Rate the race: 2016 Spanish Grand Prix

2016 Spanish Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by

What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Spanish Grand Prix.

Since 2008, F1 Fanatic has held polls on every F1 race to find out which fans thought of each round of the season.

Join in the latest poll and give your verdict on the race: 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (32%)
  • 9 (33%)
  • 8 (20%)
  • 7 (9%)
  • 6 (4%)
  • 5 (1%)
  • 4 (0%)
  • 3 (1%)
  • 2 (0%)
  • 1 (0%)

Total Voters: 657

 Loading ...

1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

An F1 Fanatic account is required to vote. You can register an account here or read more about registering here. When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.

View more Rate the Race results:

See the results for past seasons here:

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

210 comments on “Rate the race: 2016 Spanish Grand Prix”

  1. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!

    It’s been 20 minutes now that I’ve been shaking in front of the TV. This is historic!

    I have nothing else to say. That was out of this planet… to hold off Raikkonen for so long, on old tyres… just unbelievable.

    Shocking, to say the least. Made me forgot about Hamilton vs Rosberg!

    1. Agreed! What an incredible race! The tension at the end… unbelievable he hold first position

    2. I can believe it because he’s that good!

      However, to be fair I can’t pass the fact both Red Bull and Ferrari messed up with the 3 stops strategy and both Mercedes where out of the race…

      1. The thing s we found the solution to solve the F1 problem: just kick Mercedes off.

        1. Ayy, Sad but true.

    3. Lets not forget to thank Hamilton, if it weren’t for his childish behaviour trying to regain the lead he just lost so quickly, this absolutely fantastic race would not have been possible, i can’t remember the last time I gave a race a resounding 10!

      1. Childish behavior – to regain the lead – fight for the front – when the driver in front is in the wrong engine mode – 18 kph slower – surely you jest.

        1. Hamilton should’ve gone around the outside if he was that much faster. Rosberg drove defensively but predictably, and Hamilton made a bone-headed move. Also, once he was on the grass, he should’ve backed off the throttle and rejoined the track safely– the stewards made that very clear with Raikkonen at Silverstone last year.

          1. If you actually watch what happened you will see Hamilton did back off when on the grass. His car went from beside rossbergs to behind him and sideways before it collected rossberg as he slowed for the corner.
            There was less room on the left which is why Lewis went to the right as Nico was fiddling with his steering wheel due to his car slowing as it was harvesting. Lewis let Nico pass him in turn 1 as he didn’t want to cause an accident. Nico didn’t bother to extend the curtesy choosing to force his team mate off the track instead. Nico could have left that 1 cars width, even a half cars width would have been enough to make Lewis back off and keep both cars in the race.
            Nico just showed how petulant he is with that move and again with his comments post race.

      2. Hamilton had the red mist and just had to get the position he lost back on the very next corner. And to try on the inside was foolhardy, with such a speed advantage why not just sweep around the outside? You would think he would have learned his lessons by now, in Canada 2011 he tried a similar stunt and crashed into Button.

        A great race, 9/10. The Merc’s not being there allowed a great race to develop.

    4. I just couldn’t believe my eyes the last couple of laps. Surely he was going to pit again for softs, right? No!!

      I’ve been following F1 since ’94, watched Jos’ day in the sun that year, but that moment just got totally eclipsed by what Max did today. Very very proud of my young countryman today. Goosebumps.

      1. Luckily I haven’t heard anyone wondering what a certain spanish driver would have managed to do in Ferrari or Redbull… Ferrari was much better in Sectors 1 and 2 but there are no good places to overtake and the last two corners were very difficult for Ferrari compared with RBR, so they couldn’t get close in the straight and overtake in the first corner.

    5. Fantastic job from Max but terrible all round performance from Ferrari. The tyre call was obviously – to me anyway – the wrong one for Vettel and I think had Danny Ric been in Kimi’s car he would have gotten past Max.

      1. Nah he could not get past Vettel. When evenly matched cars overtaking was not possible.

        1. I agree with markp.. Ferrari clearly coulddn’t follow through the chicane and the last corner even if Daniel was driving.. or do you think @mortyvicar that Ricciardo would have attempted an overtake to T1 from the distance that Kimi got to after the straight? Because Kimi was never as close to Max that Daniel was to Sebastian when he did those attempts. Today Ferrari just didnt’t have the grip from the slow corners and the aero to follow through the quick ones to use their power advantage on the straights. But it was just enough to get Seb on the podium.

          1. once again RB sacrifies the leading car, lures Ferrari onto the wrong strategy, an gets the big prize
            Ferrari lost the race following RIC with VET in the second pit stop
            they realize it soon enough and could salvage 3rd

          2. @aalate Ricciardo was more aggressive and made a couple of attempts at passing Vettel before he ruined his tyres as a result. I believe had Ricciardo been in Raikkonen’s car with the extra power he would have attacked Max and likely passed; Max was trying to avoid mistakes and bring the car home. I don’t think he would have fought back so aggressively on old tyres. Kimi was content to settle for 2nd, which was probably the safe and smart thing to do. Ricciardo being hungrier would have made the attempt. In any case I’m sure Ricciardo’s efforts would have raised his profile even higher with Ferrari who are rumoured to be interested in him for 2017.

    6. You do know that Verstappens and Raikkonens tires were 1 lap different in age? Your comment comes out as if there was a huge age difference. And we saw, Ricciardo had SEVERAL laps newer tires and couldn’t overtake Vettel. This track just is one of the harder tracks to have any overtaking spots without major difference in speed/tires or making a mistake.

      1. @lari yes, I’m aware of that. But remember it was the first time for Verstappen in this car, and he nursed those old tyres (not older than Kimi’s, I never said that) brilliantly and held off pressure.

        It’s not easy to be there. Specially when your car has a main disadvantage (top speed) and you have to make the most of what you’ve got for lap after lap. He was very calm during the whole lap, letting Kimi get close except at the last sector, not making a single mistake, getting the traction correctly out of the chicane and fending off every DRS move.

        Kimi also had old tyres, ofc. But the Ferrari had the capability to be faster than the Red Bull. The fact that Ricciardo couldn’t overtake Vettel had a lot to do with the Bull’s lack of power too.

        1. Like I said, I didn’t take anything away from Maxs’ performance. Also, like you said, Toro Rossos were faster on last sector giving them enough breething space for straight line where Ferrari catches up with DRS.

          1. Also @fer-no65 as you know, rbr was faster here in Spain than Ferrari. Qualifying is only objective measurement due to different tactics, tyre nursing etc.

        2. What Red Bull lost in power they gained in the last 2 corners leaving it very even. On Ferrari strategy they could not do much more, they jumped Ricciardo but Red Bull had the advantage of track position with their drivers running 1 and 2. Strategy got Ferrari past 1 Red Bull but Red Bull had 2 cars ahead so were almost guaranteed to keep 1 of them out front. Had Saint not been ahead at the start Kim I may have been closer when the 1st stops occurred to have a larger undercut but it’s all ifs and busts.

  2. 9/10! Max Verstappen, take a bow!

  3. I literally cannot believe that race happened.

    I just… what?

    1. Wow, just wow!

  4. petebaldwin (@)
    15th May 2016, 14:48

    9 – Brilliant race. Great battle for the top 4 positions, controversy at Mercedes, Verstappen winning his RBR debut, DRS not too strong… The first race for quite a while that got my heart going.

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      15th May 2016, 14:50

      In fact – I don’t know how you could really beat that. Yeah. It’s a 10.

      1. Having a race winning moment, an overtake perhaps? 8 for me, exhilarating race old school race, newborn winner. I said I’d be surprised to see Merc win, not in this way though, that said I don’t think the Merc’s would do very well on the tyres so potential loss for the race and definitely a loss on having no fight between Merc’s drivers.
        Stop defending Kvyat please, he’s not even a likeable character.

  5. WOW! What a race! Edge of the seat stuff. A legend is born.

  6. MOST UNBELIEVABLE RACE OF RECENT HISTORY! I can’t remember the last time I have been so blown away by how a race started and ended!

  7. Well… that was unexpected. Made me forget about what happen at the start, actually.

  8. Greatest race ever?

    In 30 years of F1 I cannot think of anything close. Outstanding.

    Every few generations a driver changes the level, a few years back post Schumacher there were a few drivers but who was best was debatable but Verstappen is looking like he is going to be the irrefutable best driver.

    1. Why go so far? 2012 Brasil, 2011 Canada, 2014 Canada etc. etc. etc.

    2. Well, no….. He did a great job, but the mercs were out and Ric was stuffed
      on strategy. So ‘new level’ talk is massively premature.

  9. ColdFly F1 (@)
    15th May 2016, 14:50

    10/10 – 9 for the excellent race + a bonus point for Max

    1. My thoughts exactly, the racing itself was a 9 with the Mercedes out and close racing with some amazing overtakes and attempts to pass but watching verstappen hold out then win felt like we were watching something special so I gave it a 10.

      What a race and what a season we’re having after just 5 races.

  10. Despite being a Mercedes fan i can’t give less than 10. This race will have lasting impression for the whole year.

  11. Unbelievable race! 10/10 for me! Great race by Verstappen! Driver of the weekend! Youngest ever race winner in F1! Ricciardo did a solid job too.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      15th May 2016, 17:24

      @ultimateuzair I think Red Bull won 1 driver and lost another. Ricciardo’s off to another team.

      1. Someone’s hasty little bugger, aren’t you?

        1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          15th May 2016, 19:00

          @lari what happened with all the blindness and wisdom in your other post?:-)

          1. You mean when I told you were beyond any help? It’s stll there, have a look…. Oh wait 😅

          2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            16th May 2016, 13:59

            @Lari You can have the last word – it means a lot to enlightened people like you – blind folks like myself do not need as much help.

  12. LovelyLovelyLuffield
    15th May 2016, 14:51

    10/10 won’t cut it. No, it just won’t do this race justice.
    It’s remarkable this race even went this way.

    It would be best to get this archived and put in a time capsule as the greatest race of the suck-ass era.

    1. LovelyLovelyLuffield
      15th May 2016, 14:54

      ADDENDUM: No, really, F1 would be silly to NOT upload the entire race on YouTube. Of course they wouldn’t, but this is history in more ways than one.

      In an era that is well-derided, this race is a rare diamond in a pile of soot.

  13. We just saw a teenager win in the third best car on his team debut. I can’t wait to see the naysayers who argue he’s a product of his own hype find holes to pick in this one to maintain their inflexible stance on the subject. That was incredible!

    1. Wasn’t he helped even a tiny bit by the Merc debacle?

      1. VES is an awesome talent and probably a champion in the making, and as with all champions, a bit of luck is always involved.

        1. …and also by RB’s strategic blunder with Ricciardo, who deserved the win the most IMO.

      2. Sure, but taking advantage of opportunities is the hallmark of a great champion.

      3. The position was helped by the Mercedes debacle, but the outstanding drive was all his own work. Flawless lapping with 2 world champions behind, one of them within a second most of the significant part of the race.

        Stunning performance for any driver… For one that isn’t even 19 years old, it’s a genuine once in a life-time event.

        I’m just gob-smacked…

    2. Take nothing away from Max, in this race Ferrari and Red Bull looked closely matched. Ferrari better watch out as the coming Renault upgrade could see Red Bull past them in development.

    3. 3rd best in championship yes, but in this race, those were quicker than Ferrari, only losing to Mercedes so RBR were 2nd quickest in Spain. Not taking anything from Max’s performance, which was utterly impressive, just putting some facts straight.

      1. In qualy yes, but i’m not sure RBR was really faster in race pace today. After the Ferraris went past Sainz, they got very close to the Red Bull pair, which may or not may have nursed their tires, but Ferrari looked faster in free air. In the last stint, Ricciardo was indeed faster than Vettel, but he was on 10+ laps younger tires.

        1. Yeah, it’s hard to tell which were quicker in the race due all the delta driving and different tactics but qualy is raw pace test so I base my evaluation on that.

          1. @lari

            Qualifying never tells a complete story, look at Merceded in 2013. They were so strong in qualifying but often 5th or worse best car in the race.

            There was something up with the Ferrari pace on Saturday, it just disappeared but they definitely had it back on Sunday, they had absolutely no drama keeping up with the Red Bull cars throughout the race, if they’d had track position I’m pretty confident they would have pulled away in the early stages. Ricciardo with fresher tyres, low fuel, a bee in his bonnet and some slipstreaming was able to attack towards the end though but Red Bull was really only the faster car in the tight, twisty sector 3.

  14. I wish I could record the reactions of the people who missed the race and are going to check the classification to see which Mercedes won…

  15. I’m dizzy. Can the Mercs please collide every race…?

  16. 10. Of course a 10. That was stunning from Verstappen.

  17. Congratulations for Max.

    Amazing such a young driver to obtain his first victory at his first race with Red Bull.

    Chapeau!

  18. 10! Still trying not to cry :p

    1. You know that Ferrari lose today, do you? :p

      1. Yep. Cheering for a red bull. Crazy

  19. Is Max the first race winner not to see Senna in action?

  20. What. A. Race.

    Alonso remarked recently that you don’t need overtaking to make a great race, and today proved it.

    Max Verstappen. Incredible!!!!

  21. 10/10 absolutely unbelievab

  22. Kvyat must be at a loss for words…

  23. I don’t care who was to blame for the Mercedes crash, their retirement resulted in a formula 1 race i thought i would never see again, 2 teams and 4 drivers fighting for the win, i’m so happy 9/10

  24. What a race.
    A great racer that young man is. I said he will keep Kimi behind. He has the skills for that. RedBull (especially Helmut Marko) have been vindicated for their decision to switch drivers mid-season.

  25. Red Bull’s decision already justified.

    1. ColdFly F1 (@)
      15th May 2016, 15:17

      Did you notice who went to the podium for RBR;-) @david-a

  26. Eh? Kvyat could have done it honestly. He’s held Ferrari’s behind him before. I seriously doubt this race would be rated so highly if that was the case.

    The result was courtesy of strategy and tactical gaffes and I honestly can’t believe a site of such fanatics is buying so much in to hype on a track where essentially no passes were made out side of pit-stops.

    1. Yeah, OK. Kyvat got comprehensively outqualified by Sainz and you think he would have been able to do what Max did today.

    2. I honestly doubt that. For measly point positions maybe, but not under this kind of pressure for a top position. His capitulation in the US GP being a good example. DK’s 2 podiums were also after Ricciardo displayed superior pace anc fought faster cars. Strategy played its part, but Max was amazing today, no doubt about it.

    3. William Jones
      15th May 2016, 15:18

      F1Novices get excited by crashes, F1Regulars get excited by overtakes. F1Experts get excited by strategies, but F1Fanatics, well, we get excited by logistics. Did you see that new Ferrari tyre rack, worth a 10/10 for that alone!

    4. Was hoping to see at least a couple of overtakes towards the end, we got none. Only one I remember is Vettel on Sainz.
      Ferrari blew it today, could have 2 stopped Vettel. And Red Bull blew Ricciardo’s chance by thinking he could pass Vettel on fresher tyres.

      1. Verstappen overtook Vettel in the first lap.

    5. I don’t think Kvyat could handle that much pressure for a whole race, considering the last two races. Max didn’t put a foot wrong. His composure was amazing.

  27. Not a great race if you are an Aussie.
    Max 2 stop Dan 3 stop on a track where you can’t pass.
    He we go again.
    Memories of favouring Seb over Mark.
    The NEW golden boy.
    Dan is already a old shoe, you can just see it.
    Aaaaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhh!!!!!

    1. Red Bull and Ferrari gave their lead drivers the preferred strategy but both got forced to split strategies just in case what happened did happen. No conspiracy needed just smart tactics.

    2. The 3 stop was faster on paper, and running the medium tyre for 32 laps was a high gamble. They haven’t tested it for more than 25 laps, and it was supposed to fall off the cliff sooner or later after that. It was a risky strategy which was never designed for a race leader, but as an alternative for a car that didn’t have so much to lose.

      I think the mistake for RBR was they kept the second stint too long. If they pitted sooner, and came out ahead of Vettel, Dani RIC would have probably went past the front runners which had way older tires than Vettel.

  28. 7 for me. Stunning result but the race itself was quite dull except Mercedes disaster.

    1. ColdFly F1 (@)
      15th May 2016, 15:20

      If this race was dull for you, then F1 isn’t for you – try NASCAR. @eggry

      1. @coldfly It was all about strategy and management. I couldn’t see any meaningful action so can’t be higher than it.

    2. Are you serious? My adrenalin didn’t stop running all the way.10

        1. But 9 for me. Great race.

  29. 10. Wow. One of the most exciting final stints for a long time!

  30. 10 = ‘Perfect’

    There you go. Crash between championship leaders, great battle for the top 4 places, differing strategies, first time winner, unpredictable result. I was buzzing all the way through.

  31. Superb. :-D

  32. 9/10! Co-Drivers of the race: Rosberg and Hamilton. If it weren’t for them we wouldn’t have had this spectacle.

  33. Rosberg fan. Annoyed with what happened in the first lap but still an absolute classic and legendary race.

    Max answering all the doubters

    1. I haven’t heard any doubters ‘re Max’s talent. It’s been obvious from his first appearance that he is one of the specials you get once in a generation.

  34. Doesn’t get better than that. Great race, great story, great moment in F1 history.

  35. Steve (@stevelloydf1)
    15th May 2016, 15:05

    10 – It had it all. End off

  36. 9/10. One of the most exciting races in a long time. Almost gave it 10/10, but that is saved for the races like Brazil 2012.

    1. indeed, it was a 9 for me too. For a race which had very few overtakes, the tension, drama and entertainment level was unexpectedly high. Who said we need 40 overtakes per race to get excited?

      Also, one of the few overtakes of the race, VES getting back on VET in the first lap, was probably the key to his race. If Max couldn’t get back behind Dani Ric so fast, the outcome would have probably been much different.

  37. 10! I can’t remember the last time I was so enthralled by a Grand Prix :D 4 drivers battling for the win right to the end, differing strategies, history made, great stuff!

  38. 9/10 – after the Mercedes crash, I thought it could be a 10-point race, but in the end, the tight fight between all four front runners did not materialize which would have given it the top marks. Nevertheless, this race will go into the history books of F1. Far better than Vettel in Italy 2008.

    1. Barring the age, it wasn’t “far better”, considering that was in a Toro Rosso, in the wet, and from pole.

      1. Unless you mean the race overall was “better” as in more entertaining and tense.

  39. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    15th May 2016, 15:06

    8/10, good fun race with a prolonged fight for the lead from the first lap. Excellent! Mercedes should fail to finish more often.

    Congratulations to Max Verstappen, clearly deserved victory and probably the first of many. Excellent to see Red Bull fighting for victories again too.

    Gutted for Daniel Ricciardo, though. Brilliant drive from him deserved better than 4th. Weird Red Bull didn’t give him clearly the better strategy…

    1. Yes, I’m suprised too that RIC didn’t got the optimal strategy given that he was in the lead.

      1. He was stopped first, like you do with the lead car. As a result he would have had to do to longer on the last set..Probably was not possible in the given window.

      2. HighinDutchman
        15th May 2016, 15:48

        it is because ricciardo isnt their first driver…. not now not in five years, and even a yaer ago… red bull = verstappen… and they saw it long time ago 10/10

  40. 9/10 for me. First lap and about laps 50-66 were 10/10, this is a race that will be remembered for a long time. In the long term obviously as Verstappen’s first of likely many wins, and in the short term as the Spa 2014-esque spark for the WDC, and that’s before considering what the fallout within Mercedes from this will be. What will this do to the Rosberg/Hamilton dynamic? Is it possible to keep them together? We’ll have to see.

    Maybe 9/10 is being too hard, and I fully anticipate this race being remembered as a 10/10, but from lap 2 until about the late 40s the race was quite dull. Yes the top 4 were “close”, but nothing could be discussed aside from the tyres. It was what I imagine a robot race being like: strategists decide what tyres you want and then just get something to obligingly driving the car around the track. It resulted in a cracking final stint, but the middle stint was just a whole lot of waiting, hoping, and discussing tyres.

    1. @ogopogo The race franckly was quite good considering you never knew who was going to win. In fact Verstappen was my last option of the top 4! And there was some decent racing down the field, like the Haas’ and Sauber’s teammates battle. The last laps were phenomenal and in the end the final result made me feel like this type of race won’t happen ever again. Sure Verstappen will win once again, but the first time is always the best.

  41. Obviously an undeserved win for Verstappen. A supreme race strategy for him, wrong strategy for Vettel, add broken tyre for Ricciardo. Kvyat, if would have raced for Red Bull, would have done it just as good, if not better.

    1. If Kyvat was there, Raikkonen would have had his 21st win.

      1. not sure. he might have ended in gravels :p

      2. Not sure what you’re talking about. There’s no “Kyvat” in F1.

        1. @ximaera I’m not sure what you are talking about when you claim Kvyat could have won the race or performed better.

          1. And, what exactly do you fail to understand?

          2. @ximeara I don’t understand how you think Kvyat could have won that race. When has he shown the composure or pace when an opportunity like this arose? In both of his podiums, and Singapore last year, Dan Ric was the one either leading or challenging for the lead, showing like Max already has, that he belongs there. In the US last year, Kvyat spurned chance after chance to get past the Mercs, until Ricciardo came along and took the lead.

    2. RIC wasn’t winning, even without the puncture. And we all know how KVY handled pressure in the last two races.

      1. That’s what I’m talking aboyt: KVY handled pressure very well in China and Spain. That should have been his win, not Verstappen’s.

        1. err: “about” (a typo)

        2. In China, Kvyat’s teammate was leading the race, before a puncture. DR would have finished on the podium instead of him otherwise (probably even 2nd, given how far ahead of Vettel he was at the time). Ricciardo, Hamilton and Raikkonen had to come from the very back. The only pressure he came under was from Vettel who passed him.

  42. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
    15th May 2016, 15:09

    10/10.

    100 times unbelievable than Ricciardo’s first victory.

  43. Call me crazy but does anyone else find it weird that the FIRST RACE Verstappen gets moved into an unfamiliar car under controversial circumstance, Rosberg and Hamilton make a jaw droppingly childish mistake that they both are at the skill level to avoid, crash out, and Verstappen, who was consistently lapping slower than Ricciardo, Vettel, even Raikkonen, ran away on an equal strategy to a faster car, and Raikkonen never even tried to get close to him?

    Don’t get me wrong I’m a Verstappen fan and I want to see him succeed, but this all seems very weird to me. Hopefully people on this site will act more graciously to this comment than most others I’ve proposed this to have…

    1. Please take the conspiracy theories elsewhere. I’ll stay polite and leave it at that.

    2. William Jones
      15th May 2016, 15:14

      You do seem to be infering that three – or even four teams – Merc, Red Bull, Ferrari and possibly Torro Rosso as well have conspired to manufacture his win, which is why you’re probably not getting very good reactions as it is a bit daft.

      1. Victor (@victorandrei1999)
        15th May 2016, 15:26

        I think that Sauber is to blame :)

        1. No, a little white haired leppricorn sprinkled tin tacks between Ric and vettel.

    3. Seems like the Dutch are controlling the world, I guess we took over from the Illuminati.

      But it’s really not that weird to see Nico and Lewis collide, they did so before when Nico got upset that Lewis would just push him out of the corner and Nico aggressively closed the door on him. This time, Lewis is desperate for a win, while Nico can afford mutual destruction, due to his lead. So Nico has the incentive not to leave a lot of room. One driver who needs to take risks + one driver who can afford to take them = boom.

    4. He wasn’t lapping slower. So there’s that.

    5. You watch way too much TV… What would Mercedes gain from a double DNF resulting in a rival team winning?

  44. 10 for me.

    It wasn’t the ‘best’ race I have seen, but in terms of one I will never forget, yeah… It’s up there as a defining moment.

  45. Great race – driver of the day must be Hamilton for turning the usual processing into an actual race

  46. Steve (@stevelloydf1)
    15th May 2016, 15:14

    Who voted 1???

    1. Either Nico something or Lewis whatever…

  47. Wow. I thing I watch a different race. I rated it 3.
    Fantastic that Max won the race. But the race itself wasn’t that good. How many passes did we get in front of the race 1 or 2 ex pit stops. Or in the middle of pack maybe 3?
    Boring race exception lap 1 and 60-64.

    1. Leen (@leendert82)
      16th May 2016, 9:09

      You must love DRS

  48. Surprised to see so many 10s.

    I didn’t see that much on-track action. It was tense, but it was unmaterialized tension, solid 8 for me.

  49. Incredible, I’m lost for words! You will never see anything like this ever again. Verstappen wins, wow, 18 years of age. A 4 way fight for the lead, amazing. Mercedes crashing, also an entertainment factor. 10/10

  50. 10/10. One of those moments that we’ll never forget. Unbelievable race.

  51. 10/10! When the mercs collided I thought ‘Nice Script!’. Great battle between the bulls and the horses, and an awesome victory for Max, Raikkonen had a nice chance at the end but probably just didn’t have life in his tyres, but really, any of the four had a great chance of winning anyway.

  52. This race proved we don’t need a lot of overtaking, just some good intense battles and a mix of strategies, which I think is a plus for designed to degrade tyres because we had no idea which strategy was going to win until the final 5 laps tbh

  53. My favourite part of that race was McLaren’s consecutive winning streak of 11 races being saved!

  54. I think the RBR split strategy (or second guessing Ferrari, whatever) ruined it for me. By doing that, they were always going to risk one of their drivers’ race, if they had given them both the same strategy I think it would have been a more entertaining race.

    1. Leen (@leendert82)
      16th May 2016, 9:16

      Most likely Vettel would have won the race then. Ricciardo stopped earlier than Verstappen and was therefore unable to go to the end on those medium tires. 3 stop strategy was the fastest strategy, however due to Ricciardo unable to pass Vettel on raw pace with allot newer tires it didnt work out. Only missed calculation for the 3 stop for Ricciardo was to not cover off Vettel when he stopped for the 3rd time.

  55. A fine example how a race can be exciting without hundreds of pitstops and overtakes. Sure, overtaking was almost impossible, but I’d rather have this than the endless highway passes we get at most other tracks.

    1. My thoughts exactly. I now find myself looking forward to tracks that are hard to overtake on. I’ve gone full circle thanks to the abomination that is DRS. Bring back Valencia!

    2. What are you talking about? There were heaps of pit stops. What do you think gave Max track position?

      1. I was comparing this to races where everyone makes four stops.

  56. 18-year-old winning on Red Bull debut as dominant Mercedes take each other out on the first lap. Try create a better story for the race! It was so so tense, probably the most tense race since 2012. I won’t give a full 10 because of the lack of on-track action but that’s a detail and the race deserves a solid 9 for everything else!

    This is a proper race! Not the 100-plus ‘overtaking’ moves from China.

  57. Speechless, stunning race !!!!! That’s the action we want for this sport!!!!
    Although Red Bull fan, congrats to Ferrari drivers for a race like that!!!!
    Couldn’t ask for more…. Totally 10!!!!

  58. Michael Brown (@)
    15th May 2016, 15:27

    This shows that you don’t need a million overtakes to have an exciting race. Verstappen held Raikkonen behind him for nearly half the race. THAT’S exciting.

    It reminds me of Maldonado’s win, but Verstappen isn’t a one-off talent.

  59. Very tense race, at the end the battles between the Bulls and Ferrari’s went full Imola 2005/2006. Those are some of my favorite races, but the lull in the middle make it a 9/10.

    I still can’t believe Max won. The Wilhelmus at an F1 race. The Verstappen name after position 1. Absolutely mind blowing!

  60. Absolutely thrilling race, we did not know who was going to win for all 66 laps, but I cannot help but feel that the lack of overtaking took a lot away from the race. Even with DRS, it was simply too difficult and the cars were more often than not just following one-another. So an 8 from me.

  61. Wow amazing race ! 10/10

    Finally the cameras have a reason to catch the action on the front where it really matters.

    Max Verstappen , what can I say Legend ! Lots of pressure throughout the race and managed to keep his cool.

    Mercedes crash, ah , Rosberg was at fault for me.

    Just an amazing race , now I dont care if we dont have another great race until 2017. Lots of action , couldn’t soak them all up.

    This is what F1 needs , this action , thats the formula F1 needs.

  62. YEEEAAAHHH!!!!! Great racing by Max!
    10/10

  63. Spectacular crash, unexpected winner, but the first four followed each-other home, and never really looked like swapping positions (thanks again, downforce-sapping regulations). Ricciardo’s had to near-enough punt Vettel off-track to make a pass, and even that was unsuccessful. Verstappen’s win is bittersweet, because he’s a ‘golden boy’ with a red carpet laid before him, and after all he has inherited in his brief time in Formula 1, add a victory to that list. It was so Hollywood that it almost felt manufactured. Bless Sainz for doing a hell of a job to take P6. Now that was a drive.

    Edwards’ drooling over Verstappen for the entire race was nauseating. VES locked up going into T10 mid-race, blamed the puff of smoke on Raikkonen, and then kept harping on about VES being faultless until the chequered flag. VES lost half a second with that lock-up, and RAI was the closest to overtaking going into T1 as he was all race due to the error. RAI did incredibly well with the loss of downforce to keep his tyres in good condition and remain so close for the duration.

    I don’t feel like it’s a case of peerless skill and talent with Verstappen. He has his equals (Sainz, for one), but he’s been made out to be a Senna-like ‘star’, and people seem to be lapping it up. Good drive today, but I don’t buy into the hype.

    1. Exactly me thoughts! Ricciardo should be getting the better strategy because he was in the lead. This has cost Ricciardo a victory. It would be good if Red Bull actually states reasons for splitting strategies. Did the tyres just last longer or they are willing to favour Verstappen?

      On the accident, I believe Rosberg went to the right when he saw Lewis coming, much before Lewis had come alongside him. The gap was closing as Lewis approaches Nico’s car. There was little space by the time he came alongside. Nico was late in closing the door but his intention from the video is pretty clear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmZ6Z0QStcc. He was entitled to close the door as long as Lewis is not alongside. So, I would say a slight miscalculation by Lewis on exactly how much space Nico would leave him. It is clear Nico will leave none.

      And can anybody tell me when was the last time a 3 stopper worked at Spain relative to a 2 stopper?

  64. MG421982 (@)
    15th May 2016, 15:43

    +8.

    Wow, just what we needed: a race without Mercedes!!

    Great race, kudos to VES. Anyway, don’t tell me you don’t think RBR is very lucky. They had the upper hand over Ferrari only in Quali, in every other session (race included) Ferrari having the upper hand over RBR, but that’s all RBR needed. RBR had a good start just to keep themselves in front of Ferrari, in clean air, then… boom… both Mercedes’ out! The track is not the best out there for overtaking either, so it was just a race where to keep ahead of the Ferraris at least 1 of the RBRs. Ferrari seemed slightly faster in the race, so I guess it wasn’t that hard to keep them behind.

  65. 8/10

    A wonderful race from start to finish, and Verstappen showed that he is definitely a future world champion. Not this year though, I almost forgot Mercedes for a second there but they’re still in F1 guys!

    But there’s a sense for me that strategy decided the results of the race. Of course kudos to both Red Bull, Ferrari, and their drivers. But I think Verstappen was on the first step of the podium today instead of Ricciardo, despite being behind in both Qualy and the early stages of the race, and Kimi getting 2nd instead of Vettel, despite being quite visibly outclassed by Vettel in the early stages of the race, was down to the fact that Red Bull and Ferrari made strategic options that paid off for one driver and not the other.

    Obviously the teams had to make decisions to maximize their chances of winning, regardless of which driver is on top. But who knows, Vettel and Daniel may be questioning their team bosses about strategies right now!

  66. Obviously an outstanding race, however, I would have liked to have seen a move made successfully on track for one of the cars at the front just to show that it can be done at Catalunya. But that is a minor quibble, great tense strategic race.

  67. 10/10
    Best race I have ever watched Live!
    Unbeliveable!

  68. It was a very intriguing race, but it got sterilized a bit as cars weren’t that capable of attacking each other. I call the Mercedes incident to ultimately be Rosberg’s fault between whatever he was playing around with settings wise in a very strange place and squeezing Hamilton when he was just assay alongside.

  69. Ok, a strategic battle was a nice change for once… wouldn´t want it every race, though. Too much dirty-air-effect to give it a 9 or a 10 for me, closer wheel to wheel action would be preferred. The tension, 4 drivers in it for a good part of the race, 2 until the very end, a historic winner makes it a good 8, still.

  70. 6/10 for me because I know its almost impossible to battle it on track in Spain for few years back. The result is great, congrats to Max who did a superb job, but I can’t shake the feeling that it was Ricciardo and Vettel who lost the race instead of Max winning it. This race will be memorable for Mercedes taking each other out and the race where youngest F1 driver wins, not for the race itself.

    1. I think the same it was ricc and Vettel who lost the race.. Specially ricc.. They could have shaved the gap in 2 or 3 laps with the pace both had… But ricc got anxious.. And attacked early when the gap was still 4 seconds

  71. As a Dutchman a 10 was the obvious choice for this race. I cannot believe what I just saw! Bit apart from the result, the race was highly entertainig. When was the last time we had a continuous battle for the fist 4 places?
    We have been given some nice GPs this year, but in none of these races it was about the position that really mattered.

  72. Sviatoslav (@)
    15th May 2016, 15:59

    In each race this season we have some incidents and impacts on the start.
    I feel that the racers’ craft is getting lower.

  73. An exciting race, especially the last approximately 15-20 laps.

  74. Proves that there can be an exciting race even without rain or drivers completely out of position in qualy, or whatever reverse grid orders or stupid ideas of such. This would be a 10 to me only if mercedes was still part of the race, and I mean a close racing with ferrari and red bull.
    A full 9 nonetheless

  75. lets not forget the first half of the race was rather boring, although the second half was spectacular

    7/10

    1. Yes – that’s the problem with these strategy races, it was pretty tedious as it settled down and the pit strategies began.
      But this one was special because we got about 20 laps of actual racing at the end. Usually we run out of laps just as it gets good…

  76. I think from a neutral fan perspective, this race had its moments. The Mercedes collided, Ricciardo put a move that may well have resulted in a crash on Vettel, we have an unexpected winner. These happen from time to time.

    But I’m not a neutral fan. I have been a fan of Verstappen ever since his first years in karting, his results already making it to the local newspaper. I watch every race I can watch since I was 7 years old and I cannot remember being this excited during a race. For me, this is one of the classics. I can’t remember if there were many overtaking manouvers. I didn’t even have a clue who finished 6th and upwards (great performance by Sainz by the way). This is a fan’s favourite, therefore a true 10/10 for me.

  77. First lap drama with incoming controversion for the next days.
    Four drivers fighting for win with two different strategies.
    A kid taking his first ever F1 win.

    A happy 9/10 for me. But not a Brazil 2012 or Canada 2014.

  78. 7. A good race but not memorable. Probably would have gotten an 8 if Kimi or Daniel actually had a chance at overtaking but it was clear pretty quickly that they could not get close enough in the final corner to overtake on the pit straight. All in all though it held my interest and I was entertained.

  79. Buttonhole22
    15th May 2016, 17:21

    For me it was an ok race probably about a 6.5 , no real action at the front despite the early promise of something, poor strategies from Ferrari & Red Bull for Bet & Ric, maybe if the strategies had all been same it might have been better . Midfield battles weren’t really there either although Button beating Alonso in the race was nice… Even before the Alonso retirement Button was comfortably holding his own against him … And a nifty move on Gutierrez late on …. Not bad for an old guy who gets written off all the time.

    1. Buttonhole22
      15th May 2016, 17:22

      **Vet & Ric

  80. This wasn’t anywhere near as exciting or impressive as Maldonado’s drive on this very track a few years ago. He actually passed a multiple world champion driving a superior car(*). So (Dutch) people saying this was the best race ever, get yourself together.
    Now I’m Dutch myself and I like young Verstappen, but the race was a strategic and processional affair. The top 4 drivers all didn’t make mistakes and the result was decided on track position and tyre strategy. It reminded me of the 1990’s (and that’s not a good thing).
    It’s nice to have a different team winning, though.

    (*) and don’t start about Vettel bogging down in turn 3 on the opening lap. It’s not the same thing.

  81. Gave race an 8, because it was so hard to follow car infront… And Mercedeses were out, and not much happend after that.

    Best moments? Max Kimi duel. I approve greatly. Now if only car behind was slightly faster.

  82. As having Dutch nationality i must say YAY for Max, but the race it self was quite boring. Lots of follow the leader and no real overtaking or attacking.

  83. Wow.. Just wow.

    F1 racing gets no better than this.. Great, competitive racing up front for the top four positions for nearly the entire race.

  84. The reason this is the most amazing weekend for me is because there was hype before, during and after the race.

    Yeah that didn’t sound right but oh well. And Kimi genuinely felt great about Max winning the race, it almost makes me think if Kimi was allowing him to win the race. But for sure Kimi didn’t try anything too dangerous , he didn’t want to spoil Max’s race.

    Additional I also love how Max replied to Seb in the post race interview
    4 to 16 my dad was responsible for my growth
    and then Seb asks then what about 0 to 4
    Max – my mom of course

  85. Very good race…but take out the best 2 drivers/cars on the first lap…..put the next 2 best drivers on the wrong strategy….then we get the result we got today……but its a start

  86. Rated 8/10. Was really great and surprising to see Verstappen winning. Not that I wanted Räikkönen to pass Verstappen or Ricciardo to pass Vettel, but it’s very disillusioning that a slightly faster car, with the aid of DRS, on one of the longest straights in the calendar cannot even launch an attack move on the car in front. So the 8/10 goes to the aero dependancy of the cars, and obviously not to the drivers. They have done everything possible this afternoon.

  87. It’s funny people saying we only had this race because Mercedes were out. Odds are we would have had exactly the same race behind them for third. It added some excitement it being a record making race, but I think people over value Mercedes not winning a race 8/10

  88. Much like Monaco is (and forever will be), track position here is king. Such a shame – something has to be had one to enable the cars to overtake in case of a 1.5 second per lap speed difference, plus DRS.

  89. Very strategic race, but still kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. It’s a nice change to not know which team will take victory.
    9/10

  90. hang on… I watched the highlights on skyf1 and apart from the mercedes crash, there appeared to be very little action.

    1. this was not a race where you can see the highlights and get the full picture. There was so much tension and drama from half-way through… not knowing which of the 2 front runners will prevail or if they would have any tyres left by the end, VET and RIC coming fast from behind and battling for 3rd (which could easily transform in a battle for 1st).

  91. 8/10
    I’ve tried to be objective, but fear I’ve been misguided by the mass uproar for Verstappen…
    We saw some good battles in the midfield, but: Massa recovered ten positions with few to no overtakes, and none seen on camera; Bottas, Perez, Button ran untroubled for most of the race; Grosjean dropped back and we lost a potential points-finisher; Manor and Sauber were nowhere, again. Once the strategies had played their part up front, Ric remained behind Seb, Seb remained behind Kimi and Kimi remained behind Max. For half the race. The four of them drove perfectly, I think, they were really racing… but we saw some close racing like that between the Mercs every now and then. What everybody wanted was a two-team battle, and thankfully it was one fought out by all of them (though Ricciardo had that puncture). Racing-wise, it’s still the Circuit de Catalunya, and the same race with two Mercedes easily ahead would have been given a lower rating. That’s my reasoning for not going above 8, even though I too was excited for the outcome (any of the potential outcomes) of the race.

    1. Massa made 10 on-track passes: Wehrlein (4), Ericsson (5), Nasr (6), Haryanto (14), Nasr (28), Palmer (29), Alonso (37), Button (44), Kvyat (50) and Gutierrez (56). Indeed, none were televised.

      1. That’s why he got my vote for driver of the weekend. The team threw him under the bus for what sounds like a poor call and then he actually made passes for position rather than inheriting or gaining from pit stops. We didn’t get to see any of it granted but I’m going to assume he drove well.

  92. Learned a lot from this race. Just called the Mercedes dealer to cancel my wife’s new car — good enough acceleration, but off-road performance pitiful, and the slightest bump cancels the warranty.

  93. I think every race would be better if the Mercedes crashed out on the first lap :) I gave it a 9/10 though I wanted to hit the 10/10 button. Maybe I should have :)

  94. I rate it 9/10. It was a great race, the best I have seen for a long time. The two Mercedes crashing out made for an excellent contest between the Ferrari and Red Bull drivers, it wasn’t clear until the last few laps which of those four drivers was going to win and it was really nice to see a fresh face on the top step of the podium. Very well done to Max Verstappen.

    Sadly this race showed very clearly that in modern F1 racing it is very difficult for the drivers to follow close to one another with relatively equal performance, this means that for the majority of the time the race is decided by pit strategy than by driving skills. They need to change this if they want to have REALLY great racing, today’s race showed that the potential is there to have great races with positions decided on the last lap but it would be so much better and more exciting for everybody if the drivers are able to get close enough to each other to pass AND re-pass without the need for tools like DRS and multiple tyre compounds which just makes much of the close action very much a biased contest.

  95. 10. Off course being Dutch helps with the rating, but give me a break: been waiting for the Dutch national anthem in F1 since 1984, so I’m allowed to add an extra point.

  96. Very exciting! It’s been a while since there have been 4 drivers in with a decent shot at victory right up until the end of the race. With DRS having a less obvious effect compared to other tracks it felt like 2010 again. Shame about Riccardo’s puncture but an excellent drive from both Ferrari and Red Bull drivers. I knew Verstappen would get a win, didn’t think it would be so soon and with such style! It takes some real talent to hold back a driver like Kimi for that many laps. Best race since Bahrain 2014, 10/10, would recommend!

  97. That was a cracker of a race, the Lap 1 drama, the slow build of tension, and the epic last 10 laps. We need more like this.

  98. This race was very good, 10/8, i think.

  99. Solid 9

  100. 9. Almost perfect, great to see a battle for the lead between people other than Mercedes. Slight lull mid race before it picked up again. Could be deemed an 11/10 for that Barcelona track.

  101. 7/10… It had a lot of intense moments, but because of the track that doesn’t allow for overtaking, we didn’t get the race we deserved (in my opinion). And I also believe most of the 10s are being given because of the Verstappen win (yes it was incredible) but just because we saw history in the making doesn’t mean we had a perfect race. And I also feel for Ricciardo because I really think it should havbe been his race win! And really, top for fighting? No, they held position most of the time. Ricciardo tried a couple of time the move on Vettel and Raikkonen didn’t even try…

  102. Absolutely ridiculous voting.

    Apart from the incident at the start, was there much action? I think not. If Vestappen hadn’t won, we’d be sitting here reading about how boring the track was.

    Red Bull threw away a potential one-two.

    1. Uhm, did you really watch the race? It had a 4-way battle for the victory, lots of different strategies and some pretty good wheel-to-wheel racing as well. Just think about how Gutiérrez squeezed past Grosjean and Palmer within half a lap, none of these moves involving DRS. And there were tons of others.
      The result will probably be better than deserved due to Verstappen’s historic victory (I think there is no denying that he has indeed written history, regardless of how his career will continue) and his popularity. But at the end of the day, it was a very good race, just like the first 3 races of the season. Not boring at all.

  103. Obviously the start was fantastic and the last few laps were really good. The middle of the race, not so much.

    Definitely some re-watch potential and therefore stronger than average. 6.5 from me, good race.

  104. My first vote for a 10!

    This was a real thriller. Up until 5 laps to the end I still thought he would finisch 4th…

  105. I rated the race an 8.5 rounded up to a 9.

    One of the key ingredients for F1 and sport in general to be entertaining is uncertainty in the outcome, as long as this is due to fairness and not because of artificial rules to spice the sport up.

    For me the main reason this race was enjoyable was not down to any of the on track action such as overtakes or crashes, or the result itself but down to fact that for most of the race I had no idea what order the leaders would finish in.

    The two Mercedes crashing out on the first lap set the race up perfectly and with the different strategies adopted by the front four cars I wasn’t sure until the end who would win.

    There seemed to be less overtakes overall than in recent races but given the nature and history of the circuit that would have been expected.

    Factoring in the cars and their tyre choices I thought that that the race pace among the leaders was fairly evenly matched and if anything the slower cars were the ones in front. There were some overtakes elsewhere in the field which showed it was possible but that it wasn’t as easy as it often is at some places with DRS.

    This meant there was a tension all the way as to what the outcome would be.

Comments are closed.