After three consecutive weeks of traveling all around Europe, the drivers have conquered the European triple-header. In that time period, the standings have gone through a couple of big changes with some teams riding high in confidence, while others, are facing more questions then answers. The three circuits that made up the triple header are known for being tough to overtake so drivers that capitalized on Saturday qualifying ended out on top of the performance chart. The Canadian Grand Prix is next up on the calendar but, race day is not until June 15. This time off will give drivers plenty of time to not only recover, but to asses their results in Europe. In this article we will be doing our own assessment and determining who came out as winners and losers in these races.
DRIVER STANDINGS BEFORE/AFTER TRIPLE-HEADER (TOP 10)
1. Piastri: 131———— Piastri: 186
2. Norris: 115———— Norris: 176
3. Verstappen: 99——Verstappen: 137
4. Russel: 93———— Russel: 111
5. Leclerc: 53————Leclerc: 94
6. Antonelli: 48———Hamilton: 71
7. Hamilton: 41———Antonelli: 48
8. Albon: 30————-Albon: 42
9. Ocon: 14—————Hadjar: 21
10. Stroll: 14————-Ocon: 20
DRIVER WINNER: CHARLES LECLERC
Now although Leclerc didn’t manage to move up any places in the drivers standings, he was able to string together multiple impressive performances when all eyes were on him. If you were to travel back in time, specifically, after the qualifying session in Imola and the tell me that I would be writing about Leclerc’s strong results, I would think you were crazy.
On qualifying day both of the Ferrari drivers failed to reach Q3 even though they had a a run on the soft tire. Leclerc finished P11 and was nearly a tenth of a second behind Albon’s lap that saw him reach Q3. The fact that Leclerc couldn’t achieve a quicker lap time than the Aston Martin’s, who set laps on used medium tires, showcased that Leclerc had zero confidence or control of the car. During the post qualifying interviews, Leclerc said that he had absolutely now words about their performance which hinted that Ferrari’s struggles were going to continue. But, although the Imola Grand Prix was by no means perfect for Leclerc, it definitely was an incredible recovery drive by him. Leclerc finished P6 as he navigated through the field and if it wasn’t for a close race incident with Albon on lap 60, Leclerc would have most likely finished P4.
After Imola, the drivers headed to Monaco and in pre race interviews, Leclerc didn’t seem to hyped for his home race. Leclerc stated that the SF-23 had not been been handling slow corners to kindly throughout the season, and Monaco is a circuit that is purely slow corners. With this statement fans were expecting to see Leclerc struggle during the free practice sessions but instead, the eight-time race winner went on to top the timing tables in each one. While no points are scored in free practice and it rarely tells the full story, these results revealed that Leclerc was responding well to the track and that he was ready to go all out in qualifying. During an intense Q3, Leclerc put his car on provisional pole with only a few more lap times yet to be completed. The Ferrari garage shouted in excitement but they knew Norris was a threat to their pole position. Once Norris crossed the line, he not only secured pole but set a new lap record on the streets on Monte Carlo. Leclerc ended up P2 and although he was dissatisfied with his results, Ferrari knew they were taking steps in the right direction in terms of qualifying pace. On race day Leclerc finished P2 and clinched his second podium of the season.
Next up was the Spanish Grand Prix and a late safety car played right into the hands of Leclerc. At the start of the race Leclerc overtook two drivers which slotted him up to P5. The next 54 laps were smooth sailing for him as he made up one more place on George Russel which put him in P4. Things got interesting once Antonelli suffered an engine failure on lap 55 which brought out the safety car. Verstappen, who was in P3, entered the pits and was given a fresh set of hard tires. Leclerc on the other hand pitted and got a fresh set of soft tires which gave the Ferrari driver a huge advantage in terms of speed. Red Bull’s mistake allowed Leclerc to overtake the Dutchman at the restart of the race and Leclerc ended up on the podium.
In total, Charles Leclerc racked up 41 points, two podium positions and closed the gap between him and George Russel. Leclerc was able to capitalize on other drivers mistakes and make the most of them by staying sharp around the three circuits. Leclerc will be looking to build on the momentum that he established in Europe once the world tour continues in Canada.
DRIVER LOSER: KIMI ANTONELLI
The European triple header could not have gone any worse for the Italian rookie. Antonelli failed to score a single point in any of the races, with only three other drivers suffering the same feat. Coming into Imola, Antonelli had set a historic sprint pole in Miami which had fans thrilled to see what he could do at his home track.
The media and attention brought upon Antonelli during the weekend was insane and it proved to be too much for him to handle. Even Toto Wolff said that Kimi Antonelli was “toast” due to the stresses of racing at his home circuit at such a young age. In qualifying Antonelli failed to make it out of Q2 which was detrimental to his confidence. Then in the race, Antonelli suffered his first of two engine failures of the triple header which created a weekend to forget for the Mercedes driver.
In Monaco the struggles continued as for the second race weekend in a row, Antonelli failed to reach Q3. On his final push lap in Q1, Antonelli’s front left tire clipped the wall heading into the Nouvelle Chicane which ended his day early with a result of P15. Race day in Monaco was a disaster with the mandatory two pit stops rule as Antonelli found himself three laps behind the race leaders and crossing the line in P18.
At the Spanish Grand Prix Antonelli returned back to his impressive ways securing P6 in qualifying and setting himself up for a chance at big points on Sunday. During the race Antonelli was holding P7 for quite a while but tragedy struck once again when he suffered an engine failure on lap 55.
Those two engine failures really tainted the triple header for Antonelli and Mercedes are hoping to find answers as to what happened. If those two failures did not occur, Antonelli would have been able to achieve two point scoring finishes which sounds a whole lot better than scoring no points at all. Mercedes and Antonelli are looking for a factory reset heading into Canada because if these issues continue, their place in the constructor standings are going to drop.
CONSTRUCTOR STANDINGS BEFORE/AFTER TRIPLE-HEADER
1. McLaren: 246—————- McLaren: 362
2. Mercedes: 141————— Ferrari: 165
3. Red Bull Racing: 105—— Mercedes: 159
4. Ferrari: 94———————- Red Bull Racing: 144
5. Williams: 37——————- Williams: 54
6. Haas: 20————————- Racing Bulls: 28
7. Aston Martin: 14————- Haas: 26
8. Racing Bulls: 8————— Kick Sauber: 16
9. Alpine: 7———————— Aston Martin: 16
10. Kick Sauber: 6————— Alpine: 11
CONSTRUCTOR WINNER: FERRARI
With Charles Leclerc leading the charge, Ferrari were able to jump up not just one spot in the constructors, but two. It’s no secret that Ferrari were struggling in the first couple of races, but gaining ground during the triple header has given them a great foundation. With the help of Mercedes power unit issues and Red Bulls’ second seat dilemma, Ferrari have solidified themselves as the best of the rest at the moment.
One thing that Ferrari still need to work on is getting Hamilton more comfortable in the cockpit. Hamilton described the Spanish Grand Prix as “the worst race I’ve experienced” which is obviously not a good thing to hear. Hamilton did finish P4 in Imola and P5 in Monaco so he is definitely getting better but he is not 100% yet. If Ferrari can keep improving and providing consistent results, the Scuderia can triumphant the likes of Mercedes and Red Bull and finish a solid second in the constructors championship.
CONSTRUCTOR LOSER: MERCEDES
Of the top four teams in the constructors championship, Mercedes scored the least amount of points during the triple-header with only 18. Russel qualified a solid P3 in Imola but a lack of race pace saw him bring home only six points. Then in Monaco, both Mercedes drives failed to score points and at the Spanish Grand Prix Russel managed to bag 12 points in his race performance.
Mercedes will be hoping to find a cure for their reliability issues and they need to implement more upgrades in order to better their race pace. The silver arrows are looking to bounce back in front of Ferrari after surrendering second place to the Italian based team