The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has been home to the Spanish Grand Prix since 1991. The circuit is also one of the most attuned tracks for drivers as it has been home to pre-season testing on numerous occasions. This is because the track boasts a wide selection of low-speed and high-speed corners making it one of the most challenging on the calendar. If you do well around Barcelona, chances are you will excel throughout the season. The 2024 Spanish GP allowed all the ten teams to evaluate their packages, and also bring upgrades to test its performance deltas.
After the 66-lap race, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (as quoted by Autosport) also hailed the circuit being “a track that is quite representative of the performance of the cars throughout the whole season,” as he looked forward to putting the data into work. So, after three days of running at the Spanish GP, what does the pecking order in 2024 look like?
An lightning start for George Russell, Lewis Hamilton returns to the podium and the Ferraris clash… ⚔️
The best from the airwaves in Barcelona #F1 #SpanishGP @paramountplus
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 24, 2024
The battle for the Constructors’ title is arguably the closest we have seen in the recent past. Defending champions, Red Bull brought a suite of upgrades to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. On the other hand, their closest competitor, McLaren maintained their Monaco GP spec.
Over a single lap, there is little to choose between the two. Lando Norris snatched pole position away from Max Verstappen by the slimmest of margins – 0.020 seconds. Race pace, however, panned out to be a completely different story.
Tire wear has been a concern for the Woking-based team. Team principal, Andrea Stella had admitted it being one of the key differentiators between themselves and Red Bull last year. The final stints of the Spanish GP, this year, make it look like the Milton-Keynes-based outfit still hold an advantage in that regard.
As a result, Verstappen, on a pretty similar tire delta, seemed to hold his own from a fast-charging Norris to bag his 61st Grand Prix win.
: McLaren’s team principal, Andrea Stella, identifies tire wear as the key factor separating McLaren from Red Bull in F1 performance. Despite a strong season, McLaren struggles with tire degradation compared to Red Bull, which maintains lap times on used tires.#F1 pic.twitter.com/zFksr1a8HH
— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) November 8, 2023
Moving down the field, Mercedes seem to have struck gold with their front-wing upgrade – first introduced at the Monaco GP. For the Spanish GP, the Silver Arrows decided to run with the revised front wing and floor that secured George Russell his first pole position and podium of the season at the Canadian GP.
On both qualifying and race pace, Mercedes looked like the third-fastest car but not by much. On the contrary, it was one of the most disappointing race weekends for Ferrari this season. The Italian team brought a sum total of seven upgrades focusing on a revised floor, diffuser, and rear wing. Despite this, the Scuderia have seemingly fallen down the pecking order.
The last few race weekends had seen Ferrari emerge as the closest car on track to Red Bull along with McLaren. Although, Mercedes have now just edged the Scuderia out in terms of pure performance – a trend Mercedes would like to keep up for the remainder of the season. Hamilton and Russell out-qualified both the Ferraris, and the #44 driver claimed his first podium of 2024.
Great result for the team, onto the next ~ pic.twitter.com/byJWJY1NU8
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) June 23, 2024
Rounding off the top five, Alpine will leave Barcelona as one of the most improved teams. The Enstone-based outfit brought their latest upgrades at the Monaco GP. Since then, they’ve gone on to score points at every race (7).
The Spanish GP saw them secure double-points finishes consecutively for the first time this year. This has helped them leapfrog Haas to take seventh in the Constructors’ standings.
2024 Spanish GP confirms tight midfield battle for the Constructors’ championship
Lower down the pack, things seem to be shaping up interestingly, too. It was a tough outing for home-hero, Fernando Alonso, however. Aston Martin have failed to recapture their early 2023 form. This season started in the lower rungs of the midfield for the Silverstone-based team and that trend seems to be continuing for them.
In terms of raw pace, Aston Martin now also see themselves being caught up by Sauber. After suffering one of the worst starts to a Formula 1 season, Sauber have seemingly pulled their socks up. Historically, the Barcelona track has suited their design philosophy. Powered by a minimalistic rear-wing and front-corner upgrade, Zhou Guanyu made it out of Q1 for the first time this season.
His teammate, Valtteri Bottas was the biggest thorn in Alonso’s side. During the Grand Prix, the #77 driver pulled a few moves on the Spaniard that neither Aston Martin nor Sauber would have expected given their respective performances so far this season.
The Hinwil-based outfit will surely take positives from their performance in Barcelona and expect to replicate their pace on the more conventional tracks going forward.
Bottas adelanta a Alonso y el asturiano es 14°
#EnDIRECTO ➡ https://t.co/jnxNOhz7fB#SpanishGP #F1 #F1Barcelona. pic.twitter.com/AIKXONYpM5
— Motorsport.com España (@es_Motorsport) June 23, 2024
Throughout the 2024 season, Nico Hulkenberg has been out-driving the VF-24. It was more of the same for Haas at the Spanish GP, too. Slotting himself between the Aston Martins and Saubers during Qualifying, the German drove a brilliant race but just finished on the cusp of the points as he took the chequered flag in 11th.
His teammate, Kevin Magnussen, on the other hand, finished a lap behind the leaders in P17. Magnussen was lapping on an average almost eight-tenths slower than his teammate.
The lap times in the lower half of the field make it a bit difficult for a clear-cut pecking order between the likes of Aston Martin, Sauber, and Haas. However, taking driver form into account, Hulkenberg has made a case for Haas slotting in between the preceding duo but with very little to split the trio.
⏱️RACE PACE #SpanishGP
Norris was just 0.04s/lap slower than VER… despite being stuck in traffic! The NOR-McL duo was fastest in free-air
Very similar pace for:
-HAM, LEC, RUS (~0.25s/lap slower)
-PIA, SAI (~0.35s/lap slower)Alpines and HUL were way quicker than Aston!… pic.twitter.com/L74hTzwoAL
— Formula Data Analysis (@FDataAnalysis) June 23, 2024
Speaking about winners and losers, Visa Cash App RB (VCARB) would be the most disappointed out of the ten teams. The Faenza-based outfit had made it a habit of running amongst the points with at least one of their drivers in the last three Grands Prix before Barcelona.
They were also one of the most heavily upgraded teams on the grid, last weekend. But, as we have seen with major upgrade packages in the past, their simulator and CFD results failed to correlate on track. Never really punching above the last four places on track, V-CARB and Williams, who came upgrade-less to the Spanish GP were embroiled in a lonely dogfight.
After analyzing the Spanish GP, the pecking order in 2024 looks like this so far:
| # | Team |
| 1 | Red Bull |
| 2 | McLaren |
| 3 | Mercedes |
| 4 | Ferrari |
| 5 | Alpine |
| 6 | Aston Martin |
| 7 | Haas |
| 8 | Sauber |
| 9 | V-CARB |
| 10 | Williams |
