Ryan Carabott made it three wins out of three at the V1 Malta Series Spanish Grand Prix at
the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The Aston Martin Racing driver came out on top in a
drenched race following a race-long battle with reigning champion Jake Sammut.
The duo started the race from the front row, with Carabott leading the Ferrari ace. Both
made good getaways, with the Aston Martin maintaining position heading into the first
corner. Despite the rain causing ice-rink conditions throughout the 4.7km Montmeló track,
all 19 starters negotiated the opening lap without incident.
Both front runners then streaked away from the rest of the pack, with Sammut shadowing
Carabott with the gap rarely opening up more than 1.5 seconds. Behind them, Mercedes
driver Michael Pace held third, closely followed by surprise package Daryl Pace in his Haas,
who made an early overtake on Red Bull driver Wayne Schembri.
The rest of the top ten at this point were Schembri and his team-mate Brandon Bonello, Christian Caruana for McLaren, Adrian Manduca for Alpine, AlphaTauri racer Kurt Friggieri and Kirsten Formosa in the other Haas. Further back, Keith Vella in his Alfa Romeo made a strong start from the back of the grid to sit in 13th, in a race-long battle with the other McLaren of Simeon Nechev and AlphaTauri youngster Wayne Micallef ahead.
At the front, Jake Sammut’s challenge to the race-leader was stunted with a sudden
disconnection, which led to his temporarily AI-controlled car diving into the pits on lap 12.
He quickly rejoined, however the issue led to a 5-second time penalty being incorrectly
applied to his car. The rest of the field started to pit for a fresh set of intermediate tyres
around two laps later, with Micallef and Nechev successfully utilising the undercut to pass
the Haas of Formosa and come within reach of Friggieri’s AlphaTauri.
The monotone affair of the race was then upended by a crash for Williams driver Jamie
Zahra at Turn 7, which brought out the safety car. Sammut, Michael Pace, Manduca and
Nechev gambled on a third set of intermediates.
The champion rejoined without losing a position, however a tyre-mix up in the Ferrari pit led to Sammut being fitted with the previously discarded first set of tyres, which did not help his charge towards the race leader.
Meanwhile, it was a difficult period in the McLaren garage, with Caruana ending up slapped
with a drive-through penalty for speeding under the safety car which dropped him out of
the points altogether, whilst 2020 winner Nechev spun behind the safety car which together
with the pitstop dropped him from just outside the points to 15th.
The Safety Car returned to the pits with four laps to go, with drivers eager to gain some
positions, including Michael Pace who had lost third to Daryl Pace with his safety car pitstop.
However Brandon Bonello, who had jumped his team-mate prior to the Safety Car period,
suffered heartbreak with a half-spin at Turn 1 due to cold tyres, which dropped him way
outside the points. Keith Vella made a move on Kirsten Formosa for 10th, whilst Adrian
Manduca set about chasing seventh off Friggieri, however a spin dropped him to eighth
behind the second AlphaTauri of Micallef. Both were carrying time penalties, six seconds
and three seconds respectively.
Sammut could not make an impression on Carabott, which left the Aston Martin driver free
to take the chequered flag first, for the second time in three years at Barcelona. The podium
on the road was completed by the Pace duo, however Sammut is expected to retain second
place, with Daryl Pace in third. The rest of the field, after corner-cutting penalties were
applied, were Michael Pace in fourth, fifth for Wayne Schembri, Kurt Friggieri in sixth, Keith
Vella in seventh from the back of the grid, eight for Adrian Manduca, ninth for Simeon
Nechev, with the final point going to Wayne Micallef. Jake Sammut took the additional point
for fastest lap.
The championship now moves on to the principality of Monaco, where the barrier-lined
track provides hope for more action and thrills in the V1 Malta Series.
Watch the full race here –
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