Spanish Grand Prix: Max Verstappen wins the race ahead of a more-than-threatening Lando Norris

In 4th place, George Russell surprises everyone and makes a magnificent start to take the lead over both Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, and Lewis Hamilton even before the first turn. He is warmly applauded in the stands for a great show.

An incident is noted between Norris and Verstappen, the former is said to have forced the latter off the track, onto the grass, which slightly benefited Russell. But there will be no consequences. Carlos Sainz also does well, ahead of Charles Leclerc on the 3rd lap, but the Monegasque complains that his teammate closed the door on him.

Max Verstappen will soon take the lead back from Russell to take the lead of the race on the 3rd lap as well. The Dutch driver is widening his lead to two seconds while Norris is getting closer to the Mercedes driver. Struggling, Fernando Alonso, 14th, sees Kevin Magnussen getting dangerously close. The Aston Martin driver seems to be struggling a lot with his car on this track.

Further back, Sergio Perez, penalized three places, manages to pass Hülkenberg, while Verstappen almost loses control of his car at turn 7, with no consequences.

Behind the Dutchman, Russell is extending his lead over Norris, while strategy is being discussed at McLaren. Unfortunately for Pierre Gasly, who pitted on lap 15, Alpine has a very bad pit stop, causing him to fall behind and come out in 13th place, behind his teammate. It is announced that Magnussen will receive a 5-second penalty for his false start.

An incident noted between Sainz and Hamilton

It’s heating up in the pit lane between Russell and Sainz, practically side by side. The Mercedes driver also lost time due to a bad pit stop. He comes out in 8th place behind Alonso, just ahead of Sainz.

Verstappen comes in on lap 18 to change to mediums and comes out behind Piastri, in 4th place, after an excellent pit stop by Red Bull. At the same time, Lewis Hamilton attacks Carlos Sainz. He overtakes him at the beginning of lap 20, benefiting from DRS on the long straight. But the Spaniard complains that he was touched in the maneuver and asks to be let pass. The incident is under investigation… But there will be no follow-up here either, causing the Ferrari driver’s anger.

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen is moving up the field and places himself ahead of Russell on the 22nd lap, behind Norris and Leclerc who have not yet made a pit stop. This will be the case for the Briton on the next lap, who swaps the soft tires for the mediums. He comes out behind Sainz, in 6th place. Leclerc will follow two laps later, a 3-second pit stop to put on the mediums. He comes out between the two Alpines, in 7th place, which are doing well after shining more than expected in qualifying. While passing Magnussen, Fernando Alonso, 15th, is still struggling.

We are starting to doze off a bit but Piastri overtakes Perez on lap 29, in 9th place. Meanwhile, Norris would like to overtake Hamilton but is just over a second behind and therefore cannot activate the DRS. Still leading with a 7-second advantage, Verstappen complains about his tires. Behind him, Norris is putting more and more pressure on Russell. He finally overtakes him on lap 35 in a magnificent maneuver but Russell does not give up and repasses him. We finally have a bit of action, and Norris eventually overtakes again. Hamilton takes advantage of this battle to get closer to his teammate… But Russell goes directly back through the pits, so we won’t see a battle between them for now.

Pierre Gasly takes the advantage over Guanyu Zhou to establish himself in 9th place, while his teammate is 12th, but soon moves up to 11th place, just outside the points. We have passed the 40-lap mark and Norris is complaining about his tires, it would soon be time for him to make his second pit stop. Hamilton pits on the 44th lap to put on the soft tires and comes out… behind Sainz, once again. Verstappen also pits for soft tires. Norris, now the leader, is informed that this is their chance to win. He steps up the pace immediately.

Lando Norris puts pressure on Max Verstappen

It’s time for a new battle between Sainz and Hamilton. The Spaniard is not willing to make it easy for him, still furious about their earlier exchange, but Hamilton overtakes him in the long straight, at the same time that Russell passes Piastri. Norris is then called to the pit for a switch to soft tires, behind Verstappen after a 3.6-second stop, and just ahead of Russell, compromising his chances of victory. Meanwhile, Hülkenberg gets a 5-second penalty for not respecting the speed limit in the pit lane. Both Haas drivers have therefore received a penalty. Yuki Tsunoda will receive the same penalty.

On the 52nd lap, Lewis Hamilton manages to pass George Russell, who doesn’t have the right tires, and is currently in the podium positions. Verstappen is told he must push until the end as Norris is not going to let anything go. After starting in pole position, the McLaren driver will give it his all to secure the second victory of his career. With 10 laps to go, Sainz lets his teammate pass, who takes 5th place behind the Mercedes cars. Leclerc is signaled that he can pick up the pace.

We are 5 laps from the end and Norris is getting closer to Verstappen, less than 4.5 seconds behind. Behind them, Hamilton seems to be well on his way to taking the third step of the podium. Russell is following him, proving that Mercedes is back in the game. Lando Norris closes in to 2.8 seconds with 2 laps to go, but it seems a bit short to hope for a victory. That’s the end of it: Max Verstappen wins the Spanish Grand Prix, ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. Behind them, George Russell finishes 4th, Charles Leclerc 5th, and Carlos Sainz 6th.