Spanish GP: Verstappen holds off Norris for hard-fought win

Max Verstappen overcame intense pressure from McLaren's Lando Norris to secure victory for Red Bull in the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.

Verstappen and Norris had clashed at the start of the race into turn 1 allowing George Russell to ambush them both for the lead. But the success was short-lived and the Mercedes finished the race in P4, behind team mate Lewis Hamilton.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fifth and sixth but Ferrari never featured in the battle for victory. Alpine picked up its second consecutive double points finish for Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, with all 20 cars reaching the finish.

• 2024 Spanish Grand Prix - Race results

Sunshine and blue skies greeted the drivers on the grid at Barcelona, any overnight suggestions of rain having evaporated. In a close qualifying session, McLaren's Lando Norris had pipped Max Verstappen to pole for today's race meaning that the pair lined up on the front row ahead of Mercedes (Lewis Hamilton and George Russell), Ferrari (Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz) and Alpine (Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon).

There were solid starts for both Norris and Verstappen, who were locked in battle in the long run down to the first corner. Verstappen ultimately forced his way through despite being swept wide onto the grass, but the battle had opened the door for Russell to pass them both and take the lead. Hamilton wasn't as fortunate and remained in fourth ahead of Leclerc, who was fiercely fighting off Sainz resulting in slight contact between the Ferrari team mates.

Russell valiantly defended his new-found bounty but Verstappen was simply too strong. On lap 3 the Red Bull used DRS in turn 1 to blast past the Mercedes and pull away. That said, no one was dramatically escaping away from the car behind and intervals averaged around one second. Gasly was in a particularly tight battle to hold on to seventh from McLaren's Oscar Piastri, while Nico Hulkenberg was blocking Sergio Perez' bid to break into the top ten.

Everyone had started on soft tyres - Verstappen and Russell on used sets compared to new for Norris - with the exception of Alex Albon who had started from pit lane after Williams made overnight changes to his car. The first to pit were Sauber's Zhou Guanyu and RB's Yuki Tsunoda on lap 10 for mediums.

Perez finally passed Hulkenberg on lap 12; the Haas promptly pitted and Perez himself was in the Red Bull pit box two laps later. Gasly was in on lap 15 but had a painfully long delay with a sticky rear tyre leaving him stationary for nearly seven seconds. Russell's stop on lap 16 was almost as sluggish and he only just kept track position over Sainz, who was in at the same time.

Verstappen was in and out of pit lane on lap 18 without any hold-ups, coming back out in fourth. Hamilton had also pitted and was back out behind Sainz, but he ruthlessly dispatched the Ferrari through turn 1 on lap 18 with slight contact on the way. The stewards took a look but decided against any action.

Verstappen was carving his way back to the front with a pass on the yet-to-stop Piastri in turn 7 on lap 22. Piastri responded by pitting leaving just Norris and Leclerc on their original sets of softs. McLaren finally called their man in on lap 24 and he came back out behind Sainz in sixth, Leclerc responding next time and back out in seventh between Gasly and Ocon.

Verstappen duly returned to the lead ahead of Russell and Hamilton. After being held up for a lap behind Sainz, Norris applied DRS to pass the Ferrari on lap 26 and quickly chased down Hamilton on lap 32, with Hamilton disinclined to defend too hard. It was a different matter when Norris caught Russell on lap 35: the McLaren made the pass around the outside of turn 3 but the Mercedes hit back into 4 before Norris finally got the job done in 5 and 6 in some breathless racing.

Russell pitted soon after for new hard tyres to go the distance with Sainz making the same call. Verstappen's lead over Norris had been over eight seconds but was now being rapidly cut down to size. Despite complaining of inconsistent tyres which were six laps older than Norris, Verstappen waited until lap 44 to pit for new softs. McLaren directed Norris to pull the pin and go for broke, telling him "this is our chance".

Norris did eventually come in on lap 48, but it wasn't one of McLaren's best services. He slotted back in to second having lost ground on Verstappen who now held the whip hand. But crucially Norris was ahead of Russell who was being chased down by Hamilton who now on new softs. The inevitable mismatched pass came on lap 52. With Verstappen's lead over Norris stabilising, this meant the podium was decided.

Russell just missed out, finishing in P4 followed by Leclerc and Sainz. Piastri was seventh while Perez' three-stop strategy yielded an unremarkable P8 from Gasly and Ocon, meaning a second consecutive double points finish for Alpine. All 20 cars lasted the full race distance with no retirements.

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