Spain

Pole: Charles Leclerc

Winner: Max Verstappen

Fastest lap: Sergio Perez 1.24.108

1-10

Magnussen hits Hamilton in turn 4 and goes onto the gravel. Sainz had a slow start off the line and gets overtaken by Perez. Russell running in 3rd as Hamilton pits on lap 2 to change onto the new tyres. Schumacher has gained a lot of places up into p6. Leclerc and Verstappen holding positions running p1 and 2.Lap 7 Alonso and Vettel battling in turns 3-5 Alonso overtakes on the main straight as at turn 4 Sainz goes onto the gravel at turn 4 and drops down to p11. Russell blocks Perez into turn 1 as Verstappen goes onto the gravel at turn 4 on his own Russell and Perez overtake him and we are informed that there is a large tailwind from Verstappen’s race engineer.

10-20

Lap 12 and a few drivers have been pitting. Lap 13 Verstappen is informed that his DRS is not opening and it could become an issue further in the race as Norris pits and comes out in front of his former teammate Sainz. Russell and Verstappen pit at the same time on lap 14. Russell is now in clean air and has built a small gap from Verstappen. Verstappen still struggling with his Drs wing but has it on lap 17 who almost overtakes Russell who moves to the right and defends well. Perez pits on lap 18 and comes out p4. Vettel and Leclerc are the only ones who have not pitted. Russell defending well again on lap 19 from Verstappen who is getting frustrated with his Drs not working.

20-30

Russell’s race engineer tells George that Perez is going for an open stop to which George responds with ‘Blimey’. In lap 21 Verstappen still following Russell and having problems with his DRS. 2.2-second pit stop for Leclerc on lap 22. In lap 24 Verstappen overtakes into turn 1 but Russell comes back at him into turn 2 Russell is managing his tyres as he struggles for grip in turn 7. Russell really showing off his defence. Perez questions why he can’t be let by Verstappen when he seems to have a quicker car. Lap 27 Leclerc is having to retire his car after a loss of power. Russell and Verstappen battle for the first position. Lap 29 Verstappen goes for the undercut on Russell to try and get ahead of the Mercedes on the soft tyre.

30-40

Lap 31 Perez overtakes Russell with DRS into turn 1. Lap 33 Verstappen clears Bottas. Hamilton driving a very good race up into p8 following the Ferrari of Sainz. Norris pits on lap 34 with a slightly slow pit stop. Russell pits on lap 37 and goes onto the medium tyre. Lap 38 Perez pits onto the medium tyre.

40-50

Lap 43 Vettel pits onto the medium tyre. Verstappen tyres wearing down. He is looking comfortable with a 16-second lead at the front. Lap 44 Verstappen makes his final pit stop onto the medium tyre. Lap 46 Sainz pits onto the soft tyre.

50-60

Perez swaps with Verstappen but will be questioning that decision after the race. Hamilton overtakes Ocon for p6 and sets the fastest lap at the same time on lap 51. Lap 52 Russell pits on the soft tyres. Lap 52 Norris also pits for the soft tyre. Lap 53 Russell overtakes Bottas on the inside into turn 1 whilst Bottas locks up. Bottas has driven a good race in p4 as Sainz is trying to catch up. Lap 56 Hamilton looking to challenge for p4 as he is setting multiple fastest laps.10 laps to go and Tsunoda makes a move on Schumacher to take the final points position with Schumacher struggling with the state of his tyres. Lap 58 Sainz overtakes Bottas into turn 1 and Hamilton then overtakes into turn 3 so Hamilton moves into p5 and Sainz in p4. Lap 59 and Hamilton is closing the gap to Sainz.

60-66

Lap 60 Hamilton overtakes with DRS on the outside into turn 1. He has driven a really good race from right at the back from lap 1. Latifi overtakes Magnussen to take p16 staying ahead of Albon for this race. Hamilton and Russell both warned about a potential DNF race for them and are having to manage their car's cooling system so are having to lift and coast as on lap 65 Sainz overtakes with DRS to take p4 from Hamilton. Russell built a 10-second gap to Sainz. Verstappen returns 6 years later to take a win from where he won his first f1 race in f1. A 1-2 for Red Bull Perez taking p2 with the fastest lap and Russell taking p3.

Summary:

Disappointment for Ferrari as Charles Leclerc had to retire from the race and Carlos Sainz ended up in p4 after his early spin-off at turn 4 in the early stages of the race. Verstappen and Perez showed resilience finishing 1-2 despite Verstappen catching some tailwind into turn 4 and going off on the gravel in addition he experienced troubles with his DRS which was not opening on the pit straight at some points during the race. Russell was part of an exciting battle with race winner Verstappen which saw them battle for p1 across numerous laps in the early stages of the race before Verstappen later comes out as the winner of that battle.

Verstappen wins at the circuit he took his first-ever win in Formula 1 and added another 25 points in his battle to retain p1 in the driver's championship.

Podium celebrations as Red Bull celebrate a 1-2 and George Russell celebrates another podium for Mercedes.