2022 F1 Spanish GP: What did we learn?

The Spanish GP was one for the books and made for a thrilling watch on Sunday. The race saw Red Bull's Max Verstappen bag his third consecutive win after struggling with a DRS issue. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc lost both the race win and championship lead to the Dutchman due to a power unit failure.

The Spanish GP weekend was a rollercoaster with so many developments up and down the grid. With the race weekend done and dusted, let's take a look at what we learned.

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F1 Spanish GP: What did we learn?

#1 Reliability is going to be a factor this season

If there was one thing that was common between the top three teams, it was their reliability issues. Red Bull's DRS issue led to Max Verstappen missing a shot at the pole in Saturday's qualifying. The issue resurfaced in the Spanish GP and substantially hampered his progress.

In Ferrari's case, Charles Leclerc was successfully managing the race at the front when his power unit had had enough and forced him to DNF. Mercedes, too, suffered from a power unit issue, which resulted in both of their cars having to slow down at the end of the Spanish GP.

Reliability has resulted in one DNF for Leclerc and two for Verstappen so far. It appears as though it may play an important role in the championship.

#2 Mercedes will win races this season

While it is still far-fetched to buy into the idea of Lewis Hamilton having the pace to challenge for the win at the Spanish GP, it's not that hard to appreciate the fact that Mercedes has surely improved this weekend. The car did not suffer from porpoising as much, which was probably the biggest victory for the German team.

The eight-time world champion has its foundation in place now, and it will be interesting to see how Mercedes can further develop the car and close the gap to the front.

#3 Bottas is becoming "cool" again

Valtteri Bottas was one of the more liked F1 personalities when he was at Williams and was known for driving the wheels off the car. During his Mercedes stint, however, the pressure got to him. He was a fraction or two slower than Lewis Hamilton on most occasions and tried his hardest to overcome that deficit. Unfortunately, this never materialized into anything and as a result, the Finn was known as Mercedes' 'No. 2 driver' for many years.

In 2021, when Bottas decided to sign with Alfa Romeo instead of Williams, many considered it to be the wrong choice. This season, however, with Alfa Romeo turning things around, the 32-year-old finds himself in the role of a team leader and with the burden of driving for Mercedes lifted off his shoulders, Bottas is back to being his old cool self.

#4 The next breed of potential title challengers is not ready

One thing that is clear after the first six races of the season is that Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes are going to dominate the front of the grid for the next few years. No other team is remotely ready to enter the fight for the top spots in F1.

Alfa Romeo is currently the fourth fastest team on the grid, however, it would not be surprising if it had already reached its glass ceiling in terms of performance.

While McLaren's progress over the last few seasons has been encouraging, the team has fallen short in the era of new F1 regulations.

Furthermore, Aston Martin seems to be lacking performance despite its increased resources and Alpine, too, appears to be limited in many areas.

At least until the 2026 season regulations change, it's hard to envision any team other than Mercedes, Red Bull, or Ferrari fighting at the front.

#5 Haas is strapped for cash at the moment

Despite showing strong form in the earlier races of the season, Haas seems to be unable to hold onto its new form. This was evident at the Spanish GP. While other teams on the grid have brought new upgrades to improve their cars, the American team seems to be standing still.

Meanwhile, there have been rumors about Gene Haas opting not to invest any more in F1 than he already has. In F1, resources often equal to performance. Hence, if Haas is unable to find the suitable resources to improve its car, it will soon be back to its old form and at the back of the grid once again.

Catch the F1 circus next weekend in Monaco.