Spanish GP - Race

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Aramco Spanish GP

Race

June 23, 2024

BARCELONA, Spain - Max Verstappen overtook George Russell on the third lap of the Spanish Grand Prix, cruising to his seventh victory of the season. Verstappen initially moved ahead of pole-sitter Lando Norris going into the first corner, only to see Mercedes’ George Russell sweep past both drivers around the outside.

Any uncertainty about Red Bull's competitive speed at the Circuit de Catalunya was quickly dispelled as Verstappen caught up to Russell and took the lead with a precise maneuver.

Russell eventually fell back in the pack, while Norris remained close behind Verstappen for much of the race, hinting at a possible battle for the win.

After the race, Verstappen commented, "I think what made the race was the beginning. I took the lead on lap two and that's where I had my buffer in the first stint and we eked out the gap a little bit because after that we had to drive a defensive race.

"Lando and McLaren were very quick today. Especially on degradation, on the last few laps of the stint they were very fast but I think we did everything well, we drove an aggressive strategy and luckily it played out until the end -- where it was quite close -- but I'm very happy to win here."

Norris appeared to have the fastest car on the track for much of the race, but a slow start, time spent behind Russell’s Mercedes early on, and a sluggish final pit stop ultimately hurt his chances of winning.

"Should have won," Norris said on the radio after the race. "I f----- the start. Deserved more".

He finished the race 2.2 seconds behind Verstappen. This victory widened Verstappen's championship lead to 69 points, while Norris’s strong result moved him up to second in the standings.

Verstappen noted over the radio after finishing, "We definitely weren't the quickest out there today, but we did what we had to,"

Norris, who secured his second career pole position the day before, seemed determined to build on his victory at the Miami Grand Prix earlier in May.

The British driver resisted McLaren's more conservative strategy calls, which were aimed at covering off threats from the Mercedes drivers behind.

"I think we need to go get Max," At one point, Norris was heard on the radio saying, "depends if we want to finish third or first" when asked about potentially needing to overtake Lewis Hamilton if required.

In the end, Verstappen was too far ahead to catch, but Norris and McLaren can find some consolation in the competitiveness of their car.

Norris reiterated his disappointment after the race: "I got a bad start, it's as simple as that.

He continued, "The car was incredible today, I think we were for sure the quickest, I just lost it in the beginning, so yeah disappointed but a lot of positives and one negative which ruined everything.

"I know that I can just work on it for next time, but apart from that we [scored] a good amount of points and a big thanks to the team as the car was amazing."

Like in qualifying, Hamilton finished third, marking his first podium of what has been a challenging season for the most successful driver in F1 history.

Hamilton had dropped to fourth at the start and had to bide his time, waiting for opportunities to regain positions as the race unfolded. He made a great pass on Carlos Sainz at one point, who he will be replacing at Ferrari next season.

Sainz felt Hamilton forced him off the track at Turn One during the maneuver, but the stewards decided not to investigate the incident further, much to Sainz's frustration.

Hamilton, who was put on a different strategy from Russell later in the race, was able to comfortably catch and overtake his teammate for third place with 14 laps remaining.

Hamilton reflected after the race, saying, "It's been a good day and a solid weekend."

"I have to say a big thank you to the team. They've been training so hard in these pitstops and the strategy, the pitstops were really on point. Like Lando, I got a really bad start and obviously lost ground to the Ferraris so it was a bit of a battle to get back to where I am now [in third].

"I don't know if we could've held on to the guys ahead but I don't think we'd have been as far behind as we have been today."

Ferrari's drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, ended up in fifth and sixth place, respectively, capping off a disappointing weekend for the Italian team.

Oscar Piastri struggled throughout the weekend and settled for seventh place, finishing ahead of a lackluster Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull.

Perez managed to overtake Alpine's Pierre Gasly on the last lap of the race.

Despite signing a contract extension with Red Bull through at least 2025, Perez has shown troubling signs of repeating the dip in form he experienced during much of the 2023 season.

Even though Gasly lost a position to Perez on the final lap, he delivered a strong performance for Alpine, finishing ninth, just ahead of teammate Esteban Ocon, who took the final point-scoring position.

Alpine managed to collect three points over the weekend, during which it also welcomed Flavio Briatore back into the team. Before this race, Alpine had only two points to its name this season.

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Spanish GP 2024 F1 Race Result

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull (1:28:20.227)

2. Lando Norris, McLaren (+2.219)

3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (+17.790)

4. George Russell, Mercedes (22.320)

5. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (+22.709)

6. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari (+31.028)

7. Oscar Piastri, McLaren (+33.760)

8. Sergio Perez, Red Bull (+59.524)

9. Pierre Gasly, Alpine (+1:02.025 )

10. Esteban Ocon, Alpine ( +1:11.889)

11. Nico Hülkenberg, Haas (+1:19.215)

12. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin (+1 Lap)

13. Zhou Guanyu, Sauber (+1 Lap)

14. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin ( +1 Lap)

15. Daniel Ricciardo, RB (+1 Lap)

16. Valtteri Bottas, Sauber (+1 Lap)

17. Kevin Magnussen, Haas (+1 Lap)

18. Alexander Albon, Williams (+1 Lap)

19. Yuki Tsunoda, RB (+1 Lap)

20. Logan Sargeant, Williams (+2 Laps)