Rate the race: 2017 Spanish Grand Prix

2017 Spanish Grand Prix

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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 2017 Spanish Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (5%)
  • 9 (23%)
  • 8 (43%)
  • 7 (20%)
  • 6 (5%)
  • 5 (1%)
  • 4 (1%)
  • 3 (1%)
  • 2 (0%)
  • 1 (1%)

Total Voters: 586

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Keith Collantine
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147 comments on “Rate the race: 2017 Spanish Grand Prix”

  1. Boo, down with Mercedes and Bottas. Really dirty racing. Crashing out RAI and VER and then blocking VET. Mercedes did not deserve a podium today, they really spoiled the race. HAM lucky to have BOT do the dirty work so that he can get the victory.

    1. Crash was not BOTs fault it was VERs.

      In Bahrain people complained BOT didn’t drive his own race and defend his position. Now complaints that BOTs did drive his race and defend his position. Give me a break lol

      1. It was nobody’s fault but if it was anybody’s Verstappen would be last. He was literally around the outside, he didn’t squeeze Bottas nor did he force Bottas to make the move.

        1. He squeezed RAI, who then had nowhere to go, BOT had nowhere to go, VER had space ergo it was VERs fault. I’m not saying he should be penalised, it was a racing incident, but VER definitely caused it

          nor did he force Bottas to make the move.

          What move? BOT wasn’t behind RAI going into the corner he wasn’t making a move.

          1. Bottas dropped back braking early for the corner, then decided to ‘make it hard’ after all. That move greatly surprised Räikkönen.
            It is obvious that Räikkönen would have made the corner all right without touching Verstappen if he did not get hit by Bottas. Blame a victim? Boo to you.

          2. RAI squeezed BOT and made contact, BOT was in full control of his car and could not take the turn any tighter without leaving the track altogether. BOT braked earlier but RAI was never far enough head to claim the inside line.

            Boo to you? How laughable. Come back when you have some valid arguments instead of childish comments.

          3. Your story does not compute.
            Bot hit RAI and rai on his turn crashed into VER. If there’s someone to blame its Bottas. But certainly not VER.

          4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUPxFl7AVUg

            Rewatch the start. Bottas takes the first corner as tight as he can and does not lose control of the car. He had every right to take the corner and was entitled to much more space than Raikkonen gave him. Raikkonen squeezes him and the hits his right rear wheel into Bottas’s front left. The collision was in no way Bottas’s fault.

            The reason Verstappen was the cause? Because he gave Raikkonen no space. So Raikkonen had no space, Bottas had no space, Verstappen had space. Ergo Verstappen caused the incident.

            Again I am not saying it was anything more than a racing incident. But it was a racing incident that Verstappen caused. To argue anything else is to not understand F1.

          5. Courtney Scherger (@courtthetassietigress)
            17th May 2017, 10:51

            Guys… it was a racing accident… simple case of three into one don’t go. Max in NO way caused it so anyone who says otherwise quite clearly didn’t watch the incident properly… it was going into a crash before Max even arrived, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. If anything Bottas unintentionally caused it but it was quite clearly a racing incident

    2. It was a racing incident at the start – 3 cars wanting to occupy the space for just 2. And tbh holding up Vettel was just tactically smart. I’m not a Mercedes fan by any stretch, but wouldn’t say that was dirty

      1. It might be ‘tactically smart’, but I still don’t like it.
        Also it diminishes the talented and improving Bottas to a Barichello/Massa* role; whereas I always hoped Mercedes would stay clear of that.
        @hugh11

        * Massa got to become so good at it that he is still doing it ;)

        1. If you drive like a number 2 driver, you get treated like a number 2 driver.

          Mercedes was only able to get Bottas to hold Vettel up because Bottas was so far off the pace. If he had held pace with Hamilton and been fighting for the win, this wouldn’t have happened.

        2. @f1-liners
          As a massive Sebastian Vettel supoorter, I didn’t like either how Mercedes “used” Bottas. But you have to understand them, the Finn could not aim to anything more than P3 and Ricciardo was never a threat, so in the situation of the team I would have done the same.

      2. Yep, agree completely and I’m a Vettel / Raikkonen / Ferrari fan. Lewis and Mercedes just did the better job today. Good race but a weak ending, sadly. Would’ve been nice to see it close right to the flag. At least as a Vettel fan speaking, we staunched the bleeding of a loss with second.

    3. Firstlap nutcase verstappen was at fault for that. Also it was smart racing by mercs kepping Valteri out that much longer to help his teammate.

      1. Nonsense. BOT punted RAK into VER. VER was not guilty.

        1. But going into that 1st corner with 2 cars on inside was a suicidal move anyways. Also bottas did see kimi go in front and went on brakes early to avoid hitting him(he did eventually hit). So verstappen made a bad decision and paid price for it.

        2. Because VER squeezed RAI. Cause and effect and VER was the cause.

          1. Verstappen just took the outside line when the inside got blocked, and stayed on the outside line.
            Bottas was braking early then dashed into the corner anyway. Watch the onboards. It was very much avoidable on Bottas’ part.

          2. Of course he went into the corner! You seriously expect him to just pull over and park it? Bottas was perfectly entitled to take the corner, I suggest you watch the onboard. If VER hadn’t squeezed RAI there would have been space for all 3 cars.

    4. @AliceD look up ‘racing’ in the dictionary. You don’t seem to know what it is. Here is a small hint, you want to get your car/team to cross the line first ahead of all others.

    5. Some people clearly have an extremely limited idea of
      what motor racing is about….particularly F1 racing !

      Everything that happened this afternoon was fair game.
      And if the colour of the car that won doesn’t match either
      the colour of your coat or the colour of your imagination….
      …well that is exactly what F1 is all about !

      You’ll have to get used to it, or you need to go somewhere else.

      1. Quite right.

  2. DRS zone didn’t need to be extended. Felt like a lot of battles were robbed.
    Great race overall, died down near the end though

    1. I knew that decision would come back and hunt us. Denied us a longer scrap for the race win. Was great up to that point though, very enjoyable. 8/10.

    2. @smartez Considering they were flat out on the last corner yes the DRS shouldn’t have been extended. It was a great race nevertheless 8 or 9. The only thing that upsets me is that Ferrari doesn’t use team orders and blocking and gets critiqued for using team orders and Mercedes uses team orders and no one cares.

    3. It was 2016 all over again with effortless button press position switches. Hamilton vs vettel was a total left down in the end when hamilton could just press the button and switch positions. And all the passes were the same. Press the button and drive by the helpless car and arrive first into the braking zone. It should have been a great race but in the end it was totally anti-climatic when drs button decided the race and not skill.

      1. All the passes were not the same as DRS was not as impactful when Vettel had to overtake Bottas. Which kinda made it worse when Hamilton just DRS breezed past him.

      2. There was a tire performance differential at play, if you didn’t notice. The softs were much faster than the medium which made it look like an easy past.

    4. Totally agree. That’s what stopped me giving it a 9, actually. Superb race, with the only negative being the needlessly extended DRS zone.

  3. 6/10. Hamilton and Mercedes strategist and VSC getting it done! Sweet!

  4. 7/10

    would have been better if the pass for the lead & win wasn’t a boringly easy push of a button drs highway pass, i kind of tuned out of the race a bit after that as it sapped away my enjoyment a bit but other than that (and some of the other easier drs-ing) it wasn’t too bad.

    1. Same here. This was a great example of the damage DRS does to racing. It was a great race up to that point but ultimately ended in disappointment because of a knee jerk reaction to extend the DRS zone after events in Sochi. We might’ve seen a masterclass in defensive driving from Seb today but instead he had no chance.

      1. And yet… that same DRS zone gave Seb the chance to overtake Bottas. He might have been held up a lot longer without that extra 100m of DRS!

  5. I doubted the Merc strategy, still not sure if they’d have done it without the VSC. Enjoyed the race. Good bit of F1. However lapping everyone up to 4th!? Hmmm…

  6. Pretty decent for spain deserves a 8.

    1. That’s how I scored it. Could have been a lot better had Raikonnen and Bottas not dropped out but pretty much everything paled into insignificance behind the Vettel-Hamilton battle (and to a lesser extent Vettel-Bottas)

    2. Agree. It’s probably the best Spanish GP I’ve seen in ages.

      I rated it a 8 as well, but it could have easily been a 9 had Raikkonen and Verstappen stayed in the race. I’m sure Ferrari would have leveraged Kimi in a similar fashion as Valterri was leveraged against Vettel.

      If Alonso and Massa didn’t tangle at turn 2, it would also have improved the race as the Force India, Williams and McLaren battle for the points would have been fantastic.

      Overall, I thought this was the best race of the year so far.

  7. Great Race 9. Ferrari made a strategy mistake but that’s F1, and Mercedes again using team orders forced Ferrari to compromise. Vettel was unlucky with the backmarkers he got plenty on s3 and no DRS in the end he had to defend the main straight too many times on a row, so no battery, no defence but still a great race.

    1. Mercedes again using team orders forced Ferrari to compromise.

      Ferrari were comprised when the blinked first and pitted after 14 laps, noting to do with team orders.

      1. Martin, Bottas cost Vettel by fact 4 seconds, and surely much more had he also had a normal strategy that didn’t turn around Hamilton as it would mean Vettel could just take more advantage of his fresh softs. I’m not saying it cost Vettel the race but it surely helped Hamilton a huge amount.

        1. Yes and he was in that position because he pitted early. BOT is not a Ferrari driver so him holding up a Ferrari is not team orders it is just him doing his job as a racing driver. I know for a fact neither of you would be bemoaning RAI if it were RAI, HAM, VET instead of BOT, VET, HAM.

          Regardless my point still stands, buckling to Mercs pressure and pitting on lap 14 compromised VET. Everything that happened after that was because they were compromised!

          1. I’d agree with you if Bottas his strategy made sense, which it obviously didn’t, hence he was being left out with the sole purpose of hindering Vettel allowing Hamilton to close in.

          2. It actually did make sense. Bottas clearly couldn’t be racey today as he was massively hampered by his engine so with less energy going through the tyres doing extended stints and less pitstops was totally the way to go.

          3. Also when VET was behind him it was totally in his own interest to hold him up as much as possible. Imagine if the vsc came then it would have played perfectly for BOT to pit under, coming out very close to VET with a good chance of having track position over him again later in the race when VET made his second pit stop.

        2. 8/10.Good race overall,great battle for the victory.Nice to see some overtakes from a McLaren-Honda it seems the engine is better more power?Overtaking the 2 Williams still it’s a thing.Also at some point during the race the team radio between Mercedes and Hamilton the team said “Ok Lewis we will use SuperERS later or when will need”?What does that mean SuperERS..?!The first 2 today have been at a different level in my opinion and the rest of the season seems to be close!Well done to Lewis for his victory and congrats to Vettel for his efforts.Worth a mentioning:Daniel Ricciardo first podium of the year he must be happy but a a lonely race for him;Force India again 2 points with its drivers clean race from both;Nico Hulkenberg a solid point finnish again for Renault while Palmer still a long way behind;Werhlein for his defence with Sainz well worthed the points even with the penalty time;Toro Rosso double points for them strong result;Such a bad luck for Magnussen in the end with the puncture but Grosjean scored for Haas;Vandoorne I believe it wasn’t necessary to try so hard defend Massa who had DRS;Williams what happened today?Stroll ok still not near Massa but even Massa did not recover.The incident at the start was an unlucky one so maybe could’ve been anyone else or nothing to happen but that happens when you try too much sometimes.And not the least the kid from grandstand to receive the cap from Kimi himself a nice move from Ferrari PR and the coverage of the race.

    2. Ferrari didn’t get the strategy wrong. Mercedes could afford to put HAM on mediums only because BOT existed in the race to delay Seb’s pace on the softs. The VSC was a big help for Mercedes.

      1. By the end of the race the soft tyre was not only fast but durable.

      2. SevenFiftySeven
        14th May 2017, 16:51

        Yup, not to mention Ferrari losing Kimi on lap 1. Kimi’s retirement left few options for Ferrari in the strategy department. Merc had more options because they didn’t have to worry about Ferrari’s other car. Today’s race is a classic example of a team utilizing both cars to defeat another team with a sole car. It happens and the same kind of scenario has played out many times before in F1. All strategy calls are calculated gambles.

  8. Result 0/10, but the race 8/10. Feisty battles all around the field. Not a legendary race, but well above average.

  9. Yet to decide between 8 or 9/10. This had everything really, except for the Ferrari strategists falling asleep. It’s a shame the DRS was so powerful though.

    1. Nothing would have happened without DRS today. No need to bash it for it being a god-send today.

      1. @lolzerbob I’d rather a race where less happens without DRS than a race with DRS where DRS creates some of the worst excuses for racing i’ve ever had the misfortune of watching.

        DRS is an abomination, Most fans don’t liek it, Most drivers are said to not like it so it has zero mandate to be in F1 & the fact its seeping down & ruining lower categories as well it a crime to real racing.

        I would much rather watch a race with only a single real & exciting overtake than a race with 10 or more boringly easy, devoid of excitement DRS highway pass.

        1. @Roger I’m glad I’m not most fans. I’d rather see cars overtaking, DRS works for everyone. Chicanes and corners are artificial. Let’s ban them too.

          1. I also like to see some overtaking, However what DRS creates is not overtaking, It’s nothing more than boring highway passing done at the push of a button.

            Quality over quantity!

          2. @Roger

            Quality over quantity!

            I’ve read this a lot lately and it’s a hollow remark. Especially when “quality” seems to equate non-DRS.

            First of all, to be able to overtake, you need to be the faster driver. So if an overtake is imminent we know who the faster driver is. You’re saying you rather watch a race where the faster driver is stuck behind a slower car, than a race where the faster driver is able to go all out. That goes against the very purpose of racing.

            Then let’s look at the overtake itself. If the faster driver is faster by let’s say 3 sec/lap, is any overtake going to be a “quality overtake”? Of course not, the difference in speed should make the overtake trivial. The problem with today’s cars is that such a performance differential is often not enough to pass the slower car. Again, this goes against the essence of racing. Any car driver being 3s faster should easily overtake the slower car.

            So we can narrow the “quality overtake” down to where the speed differential is very small. If the faster driver is 0.1 sec/lap quicker and still manages to pass the slower car, now that is something. And we have seen over and over and over and over again that DRS does not (again: not!) facilitate an overtake when the faster car is only marginally quicker (just ask mr Sainz today). So your big words like “abomination”, “ruining” and “criminal” are completely beside the point.

            To conclude, DRS is just a good old-fashioned slipstream anyway. (Please, and I cannot emphasise this enough, do not watch the 1970’s Monza races, you’ll really hate them intensely).

          3. Chicanes and corners are the same for everyone. The DRS gives an artificial advantage

        2. @rogerA

          You clearly don’t understand how DRS works. DRS is meant to close the delta to overtake the car in front. So when you had to be 1.5 seconds faster in the past the DRS limits it to one second due to the extra boost. And has shown this season to be working in the way intended after a few years too easy. The reason Hamilton passed Vettel so easy was due to him being so much quicker due to fresh softs.

          Of course DRS isn’t the perfect solution but with the aero rules it does it’s job. It also provides some great races. So are you saying you would rather watch Hungary 2004 then Brazil 2012 just because of DRS?

          1. So are you saying you would rather watch Hungary 2004 then Brazil 2012 just because of DRS?

            @lolzerbob To some extent Yes.

            I know full well how DRS is meant to work & why it’s there & I still cannot stand it & never will. Its nothing but an artificial gimmick that does nothing but create quantity at the expense of quality. The sort of ‘racing’ it generates I simply don’t find that interesting or exciting to watch.

            I like to see competitive racing, proper wheel to wheel action & genuine, exciting & memorable overtaking. DRS creates none of that as far as i’m concerned & is the primary reason for my decrease in interest in F1 the past few seasons.

            I would much, much rather watch a race with a handful of genuine overtakes than a race with 50 odd fake & boring DRS one’s.
            And as an example look at China, Last year’s race featured 150 passes, Mostly DRS while this year’s race featured 40 mostly Non-DRS & this year’s race was far, far better because while less the overtaking we did see was actually exciting to watch.

            More isn’t always better, Quality is important & with DRS you get quantity rather than quality & I hate it, Always have & always will & I cannot wait to finally be rid of the stupid thing so we can get back to genuine, exciting real racing.

  10. Good race, but I was surprised there was no mention at all from the stewards about how RAI and VER rejoined the track after their incident, and HAM later. Especially VER, he just put his hand in the air and barely made any attempt to steer the car. I understand they all left the track through no direct fault of their own, but I thought the bollard rules on certain corners are for safety reasons as well as penalizing them for the time possibly gained from corner cutting?

    1. According to sky Race director notes stated that you only needed to go round the bollard if you cross one of the speed bumps. That was. It the case for Ham hence no penalty. I’m guessing since VER and RAI both had steering damage it would have been pretty petty to penalise them.

    2. Verstappen’s steering was literally broken, what did you expect him to do?

      1. Apply the brakes?

        1. And you think he didn’t?

      2. @hahostolze I expect him to have both hands on the wheel at least. His hand went up before he knew the extent of the damage to his steering, he should’ve been sawing at the wheel to figure it out but instead he puts his hand up and carries on in a straight line. He was able to steer as soon as he rejoined the track so he could’ve steered whilst off the track.

          1. What I said to @gechichan and the fact that he was able to steer after rejoining proves he could’ve done more in my opinion

    3. Especially VER, he just put his hand in the air and barely made any attempt to steer the car.

      Have you seen the onboard? VER put full lock to the left on the steering after contact, but the car did nothing.

      1. If he just held full lock (with one hand!) and applied the brakes then it would result in less steering/understeer. He should’ve been working hard instead of losing his head

        1. Yes, you go boy. Just tell Verstappen how to control a racecar.

  11. Very intriguing race: 7/10 (-1 for the DRS).

    Without the VSC and not having Raikkonen made all the difference between Vettel and Hamilton today. Merc could afford to delay their first pit stops and use Bottas to delay Vettel (Ferrari couldn’t similarly use Raikkonen against Hamilton who had a clear run post his first pit stop). And the VSC was during such laps that it was perfect for Hamilton to ditch his mediums but not at all good for Vettel to ditch softs and hence Vettel was forced to do so much more time on the Mediums.
    Lucky for Mercedes today.

    1. MG421982 (@)
      14th May 2017, 20:43

      I understand what you say about RAI being a possible moving obstacle in HAM’s way, but I think it’s a lot of subjectivism involved this time. I wouldn’t bet too much on RAI helping VET against HAM. It could be very well that everything would have gone for HAM in a way not to interfere with RAI at all. I think VET could have avoided that delay BOT caused him if his team would have pitted him later in the 1st stint. Had he stayed like at least 20 laps on-track before pitting, he had some good chances to open a gap big enough to pit and still come out in front of BOT. When he pitted on lap 14, BOT was like 10-15sec behind VET. Not enough to come in front, obviously.

  12. At times quite processional there were on-track battles for a position both at the front and further back, but not as good as last year’s edition.

  13. An 8 for me…after Russia it felt like a 10…
    Plenty going on throughout the race…Good results for Sauber with the yr old engine { they really want a Honda next yr??}
    A few questions on the 2nd drivers at some teams…who if they had trouble today, watch out Monaco

  14. 8 for the race + 1 point for the little boy (great PR move from F1 or Ferrari).

    9/10

  15. 11/10

    10 for the race, it had everything.

    +1 for the kid

  16. 9, great race.
    Strategy, great drives and a pass for the lead.
    Great season so far.

  17. Ultimately very anticlimactic. Was very exciting, some great racing, was interesting for me too watching a race I had no stake in after the first corner. But an anticlimax because it feels like Vettel was robbed by his own team, and because the third step of the podium was just a joke.

    Some wonderful racing though and great performances, likes of Wehrlein, Magnussen and Ocon. Barcelona so called can’t overtake definitely didn’t ring true, again.

    6.5/10

  18. Scuderia-Racing-Or-Ping-Pong (@)
    14th May 2017, 14:38

    7/10.

    If Vettel wasn’t “stuck” behind Massa I would give it an 8.

  19. Ferrari scrapped a 9 second lead during the VSC.
    Very very bad decision making

    1. MG421982 (@)
      14th May 2017, 14:58

      The VSC was unpredictable, no big blame here. Ferrari very possible lost the race because they used too few laps the Softs and/or too many laps the Mediums. I find that kinda weird, not only because the Softs were a lot faster than Mediums this GP, but also because Ferrari performed better on Softs than on Mediums if compared to Mercedes… so why use so much the tyre that’s not working best??! VET was lapping OK in the 1st part of the race, he was leading the race, keeping HAM behind at +2sec distance… so why give up all that?! Makes no sense.

      1. Because for once Merc got the strategy spot on. They played it perfectly and pressured Ferrari into pitting early to cover from an undercut that was never coming. Then they could extend their first stint to give them more options in the race while Ferrari were compromised.

  20. Personally think it was a brave strategy of Merc to put 30+ laps on the softs, especially with talk of it being a 3 stop race. VET and HAM showing their class today, 2 of the best drivers by far no doubt. Unlucky for RAI and BOT :(

  21. 8.5 . Mercedes was faster on both tyres, victory deserved.

  22. Yes (@come-on-kubica)
    14th May 2017, 14:45

    4/10.

    VSC put some excitment within it but overall once the gaps appeared there were were vey few fights. Russia was better.

    1. “Russia was better.”

      And you are either crazy either some kind of a troll.

    2. Are you sure you aren’t watching 2015 or 2014 seasons?

  23. MG421982 (@)
    14th May 2017, 14:46

    8/10

    Great race for the win. Things didn’t work in Ferrari’s favour given the time VET lost behind BOT and especially with that VSC, but I still think Ferrari/VET had some chances to nail it… but lost it due to mediocre strategy. I think Mercedes with that radio conversation between HAM and the TEAM tricked (again) Ferrari into an early pit-stop, therefore giving up the lead, being slowed down by traffic and also by giving up the Softs too early. It was obvious from the FPs that Ferrari is not that fast as Mercedes on Mediums… so why use them 30 laps??! This season the tyres are a lot better, HAM proved it by getting the FL with 30 laps old Softs! Ferrari should have bet on the Softs as much as possible and use the Mediums as little as possible. But now it’s too late for wishful thinking, no?

    1. Agreed @corrado-dub regarding Mercedes tricking Ferrari into an early pit stop. Think they made amends for their mistake in Melbourne. Be interesting to see how the strategy teams perform for the rest of the season

  24. Pretty good race for the lead, and it probably looks like its going to be Seb vs Lewis season long.

    When was the last time the whole field was lapped except the podium? Worrying, but at least Ferrari and Mercedes are pretty evenly matched. Drive of the race is Wehrlein, just the penalty spoiled him, and Force Pinkia are just doing an awesome job.

  25. Absolutely stunning race, best so far. I had my heart in my mouth when seb and lewis were side by side. Great season so far. Gave it 9. Another good performance for FI, at this rate they can catch RBR.

  26. What a race. One of the best in Spain. The qualifying yesterday was immense. Didn’t know which one of 4 drivers would come out on top. Simply amazing driving by the top 2. Vettel is always immense at the start of he race, fab driving by Hamilton to reel him back in, and you could sense the physical demand that took too.

    So touching about the little Kimi fan!

    Ultimately a race long battle for the win always ranks highly with me. This one didn’t disappoint. I’m loving the new regs, 9/10

  27. 8/10 better than average race,
    thought it was dangerous for Kimi and Max to come back onto the track so badly damaged, especialy max who almost stopped in the middle of the track.
    didnt like lewis missing the bollard either, should have took the bollard on the left and let the stewards sort out whether Seb had forced him off.
    still, a good race, great for Force India, Pascal, great drive by the Hulk (again) Palmer and Stroll….. not so good.

    1. Archit (@architjain07)
      14th May 2017, 20:18

      Regarding missing the bollard, the stewards mentioned in their report that only if you climb one of the speed breakers that you have to go to the other side of the bollard, since Lewis didn’t thats why he wasn’t given any penalty.

  28. I must say this race was a pleasant surprise. A lot of accidents, aggressive driving, strategic gambles and even a battle for the lead. I really liked it.

  29. 7/10 – decent race, especially for Barcelona’s standards, though 9 and 10 just for the lead battle is an exaggeration really, as there wasn’t a lot going on behind. Not a bad one for sure and the Vettel-Hamilton fight is intensifying and the championship very exciting indeed.

  30. I was hopping for more, but was also afraid of less. So it was 8 for me.

    Racing for the lead was awesome, 3 second gap start to finish, that is quite ok.

    We now have 2 driver/car combo from two different teams, both pretty much the greatest of this generation fighting for the lead.

    It is as good as it is gonna get. I feared the moment Seb drove away in to the lead it was gonna be a done deal, but it wasn’t. not at all. Then we had some brilliant overtakes, #1 Seb on Bottas, #2 then Hamilton on Seb… that was more down to strategy and DRS. The move was way less spectacular to see.

    DRS thus ruined what would have been a better duel.

  31. Josh (@canadianjosh)
    14th May 2017, 15:08

    Great race for me, the Vettel Hamilton dual was fantastic up until the Williams came into the picture. I gave it a 9 because I was intrigued from the start till the end, Hamilton looked drained.

  32. Neil (@neilosjames)
    14th May 2017, 15:18

    Gave it a seven – decent on-track battle for the lead, along with plenty of uncertainty and suspense towards the end because it had been shown that passing was just about possible. Always nice when you’re never quite sure who’s going to win until five/six laps from the end.

    Elsewhere, some reasonable fights here and there… bit too DRS-y at times, but without DRS there’d be no overtaking in Spain at all, so I can’t moan too much.

  33. While I do lament the distances between the top teams and the rest of the field, I have to say having a battle for the lead, different strategies and Wehrlein in the points in a rather dim Sauber do make for an excellent race. Especially considering last race and this circuit’s reputation.

    Voted an 8, closer to a 7.5 but I’m enjoying F1 during races like today’s so I’ll happily round up.

  34. Could have been an 8 but was so thoroughly ruined by DRS, comes down to a 2. Then -1 for the sentimental trash about the kid. 1 and that’s it.

    Great strategy by Merc, extremely poor from Ferrari, gutsy move by Seb on Bottas, typical brainfade from Max on T1, pretty much sums it all up.

    1. Not to get too meta, but you’re subtracting a point because of something that had nothing to do with the race?

      If that’s the case, I might as well vote every race a 2 because RTL Germany commentators keep talking through the board radios and their director keeps aiming at commercials right after (Virtual) Safety Cars. But this poll is very much aimed at the on-track action.

      1. You don’t seem to have an issue with the people who upvoted because of the kid thing

        1. So you will answer my question if I ask it to every poster who upvoted it? Or still won’t?

          1. Rethorical questions need no answers

    2. Brainfade? .. VER did nothing wrong.. so the only brainfade is see is this entry.

  35. I thought this was going to be another Barcelona borefest as I took a comfortable position on my sofa before the race. Had to get up as I was wrong, this was definitely a good race. However, we finally got the DRS highway pass for the victory which ruined the end, so I gave it a 7/10.

  36. Invisiblekid
    14th May 2017, 15:28

    Race was ok I thought. If I’m honest all that mattered was a totally gutting crying Kimi fan got a hell of a substitute to seeing his no.1 driver going out 1st lap.

    Props to Ferrari.

  37. That was a great race, great to see how strategies and a bit of luck decided the race, ultimately a DRS pass in the end but Ham had been squaring that pass up for a good while and to be fair that was tyres + DRS so it wasn’t totally artificial. Awesome result for Sauber, McLaren are in proper trouble now. I wouldn’t be Surprised now if Renault finished ahead of Williams at the years end, it is basically Massa v Hulkenburg, Massa unlucky today, Palmer and Stroll are useless.

    1. Justin (@boombazookajd)
      14th May 2017, 19:42

      Why are people saying it was tires? Tires had nothing to do with it. Hamilton was roughly 2 to 3 car lengths behind coming out of the final corner. As soon as he activated DRS it was over.

      This was a pure DRS win.

  38. 8/10 for me.

  39. I asked this @ Yahoo answers, so i’m going to ask the same question here as well..

    Why didn’t Vettel box (Pit) under the VSC on lap 35-36 as did Hamilton…

    I couldn’t understand that…

    1. I’d have to ask the Ferrari wall (who were doing a pretty good job this year so far) but I guess they did that as a reaction to Lewis’s pitstop.

      And they fell on Merc’s trap. They pitted Lewis late is the SC period, knowing Ferrari would not have time to pit within the SC period. Vettel came out of the pits just barely ahead of 44, but he got stuck with the slower prime tyres for the rest of the race. It was a matter of time that he got DRS’d and then his only hope would be a serious degradation of 44’s option tyres late in the race. Which didn’t happen.

      Myself I was kinda hoping for a shunt at the front and a Ricciardo victory (or better yet, a Perez maiden victory). Didn’t happen either.

  40. 7/10. Enjoyable racing, but that’s the max I can give it when the win was aided by DRS.

  41. Fight for the win. A lot of wheel to wheel action, 8/10.

  42. Vettel was a little bit unlucky, he lost 4sec behind bottas, and 8sec with the vsc. But anyway it was a great battle between them. My favorite moment was bottas overtaking by vettel – it was a great trick :)

  43. We got to see some interesting strategy being played out but we also got robbed of seeing cars fighting wheel to wheel by DRS. Passes aren’t entertaining. I could have happily sat and watched Hamilton battling behind Vettel, sneaking a look, taking some chances and generally racing even if the pass failed. Instead we got this… 6/10

    1. Justin (@boombazookajd)
      14th May 2017, 19:39

      that’s exactly what I rated it and the exact reason why. +1 mate

    2. Without DRS, you would have seen no overtakes at all.

      1. +1.

        people keep saying they would rather see 1 or no passes than have drs. i don’t get that. i have watched so many races in the past where a clearly faster lead car couldn’t pass a slower 7th place car which completely ruined the race for the lead. anyone remember trulli trains? without drs, seb would have been stuck behind bottas until bot decided to pit. completely ruining sebs stint on the softs. Lewis would have caught seb, then bot would pit. Lewis would just ride behind vet until vet pitted, then just ride of into the distance. THAT would have been a dull race. instead, drs allowed us to see a race for the lead.

  44. Michael Brown (@)
    14th May 2017, 17:13

    7/10 good race by my standards, plus a battle

  45. FIA set up a great race by making the DRS zone longer by 100m. Without that Vettel would have been stuck behind Bottas and Hamilton would have walked it.

    The reason Hamilton did steamroll like a train past Vettel was more to do with the different tyres between the two; there weren’t too many ‘easy’ passes down the grid.

    Overall an enthralling race from start to finish with drivers actually pushing flat out for the majority of it and great strategy for all to see. So far, this year has been worth the sky sports subscription and it’s clear DRS zones need to be optimised throughout the year to carry that on.

    1. Justin (@boombazookajd)
      14th May 2017, 19:38

      That’s absolutely and comprehensively false. Tires have NOTHING to do with straight line speed. That pass by Hamilton was a pure text book definition of a DRS pass and it killed the race. The battle between the two was absolutely thrilling but after the DRS pass it turned into 2015/2016 all over again, whose tires were going to drop off first.

      You sir need to do some research. I have no idea where you get the belief that Hamilton would have walked it. If anything, without DRS, Hamilton would likely have never passed Seb.

      1. @boombazookajd Hamilton managed to stay close to Vettel in the final corner due to his better tires, so therefore he managed to get a tow and then with DRS he managed to get past. DRS helped him, but so did the tires. I think both were needed to make the pass and I don’t think there was anything wrong with that. It just showed that DRS can be useful.
        And indeed, without DRS Bottas would have been able to block Vettel for a much longer time at least, which would have led to a Melbourne-like situation and an easy Hamilton victory.

  46. What a race, and once again what an overtake- this time on Bottas. One of the greatest flowing moves I’ve ever seen.
    Pure Joy.

  47. 8/10, it would have been a 9 if BOT and RAI did not retire, massive drive from Lewis, the guy knows how to pressurise a driver in the lead and again MERC should sort out their start problems for the sake of the championship, the Ferraris really took off.

  48. GtisBetter (@)
    14th May 2017, 19:04

    What the heck was sainz thinking on that attempt to overtake at the pit exit? I couldn’t see any way he could pull it of. Enjoyed the race. Tactics, an overtake for the lead and some good midfield battles. Also, wasn’t bottas weaving a bit in the breaking zone when Vettel passed him?

    1. Sundar Srinivas Harish
      15th May 2017, 6:52

      I enjoyed that move – cheeky, but just under dangerous. K-Mag’s engineer deserves a shoutout though, he’s more excitable than half the drivers on the grid.

  49. Justin (@boombazookajd)
    14th May 2017, 19:34

    Had to give it a 6. In retrospect that’s probably a bit low but that race was amazing and it was genuine racing. However, what dropped it from a 7 was, again, DRS. Hamilton clearly was having issues finding a way around Sebastian but alas, the “train” that DRS creates leaves a driver in front absolutely helpless. If Hamilton had gone around in 2, or 3, or out braked Seb into 1 that would have been amazing.

    In the midfield, Ricciardo was alone, and subsequently nothing exciting really happened save the Sainz/Magnussen battle.

    There was a genuine and tactical battle for the front that required pin point timing from Ferrari and Mercedes but ultimately that DRS pass murdered the race.

    Please, for the love of god get rid of DRS!!

    1. that DRS creates leaves a driver in front absolutely helpless

      the Sainz/Magnussen battle

      Yes, Magnussen proved he was completely helpless against Sainz’s DRS. For thirty laps.
      And then, when Sainz finally pitted past the Haas, Wehrlein showed an equally unwaivering helplessness against Sainz’s DRS. Yes, thirty laps again. I am really gutted for the car in front.

    2. Tony Mansell
      15th May 2017, 11:08

      No that was tyres. DRS is fine now, doesn’t give any motorway passes. Better tyres traction and better slipstreaming all help with a dash of DRS – how it should be

      NEVER a 6

  50. 9/10. 1st lap incident. Contra tyre strategies. Modification of strategy due to Virtual Safety Car. Disinformation via Team Radio and some fairly difficult and robust overtaking, towards the edge of legality (Vettel, looking at you in particular).

    Even had grumpy old Massa doing what all older F1 drivers seem to do … blocking people trying to overtake, especially Hamilton and Vettel. (I was watching the HAM-VET gap on the F1 app, Massa was most responsible for their gap shrinking and expanding like an accordion.)

  51. Antoon van Gemert
    14th May 2017, 21:35

    The Spanish Grand Prix was an eventfull race with drama right after the start, with Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen as the victims of a racing-incident in which three drivers where involved. Max made a great move to the outside of the first corner, where there was plenty of room (watch the helicopter camerashot and freeze the frame just before the touch between Kimi and Valtteri as proof!) and probably would have past the two Fins. What a shame for Max because he was the better and faster Red Bull driver this weekend without any doubt and would have been closer than the 75 seconds of Ricciardo!

    Great duel between the two main-rivals for the 2017 Worldchampionship with Lewis Hamilton fighting hard to regain first position from Vettel and winning his 55th Grand Prix. This must be much more rewarding for him winning this way! Sebastian Vettel had the best overtake of the race when he past Valtteri Bottas in great and daring style. Let’s hope those two will fight this way all to the end, with the two Red Bulls coming more and more into the mix to make it yet more difficult!

    The third place for Red Bull-driver Daniel Ricciardo was nothing more than a consolation prize, because his race-pace was disappointing, driving, as Max did in Russia, in no-mans land, with nothing much to do. Still I think Max would have been much closer, because he is the faster driver at the moment, using the new updates to his best effects. The gap to Mercedes and Ferrari is smaller but it’s obvious that Red Bull (and Renault) has still a lot of work to do, and that’s the biggest disappontment of this season that could have been yet greater when it was a three way fight.

    With three top-drivers out of the race, the midpack-teams had their changes of scoring good points for both the championships, with Force India as the biggest winner! Great drives from Perez and the very talented Esteban Ocon (can’t wait for the duels between him and Max for the near future!). Good drives also from Hulkenberg, Sainz (but what a silly and frustrating move on Magnussen leaving the pitlane!) and Pascal Wehrlein.

    No, after one of the most boring races ever (Russia) this was a great one, although as a Dutchman, I watched it with mixed feelings what could have been. I just had opened my can of Red Bull to enjoy the race when Max went out…….

  52. 8/10 – This race has given the clearest indication that it’s going to be between Vettel and Hamilton for the championship, and what a fight they gave us on the track. On top of that, there were other fights down the field as well.

    On an off-track feel-good note, I felt so happy for that kid was able to meet Kimi Raikkonen after bursting into tears from the Finn’s first lap departure. Heartwarming stuff.

  53. Probably the best Spanish GP since 2013.

  54. This was certainly the shot in the arm that F1 needed to redeem itself from the snoozefest that was Russia.

  55. Great stuff, that’s what F1 is all about.

    Only negative was extending the DRS zone. Why can’t we just have DRS on small back straights to keep cars close together?!

    8/10.

  56. Tony Mansell
    15th May 2017, 11:01

    Anyone who gave it a 5 must be a 7 year old Kimi fan (bless him). Brillian brilliant race. Couple of moves we’ll still be youtubing in 20 years saying, why isn’t it like it was back then?

    Loved it but we’ve all changed so much, even Brundle said, yeh it petered out in the end. what!!!???!!!!

    People seem to want Peter Gethin style Monza wins every week or its back out with the moanjuice

    An easy 9

  57. Rick Lopez (@viscountviktor)
    15th May 2017, 17:15

    I thought the DRS zone extension was a great move, meant people could actually pass on the street.

    8/10. Really enjoyed the battle for the lead.

  58. I thought it was a great race and gave it an 8.

    The grand prix was much better than I expected it would be, beforehand I thought that whichever driver had the best start and was leading after the first lap would easily take the victory, even if another driver behind was quicker in the race I didn’t think they would be able to challenge or get past, I thought it would be a case of follow the leader throughout the field.

    So when Vettel took the lead at the start, I thought barring any car problems he would win, even when a few events during the race made it look like there was a small possibility for Hamilton it didn’t last long.

    After Vettel’s first stop he was held up in traffic with Hamilton putting a quick lap in it seemed Hamilton had a chance to jump Vettel through the pitstops but Vettel was soon in clear air and lapping quicker than Hamilton and Hamilton stayed out for quite a few more laps.

    Then Mercedes went with an alternate tyre strategy to Ferrari by putting Hamilton on the mediums for his second stint, which would mean he would have the tyre advantage at the end of the race when Vettel had to use the mediums. However when Vettel did not manage to get past Bottas straight away even though he had a fresh set of softs and Bottas was struggling on an old set of soft tyres I thought Hamilton wouldn’t be able to close up and get past Vettel at the end of the race even with better tyres.

    Then when the virtual safety car was announced neither Vettel or Hamilton were in a position to come in straight away, when Hamilton did decide to come in just as he was entering the pit lane the message came on the screen that the virtual safety car was ending so I didn’t think he would gain any benefit.

    When Vettel re-joined after his final stop he was neck and neck with Hamilton but he managed to hold on to the lead and I thought that was it, but Hamilton didn’t give up and continued to push and eventually got past.

    Hamilton then managed to pull a gap to Vettel and while initially there was the chance that he had taken too much out of his tyres so Vettel may come back at him later it didn’t happen and Hamilton even managed to set the fastest lap a few laps from the end.

    This was truly a team victory for Hamilton and Mercedes, every part of the team contributed in some way, Mercedes obviously provided a quick car to start with and they made the right call during the race in regard to strategy after Vettel took the lead at the start. Then Bottas put up a solid defence against Vettel after Vettel made an earlier stop than Bottas, which ultimately cost Vettel some valuable time, and finally Hamilton put in the performance to be in a position to challenge Vettel and then pulled off the move to take the lead.

    Although it has been a close title fight so far this season I felt it was lacking in an on track battle between Hamilton and Vettel, they have never been close in the latter stages of a race before this weekend, but this race we finally got it, hopefully there will be plenty more occasions this season when they go wheel to wheel.

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