Max Verstappen sealed a solid victory at the Spanish Grand Prix as he held off the challenge of polesitter Lando Norris to take his seventh win of the season.
The Red Bull man took the lead of the race for the first time on Lap 3 after George Russell’s Mercedes, which started in fourth place, took full advantage of its electric start at the lights out to take the lead very early.
With Verstappen less than happy after appearing to be pinned down by Norris from the start, the three-time world champion settled down after passing the McLaren man before passing Russell for the lead by a hair. move out Turn 1.
Jockey Norris, who yesterday hailed his “perfect lap” in qualifying, will spend the crucial early stages of the race stuck behind Russell, costing him time in the final battle for the top spot.
With the lead changing hands several times as drivers made pit stops, Verstappen would continue to control the race and maintain his lead as the checkered flag closed, the Red Bull man was Keep a new set of soft clothes ready for yourself. Final stage of the Grand Prix.
With Norris second, his attempt to close in on the Dutchman to challenge for victory was successful despite Verstappen’s efforts towards the end, hampered by his second stop also was a slow 3.6-second effort.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton claimed his first Grand Prix of the season after enduring several dramatic on-track battles with Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, while Russell came home in P4 – complaining that the tires were hard His “didn’t feel good” during his last stint at work.
The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Sainz would finish P5 and P6 respectively, with any hopes of a Scuderia challenge failing to materialize around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Pierre Gasly took a well-deserved ninth place for Alpine, with his teammate Esteban Ocon doing a double for the team thanks to his P10 result.
Sergio Perez attempted to undo some of the damage caused by his three-place grid penalty that occurred last time out in Canada, with the Red Bull man initially starting from 11th, by overtaking passed Gasly late for eighth place.
Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas would finish 11th, hampered by a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, while Fernando Alonso’s performance was only good enough for 12th in a difficult weekend for with Aston Martin.
Kick Sauber’s Chu Guanyu will come home in 13th place ahead of Alonso’s team-mate Stroll, while Daniel Ricciardo claimed P15 as RB scratched their heads after a difficult weekend as they introduced a significant new update. important.
That difficulty was compounded with Yuki Tsunoda in 19th – on a day with no yellow flags or retirements – while Bottas, Magnussen and Albon finished 16th, 17th and 18th respectively. Williams of Logan Sargeant was the last car to finish in 20th place.
With Verstappen overjoyed at his latest victory in Spain, his third in a row at the event, Norris was left to lament a missed opportunity, admitting on the stand radioed at the end that he made a mistake in his start.
Than to follow
