2022 F1 Spanish GP: Winners and Losers

The 2022 edition of the Spanish GP is over now and we have Max Verstappen and Red Bull celebrating a rise to the top of the standings. The race left almost everyone fulfilled as some drivers were able to give a great account of themselves in front of the Spanish crowd. Others, however, had a rather disappointing conclusion to the Spanish GP weekend.

In this piece, let's take a look at some of the winners and losers of the Spanish GP.

---

Spanish GP: Winners and Losers

Winner

Max Verstappen and Red Bull

Around halfway through the Spanish GP, it did appear that this was going to be a race where Max Verstappen was going to end up fuming at the result because he was once again handicapped by the machinery at his disposal. The defending champion was thrown off the track by a gush of wind and forced to join the track behind George Russell and Sergio Perez.

With his DRS not working and an ill-timed pitstop leaving Verstappen stuck behind Russell, Charles Leclerc had the perfect route in front with no challenge whatsoever. Disaster, however, struck then as Leclerc's power unit cried enough and he was out of the race. That opened the door for Verstappen to calm himself down and use strategy and speed in equal measure to jump Russell and win the race. Was this the best Max Verstappen performance? Probably not, as the circumstances were not in his hands. The Dutchman now leads the championship and it will be interesting to see if the Leclerc-Ferrari combination has an answer to it.

Loser

Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc didn't do anything wrong at the Spanish GP. He scored a dominant pole on Saturday. He had the perfect start and was leading the race without much of a challenge from behind. Yet, what the Monegasque experienced this time around was something that his primary rival Max Verstappen has experienced twice this season.

And due to that, he lost the championship lead to Verstappen. Leclerc knows it's a long season and he did maintain a rather positive demeanor after all was said and done, but there's no denying that the Dutchman has been able to turn around a massive deficit against him and he needs to bounce back in his home race in Monaco.

Winner

George Russell and Mercedes

George Russell had a point to prove in his battle with Max Verstappen, which was to show his capabilities to anyone who even had a semblance of doubt over his ability to fight the Dutchman on a level footing.

His defense against Verstappen was impressive and what was even more impressive was the fact that he qualified on the second row. The Spanish GP was a positive weekend for both Russell and Mercedes and should act as a launchpad for the team to get back into contention soon.

Loser

Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo will need to do a lot of soul-searching after a devastating Spanish GP. The Australian was 9th on the grid at the start of the race and despite that finished outside of points. And while Ricciardo plummeted down the grid, it was his teammate that rose through the standings and finished in points.

There's a switch that has been flicked off for the Australian ever since he stepped into McLaren and the level at which he is performing right now, his future does not look safe whatsoever.

Winner

Alfa Romeo and Alpine

Alfa Romeo has started to separate itself from the pack in the last few races and by the looks of it, the upgrade package brought by the team for the Spanish GP worked like a charm as well. Valtteri Bottas was unchallenged by the midfield cars throughout the race as he finished 6th.

Alpine, on the other hand, has picked up only its second double-points-scoring finish this season. It does appear that the key to success in Barcelona was striking the right balance between qualifying and race pace. The team leaned more towards the race and it showed as both Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso stormed through the pack and finished in points. The French outfit needed this result and what better race than the Spanish GP to do that.

Loser

Haas

As we said earlier, it's all about striking a balance. While Alpine went more towards race pace and struggled in qualifying, Haas did the opposite and was left in no man's land. While the team secured a very impressive qualifying result on Saturday, it was exposed on Sunday. While Kevin Magnussen's first lap clash left him out of contention, Mick Schumacher suffered from severe tire degradation and ended up falling out of points-paying positions.