Formula One - Spanish Grand Prix - Tempers flare as 2024 rivalry is reignited in controversial incident

With the introduction of the front-wing flex technical directive, the weekend was expected to be a shakeup, but on-track action saw tempers flare and McLaren continue to dominate in 2025.

QUALIFYING

Qualifying was a calm affair, and at the midpoint of the qualifying session the top three were Oscar Piastri, 0.248 seconds ahead of his team-mate Lando Norris who respectively was 0.2 seconds ahead of George Russell, putting an early damper on fans expectations of a reduced competitive edge for the papaya outfit. At the mid-way stage Albon was also a reassuring fifth in his Williams at a track the British outfit were not expecting to perform well at. As the final runs began Colapinto struck an issue in the fast lane of the pit lane, his Alpine refusing to give him any power, this led to the rest of the field having to go around him and Colapinto was unable to take any further part in the session.

Out in Q1: Hulkenberg, Ocon, Sainz, Colapinto, Tsunoda

Photo: Steven Tee

At the mid-way stage of the second qualifying session it was, yet again, the two McLaren drivers leading the way, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris 1-2 with Max Verstappen in a distant third, over 0.3 seconds behind the McLaren duo.

Out in Q2: Albon, Bortoleto, Lawson, Stroll, Bearman

The final qualifying was, yet again, a battle between the McLaren title rivals Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Half-way through the session Oscar Piastri was 0.2 seconds faster than Lando Norris, before the British driver found his way to the top of the timing board by just two-hundredths. On the final runs Norris improved by a further 0.068 of a second before the championship leader Oscar Piastri laid down an unbeatable time to take pole by two-tenths of a second ahead of Norris.

Top 10: Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Antonelli, Leclerc, Gasly, Hadjar, Alonso

Photo: Steven Tee

RACE

The first lap of racing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya saw Max Verstappen overtake Lando Norris into turn one, meanwhile George Russell was forced into the runoff on the inside of turn two. By lap nine, Oscar Piastri had pulled out a lead of over three seconds to Max Verstappen, who was being hounded by Lando Norris for second. Further down the order the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fighting over fourth place, the Monegasque driver attempted a move into turn one but was unable to pull it off.

On lap thirteen Lando Norris finally overtook Max Verstappen for second place and could start working on reeling in the gap to his teammate. Just two laps later Max Verstappen pitted for the first time in an attempted undercut on the leading McLaren duo. On lap twenty-three this strategy would come to fruition as Max Verstappen inherited the lead due to both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri making their first visits to the pitlane.

Photo: Rudy Carezzevoli

On lap twenty-five Alex Albon was involved in an on-track-scrap with Liam Lawson, the Racing Bulls driver made an impressive overtake through turns one and two, in the process causing damage to Alex Albon’s front wing for the second time in the grand prix. Alex Albon was forced to retire the car on lap twenty-eight, with the damage to his Williams proving to be too costly for the race to be worthwhile running.

Verstappen made his second pitstop on lap thirty, a bold move that forced the reigning champion onto the three-stop strategy, he forfeited the lead back to Piastri and came out of the pitlane behind Leclerc and in fourth. On lap thirty-six Verstappen passed Leclerc for third and on lap forty-one Leclerc bailed to the pitlane for new medium tyres. Just six laps later Verstappen was into the pitlane again for his third and final pitstop onto soft tires, he came out of the pitlane in sixteenth and behind his teammate Tsunoda. A lap later Norris pitted for new softs, followed by his teammate Piastri on lap fifty, both came out ahead of Verstappen and were still running first and second on the pit cycle.

Photo: Zak Mauger

On lap fifty-five a final twist was thrown into the tale of this race, Kimi Antonelli was forced to come to a stop on the exit of turn ten, his Mercedes power unit had lost drive and he was left stranded in the gravel. This forced race direction to throw a late safety car and all the front runners needed to come into the pitlane to take advantage. Both Piastri and Norris pitted for a used set of softs, whereas Verstappen was put onto a fresh set of hard tires, a call that was questioned by the Dutchman but later explained that Red Bull simply didn’t have any other tires they could put on the car.

As lap sixty-one began the track was green once again and racing resumed, the top five across the line were Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell and Hamilton. Leclerc passed Verstappen immediately at the restart and was running in third as the final laps of the race began.

On lap sixty-four George Russell attempted an overtake on the inside of Max Verstappen into turn one, the Dutchman was forced off track and kept the position ahead of Russell but was immediately instructed by Red Bull to give the position back (it would later be revealed in the FIA decision document that this was not necessary as George was not ‘in control’ of his car whilst attempting the overtake on Max). Verstappen lifted off the throttle coming out of turn four but then got back on the throttle into the apex of turn five and had contact with Russell, who had never truly regained the position that Red Bull believed he needed to. Russell eventually made his move for fourth in the penultimate corner on the same lap.

Photo: Kym Illman

On the sixty-fifth, and final lap of the Spanish Grand Prix Nico Hulkenberg overtook Lewis Hamilton for sixth, the Stake Kick Sauber driver having come from sixteenth on the grid was the most underrated drive of the weekend. In the end all the glory went to Oscar Piastri who won the Spanish Grand Prix, in the process widening his gap to Lando Norris in the World Drivers Championship, and also become only the second driver in McLaren F1’s history to score eight consecutive podiums (the other being the renowned legend, Ayrton Senna). Norris came home in second ahead of Leclerc, Russell, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Hadjar, Gasly and Alonso. However, a post-race ten-second penalty for the contact with George Russell saw Verstappen drop to tenth in the final race results, a damaging weekend for him and the Red Bull Racing team.

NEXT TIME OUT IN CANADA

Next up in the Formula One Calendar is the Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve. This race has historically been affected by adverse weather across multiple sessions so be prepared for a potentially mixed grid order dependent on teams chosen setup routes for the weather conditions. Safety Car chances are high with an almost 70% chance of Bernd Maylander making an appearance on race day. 

This win for Piastri takes the championship leader ten points clear of teammate Norris, the two drivers on 186 and 176 points respectively. Nico Hulkenberg’s magnificent fifth place moves him up to eleventh in the drivers championship and also boosts Kick Sauber to eighth in the teams standings. Also in the teams standings, McLaren are now on more than double the points of Ferrari who are in second, meanwhile Red Bull have fallen away from the top three and are now fifteen points adrift of Mercedes in third after Max Verstappen's penalty impacted the team's overall result for the weekend.