@Max33Verstappen survives @LandoNorris threat to take #SpanishGP victory. #F1
Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB20, celebrating after scoring his seventh victory of the season at the Formula 1 Aramco Gran Premio De Espana 2024, Circuit De Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain. Image credit to Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images. Verstappen Spanish GP Victory, Spanish GP Race Results, Spanish Grand Prix Results, F1 Spanish GP Results, 2024 Spanish GP Results.
Verstappen Spanish GP Victory – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen increased his championship lead to take his 61st-career victory after withstanding a charging McLaren of Lando Norris who crossed the line second as Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton came home third.
When the 66 lap Spanish GP began, pole-sitter Norris got a solid start as then Verstappen grabbed the inside line on the rundown to turn one then Russell swept around the outside of the duo into the first corner to take the lead.
Verstappen also made his way ahead of Norris into turn two.
On the start of lap two, Russell had a 0.437 second lead over Verstappen with Norris third, Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton fourth and the Ferrari pairing of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz completing the top six.
With DRS assistance down the main straight a tour later, Verstappen got into the slipstream of the Mercedes as Russell covered the inside and the former moved to the outside and overtook Russell into turns one and two.
By the beginning of the fourth lap Verstappen was already out of DRS range from second-placed Russell with a 1.1 second gap.
Norris also had DRS assistance on Russell, meanwhile behind them Sainz overtook team-mate Leclerc around the outside into turn one and with the adjustable rear wing activated.
On lap eight, race leader Verstappen’s gap to Russell was at 1.713 seconds as Norris held third, Hamilton fourth, Sainz fifth and Leclerc completing the top six runners.
At the start of lap ten, Verstappen’s lead increased to 2.190 seconds over Russell as further behind them in the battle for eighth Oscar Piastri was right on the rear of Pierre Gasly’s A524 entry.
Also behind them, Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg was keeping Red Bull’s Sergio Perez at bay in the right for tenth.
Tsunoda and Zhou were the first to make their pit-stops for the C2 yellow-marked mediums, which could have forced them into a three-stop strategy.
On the 13th tour, Verstappen’s lead was up to 2.801 seconds over Russell meanwhile further behind them his Red Bull team-mate Perez made his way ahead of Hulkenberg into turn one to grab tenth from the German.
On the 14th lap, both Ocon and Perez pitted for a set of mediums and softs respectively to emerge in 14th and 15th.
Lap 15 saw Verstappen’s lead up to 3.737 seconds over Russell with Norris third, Hamilton fourth, Sainz fifth as Leclerc rounded out the top six.
Meanwhile eighth-placed Gasly stopped from eighth and had a right-rear slow tyre change and dropped to 13th behind team-mate Ocon.
Meanwhile lap 16, both second-placed Russell and fifth-placed Sainz came in for a fresh set of medium rubber and came out in eighth and ninth respectively.
On lap 17, Hamilton pitted from third for his fresh set of the C2’s and emerged in ninth behind home favourite Fernando Alonso.
Sainz made short-work of Alonso as the Briton came out of the pits.
Hamilton then made his way ahead of Alonso out of the exit of turn five.
On the 18th lap, race leader Verstappen pitted for his fresh set of the medium compound and came out in fourth place behind Piastri.
The next tour with DRS assistance in the fight for sixth place, Hamilton got into the slipstream of Sainz’s Ferrari and made a move onto the inside into the first corner as the pairing made slight contract and squeezed past the SF-24 entry into turn two to take the position.
On lap 20, Alonso pitted for his fresh set of the medium tyre to emerge in 15th-place behind the penalty-hit Magnussen.
The order on the 21st lap was as follows, the-yet-to-pit Norris, Leclerc held the top two places as Verstappen made his way in-front of Piastri who then pits on the following tour from fourth.
The Australian put on a fresh set of the mediums and came out in 11th place behind Hulkenberg.
On lap 23, Norris pitted from the lead for his fresh set of the C2 rubber and came out behind Sainz in sixth place.
On lap 25, Leclerc relinquished the lead and was the final driver to pit in the first round of pit-stops and put on his fresh set of the mediums and emerged in seventh place behind Gasly.
Verstappen’s lead on lap 26 was up to 5.703 seconds over Russell with Hamilton third, Sainz fourth and Norris tucked right behind the Ferrari.
And with DRS on the pit-straight on lap 27, Norris moved up the inside of Sainz’s Ferrari and overtook the Spaniard to grab fourth place into turn one and behind them Leclerc likewise past Gasly’s Alpine with the same manoeuvre to climb into sixth.
A tour later Piastri with the slipstream and DRS assistance, made the move on Perez before reaching turn one to move into ninth place.
The 30th lap saw race leader Verstappen’s gap to Russell now at 7.103 seconds with Hamilton third, Norris fourth, Sainz fifth and Leclerc completing the top six as behind them, Piastri and Perez jumped up a place overtaking Ocon.
The battle for third was intensifying as Norris drew ever closer to Hamilton and with DRS assistance on the main-straight on the 32nd lap, the former made the move on the inside and overtook his fellow British-compatriot into the first corner to take the position.
Meanwhile Perez pitted for his fresh set of the medium compounds and came out in 14th place behind Alonso’s AMR24 entry.
On lap 34, Piastri picked off Gasly with DRS assistance on the main-straight to move up into seventh place.
Lap 35, saw Norris with DRS activated on the main straight made a move on second-place Russell into turn one, then the former made the switch-back swept around the Mercedes into the fast turn three right hander.
Russell then hung it out and retook the position into turn four, as Norris then made the switch-back again and finally got the move done on the former into the fast turns six and seven chicane to take second place.
On lap 37, Russell and Sainz both stopped for a set of the more durable harder rubber and came out in seventh and eighth respectively.
A tour later, Russell and Sainz both made their way ahead of Gasly.
On lap 40, Gasly pitted and put his fresh set of the C2 white-branded hards and emerged in tenth.
Out front on the 41st tour, Verstappen’s lead over Norris was sitting at 6.207 seconds with Hamilton third, Leclerc fourth, Piastri fifth, Russell sixth and Sainz seventh as Gasly made an easy move on Zhou on the main-straight to take ninth in the order.
On the 44th lap, Hamilton stopped from fourth to take on a used set of the C3 softer tyre and returned in seventh place behind Sainz.
Race leader Verstappen pitted for his fresh set of the C3 softs and emerged in third place behind Leclerc.
Norris is told over the radio from his team that this is “your chance now” to make the strategy work.
With 20 laps remaining Norris’s gap was at 11.377 seconds over Leclerc with Verstappen third, Russell moving up to fourth passing Piastri whilst Hamilton followed his team-mate’s lead to pass Sainz to jump into sixth place.
On the 47th tour, Piastri pitted for his fresh set of the softer rubber and came out in eighth place behind Perez.
McLaren tell Norris to “box, box” as he pitted on lap 48 for his set of softs and came out just ahead of Russell in second place as Leclerc also pitted for a set of the C3’s and emerged behind team-mate Sainz in sixth.
On lap 50, Verstappen’s lead was at 6.881 seconds over Norris with Russell third, Hamilton closely behind his team-mate in fourth as both Ferrari’s of Sainz and Leclerc fifth and sixth respectively.
Behind them Perez, made his third and final stop for the C3 softs and rejoined in tenth behind Ocon.
A tour later, Perez quickly moved ahead of Ocon to take ninth as Hamilton drew ever closer in the battle for third.
On the 52nd lap, with DRS Hamilton got into the slipstream and made a move around the outside on team-mate Russell into turn one to jump into the final podium place.
On lap 55, Sainz let his soft-tyre-running team-mate Leclerc by at the first corner to chase for third.
With ten laps remaining, Verstappen’s gap was down to 5.161 seconds over Norris with Hamilton third, Russell fourth, Leclerc fifth and Sainz rounding out the top six runners.
Leclerc was told by his team over the radio that he “needs to pick up the pace” in his quest for a podium.
Norris took another seven-tenths out of Verstappen’s lead on the 57th tour as the McLaren was looking rapid, with Piastri recovering well from a poor qualifying although he looked too far back from sixth-placed Sainz.
Lap 60 in the battle for the lead, Norris brought the gap to race leader Verstappen down to 4.8 seconds as he continued to chase down the championship leader.
With five laps left, Verstappen’s lead to Norris was down to 4.204 seconds with Hamilton third, Russell fourth, Leclerc fifth as Sainz completed the top six.
Leclerc was eating into Russell’s gap and on lap 63 was sitting at 2.006 seconds as the battle for fourth was beginning to heat up.
On the penultimate tour, Verstappen’s lead was down to 2.628 as Norris got a touch closer as behind them Leclerc brought the gap to fourth-placed Russell to 1.062 seconds.
On the last tour with DRS assistance, Leclerc had DRS assistance on Russell on the main-straight but was not close enough to the Mercedes.
Verstappen held on to take the Spanish GP victory by 2.219 seconds over Norris who also took the fastest lap bonus point as Hamilton rounded out the top three and a further 17.190 seconds back from the Dutchman.
Russell settled for fourth and in-front of the Ferrari pairing of Leclerc and Sainz who finished fifth and sixth respectively,
Piastri was seventh and ahead of Perez who came eighth in the order as Alpine duo Gasly and Ocon completed the final points places.
Haas’s Hulkenberg finished outside the top ten in 11th place and in-front of Alonso who finished his home Grand Prix 12th and Sauber’s Zhou who ended the race 13th in the order.
The other Aston Martin AMR24 entry of Lance Stroll was 14th and ahead of RB’s Daniel Ricciardo who came 15th and the second C44 of Bottas who settled for 16th.
The second VF-24 entry of Magnussen who placed 17th and in-front Williams’ Alexander Albon who took 18th as RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and the other FW46 of Logan Sargeant brought up the rear.
2024 Spanish GP – The Top Three
2024 Spanish GP Winner – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB20 (25 Points):
“What made the race was the beginning, taking the lead on Lap 2 and eeking out the gap a little bit. As Lando and McLaren were very, very fast today. We drove an aggressive strategy, but it played out at the end.”
2nd Place – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL38 – +2.219s (19 Points):
“Not could [have won], should have done. I got a bad start. The car was incredible today, for sure we were the quickest. Lots of positives, one negative but that ruined everything. Big thanks to the team as the car was amazing. I need to look back at review [at the start], I don’t know what I did wrong. Fair play to Red Bull and Max, but a shame we lost it at the same time, very frustrating. Austria and Silverstone are two of my favourite tracks, I just need to tidy up a few bits.”
3rd Place – Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W15 – +17.790s (15 Points):
“It’s been a good day, a good weekend so a big thank you to the team, the strategy and pit stops were on point. Like Lando I had a really bad start so lost ground to the Ferraris. I don’t know if we could have held onto the guys ahead, but we wouldn’t have been as far behind. It was never an option to run the hard tyre for me today.”
Formula 1 Aramco Gran Premio De Espana 2024 Race Results Classification (66 Laps)
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 66 | 1:28:20.227 | 25 |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 66 | +2.219s | 19 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 66 | +17.790s | 15 |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 66 | +22.320s | 12 |
| 5 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 66 | +22.709s | 10 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 66 | +31.028s | 8 |
| 7 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 66 | +33.760s | 6 |
| 8 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 66 | +59.524s | 4 |
| 9 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPINE RENAULT | 66 | +62.025s | 2 |
| 10 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 66 | +71.889s | 1 |
| 11 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 66 | +79.215s | 0 |
| 12 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 13 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 14 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 15 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB HONDA RBPT | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 16 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 17 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 18 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 19 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB HONDA RBPT | 65 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 20 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 64 | +2 laps | 0 |
* Provisional results. Note – Norris scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.
https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2024/races/1238/spain/race-result.html
Click here for the 2024 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings
Round 11 of the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship heads straight to the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria for the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Austrian Grand Prix 2024 from Friday June 28-Sunday June 30.
#F1 Qualifying Report: @LandoNorris pips @Max33Verstappen to #SpanishGP pole by 0.020s.
#F1 #SpanishGP FP3: @Carlossainz55 pips @LandoNorris by 0.030s.
#F1 #SpanishGP FP2: @LewisHamilton edges @Carlossainz55, @LandoNorris to top time-sheets.
#F1 #SpanishGP FP1: @LandoNorris quickest ahead of @Max33Verstappen by 0.024s.
