There’s been a major shift in the Formula 1 World Championship standings following the Spanish Grand Prix, and Red Bull Racing is bearing the brunt of it. Due in part to Max Verstappen’s disappointing finish, the reigning champions have slipped to fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship, well behind the surging McLaren team.
Verstappen Falters, French Driver Hadjar Shines
While it would be unfair to pin Red Bull’s decline entirely on Verstappen, the Dutch driver was the team’s only points scorer in Barcelona—though just barely. A 10-second penalty dropped him to tenth place, allowing key rivals like Mercedes and Ferrari to capitalise. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who finished third and sixth respectively, made significant gains for their teams.
“It was unfortunate that the safety car came out and we got unlucky with our pit strategy,” Verstappen explained after the race. “That’s how racing goes—sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. We only had new hard tyres left at the end, and while everyone else went with softs, we had no grip on the hards. It was incredibly frustrating and made things much harder.”
Verstappen admitted there was a chance to stay on soft tyres but said the team had already committed to the harder compound. After the restart, he found himself in a tough spot, ultimately receiving a penalty following an incident with George Russell. “We did what we could with the pace we had,” he added, “but we just couldn’t match McLaren.”
McLaren in Control, Red Bull Drops to Fourth
McLaren has now doubled Red Bull’s point tally in the Constructors’ standings, while Ferrari sits comfortably in second with 197 points. Mercedes, meanwhile, holds a 15-point lead over Red Bull in third. The timing couldn’t be worse for Red Bull, especially with Kimi Antonelli retiring early in the race.
Further down the grid, Alpine dropped back to last in the standings despite Pierre Gasly scoring four points. That’s because Nico Hülkenberg’s surprise fifth-place finish lifted Sauber from tenth to eighth, putting them level with—but ahead of—Aston Martin. Even Fernando Alonso’s ninth-place finish on home soil wasn’t enough to hold position.
Hadjar Lifts Faenza, Haas Slides Down
Another significant shake-up occurred at sixth place in the Constructors’ table, where Haas lost its spot to the Faenza-based team. Thanks to a strong seventh-place finish by rookie Isack Hadjar, the team climbed up the standings, intensifying the pressure on Haas to respond.
“It wasn’t a good day,” admitted Ayao Komatsu, Haas Team Principal. “The car lacked pace and our operational execution was poor. What happened today started on Friday—we need to reassess how we work together as a team and extract more from both the car and our drivers. We’ll take a hard look at this before Montréal.”
Driver Standings: Verstappen Slips, Russell Gains Ground
The Drivers’ Championship also saw some major movements. Oscar Piastri extended his lead over teammate Lando Norris with a commanding victory. Verstappen, however, has now dropped 49 points behind the leader. Even George Russell is closing in, now just 26 points behind the three-time champion in third place.
Isack Hadjar continued his impressive form by breaking into the top ten in the drivers’ rankings, bumping fellow Frenchman Esteban Ocon down to tenth. Despite the drop, Ocon remains among the top contenders.
