Lando Norris was left to rue his poor start as he lost the lead and fell behind Max Verstappen. Despite McLaren displaying strong pace once again, Verstappen managed to find a way to secure his seventh win of the year. In a late overtake on his Mercedes teammate George Russell, Lewis Hamilton claimed his first podium of 2024.
Max Verstappen successfully overcame the challenge posed by a fast Lando Norris and emerged victorious in the Spanish GP, thereby extending his lead in the F1 world championship.
Norris, who started from pole position, had to regret his poor start which caused him to drop to third place after the first corner of the race. This significant turn of events also saw George Russell of Mercedes surge ahead from fourth position. In an attempt to regain his position, Norris relied on strategic decisions by McLaren, delaying his pit stops compared to Verstappen and Red Bull.
However, despite closing in on Verstappen in the final stages of the race, Norris eventually ran out of time and finished 2.2 seconds behind at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Verstappen managed to hold on and secure his seventh win of the season, which has been marked by intense competition.
Despite relentlessly closing the gap on Verstappen towards the end of the race, Norris ultimately ran out of time and finished 2.2 seconds behind at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as the Red Bull driver held on to secure his seventh victory in a highly competitive season. Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, finally achieved his first podium finish in 2024 with an impressive drive to third place.
Although Hamilton initially fell behind his teammate at the start of the race, he managed to overtake Russell after the second round of pit stops with a remarkable move on the outside of Turn One. Meanwhile, Ferrari had a disappointing result, with Leclerc finishing fifth and Sainz sixth, both more than 20 seconds adrift from the front two. This performance comes just two weeks after their point-less outing in Canada.
At his home race, Carlos Sainz secured sixth place after overtaking Leclerc early on but later being repassed. Oscar Piastri finished seventh in the second McLaren, concluding a disappointing weekend for the young Australian. Sergio Perez, starting from 11th on the grid in the other Red Bull, could only manage to recover to eighth place.
Alpine’s surprisingly successful weekend concluded with a crucial result for the Enstone team, as both Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon secured valuable points by finishing ninth and tenth respectively.
