2017 Spanish GP Post-Race Stats

What a race that was! Not only were there actually some overtakes in the Spanish GP, but there were overtakes for the lead as well!

Lewis Hamilton started the race on pole but lost out to Vettel at the first turn. There wasn’t ever much between the two on pace, but once the virtual safety car came out to recover Stoffel Vandoorne’s damaged McLaren, Hamilton gained the advantage by pitting right at the end of the VSC period. Which gained several seconds on Vettel who had to pit the lap after, while everyone was at full racing speed. While it’s hard to say if this cost Ferrari the race as Hamilton was still behind after the stop and had to overtake several laps later, the extra five or so seconds would have helped a lot.

In the end Hamilton won from pole, also setting the fastest lap of the race, Vettel came second and the smiling Australian Daniel Ricciardo in third. Valtteri Bottas could have joined his teammate on the podium as well had his car not failed after 38 laps. Fernando Alonso somehow did the impossible on Saturday and dragged his McLaren not onto into Q3 for the first time in 2017 but also into seventh place. Alonso repeated his miracles on Sunday, only the three men on the podium set a faster lap in the race than him.

After finishing an impressive fourth and fifth, Force India are now the only team left in 2017 that have finished with both cars in points scoring positions at every race of the season. Mercedes and Ferrari had previously shared the record but with Raikkonen retiring on the first lap and Bottas half way through the race it leaves only the Indian team. Pascal Wehrlein scored the first points of the season for Sauber with eighth place, only stopping once in the process and making the soft tyres last an impressive 33 laps.

For the first time all season Mercedes and Ferrari haven’t switched places after the race, in fact there was just the one change in the Constructors’ Championship, Renault moved up to sixth after Hulkenberg’s sixth place finish, dropping Haas down to seventh.

A few more changes in the Drivers’ Championship after the Spanish GP, Ricciardo’s podium has moved him above his teammate Verstappen, who retired on the first lap, but is only two points ahead. Esteban Ocon moves up two positions after his best finish so far, dropping both Massa and Sainz down one position. Pascal Wehrlein’s first points of the season have bumped him up two positions, dropping down Magnussen and Kvyat. Daniil Kvyat did have a fantastic recovery drive, starting the race down in 19^th place and finishing in ninth, but sadly not enough to stop him dropping. Wehrlein’s teammate Marcus Ericsson was just short of scoring a point, but his 11^th was his best finish of the season and moved him from last up to 16^th.