Verstappen scares in Montmeló training and only Alonso responds

“Yes, you can”, “yes, you can”, “yes, you can”, chanted the public, more than 50,000 fans who have come to Montmeló to see some simple training. This World Cup is a gift for the followers of Formula 1 in Spain, with Fernando Alonso always on the podium, with the dream that “yes, we can” something else, but the reality outside of that euphoria is another: And if the championship is over? Max Verstappan appears first on the track, completes several laps at a dizzying pace, registers one of them faster than his rivals and returns to the garage. Only an Alonso in a state of grace is capable of answering him, second, to a tenth, with the rest too far.

If there is no disaster in qualifying, as happened in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, if he does not suffer any breakdown in the race, the current champion is favoritism to win this Sunday (3:00 p.m., DAZN) and even in spring, even in the absence of 16 races, the title already seems his.

In the first tests, especially with so many urban circuits, there was the illusion of a competitive year, he against Checo Pérez, Checo Pérez against him, but the disaster of the Mexican in Monaco and the reliability of the Dutchman have already separated them: 39 points between them. How does Verstappen go back to 39 points? “Right now it looks like I can win every race, but I don't think it will happen.. For the rhythm I could get it, but there are always things that go wrong. I will get to tracks where it is difficult for me or I will have bad luck in qualifying or I will make a mistake,” acknowledged the Red Bull leader.

Updates on Ferrari

In his mind, as he insinuated, a piece of information, a kind of curse. In Montmeló he has won twice and has climbed another four podiums, but he has never achieved pole position. The Spanish Grand Prix is the place where he has tried it the most times, up to eight, without luck: a rarity. Last year he was surpassed by Charles Leclerc in qualifying and the previous year was done by Lewis Hamilton. Now they both want to be a threat to the two Red Bulls again, join Alonso in it, but they still can't find the way. In fact, this weekend Ferrari is presenting a set of new features (new pontoons, new floor and new rear wing) that, from what was seen in practice, is still not enough.

At the Spanish track, asked about his own dominance, about the exaggerated gap to the rest, Verstappen replied, “We’ve always seen this in Formula 1, it’s nothing new.”

At the Spanish track, asked about his own dominance, about the exaggerated gap to the rest, Verstappen replied. “I think the longer you leave the regulations the same, the more people will come around. So maybe this is something we have to look at,” he said of a possible rule change in 2026 that dethrones him, as happened with the era of Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes. In any case, until that time comes, the Dutchman will continue to win virtually unchallenged, prematurely. What if the championship is already over?