Only put in difficulty at the start by Carlos Sainz Jr, Max Verstappen dominated the Spanish Grand Prix from start to finish and signed his fifth victory of the season, the 40th of his career. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell accompany the Dutchman on the podium.
Once again, Max Verstappen had no rival this Sunday in Barcelona. Starting from pole position, the double world champion dominated the Spanish Grand Prix head and shoulders to claim his fifth victory in 2023 and consolidate his position as leader of the championship. Starting on medium tyres, the Dutchman however had to defend his position against Carlos Sainz Jr, who was one of the many drivers to start on soft tyres. Behind this duo, Lewis Hamilton immediately passed Lance Stroll to settle in third place.
In the maneuver, the Briton suffered contact with Lando Norris, who left part of his front wing there. Starting from the second row, the McLaren driver saw his hopes of a good result vanish at the end of the first lap, with a long pit stop to change his mustache. A start that was also complicated for Pierre Gasly, who fell from tenth to fifteenth place. On a Barcelona-Catalonia circuit which makes the tires suffer, the first stops came on the 10th lap.
Sainz couldn’t keep up
Esteban Ocon, meanwhile, waited for the 14th loop to switch to medium tires but had to go back into traffic. At the forefront, Max Verstappen was able to gradually widen the gap on a Carlos Sainz Jr who lacked rhythm at the wheel of a Ferrari which has changed a lot to improve the situation in the race, but there is clearly still work to be done at the Scuderia. While Lewis Hamilton swooped down on him, the Spaniard abandoned his soft tires at the start of the 17th lap to emerge just behind his teammate Charles Leclerc, who left from the pits due to a complete change of his rear axle with hard tires.
The Monegasque, who stopped in stride, did not slow down the Spaniard. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, waited until lap 25 to pit as Max Verstappen made his first stop at the start of the 27th loop, keen to cover the Mercedes drivers’ strategy. Nearing the halfway mark, George Russell sent shivers through the paddock by announcing raindrops on a bend… but the Briton quickly realized that it was more about drops of perspiration in his helmet than ‘something else.
Verstappen took no chances to win
Having a comfortable margin over his competitors, Max Verstappen was able to manage his single-seater but quickly complained about the behavior of his hard tyres. Behind him, George Russell at the start of the 46th lap then Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Pérez five loops later did not hesitate to make a second stop to finish the race on soft rubber. Counting then nearly 40 seconds ahead of his nearest pursuer, the reigning double world champion did not hesitate to imitate his rivals at the start of the 53rd lap. Despite a very favorable race situation, Max Verstappen took some liberties with the track limits and the race management warned him very quickly.
The Red Bull Racing pit then immediately took to the radio to try and rein in the Dutchman. But that did not prevent him from attacking to get the point for the fastest lap in the race in the 61st of the 66 laps on the program this Sunday. Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Pérez tried to reply but broke their teeth on this performance. With a 24-second lead, Max Verstappen signs the 40th victory of his career on the circuit of his very first success in 2016.
Mercedes leaves Barcelona with certainties
With Lewis Hamilton and George Russell taking the podium, Mercedes has the answers to the questions raised by the introduction of revised bodywork for the W14. Starting from 11th place, Sergio Pérez was able to make his way to fourth place but lost big points in the title race to his teammate and left Barcelona 53 points behind. With a Ferrari that is not up to scratch in terms of race pace, Carlos Sainz Jr could not do better than fifth ahead of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, who remained wisely behind his teammate in the closing laps. .
Aiming to finish in the Top 5 at the finish, Esteban Ocon had to settle for eighth place ahead of Guanyu Zhou and Pierre Gasly, who took advantage of a five-second penalty against Yuki Tsunoda after forcing the Chinese off the track on an overtaking attempt. Charles Leclerc, not helped by Ferrari’s strategy, fails at the points gate. After this series of two races in two weekends, the drivers now have an appointment on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, in Montreal for the Grand Prix of Canada on June 18th.
