Verstappen brings the pain in Spain
Monday, 5 June 2023
Win, pole, fastest lap, lead every lap … victories don't get much more emphatic than Max Verstappen's at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for Red Bull Racing, but the drivers in second and third on the podium sprung a surprise.
Max Verstappen won his third race in a row and fifth for the 2023 season with a crushing display at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the reigning world champion starting from pole, leading all 66 laps and setting the fastest lap of the race en route to his 40th career win, and a 53-point championship lead after only seven Grands Prix this season.
In a race where all 20 drivers finished and there wasn't a yellow flag intervention or safety car interruption, the podium finishers – besides the driver likely to be on the top step – wasn't clear before the race, and finished with Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell showing the promise of the W14's much-vaunted aerodynamic changes on a conventional circuit by finishing second and third, a pleasant surprise for the Silver Arrows.
Starting fourth, Hamilton's metronomic pace was too much for front-row starter Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) to live with, while Russell – from 12th on the grid – used a brilliant getaway to be seventh after one lap, and held off Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez for the final podium place, Perez himself coming from outside the top 10 after a second straight qualifying error left him in 11th on the grid.
Oscar watch
A Sunday that began with plenty of promise for Oscar Piastri and McLaren dissolved into frustration and zero points, after Piastri's teammate Lando Norris finished 17th after starting third, and Piastri faded to 13th after starting ninth.
Piastri qualified 10th, and gained a place on the grid when Alpine's Pierre Gasly was given two three-place grid penalties for separate impeding incidents with Sainz and Verstappen in qualifying. The Australian ended the first lap behind a fast-starting Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) and Russell in 10th, and advanced to sixth as the first pit stops shook out before pitting for hard tyres on lap 17, re-joining in 15th place.
It was largely a struggle from there for the McLaren rookie, the team's MCL60 machine not relishing the track conditions that were significantly hotter than qualifying 24 hours earlier. Piastri didn't feature inside the points positions again after pitting for a second time on lap 40, finishing a lap down on race-winner Verstappen.
Unsung hero
George Russell and Mercedes conspired to make a mess of qualifying – an unsighted Russell moved over on teammate Hamilton and made contact on the start-finish straight in Q2 after a miscommunication from the pit wall – and the younger Briton's Sunday started out about as well as Saturday ended when he ran off into the Turn 5 gravel on his reconnaissance lap to the grid.
But a superb start – and some steel as he picked his way through the backmarkers with Perez hunting him down late – saw Russell take his first podium finish of the year, and helped Mercedes leapfrog Aston Martin into second place in the constructors' standings, albeit 135 points adrift of Red Bull Racing.
Number to know
35: For a record 35th time, Verstappen and Hamilton finished 1-2 in a race; Verstappen's win was his 15th when Hamilton has been second, while Hamilton has headed Verstappen in their 1-2s on the other 20 occasions.
It's a big pleasure to drive with a car like this, and it showed again today. Again, a win here ... it's incredible.
Spanish Grand Prix: top 10
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 1hr 27mins 57.940secs
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +24.090secs
3. George Russell (Mercedes) +32.389secs
4. Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) +35.812secs
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +45.698secs
6. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +63.320secs
7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +64.127secs
8. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +69.242secs
9. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) +71.878secs
10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +73.530secs
Standings (top 5)
Drivers' championship
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 170 points
2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) 117 points
3. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 99 points
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 87 points
5. George Russell (Mercedes) 65 points
Constructors' championship
1. Red Bull Racing (287 points)
2. Mercedes (152 points)
3. Aston Martin (134 points)
4. Ferrari (100 points)
5. Alpine (40 points)
Next race
Round 8: Montreal, Canada (June 16-18)
