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Max Verstappen took a narrow victory over a deflated Lando Norris in the eventual 2024 Spanish Grand Prix. The race was decided by McLaren opting for a compensation strategy, which almost paid off.
Norris secured his first pole position in three years on Saturday and led the field on new soft tyres, but his pole start was poor and as he tried to prevent Verstappen from getting into Turn 1, it was George Russell who snatched the lead from fourth on the grid. Meanwhile, Norris fell behind Verstappen to third.
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️Turn off the lights in Barcelona!!!
And George Russell wanders out of turn one to take the lead!!! 😱😱#F1 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/0J08Iyv8X9
– Formula 1 (@F1) June 23, 2024
Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc’s quick escape was immediately halted as he had to brake hard to avoid Norris at the start, failing to make up any ground. Carlos Sainz quickly passed his fellow Ferrari driver but left the track at turn one. He used the run-off route and rejoined the track behind the barrier – in compliance with the rules – and thus escaped punishment.
However, at the start of lap three, Verstappen used his huge DRS advantage to snatch the lead from Russell and hold it after a very brief skirmish during the opening corner.
Verstappen built an advantage of more than one second over Russell by the end of that lap and it looked like the championship leader was in for another outright victory – but McLaren’s choice of strategy would put that in doubt.
Red Bull and McLaren disagree on strategy
Of the leading group, Russell and Sainz were the first to enter the soft-to-medium pitstop on lap 16, followed by Hamilton one lap later. Of that group, Sainz won – and managed to emerge among the Mercedes – but was quickly overtaken by Hamilton on lap 19 after the duo collided wheels.
Verstappen then pitted, covering the Mercedes and Sainz, and had a good lead over that group, with a 1.9-second pit stop on lap 18. It did little to tempt Norris and Leclerc, who continued to lap on their soft compounds at the start. Norris finally stopped on lap 24, exiting sixth, and Leclerc followed one lap later to exit seventh.
Norris quickly got ahead of Sainz at the front and made easy work of the Spaniard, then chased down Hamilton – but Russell proved a tougher act as he struggled through the opening corners on lap 35. Norris overtook the Mercedes at turn three before Russell retaliated at the next corner. Norris secured second place by coming back into turn five and overtaking Russell up the next hill.
Verstappen was nine seconds ahead of the McLaren driver, but Norris quickly reduced this gap to less than six seconds.
Norris later dug in to adhere to the compensation strategy
With his lead cut in and Norris threatening to enter the lower range, Verstappen took the opportunity to pit on the soft stuff on lap 45. Norris entered the soft stuff three laps later and stayed ahead of Russell straightaway when leaving the pits.
Norris now has eight seconds to make up if he wants to win the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix in a back-to-back battle against Verstappen. The Dutchman was told that his British rival was fiddling with his soft tires in an attempt to catch up – and Norris was soon incapacitated.
With 10 laps remaining, Norris was 5.5 seconds behind the championship leader. This gap quickly became difficult to overcome but Norris narrowed it to 4.3 seconds with five laps to go. On the last lap, the gap between Norris and Verstappen was only 2.5 seconds, and the Dutchman achieved his seventh victory this season by only 2.2 seconds.
Verstappen’s quick start and quick pit stop could be the deciding factors for Red Bull today, as they did not show a clear advantage over McLaren in Spain. Norris finished second with fastest lap, but exploded over the radio as he crossed the finish line – “I should have won, I made a mistake at the start.”
Meanwhile, Hamilton secured the final podium spot after pitting for soft cars with 22 laps to go before passing Sainz and then his Mercedes team-mate Russell to take third place.
Russell was fourth with a final stint on the hard tyres, while Leclerc settled in fifth, just four tenths behind Mercedes, with a similar strategy to Norris – underscoring Ferrari’s relative difficulties this weekend. Sainz chose the hard tires for his third stint and finished sixth.
Double points for Alpine
The Alps enjoyed a shift in pace in Spain, with Pierre Gasly qualifying seventh and teammate Esteban Ocon eighth. The pair enjoyed similar soft and medium-hard strategies and ranked ninth and tenth respectively.
Gasly lost out to Red Bull’s Perez at the end of the race but Perez’s eighth place represented another poor weekend and he added just two points to Red Bull’s total in Spain.
Ocon’s tenth position was assured before the checkered flag, as although Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg was leading in the final stages, the German driver received a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane.
Local team champion Fernando Alonso was not unknown as he finished alone in 12th place, ahead of Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu, while Lance Stroll ended the weekend without points for Aston Martin in 14th place.
Despite bringing a big upgrade package to Spain, RB finished without points as Daniel Ricciardo finished 15th and Yuki Tsunoda 19th. Valtteri Bottas finished 16th, ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, who was given a five-second penalty early on for a false start.
Williams struggled for pace and balance in Spain, with Alex Albon going off the track on his way to 18th place, and Logan Sargent running off the field in last place.
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