car will win in Catalunya, but in Monaco the power unit plays a less crucial role, and the chassis performance comes into its own. Red Bull are very proud of the RB12, while rival teams are mightily impressed with what they can see it achieve in terms of trading downforce for drag and for its performance in slow corners. So this weekend in Spain provides a dress rehearsal for both Verstappen and Ricciardo, and in particular through the final section of the lap. Altered for the 2007 race, the last sector contains the tight corners and change of direction at Turns 14 and 15, as well as the need to put power down quickly and efficiently. Mercedes have been brilliant through this sector for the last few years and Rosberg has gone on to win the Monaco GP each time. We need to keep our eyes on those sector times to see if Red Bull can upset the applecart in the Principality.


While the flying Dutchman will be on everyone’s radar, there’s still the matter of Lewis Hamilton trying to win for the first time in 2016. Surely it must come sooner rather than later but Rosberg beat him fair and square here last year, ending an 11 month period containing only one win. Now he arrives on the crest of a wave of seven consecutive wins and the chance to match Nigel Mansell and Michael Schumacher for the record of successive wins at the start of a season; in addition, Mercedes can match the amazing 1988 tally of McLaren that saw the team win 11 races in a row. Hamilton has only won here on a single occasion, in 2014 with Mercedes, and his poor luck in Barcelona extends back to his GP2 days when he was knocked out of a potential race win by his then team mate Alex Premat. Ferrari are also due a more competitive showing; despite the pace advantage that Mercedes have shown in qualifying all year, I still feel the red cars can be a threat on raceday, as Vettel was in Melbourne. Lewis lost valuable time behind Vettel here last year after a poor getaway, and cannot afford a repeat showing.


So, it is an intriguing weekend in prospect. The first of the European events, the first where tyre selection is based on testing rather than guesswork, the first for many updated parts on cars throughout the pitlane, and the first time that an 18 year old has raced for a quadruple world championship winning team. Records are made to be broken, and there could be several shattered in Spain.