Verstappen dominates at Spanish GP, Hamilton and Russell follow
The Spanish Grand Prix witnessed Red Bull's Max Verstappen securing an impressive victory. Hot on his heels, Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell clinched the remaining spots on the podium.
The seventh round of the 2023 F1 season, the Spanish Grand Prix, was dominated by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who held his ground against a first-corner challenge from Carlos Sainz.
Mercedes showed strength in their performance, securing the second and third podium spots.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were the drivers to come in next after Verstappen, while Red Bull's Sergio Perez made an impressive rise from 11th to finish fourth.
The race commenced with Verstappen on medium-compound tyres, successfully maintaining his pole position despite an attack from Sainz.
Behind them, Lando Norris from McLaren, who qualified third, came in contact with Hamilton at Turn 2.
Soon after, Lance Stroll of Aston Martin overtook Hamilton for third at Turn 5. Hamilton eventually settled into fourth place, ahead of Alpine's Esteban Ocon.
Hamilton regained his third place from Stroll on lap eight, and Russell advanced to fifth place after overtaking Ocon on lap 11.
Starting from the 11th spot on the grid, Perez managed to move up the ranks and held the eighth position by lap 10.
As Hamilton started to close in, Sainz pitted for medium tyres on lap 16, with the Mercedes pair choosing to run longer on their soft tyres.
Verstappen then pitted on lap 27, switching to hard tyres, while Perez followed suit a lap later.
By lap 28, Hamilton overtook Sainz for second at Turn 1, but by this point, Verstappen had already built a 12-second lead.
Russell passed Stroll for fourth shortly after, and before the race hit its midpoint, he also passed Sainz, securing a 2-3 finish for Mercedes.
Sainz made a second pitstop on lap 42 to switch to hard tyres.
Russell, Hamilton, and Perez all pitted for soft tyres between laps 46 and 51, providing Verstappen with an opportunity to make a comfort stop for softs too, despite receiving a black and white flag for exceeding track limits thrice.
With 14 laps to go, Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin passed Ocon. A lap later, Perez passed Sainz for fourth place but couldn't catch up to Russell before the race ended.
Sainz ultimately finished fifth, followed by Aston Martin's Stroll and Alonso.
Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri, and Zhou Guanyu of Alfa Romeo completed the top ten. Due to a penalty given to Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri received the final point in the 10th place.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc started from the pitlane on hard tyres due to a change in the rear-end of his car following an unsatisfactory qualifying round.
Despite his aggressive tyre strategy, he was only able to finish 12th, after Tsunoda's penalty moved him up a place.
Driver Standings:
Constructor Standings
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