Verstappen Takes Victory at 2024 Spanish GP

(Image credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Max Verstappen won the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix to extend his title lead as Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the podium. 

Verstappen passed pole-sitter Norris at the start then George Russell for the lead on Lap 3 and aside from pit phases, he cruised to victory despite a late charge from Norris at the end to fall 2.219 seconds short at the checkered flag.

Hamilton finished third ahead of his Mercedes teammate – Russell who saw off Charles Leclerc, whilst Carlos Sainz finished sixth at his home race.

Oscar Piastri, Sergio Perez, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top ten.

In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen extended his title lead to 69 points as Norris moved up to second ahead of Leclerc, with Sainz and Perez staying fourth and fifth respectively.

(Image credit Peter Fox/Getty Images)

Starting from pole for just the second time in his F1 career, Norris got a clean start but Russell benefitted from the slipstream and tow to sweep round the outside into the lead, ahead of Verstappen who had the inside line into Turn 1.

Russell however couldn’t keep Verstappen at bay and the three-time reigning champion passed the Brit on Lap 3 for the lead, leaving Russell to fight off Norris until he pitted on Lap 16 which saw Hamilton and Verstappen follow suit on the next laps.

Norris however had opted for an extended first stint on his soft tyres which saw him pit six laps later than Verstappen, but he re-joined behind both Mercedes drivers and Sainz although he cleared Sainz on Lap 27 but got stuck behind Hamilton then Russell.

By the time Norris cleared Russell on Lap 35, he found himself nine seconds behind Verstappen but reduced his deficit to under five seconds when Verstappen pitted again on Lap 45, before he made his own second stop three laps later on Lap 48 and re-joined second.

Despite the 24 year-old’s efforts to reduce his 7.7s gap to Verstappen, he couldn’t catch his rival as the Red Bull driver responded to his pace and clung on for his fourth Spanish GP win – and his third consecutive win at this specific race.

Hamilton benefitted from a soft-tyre strategy in his final stint to finish third ahead of Russell, Leclerc and Sainz, whilst Piastri finished seventh after he started ninth with Gasly, Perez and Ocon completing the top ten.

F1 now heads to Austria – which marks Red Bull’s home race – on weekend of 28-30 June for the second race of this triple header.

Position Driver Team Laps Time
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 66 1h ..m ..
2 Lando Norris McLaren 66 + 2.219
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 66 + 17.790
4 George Russell Mercedes 66 + 22.320
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 66 + 22.709
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 66 + 31.028
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren 66 + 33.760
8 Sergio Perez Red Bull 66 + 59.524
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 66 + 62.025
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine 66 + 71.889
11 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 66 + 79.215
12 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 65 + 1 Lap
13 Guanyu Zhou Sauber 65 + 1 Lap
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 65 + 1 Lap
15 Daniel Ricciardo RB 65 + 1 Lap
16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 65 + 1 Lap
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas 65 + 1 Lap
18 Alex Albon Williams 65 + 1 Lap
19 Yuki Tsunoda RB 65 + 1 Lap
20 Logan Sargeant Williams 64 + 2 Laps

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