What a start for George Russell for Mercedes, who, from third position, launched himself on the clean side of the track passed pole sitter Lando Norris, who found himself in third position. Max Verstappen left turn one in second following Russell’s lead.
With DRS enabled, Russell only held a half a second lead over Verstappen, who swooped past on lap three to claim the race lead as Russell unable to defend the position over the Red Bull’s pace. Spaniard Carlos Sainz passed teammate Charles Leclerc from the start. Sainz gained a position just before leaving the track but was not further investigated and Sainz remained ahead of his teammate. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso dropped down a few positions with Stake’s Valtteri Bottas taking benefit of the slipstream off the start line. There was speculation around possible damage to Alonso’s car as he was evidently losing pace and performance.
Into lap nine, race leader Max Verstappen held the fastest lap time and created an over two second gap between himself and Russell. Following behind was Norris, Lewis Hamilton, and both Ferrari cars. By lap 13, Nico Hulkenberg, Zhou Guanyu, Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda had all pitted for medium tyres at the back of the grid. This triggered a chain reaction with those ahead also making an early stop onto medium tyres. Pierre Gasly unfortunately sat through a slow pit stop, placing him behind teammate Esteban Ocon after he came out. Haas driver Kevin Magnussen received a five second penalty for a false start.
By lap 17, Lewis Hamilton pitted onto medium tyres but was unable to slot himself back into a secure position. As he gained grip, the Mercedes passed Alonso with ease and headed on to chase Sainz. Sainz stood in seventh on lap 19 of his home Grand Prix after Hamilton took the inside curve and came incredibly close to coming into contact with the Ferrari. Hamilton then put forth a fastest lap of 1:19:307.
McLaren’s Norris reclaimed the race lead on lap 22. His teammate, Oscar Piastri, came out of the pits into eleventh position behind Hulkenberg, overtaking the Haas to come back into the points. Fernando Alonso made a clean overtake on the Haas of Kevin Magnussen to follow after teammate Lance Stroll.
Piastri successfully overtook Red Bull driver Sergio Perez by lap 28, putting him into ninth position as Perez didn’t make an attempt to defend against the McLaren’s pace.
As the race went on, the wind became more intense and inconsistent, particularly around turn three and four, becoming more of an impactful variable. After a couple of attempts, by lap 32, Norris was able to take the inside line on the main straight passed Hamilton, to take third position. Norris the set the fastest lap. Maintaining a fighting performance, Norris applied the pressure onto Russell. The two British drivers switched positions three times in the fight for second, with Norris prevailing. Mercedes interestingly pitted Russell after losing his second position to go onto the hard tyre. He came out behind the Alpine of Gasly, whom he quickly overtook before setting a new fastest lap. Russell, who was one of nine drivers by lap 43 on the hard tyres, complained about the lack of grip and traction as he struggled to catch up to Piastri.
In free air with no one ahead of him on the track, Norris is notified of his opportunity to create a race lead gap as Verstappen had to pit and came out behind the Ferrari of Leclerc. Nico Hulkenberg, just like teammate Magnussen, was handed a five second penalty. This was for speeding in the pit lane. McLaren had a slow pitstop. They were fortunate enough to just make it ahead of the Mercedes cars. RB driver Yuki Tsunoda in P20 received a five second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
After dominating over his teammate for the majority of his home race, on lap 55, Sainz was overtaken by Leclerc as the Ferraris held fifth and sixth position. Holding the overall lap record, RB driver Daniel Ricciardo found himself performing at his lowest on this track, placing sixteenth on lap 59 behind Valterri Bottas. Alex Albon slid into the gravel after racing with Yuki Tsunoda but seamlessly returned to the track, issuing a complaint over the radio with concern to the manner in which he was squeezed round the track.
With three laps to go, Leclerc chased down Russell. Similarly, Norris gave everything from his McLaren to close down race leader Verstappen. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough this time. This, however, makes it clear that the competition between the two is becoming closer as the season progresses.
For the third year running in Barcelona, Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix. Lando Norris clutched onto second and Lewis Hamilton claimed his first podium of the season in third.
Written by Millie.
Featured Image Credit: fia.com
The Fastest Sector 
