Oscar Piastri has won the Spanish Grand Prix. Having taken pole yesterday, the Australian fended off the opening lap advances of Lando Norris, George Russell and Max Verstappen to secure his seventh career win. Extending his championship lead to ten points.
As Piastri led them away towards Turn 1, Norris, Russell, and Verstappen ran three wide behind him. Verstappen passed Norris around the outside for P2, while Russell lost out to both Ferraris at turns one and four respectively.
Behind the opening quartet, Isack Hadjar pulled off an audacious move around the outside of Fernando Alonso at turn 11, following which the home hero found himself under fire from Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg. After being passed down the main straight, Alonso hit back with a move around the outside of turn three, only for Hulkenberg to regain the initiative one corner later.
Despite seizing second place on lap one, McLaren’s race pace proved too much for Verstappen. The reigning world champion offered no resistance to Lando Norris as he surged past on lap 13.
The Brit’s position was briefly jeopardised on lap 52 when he caught Liam Lawson and Oliver Bearman. Having come to blows on lap 31, the pair had resumed their duel and were locked in a battle for 12th place.
Norris had a hard time clearing the backmarkers which allowed Verstappen, who had pitted for a fresh set of soft tyres on lap 48, to close to within four tenths of a second.
However, as the lapped cars made way, Norris was able to regain the initiative in clear air, leaving Verstappen to hold station in third.
The running order looked to be set in stone until lap 55. Kimi Antonelli retired with his second mechanical issue in three races and brought out the safety car. Piastri, Norris and Verstappen all dove into the pits, however, the Dutchman was the only one to be given a set of hard tyres.
Clearly frustrated with the decision, Verstappen was unable to defend himself at the restart. After suffering a massive slide out of the final corner, Verstappen found himself under attack from Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque pulled alongside but misjudged the margins and made contact with his rival’s sidepod.
Having lost his place on the podium, Verstappen then had George Russell for company into turn one. The Mercedes driver’s late lunge forced Verstappen to take to the runoff after which Red Bull asked him to give the place back, despite there being no directive from the stewards instructing them to do so.
An irate Verstappen pulled over to the left-hand side in an apparent attempt to let Russell through. However, Verstappen proceeded to run into Russell at turn four, a manoeuvre many pundits considered deliberate.
Verstappen was handed a ten-second penalty that dropped him to tenth. The world champion was unwilling to talk about the incident, saying it didn’t matter in the wider context of the Grand Prix. In addition to the time penalty, Verstappen had two penalty points added to his license for a grand total of 11. Should he earn one more before the 30th of June, the reigning world champion could face a one-race ban.
With the F1 circus fixated on Verstappen’s situation, little attention has been given to Nico Hulkenberg’s outstanding drive. Having hovered around the points for much of the grand prix, Hulkenberg benefitted from Antonelli’s retirement, the ensuing safety car and the chaos up ahead, to pass Hamilton at the restart for sixth place before being elevated to fifth after Verstappen’s penalty. His best result since Monza 2019 and the team’s best since Imola 2022.
Piastri continues to lead the world championship but with Norris just ten points adrift, the season is far from sealed.
