The Day After: Stellar Silver Arrows

As far as send-offs go, you could hardly ask for a better one than Dieter Zetsche got on Sunday.

His final race as both CEO of Daimler AG and owner of the second-best moustache in F1, Zetsche got one final chance to revel in the success of his Mercedes team in a race that was as underwhelming for fans as it would've been satisfying for him.

Not only were the Silver Arrows never tested on their way to a Lewis Hamilton-led 1-2, but in so doing managed to further cement their dominance over the sport at the venue that ten weeks earlier, had seemed to herald their decline.

Indeed, for all the good it has done them, Ferrari's strong pre-season might as well have occurred ten years ago. The SF90 simply isn't on the same level as the W10, and that showed itself here in the former's significant deficit in slow corners.

That said, it's fair to wonder if the Scuderia ever had a chance here in the first place. Once again Sunday saw some curious strategy from the pit wall, hemming and hawing with the decision to swap Sebastian Vettel with Charles Leclerc on different strategies, and vice versa later in the race.

In both cases, it seemed like Mattia Binotto and co. were too concerned with hurting their driver's feelings to make a decision, and in so doing, indicate the team is not ready to win even

if they have the car to do it.

In any case, we're almost a quarter of the way through the season now, and this is shaping up to be Mercedes' year, again. If there's any silver lining, it's that Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas continue to trade places at the top of the championship, and while it's not the fight we wanted – nor expected – it’s the only one we've got.

As disappointing as Ferrari have been, it really is remarkable that Max Verstappen is still ahead of both drivers in the championship. It's hard to believe now, but this time a year ago it seemed like he couldn't keep himself on the track!

Ferrari's strategy blunders may have been more noticeable, but they certainly weren't the only team guilty of being hesitant with their team orders.

Renault also made the strange decision not to let Daniel Ricciardo past Nico Hulkenberg even as the former had 10-lap younger mediums after the safety car, potentially costing them a points finish.

The race itself might not feature heavily in the next Netflix series, but something tells me whatever Guenther Steiner said in his post-race debrief certainly will!

Driver of the Day: Daniil Kvyat [as opposed to Max Verstappen who got the fans' votes on the day]

A poor pit-stop may have meant he finished where he started, but that should take nothing away from the driver who contributed by far the most to Sunday's entertainment.

Worst of the Day: Pierre Gasly

Another underwhelming performance from the Frenchman, especially considering he started the post-SC stint as the only one of the Ferraris and Red Bulls on soft tyres, and still finished P6, six seconds down, on Charles Leclerc. That's simply not good enough.

https://www.grandprix247.com/2019/05/12/spanish-grand-prix-top-three-press-conference-3/