‘Lady luck’ helped Russell in Verstappen battle

Torquing Point: Mercedes show signs of life in Spain - Spanish GP Conclusion

Torquing Point: Lewis Hamilton 9.5/10 - Spanish GP Driver Ratings

Red Bull's team order hands Verstappen the win

Torquing Point: Sergio Perez understands his position within Red Bull - Spanish GP Conclusions

Torquing Point: Max Verstappen's mixed race in Spain - Spanish GP Conclusions

Mercedes admit that George Russell’s defence against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Spain was part skill, part luck.

The Spanish Grand Prix was a key test for the Mercedes W13 in its current configuration, the team having struggled to control its bouncing habit in the opening rounds, which had led to performance issues.

But at a race where Mercedes could directly compare their ‘zero-pod’ approach to their more conventional sidepods used in Barcelona in pre-season, the W13 delivered, Mercedes moving much closer to the battle at the front.

Although Ferrari and Red Bull do maintain a pace advantage, Russell was very much in the mix at the Spanish Grand Prix, even leading the race at one stage when Charles Leclerc retired from the lead due to a power unit failure.

At that stage Russell had the very close attention of Verstappen, who was looking to undo the damage of an earlier spin suffered while running P2.

Verstappen though was struggling with DRS, which was activating correctly at times, but at others failing to open.

It meant then that the undercut was the only way for Verstappen to clear Russell, the Dutchman ultimately going on to claim victory and move to the top of the Drivers’ Championship, while Russell finished P3.

Part of Russell’s resilient defence, according to Mercedes’ motorsport strategy director James Vowles, came down to driver skill, Russell at one