Spanish GP: Max Verstappen withstands Lando Norris charge as Lewis Hamilton ends long podium drought

Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at the head of the pack.

Lando Norris tried to put his tyre delta to use, but Max Verstappen held firm to win the Spanish Grand Prix.

The hunt was on for Norris in the final stint at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but like at Imola, Verstappen had just enough in his Red Bull RB20 to get the job done and score a seventh win of the season. Lewis Hamilton completed the podium, his first visit of the season.

Lando Norris huffs and puffs but Max Verstappen stands tall

Despite the talk of rain, the dry conditions continued for race day in Barcelona, with the soft tyre the compound of choice through the grid. Alex Albon, starting from the pit lane after taking a new energy store and control electronics, opted for the mediums.

Verstappen launched well, taking Norris down the inside at Turn 1, but here came George Russell! From P4 on the grid, he went around the outside of the pair to take the lead of the Spanish Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton settled into P4, ahead of the Ferraris.

Told this was likely his “best opportunity” to clear Russell, Verstappen went on the attack into Turn 1 on the third lap, making the outside line the inside going into Turn 2 as he successfully stripped Russell of the lead, who was soon falling into the clutches of Norris.

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc meanwhile were going at it, touching out of Turn 1 as Leclerc complained that his Ferrari team-mate had “closed the door” on him, while Sainz’s version was that Leclerc “pushed me off”.

Russell was pushing in another way, “more than others” his verdict as he fell a couple of seconds back from Verstappen, while Norris behind was enjoying the luxury of DRS and eyeing that P2 spot before Verstappen could scamper too far up the road.

Zhou Guanyu and Yuki Tsunoda on Lap 10 were the first to ditch that soft rubber for mediums.

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Verstappen was upping the pace out front, stretching his lead to over three seconds, but it was not plain sailing, the Championship leader having “a bit of a moment in Turn 7” as he went wide and glanced the gravel.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly suffered a rough 6.7-second stop, far from ideal with him running comfortably in the top 10, while Kevin Magnussen was given a five-second penalty for a false start.

Lap 16 and in came Russell and Sainz, freeing Norris who felt he had better pace in the McLaren. A slow stop north of five seconds for Russell seriously boosted Norris’ overcut chances, but Norris declined the chance to pit and cover off Russell, focused instead on Verstappen.

Hamilton boxed a lap later for mediums, losing a position to Sainz, with Red Bull delivering a stellar 1.9-second stop for Verstappen on the following lap, as he returned to the circuit on mediums.

Heading onto the next tour, Hamilton wanted that position back, going down the inside of Sainz at Turn 1 and showing the Spaniard the kerb as he got the job done, Sainz feeling Hamilton had pushed him off. The stewards took a look, but decided no further action was needed, leaving Sainz questioning “why there’s a rulebook and we don’t follow it”.

Come Lap 24, Norris’ opening stint on the softs was over as he pitted for mediums. He came out behind Verstappen, the Mercedes duo and Sainz, but with the benefit of fresher tyres.

Leclerc came in on the following lap for mediums, slotting into P7 between the Alpines.

As Norris swooped past Sainz into Turn 1 on Lap 27, that was the first target ticked off the list, while Leclerc made his way past Gasly.

Mercedes were playing the team game on Norris with Russell keeping Hamilton within his DRS range, but by Lap 32, Norris was through on Hamilton and needed to clear Russell quick.

Norris’ McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri was also making progress as he cleared Gasly to improve to P7, and as Lap 36 came around, Norris and Russell treated us to a gripping battle through half the lap, featuring three position changes until Norris secured his return to P2 at Turn 7, Verstappen eight seconds up the road.

Russell and Sainz dived into the pits for the second time on the next lap, both opting for the hard compound to run to the end, though with Russell saying “this tyre does not feel good”, it gave rivals potentially plotting a similar strategy food for thought.

Hamilton made his second stop on Lap 44, Mercedes splitting strategy after that Russell feedback with Hamilton taking on a set of used softs.

Verstappen boxed a lap later, also for softs, but crucially, it was a new set for the Red Bull driver, with McLaren urging Norris “this is our chance now” to push, Norris once more keen to press on.

Hamilton meanwhile found himself in need of clearing Sainz again, which he needed just a couple of laps to do.

On Lap 48, in came Norris for used softs, a 3.6-second stop as he re-emerged neck and neck with Russell, a battle which Norris won as he switched focus to that critical pursuit of Verstappen ahead, the gap just under eight seconds as Norris promptly set a new fastest lap of the race and another.

It had been a rough weekend for RB in their upgraded VCARB01, which only intensified when Yuki Tsunoda was given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, while running P20 and last.

For Mercedes, the battle was on for the podium and on Lap 52, Hamilton went storming around the outside of his team-mate Russell to snatch P3, chasing a first podium of the season.

With Norris having whittled Verstappen’s lead down to five seconds, he got the call to “push to the end”, as Norris was very much done on tyre saving. Verstappen was getting the order to move to “strat 10”, causing some initial confusion with the Dutchman not sure if he was hearing 10 or two.

Sainz was hearing the Ferrari team radio loud and clear though, as he opened the door for Leclerc at Turn 1 to free him to chase after Russell.

Strat 10 got the job done though for Verstappen as Norris was forced to settle for a fourth P2 finish of the season, while Hamilton secured his first visit to the podium in F1 2024, having gone without since last year’s Mexican Grand Prix.

2024 Spanish Grand Prix timings

1 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull 1:28:20.227 66 laps
2 Lando NORRIS McLaren +2.219
3 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +17.790
4 George RUSSELL Mercedes +22.320
5 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +22.709
6 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +31.028
7 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +33.760
8 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull +59.524
9 Pierre GASLY Alpine +62.025
10 Esteban OCON Alpine +71.889
11 Nico HULKENBERG Haas +79.215
12 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +1 lap
13 ZHOU Guanyu Kick Sauber +1 lap
14 Lance STROLL Aston Martin +1 lap
15 Daniel RICCIARDO RB +1 lap
16 Valtteri BOTTAS Kick Sauber +1 lap
17 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas +1 lap
18 Alexander ALBON Williams +1 lap
19 Yuki TSUNODA RB +1 lap
20 Logan SARGEANT Williams +2 laps

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