Both Verstappen and Raikkonen stopped on lap 12, with the Red Bull then pitting one lap before Raikkonen. So a two-stop race proved to be the winning strategy. Vettel had to settle for third, with the three stop failing to work out. Ricciardo then picked up a puncture and had to pit again, which dropped him to fifth, but he bounced back to fourth. Plus, both Vettel and Ricciardo failed to make significant inroads into Verstappen and Raikkonen’s advantage in the final laps, not helped by traffic. Pirelli actually predicted before the race that a three stop would be the quickest, but that fails to take into account how difficult it is to pass at the Barcelona track. It was brilliant to see four drivers battling it out and the tension continued to build as the laps counted down, as the strategies started to take shape. Red Bull and Ferrari both opted to split strategies with their cars, with Kimi Raikkonen and Verstappen stopping twice and Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo planning to pit three times. The choice between a two and a three stop strategy ended up deciding the podium places. As always, there were plenty of strategic elements for us to sink our teeth into, here are the main headlines: Few could have expected the result, as Max Verstappen drove to victory on his debut for the Red Bull team, becoming the sport’s youngest ever race winner.
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