Spanish GP: Verstappen sees off late charge from Norris as Hamilton returns to the podium

A swift and irate Lando Norris tried a comeback, but Max Verstappen prevailed at the Spanish Grand Prix to extend his lead in the Formula One World Championship.

After losing out on pole position and falling to third in the crucial opening laps that saw Mercedes’ George Russell unexpectedly take the lead from fourth, Norris was left to regret his poor start. He tried to recover by using strategy, but McLaren timed his two pit stops later than Red Bull’s Verstappen.

But even though Norris closed the gap on Verstappen during the last laps of the race, the Red Bull driver held on for his ninth victory of a season that is getting more and more competitive. Norris eventually ran out of laps and ended 2.2 seconds behind the leader at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

In 2024, Lewis Hamilton put an end to his long wait for his first podium by driving himself to third place.

Hamilton trailed his teammate who started the race quickly, but he caught up to Russell after the second stop and made a stunning around-the-outside move on the sister Mercedes heading into Turn One.

Russell, who had trouble with his second set of tyres when he switched to the hard compound while Hamilton and other drivers used the softs, ultimately finished just in front of Charles Leclerc, who was in fifth place.

However, two weeks after their pointless performance in Canada, Leclerc’s fifth place finish and Carlos Sainz’s sixth place finish, more than 20 seconds behind the lead pair, constituted a dismal outcome for Ferrari.

Sainz’s home race was especially frustrating.

Even though he passed Leclerc at the beginning of lap four, which infuriated him when they scubbed wheels and started a post-race brawl, he was caught up by his soft-shod teammate in the last stint as he battled on the hard compound, just like Russell did with Hamilton. Leclerc was much faster on his softs, and Sainz lost his fifth place.

After Hamilton passed him, Sainz became enraged and claimed the Mercedes driver—who will replace him in 2025—had shoved him off course.

Though their separate finishes on the road were close together for the Mercedes and Ferrari duo, the same could not be true for the pairs at Red Bull and McLaren.

After a trying weekend for the young Australian, Oscar Piastri finished seventh in the second McLaren. Sergio Perez, on the other hand, struggled in his own tough Barcelona event, finishing just eighth from 11th on the grid after deciding to go with a three-stop strategy.

Though Pierre Gasly finished ninth and Esteban Ocon finished tenth, Alpine’s unexpectedly good performance at one of Formula One’s most difficult circuits culminated in the team’s first double-points finish of the season provided much-needed relief.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull – 1st:

“I think what made the race was the beginning. I took the lead and then had a buffer in that first stint and could eke out a gap.

“After that we had to drive defensively. Lando and McLaren were very quick. I think we did everything well. I am very happy to win here.

“It was about managing the tyres. They get very hot around here so you are sliding around quite a lot.”

Lando Norris, McLaren – 2nd:

“I should have won. I got a bad start. As simple as that. The car was incredible today. We were for sure the quickest. I just lost it at the beginning.

“Disappointed but a lot of positives. One negative and that kind of ruined everything. I know that.

“Apart from that, a good amount of points and thanks to the team because the car is amazing.”

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes – 3rd:

“It has been a good day, a solid weekend. I have to say a big thank you to the team as they have been training so hard.

“The strategy and the pitstops were really on point.

“Unfortunately I got a really bad start and lost ground to the Ferraris so it was a battle to get back.

“With a better start… I don’t know if we could have held on to the guys ahead but I don’t think we would have been as far behind.”

Spanish GP Result

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