Start, Circuit de Catalunya, 2019

Rate the race: 2019 Spanish Grand Prix

2019 Spanish Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Spanish Grand Prix.

RaceFans has held polls on every F1 race since 2008 to find out which fans thought of each round of the season.

Join in the latest poll and give your verdict on the race: 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2019 Spanish Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (1%)
  • 9 (0%)
  • 8 (2%)
  • 7 (9%)
  • 6 (21%)
  • 5 (21%)
  • 4 (13%)
  • 3 (15%)
  • 2 (11%)
  • 1 (6%)

Total Voters: 285

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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71 comments on “Rate the race: 2019 Spanish Grand Prix”

  1. A fairly straightforward race for the most part with the late-ish SC making it a bit more interesting down the field.

  2. 7

    SC re-energised the race.
    If that had been Hamilton behind Bottas, you know he would have made the more of the SC.

    1. it really didn’t energize anything, typical of late. SC hasnt been exploited for racing, it is not it’s job but in the last few years it finds a way of making things worse. drs is another bad habit, these cars can’t race and surely not on these tracks, these cars have outgrown almost all tracks.

      1. Just a thought, but if F1 really wanted more over taking, eg more action, they could extend the DRS to 1.5 seconds, since the effect of car ahead on the car behind starts well before that car is in range of the drs.

        1. I think that generally what makes the DRS effective (or not effective) is the length of the DRS zone, not so much how close you have to be to activate the DRS. If they increased the detection time from 1 second, to 2 seconds, it could help keep the fights a bit closer and I don’t think it would make the passes necessarily easier, but it would increase the number of opportunities for a pass.

      2. I have to agree with @peartree here, before the SC there were some unknowns with whether there would still be action in the subtop, behind Hamilton (or even: was he going to stay on mediums too long and lose out, unlikely as that seemed), after the SC, the top 6 were all done, apart from GAS trying to get ahead of LEC initially; we did get some nice HAAS internal fight that triggered moves from SAI, KVY, and pressure on GRO from ALB, which was nice to see, but most of the tension was very much gone.

        I also gave it a 7/10 though.

    2. The safety car totally ruined the race and any chance of Ferrari strategy having an impact on RBR.

      Voted a 2 as easily the worst race of the modern era.

  3. 5/10. The old layout should be used. The new rules don’t really work that well & DR got screwed by the SC as he was the only one on a 1 stop hard tyre. The next 4 guys in front of him would have had to stop again…

    1. The ‘old layout’ without the final Chicane would be way too fast into the start finish straight.

      7

      SC re-energised the race.
      If that had been Hamilton behind Bottas, you know he would have made the more of the SC.

      1. harden up… they butchered the last sector.

    2. I went also for the 5/10 it was way to boring (start excluded)

  4. I am done. That’s it. Yep, sour grapes whatever. But this is just a bore fest. Why is this even a sport? Rant over.

    1. This. Cleary a 2 from me. Absolutely terrible race. Don’t understand how people are voting 7 on this. There rarely even are races worth 7.

      5 is the definition of average and this was so much lower than that.

    2. I gave it a 4, but I think the race could’ve been more entertaining for us if FOM focused on some of the midfield battles, of which there were quite a few close to each other throughout most of the race. But nope, we have to see the top 6 driving around 5 seconds apart from each other. It still wouldn’t have been a great race, but would’ve made it better / more bearable.

    3. Me too. No incentives for us audiences in the Americas to wake up early or stay up late for these snorefests.

    4. Pat Ashworth
      12th May 2019, 19:00

      Yes, it was a snoozefest. And, I’ll be honest here, I really did drop-off in the middle of it.

      If Spain is dropped from next year, I don’t think we’ll miss it.

    5. Totally agree. I turned it off after 15 laps. This is way more boring than the Red Bull years and even the Ferrari years. I try to find interest in the midfield battles but even that has gotten stale. Yeah, sour grapes or whatever but I increasingly ask myself why I bother watching.

    6. Isn’t it the point of F1 to be a snoozefest? I have been having great Sunday afternoon naps since I was a child. Time to change your perspective a little bit I think. As well as the fact that these races are closer than they have ever been since I’ve been watching F1 in 30 years. Much closer. You can’t have everything exciting all the time or that isn’t exciting anymore.

  5. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    12th May 2019, 15:59

    That was really dull. Hamilton will have this championship wrapped up long before the end of the year.

    1. Funnily enough, just yesterday I read a comment on another thread right here on this website, where the poster said Hamilton was ‘finished’!

      Amazing what 24 hrs can do……. lol!

      1. Indeed; Heh-heh..

      2. I saw that comment as well… but to be honest.. that was a really nonsensical comment.

  6. sky is jubilant, the race was pretty bad, kvyat did the race. that sc even made the race more stale, Max would’ve had to pass Charles, and all along Seb could’ve had a go himself. the top 2 might’ve not stop for tyres, now we don’t know if they wouldn’t pit only one of them.

    1. @peartree

      Max would’ve had to pass Charles, and all along Seb could’ve had a go himself

      Agree completely. At first, I thought the safety car period was a godsend… maybe we would Verstappen attacking Bottas and Vettel attacking Verstappen.. and Leclerc attacking Vettel. In hindsight, I would have much rather see Leclerc on Hards tyres defend from Verstappen, with Vettel piling on the pressure from behind.

      This race had the potential to be a 7 or 7.5.. but ended up being a 6. If it wasn’t for some exciting midfield action with Grosjean, Mag, Kvyat and Sainz, this race would probably have been a 5.

  7. Not just a failure, but just miserable.

  8. Generous 6, after the first turn no action at the sharp end.

  9. Renault are 8th in the championship !!
    That is not unsurprising at all.

    1. That’s crazy. Everyone had such high hopes after they signed Ricciardo last year… they’ve actually taken a step backwards from last season. Ricciardo isn’t going to be smiling in this team for much longer… and I reckon that he’ll be speaking to other teams before the end of this season.

      1. Giving up red bull for that.. and I was one of those who always opposed ricciardo leaving them, he made a disservice to red bull, who are stuck with gasly, and himself.

  10. Gave it a 3. Saved by Grojean being a nutter!

    1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      12th May 2019, 16:18

      Magnussen looked overly aggressive and triggered this when he knocked Grosjean off track.. Grosjean was a bit messy afterwards but without the safety car, Grosjean looked very likely to beat his team mate.

      1. Yes, I might have missed the context a bit @thegianthogweed as I was watching on RTL and I don’t understand German. I am in Barcelona too so it was a bit frustrating not being there.

        1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
          12th May 2019, 17:12

          well, i don’t think it was any more than a racing incident anyway now. But still, Grosjean did look better and was unfortunate that the safety car came when it did.

  11. Another day another mercedes domination. Thanks to safety car I gave it a 5 for midfield battle. Before i was giving it a 3

  12. It would have been a 2 but SC added 1 point. Pretty close to snoozefest.

  13. I hope all the rumors were true. The sooner Barcelona will be dropped from the calendar, the better. 2/10.

  14. 7, because, well, I don’t know, I enjoyed watching the race between the Ferraris and Verstappen pan out. Probably doesn’t deserve that.

    Good response from Hamilton, including grabbing fastest lap with an impressive restart after the SC. Verstappen may be frustrated he’s not going to compete for the WDC, but actually this season could be the making of him. He needs perfect races to get ahead of the two Ferraris and he’s doing it in some style. Really impressed.

    1. Same here, really enjoyed the Max Vs Ferrari battle

    2. Well said @david-br, that’s much the same as why I gave the race a 7 too.

    3. “7, because, well, I don’t know” ….

      o_0

      You’re messing up the score …..

      1. True, sorry! Usually I hit the collective sweet spot but this time I noticed my vote was way higher. Still, got to be honest, I was ‘entertained’ as a consumer, customer, meaningless non-Rolex buyer or whatever I/we currently are to F1’s owners!

  15. Would have been a 3 for me but SC actually killed it for me was looking forward to some mild excitement with Hams pit.. Except then it was gifted. Have to reconsider whether to keep setting my Sunday morning alarm any more now there’s only one team in it. IMO Bottas gave way to Lewis first corner when he was slightly ahead as Ham car was not budging. Should have held him off that would have been racing I guess. Not this corporate back patting procession. Desperately looking for any midfield action in the absense of any actual race leader drama does not up the score for me. Forgettable.

  16. Up untill the SC I would have said 7 to 8.
    After SC mark it a 4.

    Before the SC there was uncertainty and debate about what the teams could/might do.
    There was focus on the front runners.

    After the SC it was back to “well the midfield is interesting”

  17. Neil (@neilosjames)
    12th May 2019, 16:33

    Gave it a 5. Midfield provided a bit of interest but the only real excitement in the top six was wondering whether everyone’s tyres would survive being nursed for x number of laps (woohoo). Late SC added a bit more drama (good fighting around the lower points) but overall it was disappointing.

    Standard Catalunya race. Wouldn’t miss the place if it dropped off the calendar.

  18. This season has become so predictable, I felt like i’d already watched this race before. F1 really needs a wet race to mix things up.

  19. Of course it was quite a straightforward race and the fight for the first two places was decided after lap 1. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed myself with the strategic battle between Verstappen and the Ferraris. I gave it an 8, maybe a bit generous because of the even duller races in the past two weekends.

    1. If this is an 8, than watching paint dry is an 11.

  20. Dear fellow racefans readers, unfortunately I have sad news to share with you. After following F1 for 22 years I decided to quit watching F1 after this race. I feel like I wasted 2 hours of my life today, and 20+ hours this season so far. I am dissapointed by the quality of racing in F1. Pretty much you know its over after the first corner. This race combined the worst of the last few years, DRS, too much tyre talk, domination of one team from the front, very little passing, no close racing, team orders, subpar drivers, etc etc. I hope to hear in the near future that things have improved so I can return, but for the time being, farewell!

    1. Sorry to read that @oni, hope you come back at some point. I personally (but, RL interfered too) stopped following F1 religiously during the very boring Schumacher early 2000s, and actually think that mercedes 1-2 being statistically likely isn’t so bad, because it is only as reward for them getting things right without failures when it matters, and the competition not being at that level when it matters, especially since who of the two is 1 is still not certain at the start of the race, so they can’t afford to drop a beat.

  21. 10
    But I am biased for the reason of being there)

    If not for BIAS, I would have given 8.
    It was not dull by any means, we had some overtakes, we had a fantastic start, faltering Ferrari, Safety car… nice mix of action.

    The absolute best – Mercedes!
    They.Are.The.Steamroller!
    I am so, so proud of them and what they do and achieve.
    You can dislike them, you can hate them, but you can’t ignore the fact that they are really redefining the sport and what is possible in F1.

    The Good – Lewis.
    Even when he is not on top on Saturday, he is still the Force on Sunday. And today he just blew the field away.

    The bad – Ferrari. Winter promised so much, but we at round 5 now and they are going backwards.
    Many ridiculed certain aero-article on BBC, but after 5 rounds we are witnessing just that.
    Even if it is something different, it means something in DNA of the car is not working properly.

    The worst – I already mentioned elsewhere – smokers. I will definitely complain to organisers, I should not be poisoned by anyone willingly killing themselves.
    I was even approached by a certain Tobacco-product-advertiser in Fan Zone… I feel for poor guy, I gave him such a look and verbally shoved off his Tobacco-nonsense…
    Such things should be banned from F1. Completely

    1. The safety car probably saved hams victory. His tires were in a serious bad condition and a early change would have gifted the win to Bottas.
      But at least, Ham was invigorating the battle again.

    2. “Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed”

      Did you read the above, before posting? 10/10 is ridiculous

    3. Sonny Crockett
      13th May 2019, 10:28

      I was at the race too and I noticed so many people smoking in the stands. It was difficult to breath at one point.

      We were also approached by the tobacco product people several time as we walked around the Fan Zone. I was on the fence about Ferrari and McLaren sneaking the tobacco industry through the back door but on yesterday’s experiences I am now dead against it.

  22. You know something is wrong when most of the Motorsport series are more entertaining than F1.
    3/10, awful race. Only 600 meters of it were interesting.

  23. It is not race’s fault, but Ferrari ruin it for me.
    By underbraking/going wide at turns 1-2 VET just cut LEC chance to 3rd place.
    Then, LEC was clearly faster – swap should happen earlier, so VER would still be closer.
    Unless tyres strategy were set in stone, they should pit LEC while overtaking VER was possible.
    I am not particularly a LEC fan, but VER/LEC fight wouldmake a more interesting race.

    1. I think the main problem is that they do want to switch, but then take time to deliberate whether to give the order or not, which makes them lose a large part of the potential advantage. If you are going for TO, get on with it and don’t look back before end of race, or you know, just don’t go there.

      But maybe the more general problem (compare to Red Bull’s race MO, for example) is that they seem uncertain, and therefore muddle their chances if they could get them, which them makes them only waver more the next time.

  24. Voted 1. Absolute waste of time. Even the safety car which normally helps liven a terrible race, this time only made things worse. I won’t be sad in the slightest to see the back of the Circuit de Catalunya, and the back of this season come to think of it. One of the worst seasons I’ve ever witnessed in 25 years of watching F1…

  25. Don’t understand the hate. The first lap was pretty epic, but clean. Good fights in the midfield. Kvyatt round the outside of 4, other scraps. DRS is a particular hatred of mine, but at least it wasn’t insanely powerful here.

    Mercedes were amazing, but that’s at least as much due to Ferrari flattering to deceive rather than Mercedes pure speed.

    Max being ahead of both Ferrari drivers in the championship says all about how bad the red team have been.

    The only thing that killed today’s race was the safety car getting rid of all the strategy whatifs. It was shaping up rather nicely for an edge of the seat finish. If only Stroll had given a little more room or Norris had taken discretion as the better part. Oh well.

  26. Typical “Borcelona”, and actually ended up falling asleep on the couch.

  27. Today, in the Mercedes Championship a Mercedes won..

  28. 6/10 for me. Would have been even lower but for the SC and the midfield battles this led to.

    If Barcelona is dropped next year I don’t think it will be much missed. Except by the Catalans of course.

    It’s difficult to see one of Merc drivers not being World Champion now. It’s looks like Ferrari and RBR are fighting for second in the constructors. This does not help the image of F1.

    1. Barcelona will be dropped for Zandvoort for the coming three seasons. Signing and announcement next few days.

  29. 2.

    Barcelona does not produce exciting racing. The peak moments of the race was a train of cars following a late SC, and one driver outbraking himself into turn 1 on lap 1 thus flat spotting his tyres.

    This was one of the worst races I have ever seen. Literally no changes in the top 6 if you compare lap 2 to the finish flag. Different strategies did not come to life due to the SC, and even that SC failed to produce a very exciting end of the race. The only real racing was Grosjean going back after battling with his team mate.

  30. isaac (@invincibleisaac)
    12th May 2019, 21:38

    I gave it a 5. Not a bad race but by no means a classic. A bit disappointed with this season’s recurring theme of the winner being decided based on the start (that has been the case for every race so far this year bar Bahrain). The race had some good moments though; the first lap was exciting, strategy was interesting, Norris-Stroll crash, mid-field overtakes towards the end. But one thing which was yet another let down was the tv coverage. As with previous races the cameras were just showing the Ferrari’s going round behind one another when I saw that on the timers Mag was only 0.3 behind Hul and we were missing out on some potentially good battles. Also disappointed to see that whilst watching the C4 highlights, they did not show Kvyat’s spectacular move on the Alfa Romeo at turn 4. All in all not a great race, but not the worst this season – too bad it seems that Mercedes are seemingly running away with it already.

  31. This sport has shot itself in the foot by refusing to review its fundamentals, but that’s just beating a daed horse by now I guess. I’m just glad I’m watching replays I can fast forward. Pretty bad stuff.

  32. I gave it a 3, which is the worst score I have ever given. The ease with which Mercedes are winning is filling me with dread,

    Ferrari are well back.

    It’s now a Formula 1 (one team), Formula 1.2 (two teams), Formula 1.5 (six teams) and Formula 1.8 (one team) field.

    Puts me off for the rest of the season. I will probably watch it but am losing interest. Hopefully Bottas can win a couple soon to make it a bit interesting so it will not be as bad as the Schumacher years when I did actually stop watching and caring.

  33. Roberto Giacometti (@schemo27optusnet-com-au)
    13th May 2019, 5:31

    Another snoozefest I am afraid to say. When it comes to Formula 1, i live in the unlucky country of Australia , where whenever there is a change in times , it always means later and later. I have been watching the F1 since we were “blessed ” enough to start receiving delayed telecasts (which were set up to make them look “live” by our wonderful Channel 9) in 1980 when Jonesy was winning things, and would decribe myself as a Formula 1 tragic (Forza Ferrari), but I find myself at the crossroads of deciding whether I should just go to bed , as the race result is a foregone conclusion, or do I hope, with fingers and toes crossed, that some anomaly (Pastor Maldonado anyone??) will occur and that we will actually see some kind of sporting contest occuring where we will not know who wins before the blessed event even begins. Sad to say , but the truth I’m afraid.

  34. 2/10

    I missed the live race and even the six minutes of ‘highlights’ were dreadful.

    2021 is the last chance…

  35. 5/10. Start was fantastic, 9/10. Then it turned in to a 1/10. So on average about 5/10.

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