{"id":23808,"date":"2016-05-30T11:35:45","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T10:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thomasjpitts.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=23808"},"modified":"2016-05-30T11:35:45","modified_gmt":"2016-05-30T10:35:45","slug":"151-what-happened-in-the-2016-spanish-grand-prix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasjpitts.co.uk\/wordpress\/2016\/05\/30\/151-what-happened-in-the-2016-spanish-grand-prix\/","title":{"rendered":"151: What happened in the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Firstly, this was a couple of weekends ago… I’ve been busy working on other projects, stopping me from writing about this.<\/p>\n

However, it was a record-breaking race in many, many ways.<\/p>\n

This was Max Verstappen’s first win – and it owed a lot to the clash between the two Mercedes drivers on the opening lap at turn 4. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg ran into each other in a chaotic run from the lights going out. The clash, down to a racing incident, was caused by\u00a0Rosberg aggressively avoiding an ambitious move by Hamilton, who had managed to get his front wing aligned with the German’s right-rear tyre. In attempting to avoid an all-out collision, Hamilton put a couple of wheels on the grass. This sent him out of control and he careered into his team-mate.<\/p>\n

Hamilton’s frustration was evident, covering his visor with both hands, and remaining in the car for a while, before angrily flinging his steering wheel at the barrier.<\/p>\n

It’s fair to say that Hamilton hasn’t had the best start to the 2016 season – not winning a race since he won the championship last year.<\/p>\n

\"2016<\/a>
2016 Spanish Grand Prix – Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg clash at turn 4.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This lead to a tense battle throughout the whole race between the Red Bulls and Ferraris, which boiled down to a heated battle between Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen.<\/p>\n

Max Verstappen would hold the former world champion at bay until the end to claim his maiden victory, setting a few records along the way.<\/p>\n

Max became the youngest driver to start a Grand Prix back in Australia 2015 (aged just 7 years and 166 days) and took Daniil Kvyat’s record of the youngest driver to score points at that year’s Malaysian Grand Prix (aged 17 years and 180 days).<\/p>\n

This race though meant that Verstappen also became the youngest driver to lead a race (taking that from Sebastian Vettel – 20 years and 89 days) and the youngest driver to win a race (also from Vettel – 21 years and 72 days). Verstappen was 18 years and 228 days.<\/p>\n

As well as this, Max Verstappen is the first Dutch driver to win a Grand Prix, out of 17 who have raced. His father, Jos, was previously the most successful with two third-placed finishes.<\/p>\n

In theory, these records are still up for Verstappen to grab:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Youngest driver to set the\u00a0fastest lap – held by Nico Rosberg at 20 years and 258 days.<\/li>\n
  • Oldest driver to start a race – help by Louis Chiron at 58 years and 288 days.<\/li>\n
  • Youngest driver to take pole position – held by Sebastian Vettel at 21 years and 72 days.<\/li>\n
  • Longest F1 career – held by Michael Schumacher at 7763 days.<\/li>\n
  • Youngest world champion – held by Sebastian Vettel at 23 years and 134 days.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Max has plenty of time to work on these and many more too.<\/p>\n