PALMER: Did Spain offer us a clue as to when Mercedes might be able to seriously challenge Red Bull?

The Spanish Grand Prix weekend threw up some surprise results on Saturday and some mysterious drops in form on Sunday – as well as a leap forward for Mercedes to get them a first double podium of the season.

Barcelona is an outlier circuit from the season thus far, but will become more the trend moving forwards. That’s because it’s the first permanent circuit that we’ve been to this year since the season opener in Bahrain – and even Bahrain has characteristics that are more akin to a street circuit, with really high track evolution and massive rear tyre limitations.