The Spanish Grand Prix often tends to be the race that really gives us an idea as to how the rest of a Formula 1 season is going to unfold.
It's where the teams usually apply their first major upgrade packages of the campaign and it gives us a good idea of the level each driver is operating at as the circuit is so familiar to them; with testing often taking place there and with it being a fairly simple track, it's generally a place where they can all produce their best.
This year's edition was always going to be particularly prescient, too, as it's where new rules were introduced, rules that forced teams to change their cars and threatened to shake up the pecking order.
Bearing all of that in mind, these are my main takeaways from the race.
McLaren master the new rules
As it emerged in the early stages of the season that McLaren had produced the quickest car, their rivals held on to the hope that the Technical Directive introduced in Spain, limiting the flexibility of front wings, would slow them down. Now, that hope is gone.
McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull all made changes to their machinery in Barcelona, and those changes led to McLaren being further ahead than ever. They were fastest in every practice session and every qualifying session, and set the fastest lap of the race on their way to a 1-2 finish.
The race weekend made it clear that they comfortably have the fastest car on the grid, and also that the car is being driven by two drivers who are approaching the top of their game in it. Both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris did very little wrong from Friday to Sunday.
As a result, the battle for the Constructors' Championship feels over already, with the reigning champions holding a 197-point lead and looking set to have the best car for the foreseeable future.
The battle for the Drivers' Championship is much tighter, but is going to be won by one of the two McLarens, too, after a complete meltdown from the only man that had any chance of challenging them.
Verstappen loses his head and his title hopes
I've written a number of times in this column about how Max Verstappen's aggression lets him down, but never has that been the case more than it was on Sunday, when he intentionally drove into the side of George Russell's car.
Whether it was fair for him to have to let Russell pass him after the Brit made contact with the Dutchman when trying to overtake a few laps earlier is completely irrelevant. Crashing into somebody on purpose is downright dangerous.
Frankly, it's embarrassing for a grown man to knowingly endanger a competitor just because things haven't gone his way. As Russell said, it sets a bad example for children watching, and it will massively tarnish a legacy that should be one of the sport's greatest when Verstappen calls it a day.
The Red Bull man won't care about any of that, but he'll surely care about the fact that his stupidity has all but ended his title chances. In a fight in which every point is crucial with his competitors in better cars, he threw away nine points, with his penalty dropping him from P5 to P10.
He was also given three penalty points, and that punishment could end up being the more costly one, with him now knowing that, until October, any major incident he's adjudged to be at fault for will lead to him getting a one-race ban. You'd think that threat would ensure he'll improve his behaviour, but I'm honestly not sure at this point.
A tale of three veterans
There are three F1 drivers on the grid considerably older than the rest, and their stories were three of the biggest in Spain for the right and wrong reasons.
Nico Hulkenberg was the star of the race, with the 37-year-old fighting his way up from P15 to P5 in what has been the slowest car on the grid all season. The Sauber driver displayed excellent pace and pulled off some great overtakes as he single-handedly took his team from the bottom of the standings to above Aston Martin and Alpine.
Over at Aston Martin, meanwhile, 43-year-old Fernando Alonso finally scored his first points of the season thanks to a late charge in which he gained three places in six laps. The Spaniard was one of the best performers in qualifying, too, and has now out-qualified teammate Lance Stroll 21 times in a row.
On the flip side, 40-year-old Lewis Hamilton had a disaster of a race day, being massively slower than teammate Charles Leclerc and even being overtaken by Hulkenberg in the closing stages. He was despondent afterwards, saying, "It's probably just me" after a reporter said they hoped Ferrari could find the reason for his struggles.
Hamilton looked and sounded like a man devoid of confidence, like a man worried that age is catching up with him and that his best years are behind him.
However, he should take note of Hulkenberg and Alonso's performances. With both looking as close to their peaks as they have for the last few years, they're clear proof that a driver's talents aren't necessarily going to wane as they near or enter their 40s. That could serve as inspiration for Hamilton at a time when he clearly needs it.
