Max Verstappen made a crucial move in early stages to secure F1 Spanish GP win ahead of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.
It was a storming start to F1 Spanish GP at Barcelona in dry conditions as McLaren’s Lando Norris tried to retain his lead by going to the right to push Red Bull’s Max Verstappen onto the grass. It allowed Mercedes’ George Russell to secure double tow.
He made a swift work to his left and took the outside line to lead the F1 Spanish GP, with Verstappen taking second as Norris dropped from first to third. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton steadied in fourth ahead of Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was seventh from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who passed the other Alpine of Esteban Ocon. The Top 10 was rounded out by Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg who jumped Red Bull’s Sergio Perez at the start to get himself into the points position.
As Russell led the way, Verstappen stayed with him and eventually went around the outside at Turn 1 to take the F1 Spanish GP lead away from him. Norris and Hamilton remained third and fourth, as the Ferrari pair made small contact in their battle.
Sainz tried a move at Turn 1 around the outside and took the track position but the small touch of his right-rear and left-front forced the Spaniard to take evasive action. The start and the Ferrari collision was checked by the FIA stewards but there was no action.
The order at the fag end remained as it is apart from Perez taking away 10th from Hulkenberg when the pit stop melee kicked-off around Lap 11. It was Norris and Leclerc who left it late and dropped down the order with fresher tyres.
Post the pit stop, there was an aggressive move from Hamilton against Sainz to retake track position. A slow stop from Mercedes allowed the Spaniard to be close to Russell, but the Brit kept his nose ahead as his teammate Hamilton lost to the Ferrari.
But he didn’t waste a lot of time to pounce on Sainz at Turn 1 where they made contact with the Spaniard having to go over the kerb before losing out to Hamilton who was up to third. The move was noted by the FIA stewards but no action was taken.
It was Verstappen in the lead from Russell and Hamilton, as Norris passed Sainz to be up to fourth. The Spaniard was back to fifth from teammate Leclerc who had to pass Gasly. The Frenchman initially lost to Ocon after his slow stop but regained the track position.
Piastri passed Ocon then to be eighth as the Frenchman lost to Perez for ninth. All this while, Verstappen stretched a lead as Russell had to defend from a fast charging Norris who passed Hamilton after few laps of chasing him to sneak past.
It was a harder pass against Russell. The Brit lost at Turn 1 to Norris but came back at him in the next few corners to retake the place at Turn 4-5 but a cutback from the McLaren driver helped him to take second, with Hamilton closing up behind.
But before they could fight, Russell pitted on Lap 38 to allow Hamilton drive in a cleaner air. Sainz too pitted along with Russell to slot behind him. While the two opted for the hard tyre, the likes of Hamilton, Verstappen, Norris and Leclerc went for the soft tyre.
Verstappen remained in the F1 Spanish GP lead with Norris in second, trying to catch the Dutchman with three laps offset. Russell had to defend from teammate Hamilton but not for long, as the Brit pushed hard to go around the outside at Turn 1 to be third.
Sainz was fifth but Leclerc started to catch him, as Piastri was seventh from Gasly who had Perez closing in on him in the battle for eighth. Teammate Ocon had Hulkenberg for 10th, but the German had 5s penalty against his name for speeding in pitlane.
Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda had the same penalty, while Haas’ Kevin Magnussen got a 5s time penalty for false start. There was a strange off for Williams’ Alexander Albon late in the race, which surprised the Thai racer and questioning his team on the radio.
It was steady at the front despite Norris getting closer, as Verstappen took the F1 Spanish GP from the Brit, with Hamilton securing his first podium of 2024. It was close for Russell but he held on to fourth from Leclerc, with Sainz in a distant sixth.
Piastri was seventh as Perez passed Gasly on the final lap to be eighth, with Alpine making double points again after Ocon ended up 10th. Hulkenberg was 11th despite his penalty to lead Aston Martin’s Fernando and Stake F1 Team’s Zhou Guanyu in 12th and 13th.
The other Aston Martin of Lance Stroll was 14th from Visa Cash App RB’s Daniel Ricciardo who cleared Stake F1 Team’s Valtteri Bottas for 15th, as Magnussen was 17th from Albon, Tsunoda and the Williams of Logan Sargeant.
All of the 20 drivers saw the chequered flag but everyone from Alonso until Tsunoda ended up a lap down, while Sargeant was two laps down on Verstappen.
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