Spain - Race

Sunday brought with it the first race of the European triple-header, this one held in Spain. The order of the starting grid differed slightly from the one we saw at the end of yesterday's qualifying. Sergio Perez received a 3-place penalty after the last race, which pushed out of the top ten. The same penalty was given to Logan Sargeant after he impeded another driver during qualifying, however, it didn't change much in his case since he was already starting last. He did end up at P19, since his teammate, Albon, began the race from the pit lane. 

All drivers except Albon went out on softs, hoping to get a good launch off the line. The softest compound was put to the ultimate test during the heated start. Verstappen, who was starting second, immediately attacked Norris, hoping to find his way back to the position he had grown used to during the past few seasons. The McLaren driver did everything to fight him off. While the two battled, another driver benefited: George Russel used the occasion to drive by the two cars and become the race leader. While he completed his pass, Verstappen managed to get past Norris. 

The fight for the lead did not slow down after the first lap. Verstappen kept close to the Mercedes in front of him. Thanks to his efforts, when DRS was enabled he was less than a second behind the car in front. Before the second lap ended, the Dutchman was informed by his race engineer that he had a chance to overtake Russell and he immediately took it. He managed to reclaim the race lead. While he completed his move, Sainz overtook his teammate. The Spaniard complained on the radio about Leclerc not leaving him enough space and causing the two cars to make contact. 

And while the Ferrari cars drove side by side, in another team, the two drivers found themselves under drastically different circumstances. While Hulkenberg was fighting his way into the top 10, Kevin Magnussen was noted for a falstart. After a few laps of consideration, race control punished him with a 5-second penalty. 

The first wave of pit stops shook up the order of the grid. Russel and Sainz found themselves heading into the pit lane at about the same time. The Mercedes drove in with a comfortable lead but a disastrous 5.3s pit pushed him very close to the Ferrari. It looked like Sainz might be able to come out of the pits in front of Russel but in the end, the Brit held his own. After a pit stop of his own Hamilton came out behind the home favourite but managed to overtake him by lap 19. Sainz, once again, complained to his team about being pushed off track. The incident was reported to race control but no further action was taken against Hamilton. 

By that point, the only top cars who hadn't pitted were Norris and Leclerc. Norris drove into the pits at lap 24 and came out 5th. He was quick to overtake first Sainz and then Hamilton, securing his spot on the podium. Soon after, a heated fight broke out between him and Russel. The two swapped places for some time and, in the end, it was the McLaren that came out on top. Leclerc pitted at lap 25, came out 7th, and quickly found himself in 6th after overtaking Gasly.

A little over 10 laps after Norris' pit, Russel and Verstappen opted for a second change of tires. Norris became a provisional leader, a position which he gave away to Leclerc at lap 48, having decided to pit as well. The Ferrari stayed in front for a while but needed to pit too, therefore giving the lead back to the Red Bull we are so used to seeing in the front. 

The last few laps of the race didn't lack in emotions. Two 5-second penalties were given out: one to Hulkenberg, for speeding in the pit lane, and one to Tsunoda for the same crime. In the front, Lando was pushing hard and slowly closing the gap to Verstappen. Behind them, some fight between teammates could be seen when Hamilton took the podium away from Russel and Leclerc moved past his teammate, thanks to his much fresher tires. The Monegasque then tried to take 4th place from Russell and got very close, only to fall short by a mere 0.3s.

Max Verstappen claimed his 61st race victory, extending his lead over the rest of the grid. Lando Norris came in second. He achieved the fastest lap of the race as well as the coveted title of 'Driver of the Day'. His impressive performance pushed him into second place in the driver's championship. This means that Leclerc is now third, although only two points are between him and the Brit. The third step of the podium, for the first time this season, belonged to the 7-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton.

Order of the grid:

1. Max Verstappen

2. Lando Norris

3. Lewis Hamilton

4. George Russel

5. Charles Leclerc

6. Carlos Sainz

7. Oscar Piastri

8. Sergio Perez

9. Pierre Gasly

10. Esteban Ocon

11. Nico Hulkenberg 

12. Fernando Alonso

13. Zhou Guanyu

14. Lance Stroll

15. Daniel Ricciardo

16. Valtteri Bottas

17. Kevin Magnussen 

18. Alex Albon

19. Yuki Tsunoda

20. Logan Sargeant