F1 2025 Spanish Grand Prix Review (Undercutters Ep23 transcript)
Hello, everyone. This is the 23rd Undercutters podcast, and I’m your host, Morris. This time we’re looking back at the Spanish Grand Prix, the ninth of 24 Grands Prix this season and the first that saw the much-discussed flexi-wing ban. Did it have an impact? And could Verstappen fend off the McLarens to keep hold of his title?
Before I recap who did well and badly in the race, look at its implications for the standings, and cover the news, just a quick reminder you can find me on Twitter or Blue Sky as MorrisF1. And I post transcripts of each episode on morrisf1.blogspot.com, usually including some graphs that might be of interest.
Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying 00m52s
Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix was a highly competitive affair, as usual. Colapinto suffered bad luck in Q1 when his car let him down, but he was still faster than Tsunoda. Pretty stark contrast here, as Verstappen ended the session second quickest. Unusually, neither Williams reached Q3, with Sainz out in Q1 and Albon in Q2. Bortoleto put his Sauber up into 12th which is really rather tasty. Lance Stroll had qualified 14th but after pain in his hand and wrist did not participate in the race itself.
At the sharp end, the flexi-wing change appeared to have increased McLaren’s dominance, with Piastri on pole, two-tenths ahead of Norris, who was a tenth ahead of Verstappen. Russell, Hamilton, and Antonelli followed, with Leclerc only 7th due to having just one set of new tyres in Q3
Spanish Grand Prix Review 1m55s
The Spanish Grand Prix was kind of interesting for the first fifty-five or so laps, with a few movers and shakers in the midfield, but plain sailing for the McLarens. But then the late safety car Antonelli’s engine failure brought out changed everything, because Verstappen only had a fresh set of hard tyres that compromised him.
Piastri had a perfect race, and Norris came in 2nd, with Leclerc helping himself to a podium thanks to good race pace and the hard tyre for Verstappen. For reasons of time I’m recording this very shortly after the race so there may be more to come (the incident with Leclerc is being investigated) but at the moment he, Verstappen, has just a 10s penalty for causing a collision. He clearly hit Russell on purpose in a fit of pique and you’ve got to punish that kind of nonsense. But a 10s penalty is not enough. Russell got a far higher penalty, a drive-through, for deliberately cutting a chicane in Monaco and not giving the place back.
Verstappen being frustrated is understandable. All race long it looked like a McLaren and Verstappen podium, and near the end he got very close to Norris. However, the late safety car bunched everyone up, only everyone else had soft tyres and he was on hard, which compromised him badly. But being frustrated is no excuse for deliberately hitting another car. It was unacceptable when Pastor Maldonado did it to Lewis Hamilton in practice at Spa about a decade ago, and it’s unacceptable now. A 10s penalty is nowhere near harsh enough.
This means discussion of points and standings may be a little inaccurate as Verstappen is currently listed as 10th but he may end up demoted more if the powers-that-be decide to give him a proper punishment.
Anyway, Spain was already very good for Hulkenberg, who had the best start of anyone and got up from 16th to 11th on lap 1. The safety car and some very tasty driving saw him pass Hadjar and Hamilton for 6th, and Verstappen’s lunacy promoted him to 5th. Ten points is fantastic for a man driving the worst car on the grid and more than doubles Hulkenberg’s tally for the season. It also puts Sauber clearly ahead of Alpine and joint on points with, but one place higher than, Aston Martin. I don’t think they’ll stay 8th in the Constructors’ but it’s been a fantastic race for Hulkenberg and Sauber. Incidentally, Hulkenberg is now 11th, and is ahead of Stroll and Sainz in the standings.
By contrast, Williams looked weak in qualifying and the race. Albon had a scruffy race with multiple incidents of front wing damage and then having to retire the car. Sainz never threatened to score a point. It’s only the second race weekend the team has failed to score anything. I’m sure Williams will be back to winning ways soon, or scoring points at least, but this was a weekend to forget for them.
Leclerc looked dead set for 4th, with Red Bull’s three stop strategy looking very good until the safety car came out. But Ferrari’s pace was not bad, and the team were right to tell the clearly slower Hamilton to let Leclerc through early on. Little bit of a step forward for the Prancing Horse in Spain.
But the FIA front wing technical directive appears to have caused McLaren very little difficulty. It was a surprisingly rare front row lockout for them, and they looked on for a 1-2 finish despite Verstappen getting close. Momentum has swung back to Piastri, who nailed qualifying and was comfortable leading the race. Norris had a scruffy qualifying and, off the line, was passed by Verstappen which made life easier for Piastri.
Further down the order, Russell’s tyres went off earlier than comparable cars, again hamstringing Mercedes. Hadjar, Gasly, and Alonso all scored. For Hadjar, this is business as usual. The rookie’s been doing very well pretty much all season. For Gasly, it was a welcome return to scoring, and for Alonso it was an even happier event to finally get on the scoreboard. The Spaniard could’ve scored on multiple occasions already but bad luck always thwarted him before.
Tsunoda had a rough weekend. He started from the pit lane having qualified slowest of all, and although he rose to 13th he was not exactly lighting up the race as his team mate seemed destined for a podium. When it comes to Red Bull’s second seat there are three options for the team: clone Verstappen, accept that the second driver will do poorly, or design a car that people who aren’t Verstappen can actually drive. Chopping and changing the driver doesn’t work, and it’s failed repeatedly with very good drivers.
Despite McLaren extending their lead and Leclerc getting on the podium, or even Hulkenberg’s astonishing 5th place, almost all the chatter will be about Verstappen. His act was petulant and dangerous, and they gave him a slap on the wrist. It’s really not good enough.
Should he have been black flagged? The black flag exists to disqualify a driver, and is very rarely used. I can’t remember the last time I saw it. But if deliberately crashing into another driver is not just cause, what is? I mentioned before about Maldonado swiping Hamilton in practice at Spa a long time ago. He did not receive a black flag, but he should’ve. It was a clear case of using his car as a weapon. F1 has enough risk without that sort of nonsense. Last season Magnussen got disqualified for one race for amassing too many penalty points. Was that worse than what Verstappen did? Anyway, we shall see if anything happens in the coming days.
Spanish Grand Prix Predictions Assessment 8m15s
When it comes to predictions things have been a bit iffy lately. The Spanish Grand Prix saw me get a few things right. I did overestimate Norris, I thought he’d get pole and the win and he ended up runner-up to Piastri both times. My backing of Verstappen for 2nd also failed, although it looked possible. Pretty surprised that my least confident podium prediction of Leclerc in 3rd came off, but good for him.
I got both my midfield points calls right. Hadjar in the points is not especially heroic but it did come off. Backing Alonso after his abysmal luck this year was a bit more out there but he ended up 9th, and even without Verstappen’s 10s penalty Alonso would have been in the final points position.
My extra prediction of Ferrari to be 2nd in the Constructors, winning a close fight with Mercedes and Red Bull, also came off. After a few very poor races that means more predictions were right than wrong.
F1 2025 Standings after the Spanish Grand Prix 9m21s
Norris had eased up to Piastri after Monaco, in the points, but the Aussie’s Spanish win extends his lead at the top to 10 points. It’s still very close, and it’s remarkable we haven’t actually seen them have a proper on-track battle despite both being very quick since the season started. Verstappen’s tantrum means he’s 49 points behind Piastri. Unless things turn around dramatically I think his goose is cooked.
Hulkenberg’s fantastic 5th has put him on 16 points, 11th in the standings and ahead of Stroll and Sainz. I suspect he’ll slowly drift down the order but it was a very tasty result. It also put Sauber on 16 points, joint with Aston Martin and ahead in the standings, raising the team from 10th to 8th. Again, I think they’ll probably drift downwards as the season goes on but for the slowest team on the grid it was a great race weekend.
Hadjar scored for the third weekend in a row and his points put Racing Bulls on 28, just ahead of Haas on 26. While Haas can sometimes seem rather good, the Racing Bull car seems better more often, and Hadjar’s driving consistently well. I just hope he doesn’t end up being sacrificed at Red Bull’s second seat.
F1 News 10m42s
F1 News.This isn’t a major item of news but I thought Adrian Newey’s comments about Aston Martin were interesting. He said that some of the team’s tools were weak, and singled out the driver-in-the-loop simulator as having especially poor correlation with the real world. They need to resolve that quickly otherwise it will compromise the development of the 2026 car. With the Honda engine rumoured to be very good and Newey a renowned designer, plus Alonso still being one of the best drivers on the grid, 2026 could be the year that Aston Martin take a huge leap forward. But that does require testing and development facilities to be accurate otherwise a car may seem good in development but that perception will not survive contact with reality.
Thanks for listening, it’s much appreciated. Unfortunately we live in a world of algorithms and data points, and I know it’s a bit tedious hearing people ask for likes, ratings, and reviews but it does make a significant difference. So if you listened this far please leave a positive rating wherever you get your podcasts.
Spain was the last of a triple header, and thankfully a lot more interesting than Monaco. There’s a fortnight between the Spanish Grand Prix and the next race, which is in Canada. I’ll see you then
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