Cloudy. Dry. Air + 22C, orbit + 33 … 28C
Most of the training in Spain, the teams traditionally dedicated to working with new products, had almost no effect on the balance of power. In an effort to increase overtaking opportunities, they decided to leave the final corner chicane for the first time since 2007 – the track got faster and a little shorter, but many complained about the bunching of cars due to bumps they hadn’t noticed before at lower speeds.
In the free practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, Verstappen was in the lead and confidently led the qualifying protocol, which ended in a very unusual way.
Only one rider of the three strongest teams reached the qualifying final. At Ferrari, Leclerc already fell out in the first session, at Red Bull Perez ended the fight in the second, just like Russell in Mercedes. Only in Aston Martin did both drivers reach the final, where Stroll overtook Alonso for the first time in a season – the Spaniard’s car was damaged after a crash in gravel.
Leclerc eventually started from the pit lane – Ferrari decided to replace his gearbox and rebuild the rear of the car to avoid potential race problems. On Logan Sargent’s car, Williams replaced elements of the power plant – he also started from the pit lane.
After qualifying, Gasly received two penalties at once – for blocking first Sainz, then Verstappen, eventually losing six places at the start.
Pirelli has traditionally brought hard rubber to Barcelona – compositions C1, C2 and C3 in the role of Hard, Medium and Soft. Compared to last year, when the Hard tires proved too hard and were not actually used, the tire manufacturers softened this compound and last year’s C1 was renamed C0 and postponed for the time being.
In the race Verstappen, Pérez and Sargent opted for Medium, Leclerc started on Hard, the rest opted for Soft.
Verstappen and Sainz started the race from the front row of the grid, Norris and Hamilton from second, Stroll and Okon from third.
On the pit exit lap, George Russell crashed into the gravel, but was able to return to the tarmac and take his seat.
Verstappen kept the lead at the start. Hamilton got ahead of Norris, braked to avoid hitting Sainz, was hit from behind by Lando and missed Stroll. Zhou gained back four positions, and Russell – five.
Norris went to the pits, changed tires and nose cone.
Top ten in the second round: Verstappen – Sainz – Stroll – Hamilton – Ocon – Alonso – Russell – Hulkenberg – Zhou – Perez.
On lap 6, Bottas changed tires. Perez beat Hulkenberg for ninth.
On lap 7, Russell overtook Alonso for sixth. Tsunoda beat Hulkenberg to move up to tenth.
On lap 8, Leclerc overtook Elbon and Hamilton overtook Stroll for third. Piastri was ahead of Hulkenberg – and Nico pitted for new tyres.
In lap 10, Zhou and de Vries swapped tires. Gasly overtook Magnussen for 11th.
On lap 11, Russell moved ahead of Okon and moved up to fifth. Tsunoda and Magnussen pitted.
On lap 15 Ocon and Stroll swapped tyres, on lap 16 Sainz.
Tsunoda and Zhou took turns overtaking Hulkenberg. On lap 17 Leclerc and Albon pitted, on lap 18 Piastri and Sargent.
On lap 19, Sainz overtook Gasly and Piastri overtook de Vries.
On lap 20, Alonso and Gasly swapped tyres. Piastri was ahead of Magnussen and Hülkenberg.
On lap 22, Leclerc overtook Bottas for 16th.
On lap 23, Gasly overtook de Vries for 14th. Norris changed tires. On lap 24, Gasly overtook Magnussen for 13th.
On lap 25 Hamilton and Magnussen pitted, on lap 26 Russell and Verstappen, on lap 27 Hulkenberg, on lap 28 Perez.
On lap 28, Hamilton overtook Sainz for second.
Top ten in round 30: Verstappen – Hamilton – Sainz – Russell – Stroll – Okon – Tsunoda – Alonso – Perez – Zhou.
On lap 31, Perez overtook Alonso for eighth.
On lap 33, Hulkenberg overtook Elbon for 16th.
On lap 34 Perez overtook Tsunoda and on lap 35 Okon moved up to sixth.
On lap 35, Russell overtook Sainz for third. Stroll and Tsunoda switched tires.
In the 36th lap, Ocon made a pit stop, in the 37th – Zhou and Sargent, in the 38th – Albon and Norris, in the 39th – de Vries, in the 40th – Piastri and Gasly.
On lap 40, Okon overtook Tsunoda for 11th.
On lap 41, Bottas changed tires.
Top ten in round 41: Verstappen – Hamilton – Russell – Sainz – Perez – Alonso – Leclerc – Stroll – Okon – Tsunoda.
On lap 42, de Vries overtook Norris for 16th. Sainz and Leclerc swapped tyres.
On lap 43, Zhou overtook Hulkenberg for tenth.
Magnussen pitted on lap 44, Hulkenberg and Alonso on lap 45 and Russell on lap 46.
On lap 48, Alonso overtook Zhou and Gasly overtook Piastri for 11th.
On lap 49, Alonso overtook Tsunoda for eighth.
On lap 51, Hamilton and Perez swapped tyres. Ocon overtook Alonso for sixth.
On lap 52, Norris changed tires. Leclerc overtook Piastri for 12th.
On lap 53, Verstappen made a pit stop. Perez stayed ahead of Sainz in the battle for fourth place.
On lap 54, Norris overtook Bottas for 19th.
Top ten on lap 55: Verstappen – Hamilton – Russell – Perez – Sainz – Stroll – Alonso – Ocon – Tsunoda – Zhou.
On the 56th lap, Zhou attacked Tsunoda, but Yuki left him no place and pushed him off the track – the riders held their positions and kept moving. Tsunoda received a five-second penalty.
On lap 59, Verstappen was cautioned with a black and white flag for repeatedly breaching the track.
Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix to score his third win in a row, fifth of the season and 40th of his career.
Verstappen started from pole, led the entire race, set the best lap and took victory, winning the third Grand Slam of his career.
Lewis Hamilton finished second, repeating his best result of the season, George Russell moved up to the third step of the podium. Mercedes beat Aston Martin in the Constructors’ Championship.
For the second time this year, the race was run without retirement – all riders were able to finish.
The battle will continue in Canada in two weeks.
Racing results
| Pilot | Team | Time | Speed | Pete |
| 1. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:27:57.940 | 209,560 | 2 |
| 2. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | +24.090 | 208,608 | 2 |
| 3.D Russell | Mercedes | +32,389 | 208,282 | 2 |
| 4. C. Perez | Red Bull | +35,812 | 208,148 | 2 |
| 5.K Sainz | Ferrari | +45,698 | 207,761 | 2 |
| 6. L. Walk | Aston Martin | +63,320 | 207,076 | 2 |
| 7. F. Alonso | Aston Martin | +64,127 | 207,045 | 2 |
| 8. E. Okon | Alps | +69,242 | 206,847 | 2 |
| 9.G Zhou | Alfa Romeo | +71,878 | 206,745 | 2 |
| 10.P Gasly | Alps | +73,530 | 206,681 | 2 |
| 11. Sch. Leclerc | Ferrari | +74,419 | 206,647 | 2 |
| 12. Yu.Tsunoda* | AlphaTauri | +75,416 | 206,608 | 2 |
| 13. O. Piastri | McLaren | +1 circle | 206,217 | 2 |
| 14.N. deVries | AlphaTauri | +1 circle | 206,176 | 2 |
| 15. N. Hulkenberg | hare | +1 circle | 205,710 | 3 |
| 16. A. Albon | Willems | +1 circle | 205,306 | 2 |
| 17. L. Norris | McLaren | +1 circle | 205.202 | 3 |
| 18. K. Magnussen | hare | +1 circle | 204,906 | 3 |
| 19. V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | +1 circle | 204,449 | 2 |
| 20. L. Sargent | Willems | +1 circle | 204,383 | 2 |
*Tsunoda gets a 5 second penalty for the incident with Zhou
best lap: Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) – 1:16.330 (61 laps, 219.641 km/h)
Championship position : Individual
Championship Position: Constructors’ Championship
| Team | Engine | Glasses | |
| = | 1 Oracle Red Bull Racing | Honda RBPT | 287 |
 |
2. Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team | Mercedes | 152 |
 |
3. Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | Mercedes | 134 |
| = | 4 Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | 100 |
| = | 5. BWT Alpine F1 Team | Renault | 40 |
| = | 6 McLaren F1 team | Mercedes | 17 |
| = | 7. MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | Ferrari | 8 |
| = | 8. Alfa Romeo F1 team commitment | Ferrari | 8 |
| = | 9 Scuderia AlphaTauri | Honda RBPT | 2 |
| = | 10Williams Racing | Mercedes | 1 |
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
