Piastri leads McLaren 1-2 from Norris in Spanish GP amid late-race drama for Verstappen and Russell

Oscar Piastri has further strengthened his championship lead by clinching a commanding victory in the Spanish Grand Prix, the Australian leading team mate Lando Norris in a McLaren 1-2 amid a dramatic end to the race that saw Max Verstappen and George Russell collide.

Piastri made an excellent start from pole position, allowing the 24-year-old to build an early lead from Verstappen who had overtaken Norris into Turn 1. Norris later retook the position – only for Verstappen to leapfrog both McLarens after the first pit stops, putting himself into P1.

This proved to be brief, however, as the Dutchman pitted early for a second stop, handing the lead back to Piastri – all of which triggered much intrigue over whether Verstappen would opt for a three-stop strategy, a scenario that could pose a threat to the papaya squad should the Red Bull have fresher rubber later on.

Verstappen did indeed embark on a three-stop – but the whole picture was dramatically shaken up when a Safety Car was deployed in the latter stages after Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes pulled off track with a mechanical issue, prompting most of the frontrunners to pit again.

While Piastri and Norris surged clear at the restart amid a six-lap dash to the flag, Verstappen found himself passed by Charles Leclerc for third before battling with Russell. The pair made contact and Verstappen was forced to go down the escape road, only for Red Bull to tell their driver to hand the position back.

There was then another collision between the pair for which Verstappen subsequently received a 10-second time penalty. But there were no such dramas ahead for Piastri, who sealed his fifth victory of the season ahead of McLaren team mate Norris.

Leclerc sealed the final spot on the podium for Ferrari in third, while Russell claimed fourth and Nico Hulkenberg was an eye-catching fifth for Kick Sauber after starting back from P15 on the grid.

Lewis Hamilton followed in sixth for Ferrari, while Isack Hadjar added to Racing Bulls’ tally in seventh and Pierre Gasly claimed eighth for Alpine. Fernando Alonso finally scored his maiden points of the campaign in P9 for Aston Martin, while Verstappen’s penalty dropped him down to a final position of P10.

Liam Lawson just missed out on points in an eventful afternoon for the Racing Bulls driver, with Gabriel Bortoleto following in P12 for Kick Sauber ahead of Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda in P13. Williams’ Carlos Sainz had a tough home race in P14, while Franco Colapinto crossed the line in P15 for Alpine.

The Haas pair of Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman were the final classified runners in 16th and 17th respectively, with Antonelli and Williams’ Alex Albon the two retirees, the latter having sustained front wing damage to his car.

Only 19 cars competed in the race after Aston Martin announced Lance Stroll’s withdrawal from the event on Saturday evening, with the Canadian experiencing hand and wrist pain which will require a medical procedure.

AS IT HAPPENED

After a busy build-up of three practice sessions and a thrilling Qualifying – which saw Piastri beat team mate Norris to pole position by 0.209s, the biggest pole-winning margin of the season so far – the attentions of the paddock turned to the 66-lap Spanish Grand Prix.

Amidst preparations for the race, news broke late on Saturday evening that Stroll would not be racing on Sunday. A statement from Aston Martin confirmed that the Canadian had been suffering wrist and hand pain over the course of the past six weeks – deemed by his medical consultant to be in relation to the procedure he underwent in 2023 following a pre-season cycling accident.

The statement added that Stroll will “undergo a procedure to rectify these issues before focusing on his recovery”. With it being too late for Aston Martin to nominate a replacement, the squad would consequently run just one car – that of Alonso – in Sunday’s race.

This also meant that, with Stroll having qualified in P14 during Saturday’s Qualifying, those behind him in the order were each promoted one position on the starting grid. Tsunoda, meanwhile, would start from the pit lane after changes were made to his Red Bull under parc ferme conditions.

Once the cars had assembled on the grid and the tyre blankets were removed amid another hot and humid day in Barcelona, it was revealed ahead of the anticipated two-stop event that everybody would be starting on the soft compound – with the exception of Tsunoda on the medium rubber. The McLaren pair had opted for fresh tyres, while the rest of the top 10 had opted for used sets.

After the formation lap had been completed and the lights went out, Piastri swept ahead from pole position but Norris was facing a challenge from both Verstappen and Russell, the trio going three abreast into Turn 1 before Verstappen took P2 from Norris.

Russell, meanwhile, lost out to former team mate Hamilton, while Leclerc added to Ferrari’s dream start by also making a move on the Mercedes, pushing the Briton down to sixth. Elsewhere Antonelli had lost a place after running down the escape road at the first corner, while Gasly and Hadjar remained in their starting positions of P8 and P9 and Hulkenberg had gained an impressive five place to put himself into P10.

As the action started to settle, Piastri had built a two-second advantage over Verstappen by Lap 4, while Russell sounded frustrated as he took to the radio to claim that others around him were “moving under braking”, prompting Team Principal Toto Wolff to ask him to “concentrate”.

Replays from the start revealed that Lawson had clipped the back of Alonso’s Aston Martin, allowing Hulkenberg to gain places. Albon was also caught up in the melee, resulting in the Williams picking up damage to his front wing.

Albon went on to pit on Lap 7, the Thai driver dropping to the back of the order, while back on track Leclerc was all over the back of team mate Hamilton in a scrap for fourth. The Monegasque tried to make a move into Turn 1 on Lap 9 – only to be met with a robust defence by Hamilton.

However, with the pair losing ground to Norris in third, the order soon followed from the pit wall for Hamilton to let Leclerc through, which Hamilton subsequently did. There was further action in the pit lane, meanwhile, with the likes of Hulkenberg, Tsunoda and Bearman pitting while Sainz suffered a nightmarishly slow stop, bringing him back out at the rear of the pack.

As Lap 11 ticked down, Piastri continued to hold the lead by over three seconds from Verstappen, while Norris had closed in to within half a second of the World Champion. “No grip, compared to them that is,” Verstappen glumly told his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, just as Piastri reported some struggles with his rear tyres.

It did not take long for Norris to take advantage of the situation, the Briton passing Verstappen with ease into Turn 1 on Lap 13 – and just one tour later, the Dutchman dived into the pits for a fresh set of soft tyres, emerging back on track in P8.

Another title winner, meanwhile, was skating across the gravel at Turn 5 – that being home favourite Alonso, who returned to the track in P15 just ahead of Ocon. The Spaniard was subsequently noted by the stewards for rejoining the track unsafely, though it was soon decided that no further investigation was needed.

Alonso went on to pit for medium tyres on Lap 16, while Hamilton followed one tour later. “There's a long way to go,” the seven-time World Champion cautioned before being told that they were attempting an undercut. Leclerc up ahead was encouraged to “full push”, the Monegasque making his stop on the following lap.

Some moves were playing out across the field, with Alonso going around the outside of Sainz to take P16, while Verstappen had put himself up to P3 after overtaking both Mercedes cars. Up at the front, Piastri was quizzed on how far he could go and whether Lap 25 was possible, to which the Australian responded: “Possible, but difficult.”

Lap 22 saw Norris pit for medium tyres, the McLaren driver emerging back on track in P3 some 10 seconds behind Verstappen. And just one tour later, Piastri visited the pits – only for the championship leader to find himself five seconds adrift of the Red Bull which was now in P1.

With Verstappen, Piastri and Norris occupying the top three by Lap 25, the rest of the top 10 saw Leclerc head team mate Hamilton in fourth and fifth respectively, with Russell, Antonelli, Hadjar, Gasly and Hulkenberg completing the order.

Further back, Lawson was battling hard against Albon but the pair made contact, resulting in Albon collecting front wing damage for a second time in the race. The Thai driver soon visited the pits, seemingly ready to retire – however, after he was issued with a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, he returned to the track.

That return did not last for long, with Albon then peeling back into the pits to retire – the team having seemingly wanted to serve the penalty rather than carrying it over to the next race in Canada. Verstappen, meanwhile, was unhappy with his RB21 up ahead, reporting that it was “so hard to drive”.

As such, the Dutchman pitted again for more medium tyres on Lap 29, dropping him down to fourth – did this mean that a three-stop strategy was on the cards for him? Elsewhere Lawson was in the wars again as he tried unsuccessfully to divebomb Bearman, an incident that was soon under investigation by the stewards for causing a collision.

By Lap 35, Piastri was leading by four seconds from Norris, while Leclerc had Verstappen chasing him down for third. The Red Bull soon made a move down the main straight before quickly opening up a gap to the Ferrari – and beginning to catch Norris in the process.

Norris, meanwhile, had started to cut into his team mate’s lead, setting up for an intriguing final third of the race. Verstappen was informed by the Red Bull pit wall that “Mclaren are receiving the threat”, hinting at the potential danger the Dutchman could pose should he be armed with fresher tyres later in the Grand Prix on his predicted three-stop strategy.

Elsewhere, Leclerc pitted from fourth for another set of mediums – dropping him down to sixth – while Russell soon followed and bolted on some fresh soft tyres before emerging back on track in P7 behind team mate Antonelli.

The Italian subsequently allowed Russell to pass him, the pair seemingly running different strategies. Up ahead, Piastri had extended his lead again with 20 laps remaining, the Australian now more than four seconds ahead of Norris, while Verstappen remained the same margin behind the Briton.

Two veterans of the field – Hulkenberg and Hamilton – pitted on Lap 47, the former returning to the track in P10 on a so far promising day for the Kick Sauber man. Hamilton, meanwhile, endured a slightly slow stop, putting him back to P7.

One tour later, any questions over Verstappen’s strategy were answered when the Dutch driver made a third pit stop to bolt on a set of used soft tyres. This saw him reemerge in third as he returned to the track just behind team mate Tsunoda, with the Japanese driver subsequently getting out of the way.

In response to this, McLaren quickly brought Norris into the pits – bringing him out just ahead of Verstappen – while Piastri followed one lap later. A smooth sequence of events saw Piastri head back out in the lead, a few seconds clear of Norris.

However, with cars ahead for the leaders to lap, there was plenty of jeopardy still at play. Case in point, Lawson and Bearman were again engaged in a feisty scrap – only for Bearman to be forced onto the escape road in the drama, just as Norris and Verstappen were trying to lap them behind. Verstappen was clearly unhappy, raising his hand before shouting “idiots” over the radio.

This incident resulted in Bearman being noted by the stewards for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. But there was further drama to come when Antonelli pulled into the gravel with a mechanical issue, resulting in the Safety Car being deployed – which sparked a flurry of action in the pit lane.

The top three were amongst those to make another pit stop – but Verstappen was left unimpressed by the decision to bolt on a set of hard tyres in contrast to those on softs around him, with this seemingly being the only option left for the World Champion.

As the Safety Car prepared to peel in on Lap 60, there was a bit of a moment when Piastri braked hard to allow the vehicle to move clear. But the championship leader executed the restart well, with both McLarens surging ahead while Verstappen suffered a dramatic snap into the final corner.

Leclerc went side-by-side with the Red Bull down the main straight and snatched P3, despite some contact between them along the way. Russell then tried to get involved, only for the Mercedes to briefly make contact with Verstappen, forcing the latter to go down the escape road. The incident was soon under investigation by the stewards.

Verstappen was then asked to let the Silver Arrows car through, prompting an angry response from the World Champion – and as Russell tried to move past, there was another collision between the pair. “He just crashed into me,” Russell commented.

While the first incident between them was deemed as requiring no further investigation, Verstappen was promptly under investigation for the second for causing a collision – and was consequently handed a 10-second time penalty.

Amidst all of this drama, Piastri was sailing clear at the front and crossed the line to take victory by 2.471s from Norris, another perfect outcome for McLaren which has strengthened their leads in both the Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships.

Leclerc held onto third – with it being confirmed in the latter stages that his incident with Verstappen on the main straight will be investigated after the race – while Russell took fourth. Hulkenberg, meanwhile, had a dream result by claiming fifth, providing a much-need haul of points for Kick Sauber.

Hamilton followed in sixth, having narrowly fended off seventh-placed Hadjar by just half a second, while Gasly was eighth and Alonso scored his first points of the campaign in front of his home crowd in ninth.

The final point on offer went to Verstappen, with his penalty dropping him down to P10. Lawson, Bortoleto, Tsunoda, Sainz, Colapinto, Ocon and Bearman completed the order, with Antonelli and Albon both recording a DNF.

All of this has given Piastri a 10-point lead over Norris in the Drivers’ Championship, while Verstappen is now 49 points adrift of the Australian in third.

Key quote

"It was a bit of a surprise to see Max try a three-stop and it nearly worked for him but, yeah, it was a great weekend overall," said Piastri. "I think the pace was really good, we could turn it on when we needed to. Just very proud of the work we’ve done this weekend. It wasn’t the best first practice, and then we got our stuff together. It’s a nice way to bounce back from Monaco so it’s been a superb weekend.”

What’s next

After a weekend off, the next stop on the F1 calendar will be the Canadian Grand Prix from June 13-15. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can follow the action from the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.