Max Verstappen bags Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull extends dominance

Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday to stretch his Formula One championship lead to 53 points and continue Red Bull’s sweep of the season with the team’s seventh success in as many races.

Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton was second for Mercedes, but a distant 24.090 sec behind, with teammate George Russell completing the podium on a cloudy but dry afternoon at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s closest rival in a season that looks sure to crown the dominant Dutch 25-year-old for a third time, finished fourth after fighting back from 11th at the start.

The win was Verstappen’s fifth of the season, third successive, third in Spain and the double world champion’s 40th in Formula One.

The man who took the first grand prix win of his career at the Spanish circuit in 2016 and also triumphed last year, secured the bonus point for fastest lap to cap a day of domination.

“It’s a big pleasure to drive with a car like this. I think it showed again today,” said Verstappen, who fended off Ferrari’s home hero Carlos Sainz at the start in the only challenge of an otherwise straightforward afternoon.

“I had the harder compound so I knew the start would be a bit tricky. Going around the outside at Turn One is always quite difficult, but luckily nothing happened.”

Verstappen was also shown a black-and-white flag for exceeding track limits late in the race, but the risk of a 5 sec penalty was hardly going to trouble someone so far up the road from the rest.

Broken wing

“Well done Max, that was mega. Very well controlled, even though you went over the white lines a few times,” said team boss Christian Horner.

McLaren’s Lando Norris, who started third on the grid, broke a front wing on the first lap in contact with Hamilton and had to pit, plunging down the order and finishing 17th.

The form of the Mercedes drivers, with a redesigned car after a disappointing start to the season, was a big talking point.

Mercedes moved up to second in the championship on 152 points to runaway Red Bull’s 287 and with Aston Martin dropping to third on 134.

“Mega job, guys, mega job,” said Hamilton over the radio. “Thank you so much to everyone back at the factory, continuing to push. This is a real showing for all your hard work. Let’s keep pushing.”

Russell went off into the gravel on his way to the grid, where he lined up 12th, but his car was not damaged and his pace was strong.

“It definitely feels better,” he said of the car. “You are just putting in those lap times and comparing it to the guys around you — the Ferraris and Astons — and you are going quicker and quicker.”

Sainz was fifth with the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso sixth and seventh.

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was eighth, Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou ninth and Pierre Gasly, who qualified fourth before a six-place grid penalty, took the final point for Renault-owned Alpine.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished 11th, starting from the pit lane after a nightmare in qualifying left him on the back row.

Reuters