Oscar Piastri extends his championship points lead following race victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, leading home to a McLaren 1-2 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as Max Verstappen received a ten-second time penalty for clashing with George Russell.
Piastri led from pole into Turn 1, while Verstappen jumped Lando Norris by sweeping around the outside.
Behind them there was an intense battle between the Ferraris and the Mercedes cars, with Lewis Hamilton emerging ahead and seventh-starting Leclerc soon passing Russell as well to take fourth and fifth. Leclerc was soon ordered past Hamilton by Ferrari while the seven-time champion struggled from a lack of rear grip.
Verstappen couldn’t keep second for long, though, with Norris breezing past the Red Bull driver on lap 13 into Turn 1. At that point Lando’s gap to his leading teammate had extended to five seconds, a gap which Norris couldn’t reduce before the first round of pitstops.
Verstappen responded by making an early pitstop for another set of soft tyres, the tyre compound everyone bar his pitlane starting teammate Yuki Tsunoda had begun the race with.
With the advantage of fresh rubber being huge at the tyre-hungry circuit, Verstappen quickly undercut Norris and after both McLarens pitted around lap 22 and 23 the Red Bull driver emerged in a net lead, despite with an important tyre life deficit.
Verstappen was vocally frustrated with the Red Bull’s lack of grip, compounded by clutch issues, as he quickly converted from a two to a three-stop strategy to drop behind the McLarens once more.
That second set of softs allowed the four-time world champion to stay in the mix by cutting into the second-placed Norris, who suffered from front-left tyre graining but still managed to keep the gap to his teammate stable. At the halfway point Piastri led from Norris by four seconds, with Verstappen another two seconds behind. Leclerc was a lonely fourth followed by a battling Hamilton and Russell.
Verstappen continued gaining on Norris until his mediums were past their best and both McLarens started upping their pace. The Red Bull final roll of the dice was another undercut attempt with a third pitstop for used softs, but both McLarens responded with stops of their own to keep the top three positions as they were.
Having battled past the lapped Alonso, Lawson and Bearman, the race was then neutralised following the retirement of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who went off with an apparent technical issue to bring out a full safety car.
Most drivers came in again – making it three stops for McLaren and four for Verstappen – with Red Bull’s lead driver dismayed by being put on the much slower hard tyres, having no other tyres left.
On the lap 62 restart, a hefty delay after letting lapped cars unlap themselves, Piastri controlled from Norris at the front.
Meanwhile, Verstappen had a huge slide out of the final corner that saw him lose momentum to allow Leclerc to jump ahead on the restart. Verstappen still struggled on the hard tyres into Turn 1 as Russell lunged down the inside, with Verstappen taking to the escape route.
Verstappen went into Mad Max mode when told to let Russell past by his race engineer and after appearing to give the position back into Turn 4 it then looked like he clashed the Mercedes out of the way deliberately, an incident that was then investigated by the stewards.
After the chequered flag, the stewards decided to apply a ten-second penalty for Max Verstappen. So the Red Bull driver drops down to P10.
At the front Piastri led Norris home by 2.4 seconds to take his fifth win of the 2025 season, extending his championship lead on Norris to ten points.
Leclerc took the final spot on the podium ahead of Russell and Verstappen, but the Red Bull man then received a post-race penalty that dropped him to tenth and a single championship point.
In the background Nico Hulkenberg was a brilliant fifth for Sauber after a late pass on Ferrari’s Hamilton. Isack Hadjar kept his nose clear to finish seventh, adding to his impressive run of results with Racing Bulls. Pierre Gasly lost out but still scored important points for Alpine in eighth.
Fernando Alonso finally got off the mark with his first points of the season in ninth, the last driver to be elevated ahead of an angry Verstappen.
As well as Antonelli, Williams driver Alex Albon retired from the race following contact with Liam Lawson. Aston’s Lance Stroll didn’t start the race, withdrawing on medical grounds due to recurring pain to his right hand and wrist.
So a crazy restart following a late safety car. Max’s bash against George was not ideal and even with the ten-second penalty, the four-time champion will receive further punishment.
As for McLaren, a double podium is fantastic for the constructors’ standings. Oscar Piastri scoring his fifth win is significant in terms of the championship.
Spanish Grand Prix, race results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:32:57.375
2 Lando Norris McLaren +2.471s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +10.455s
4 George Russell Mercedes +11.359s
5 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +13.648s
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +15.508s
7 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +16.022s
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine +17.882s
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +21.564s
10 Max Verstappen Red Bull +21.826s*
11 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +25.532s
12 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +25.996s
13 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +28.822s
14 Carlos Sainz Williams +29.309s
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine +31.381s
16 Esteban Ocon Haas +32.197s
17 Oliver Bearman Haas +37.065s
Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes DNF
Alexander Albon Williams DNF
*Ten-second time penalty for causing a collision with George Russell
Oscar Piastri has further strengthened his championship lead by clinching a commanding victory in the Spanish Grand Prix, the Australian leading team mate Lando Norris in a McLaren 1-2 amid a dramatic end to the race that saw Max Verstappen and George Russell collide.
Piastri made an excellent start from pole position, allowing the 24-year-old to build an early lead from Verstappen who had overtaken Norris into Turn 1. Norris later retook the position – only for Verstappen to leapfrog both McLarens after the first pit stops, putting himself into P1.
This proved to be brief, however, as the Dutchman pitted early for a second stop, handing the lead back to Piastri – all of which triggered much intrigue over whether Verstappen would opt for a three-stop strategy, a scenario that could pose a threat to the papaya squad should the Red Bull have fresher rubber later on.
Verstappen did indeed embark on a three-stop – but the whole picture was dramatically shaken up when a Safety Car was deployed in the latter stages after Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes pulled off track with a mechanical issue, prompting most of the frontrunners to pit again.
While Piastri and Norris surged clear at the restart amid a six-lap dash to the flag, Verstappen found himself passed by Charles Leclerc for third before battling with Russell. The pair made contact and Verstappen was forced to go down the escape road, only for Red Bull to tell their driver to hand the position back.
There was then another collision between the pair for which Verstappen subsequently received a 10-second time penalty. But there were no such dramas ahead for Piastri, who sealed his fifth victory of the season ahead of McLaren team mate Norris.
Leclerc sealed the final spot on the podium for Ferrari in third, while Russell claimed fourth and Nico Hulkenberg was an eye-catching fifth for Kick Sauber after starting back from P15 on the grid.
Lewis Hamilton followed in sixth for Ferrari, while Isack Hadjar added to Racing Bulls’ tally in seventh and Pierre Gasly claimed eighth for Alpine. Fernando Alonso finally scored his maiden points of the campaign in P9 for Aston Martin, while Verstappen’s penalty dropped him down to a final position of P10.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/piastri-leads-mclaren-1-2-from-norris-in-spanish-gp-amid-late-race-drama-for.2t1WkW9NVeMzJbOIkpM8u8
Former Formula 1 driver Nico Rosberg has argued that the 10-second penalty handed to Max Verstappen for a collision with George Russell was “very lenient.”
In the latter stages of the Spanish Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver was involved in two collisions following the safety car. The first involved Charles Leclerc and is under investigation by the stewards. The second was with Russell. As the two drivers navigated Turn 1, Russell lunged down the inside, and although he was ahead at the apex and within the white lines, he lost control due to the dirty air produced by Leclerc’s Ferrari. As a result, Russell went into the side of Verstappen as he countered his oversteer.
The four-time champion was forced to use the escape road and came out ahead of the Briton. Red Bull later instructed Verstappen to let Russell pass to avoid a penalty – something the Dutchman was clearly unhappy about. Russell went for the overtake again at Turn 5, seemingly believing he was being allowed past, and this resulted in a collision between the two.
Despite crossing the line in fifth, Verstappen was handed a 10-second penalty for the second collision with Russell which placed him down in 10th.
Speaking during the Sky Sports F1 broadcast, the 2016 F1 champion explained:
“The first one was George’s fault because he went in too hot, oversteered out and tapped Max who then had to use the escape road. That’s not the way to do the pass.
“Red Bull messed up by saying let George pass. That really annoyed Max because he knows George rammed him off.
“In Max’s eyes he’s like 100 per cent in the right. ‘Why are you telling me to do this, watch this I will show you what he did’, slowed down and rammed into him which is even worse. To slow down and ram into another driver is pretty bad.”
Commenting on the 10-second penalty, Rosberg added:
“That’s a very lenient one from my point of view. Remember Sebastian Vettel against Lewis Hamilton in Baku 2017.”
Rosberg felt that Verstappen should have received a black flag and a disqualification. He reiterated:
“It looked like a very intentional retaliation. Wait for the opponent, go ramming into him, just like you felt the other guy rammed into you at Turn 1.
“That’s something which is extremely unacceptable and I think the rules would be a black flag yes. If you wait for your opponent to bang into him, that’s a black flag.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/rosberg-questions-max-verstappens-lenient-spanish-gp-penalty-thats-a-black-flag/10728782/
George Russell has accused Max Verstappen of deliberately crashing into him during the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix and claimed the move was “totally unnecessary”.
Drama escalated in Barcelona after the lap 61 safety car restart, as third-placed Verstappen was immediately put under pressure from behind following a slide out of the final corner.
Charles Leclerc first overtook him down the start-finish straight but banged wheels with Verstappen in the process, irking the four-time champion who said the Ferrari driver needed penalising.
Russell next pressurised Verstappen having gone down the inside of Turn 1, but the Red Bull driver stayed ahead after being forced to use the escape road.
Three laps later though, Red Bull told Verstappen to hand Russell fourth place and the even angrier Dutchman, who disagreed with the order, slowed down into Turn 5 before speeding up again and into the Mercedes.
Verstappen eventually let Russell overtake but still received a 10s penalty which dropped him from fifth to 10th and the Briton said “it felt very deliberate”.
“It’s something that I’ve seen numerous times in sim racing and on iRacing. Never have I seen it in a Formula 1 race,” Russell, who finished fourth, added.
“So that was something new. It’s a bit of a shame. Max is clearly one of the best drivers in the world, but manoeuvres like that are just totally unnecessary and sort of lets him down.
“It’s a shame for all the young kids looking up and aspiring to be Formula 1 drivers. So, as I said, I don’t know what he was thinking. In the end I’m not going to lose sleep over it because I also benefited from those antics.”
Russell believes questions need to be asked if stewards reckon Verstappen truly meant it because you “cannot deliberately crash into another driver”.
“We’ve put our lives on the line,” he said. “We’re fortunate the cars are as safe as they are these days. We shouldn’t take it for granted.
“As I said, it’s down to the stewards to determine if it’s deliberate or not. If they do think it’s deliberate, then they need to have a hard question.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/george-russell-accuses-max-verstappen-of-deliberate-crash-in-f1-spanish-gp/10728808/
Max Verstappen has refused to fully comment on the clash with George Russell at the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix that has put him on the edge of a race ban.
The Red Bull driver was given a 10-second penalty for colliding with Russell during the closing laps of the Barcelona race, having appeared to follow orders from his team to let the Mercedes driver through after their initial clash at Turn 1 when fighting for position, which saw the Dutch driver go off the track.
But during the incident into Turn 5, Verstappen clattered into Russell which saw the FIA stewards slap him with a 10s penalty that dropped him to 10th place in the final results.
Verstappen also picked up three penalty points on his licence which has pushed him to 11 in total over a 12-month period – meaning if he picks up one more point he will face a one-race ban. His next points don’t come off until after the Austrian GP at the end of June.
The four-time F1 world champion wasn’t drawn into giving his full assessment of the clash with Russell as he preferred to assess his race overall.
“Does it matter?” Verstappen said on Sky Sports F1 when asked for his side of events. “Yeah, okay, that’s great. I mean, I prefer to speak about the race than just one single moment.
“We tried to do a three-stop and I think it was quite good. It was quite racy, but we also needed it because we actually had quite a bit of degradation on the tyres. So I think that was good.
“Unfortunately, then of course the safety car came out at the end and we basically ran out of tyres. And the hard tyre was clearly not the right tyre. I mean, when you only have six laps to go, everyone can go flat out.
“I was severely grip limited on the hard.”
Verstappen was left exposed after the late-race safety car period as those around him could pit for soft tyres while he only had a fresh set of hard tyres, to which Red Bull switched him.
The compound deficit left him unable to fire up the hard rubber as quickly as his soft-shod rivals, causing him to slide out of the final corner at the restart. This saw Charles Leclerc pull alongside him, which led to contact between the pair that was investigated after the race.
That incident then led to Verstappen being under threat from Russell at Turn 1, as his race unravelled from there.
“On the straight I got driven into already and then into Turn 1 as well, then they [Red Bull] told me to give the position back,” Verstappen said later to the written media. “But honestly I think the biggest issue that we have is just the racing standards. What is allowed, what isn’t, is not very natural and that is quite frustrating.
“Sometimes it works for you, sometimes it works against you and today that worked against me.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/verstappen-shuts-down-russell-clash-questions-does-it-matter/10728847/
Oscar Piastri was left feeling “proud” of his victory in the Spanish Grand Prix, with the Australian managing the different phases of the race – including a dramatic restart following a late Safety Car – to seal his fifth win of the season so far.
After building an early lead via a strong start from pole position, Piastri briefly lost P1 to Max Verstappen amid the first round of pit stops – but when the Dutchman pitted early for the second of his planned three-stop strategy, the McLaren driver returned to the top.
There were further challenges to come, however, as a Safety Car was deployed in the latter stages owing to Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli pulling off track with a mechanical issue, requiring Piastri to manage to restart ahead of a six-lap dash to the finish.
The championship leader executed this well and crossed the line 2.471s clear of team mate Lando Norris to lead a McLaren 1-2, marking a return to the top step of the podium after two races without a victory.
In terms of whether he had handled the 66-lap encounter perfectly, Piastri commented: “More or less, I guess. Obviously a great start and a good first stint meant that I could set up the rest of the race a bit easier.
“Getting through all the traffic was really tough, and the dirty air from three seconds, four seconds back starts already to make a big difference.
“I feel like it was difficult to get through that at points, but I feel like when I needed to push and unleash the pace then I could do a good job, and obviously the Safety Car at the end, I feel like I managed that pretty well and then I knew I had the pace. A good weekend.”
Reflecting further on getting back to winning ways at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Piastri said: “It was a bit of a surprise to see Max try a three-stop and it nearly worked for him but, yeah, it was a great weekend overall.
“I think the pace was really good, we could turn it on when we needed to. Just very proud of the work we’ve done this weekend. It wasn’t the best first practice, and then we got our stuff together. It’s a nice way to bounce back from Monaco so it’s been a superb weekend.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/piastri-proud-to-bounce-back-with-victory-in-spain-as-he-hails-weekend-ive.4goJtVKscjB9BI2TB0fg6Y