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Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, leads Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF21, Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12, Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M, and Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB16B

The changes Barcelona needs to provide a modern-day F1 spectacle

Formula 1’s visits to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya over recent years have been met with familiar criticisms despite tweaks here and there to the track to improve racing. With the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix largely going the same way, proper solutions need to be followed to achieve F1’s wider targets

Without Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes throwing a spanner in the works and going for a second stop, which ultimately won them the Spanish Grand Prix, it was looking to be a typical Formula 1 race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

After the field had settled into the rhythm of the race, the customary DRS trains formed; the cars were locked in single file like a tapeworm gliding through the confines of the large intestine. It's so difficult to mount an assault on a car ahead at the Barcelona circuit, unless you have a very distinct tyre advantage – characterised by Hamilton fluctuating in and out of that crucial second gap behind Max Verstappen in the opening two phases of the race.

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