Spanish Grand Prix – June 22nd

Race Overview

Circuit: Barcelona–Catalunya (4.657 km, 66 laps)
Weather: Sunny, ~29°C
Total Distance: 307.2 km
Pole Position: Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 1:11.546
Fastest Lap: Oscar Piastri – 1:15.743 (Lap 61)
Attendance: ~300,000 fans

🏆 Top 3 Finishers

1. 🥇 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
2. 🥈 Lando Norris (McLaren) +2.471s
3. 🥉 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +10.455s

Race Summary

Lap 1–4
Piastri held onto the lead from pole while Verstappen aggressively jumped ahead of Norris into Turn 1. McLaren began stretching the gap immediately.

Lap 9–13
Ferrari swapped Hamilton and Leclerc for pace, while Verstappen’s tyre wear became an issue. Norris overtook Verstappen cleanly on Lap 13, and Red Bull brought Verstappen in early.

Lap 21–29
Norris pitted Lap 21; Verstappen attempted the undercut and briefly led on hard tyres. Piastri stayed out longer but rejoined still ahead after his stop.

Lap 48–55
Verstappen made his third stop for softs, but Antonelli’s engine failure brought out a Safety Car. Most drivers pitted for fresh tyres — Verstappen, oddly, took hards.

Lap 60 Restart
The race resumed with just a few laps left. Verstappen’s cold hard tyres lost grip quickly. Russell and Leclerc passed him. Verstappen later made a desperate lunge into Turn 5 on Russell, causing contact. The stewards later handed him a 10-second penalty and 3 penalty points, dropping him from P5 to P10.

🎯 Key Moments

• McLaren 1–2: Total dominance. Piastri led every lap except 5 laps during Verstappen’s alternate strategy.
• Piastri’s Title Lead: Now 5 wins in 9 races — championship momentum is his.
• Verstappen Controversy: The incident with Russell was called “red-mist” by commentators. Penalty confirmed by FIA post-race.
• Hülkenberg in P5: A fantastic result for Sauber in the midfield.
• Hamilton P6, Alonso P9: Mixed results for veterans, but points on the board.

Watch the Highlights