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Charles Bradley

F1 race results: Max Verstappen wins Spanish GP

Verstappen dominated the race after fending off a first-corner challenge from Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari.

Mercedes had the second-fastest car in the race, and Lewis Hamilton and George Russell filled the podium spots, ahead of the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez, who rose from 11th to finish fourth.

2023 F1 Spanish GP race results

Cla   Nº   Driver   Car / Engine   Laps   Time 
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 66 -
44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 66 -24.090
63 George Russell Mercedes 66 -32.389
11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 66 -35.812
55 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 66 -45.698
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 66 -1'03.320
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 66 -1'04.127
31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 66 -1'09.242
24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 66 -1'11.878
10  10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 66 -1'13.530
11  16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 66 -1'14.419
12  22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 66 -1'15.416
13  81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 65 -
14  21 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 65 -
15  27 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 65 -
16  23 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 65 -
17  4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 65 -
18  20 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 65 -
19  77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 65 -
20  2 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 65 -

How the 2023 F1 Spanish GP was won

Verstappen, who started on medium-compound tyres, just held his pole position advantage on the run to Turn 1, fending off the soft-shod Sainz’s attack around the outside of the first corner. Behind them, third-placed qualifier Lando Norris (McLaren) and a fast-starting Hamilton touched at Turn 2, and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) passed Hamilton moments later for third at Turn 5.

Hamilton settled into fourth place, ahead of Esteban Ocon’s Alpine, but Norris was forced to pit at the end of the opening lap for a new nose section. Russell passed Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin for sixth on lap seven.

Hamilton repassed Stroll for third on lap eight, and Russell gained another place from Ocon on lap 11 to run fifth.

After a disastrous Q2 stranded him in 11th on the grid, Sergio Perez moved through the field in the second Red Bull and ran eighth by lap 10.

With Hamilton closing in, Sainz pitted for mediums on lap 16, and the Mercedes duo were happy to run longer on the softs. Hamilton pitted nine laps later, rejoining behind Sainz, but on much fresher mediums and Russell stopped a lap later, staying just ahead of Ocon.

Verstappen pitted on lap 27, switching his mediums for hards, while Perez ran a lap longer and rejoined back in ninth.

Hamilton passed Sainz for second at Turn 1 on lap 28, but was already 12s behind Verstappen by this point, as Russell passed Stroll for fourth. Just after half distance, Russell also passed Sainz to make it a Mercedes 2-3, while Perez carved his way up to fifth on his fresh rubber.

Sainz made his second pitstop just before two-third’s distance on lap 42, switching to hards.

Russell pitted for softs on lap 46, and Hamilton followed suit five laps later. Perez also stopped for softs, rejoining 3s behind Sainz. That allowed Verstappen to make a comfort stop for softs for the run to the finish too – despite getting a black and white flag for exceeding track limits on three occasions.

Alonso passed Ocon with 14 laps to go, albeit only just after the Frenchman made a hard defensive move on the run to Turn 1. A lap later, Perez passed Sainz for fourth and set off after the Mercedes but ran out of time to catch Russell.

Sainz finished fifth, ahead of the Astons of Stroll and Alonso. Ocon was eighth from Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) – who got a 5s penalty for forcing a car off track – and Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo).

Due to Tsunoda's penalty, Gasly got the final point in 10th.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc started from the pitlane on hard tyre, after the rear-end of his car was changed following his terrible qualifying performance, behind Logan Sargeant’s Williams.

He went on an aggressive tyre strategy, switching to softs on lap 17 and back to hards on lap 43, but he could only finish 12th – promoted a place by Tsunoda's penalty.

UPDATE: After the race, Mercedes was investigated for a parc ferme rules infringement. It was fined  €10,000 after its driver physiotherapists and assistants entered the restricted area.

2023 F1 Spanish GP fastest laps

Cla Driver  Car/Engine   Time   Delay 
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'16.330  
11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'16.666 0.336
44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'16.676 0.346
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'17.182 0.852
63 George Russell Mercedes 1'17.875 1.545
20 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1'18.069 1.739
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'18.083 1.753
77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'18.242 1.912
16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'18.357 2.027
10  10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'18.375 2.045
11  55 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1'18.403 2.073
12  21 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'18.594 2.264
13  81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'18.679 2.349
14  18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'18.722 2.392
15  24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'18.753 2.423
16  27 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1'18.776 2.446
17  22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'18.904 2.574
18  31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'18.946 2.616
19  23 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1'19.133 2.803
20  2 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1'19.247 2.917

2023 F1 Spanish GP pitstops

Cla Driver 1 2 3 4
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen M 26 H 26 S 16    
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton S 27 M 26 S 19    
3 United Kingdom George Russell S 25 M 20 S 24    
4 Mexico Sergio Perez M 27 H 23 S 16    
5 Spain Carlos Sainz S 18 M 26 H 25    
6 Canada Lance Stroll S 17 S 23 H 32    
7 Spain Fernando Alonso S 22 S 28 H 22    
8 France Esteban Ocon S 16 M 22 H 31    
9 China Zhou Guanyu S 9 H 27 H 30    
10 France Pierre Gasly S 22 M 20 H 27    
11 Monaco Charles Leclerc H 16 S 25 H 50    
12 Japan Yuki Tsunoda S 10 H 24 M 32    
13 Australia Oscar Piastri S 19 H 22 M 26    
14 Netherlands Nyck de Vries S 9 H 29 M 27    
15 Germany Nico Hulkenberg S 11 M 18 H 17 M 22
16 Thailand Alex Albon S 16 H 21 M 28    
17 United Kingdom Lando Norris S 3 H 21 M 28 S 18
18 Denmark Kevin Magnussen S 10 M 14 H 18 M 23
19 Finland Valtteri Bottas S 5 H 34 H 26    
20 United States Logan Sargeant M 17 H 19 H 29    
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