This classic F1 track always promises something to talk about, and today was no different. With Stroll not starting due to injury, 18 of the remaining drivers started on soft (C3) tyres. Tsunoda started on mediums (C2).
Following lights out, Piastri got a great start into the lead. Norris was overtaken on turn one by Verstappen. Further down the track, Ferrari completed a double overtake on Russell, pushing them up into P4 and P5.
Lap 3 saw Verstappen sticking close to Piastri, but it didn’t last. Piastri pulled away, creating a gap of 1.3s.
On lap 6, Piastri opened the gap ahead to Verstappen to 3s. Verstappen was 1.2s ahead of Norris. Alex Albon pitted for a new front wing on lap 7. This was after picking up damage in the opening stages of the race.
Team orders from Ferrari on lap 10 asked Hamilton to let Leclerc through for P4. He obliged, but it put them further behind Norris with a gap of 5s.
The first pit stop window opened on lap 11, seeing Hulkenberg and Gasly coming in to change their tyres. Norris finally made the move on Verstappen on lap 13 for P2 to catch up to his teammate Piastri. Norris was then 4s behind him.
Home-hero Alonso went deep into turn 5 and took a trip through the gravel on lap 14. He stayed in the race but ultimately lost time in his battle against Bortoleto. Lap 14 also saw Verstappen as the first of the race leaders to make a stop during this race. He came back out in P8.
Verstappen made a move around the outside of Antonelli at turn 11 of the 18th lap for P4. Later on lap 19, Verstappen passed Russell for P3; however, he was still over 16s behind Norris.
Piastri pitted from the lead on lap 23 and Verstappen took the lead. He changed tyres from soft to medium and needed to close the 6s gap to Verstappen.
Lawson attempted to pass Albon on lap 26 in the battle for P12 but they made contact. This left Albon with a damaged front wing. Albon received a 10-second time penalty on lap 27 after the earlier contact with Lawson. Albon later retired from the race on lap 29 due to damage to the car.
Verstappen pitted again on lap 30, this time from the race lead, confirming a 3-stop strategy. Following a good stop from Red Bull, Verstappen came out in P3 ahead of Hamilton.
Lawson was involved in yet another collision with Bearman on lap 31. He tried to overtake for P10 in turn 1. Leclerc was easily passed by Verstappen on the main straight for P3 on lap 36.
By lap 40, Norris was half a second faster than his teammate Piastri. Piastri was only 2.5s ahead of him. Leclerc made his last pit stop on lap 41, on a new set of medium tyres. He was in P6, 11 seconds behind Russell.
Russell pitted in an assumed attempt to undercut Hamilton on lap 42. On lap 43, Piastri, Norris, and Verstappen were all within one tenth of each other on the most recent lap. Norris was behind Piastri by 2.5 seconds, and Verstappen was behind him by 4 seconds.
Lap 46, Piastri started to pull clear of Norris, creating a gap of almost 5 seconds. Hamilton had a slow stop on lap 49 at 4.9 seconds. Lap 48, Verstappen made his third stop of the race, coming out into a battle between his teammate Tsunoda and Ocon.
Lap 49 also saw Norris making his final stop of the race, coming out of the pits only one second ahead of Verstappen. On Lap 50, Piastri followed and left the pit lane with a gap of 4 seconds over Norris.
Lap 52, Bearman and Lawson went wheel to wheel down the main straight, but almost caught Norris as he was lapping them.
Lap 55, Kimi Antonelli found himself in the gravel, out of the race, which caused a safety car. The confirmed cause for Antonelli’s retirement was a power unit failure. The leading three of the race pitted, making this the fourth stop for Verstappen.
Safety car returned to the pits on lap 61, ready for a 6-lap race to the flag. The race went green with Verstappen almost spinning, allowing Leclerc to get up into P3. Piastri still led Norris by just over one second!
Lap 63, Piastri was over 1.5s ahead of Norris. The battle for the lead continued. Lap 64, Verstappen was under orders from the pit wall to let Russell through, but then they collided!
Lap 66, Oscar Piastri won the Spanish Grand Prix, followed by Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc. Piastri’s excellent win extended the championship lead by 10 points.
Following the contact on lap 64, Max Verstappen was given a 10-second time penalty, demoting him to 10th place, but promoting Nico Hulkenberg to 5th place!