A palpable anticipation filled the air on Saturday in Barcelona. Friday had seen Mercedes reassert itself over Ferrari, not so much for who would end up at the front of the grid, but as to whether McLaren could make it a whole day without an engine failing.
Such were the hopes of the Spanish faithful, who turned out in droves to simultaneously support and lament the fortunes of their leading man, Fernando Alonso. If only for one afternoon, they had plenty of cause for celebration.
To say his P7 was unexpected would be a bigger understatement than saying the Finns like Kimi Raikkonen. Everything we’d seen on Friday suggested he’d be lucky to finish a lap, let alone make the top 10.
His performance was the definition of “god mode”, and considering the way he has gone through the desert only to perform such a miracle makes the messianic treatment from his fans seem all the more appropriate.
In all seriousness, it’s days like today that show why we care so much about him in the first place. No one else in the mid- or backfield gets the attention he does, but how can you not talk about him when his brilliance is so obvious. If he doesn’t get another championship-contending car in his career, it’ll be our loss just as much as his.
On a related note, lunch in McLaren’s motorhome was an interesting affair, if only because the spread was the complete opposite of the Honda engine. Also as one journo showed me, you can jack an entire spread of chocolate tarts without any objection.
Of course, the other major story was out the front, where Lewis Hamilton was just able to squeak out the pole over Sebastian Vettel. The Ferrari’s advantage in FP3 always looked like a misnomer, as Mercedes clearly weren’t pushing, but their pace in Q3 was very impressive, given the Silver Arrows’ much-vaunted upgrades.
Whatever changes the Scuderia made between yesterday and today had the SF70H looking very composed through the corners, walking right on the line the amount of oversteer, and the only real difference between the two teams were the drivers themselves. It sets us up for a fascinating race tomorrow, let’s just hope they can follow through the corners.
A few quick hits:
- There are two things in this world guaranteed to cause chaos in any crowd – pepper spray, and a t-shirt cannon.
- Apparently Hamilton is quite the Slayer fan. At least that would explain the head-banging in FP3
- McLaren’s selection of magazines on offer is, shall we say… diverse?
- Lance Stroll continues to disappoint. Clearly the young man is feeling the pressure – talented-or-no, not every teenager can be Max Verstappen.
Report for GrandPrix247 by Ben Stevens in Barcelona
Read the full story at GRAND PRIX 247
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