Verstappen won in Spain ahead of the Mercedes duo

2023-06-04 14:56:00

The 25-year-old Dutchman drove impressively to his fifth win of the season at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmelo on Sunday. His lead over Lewis Hamilton was 24 seconds. Third was George Russell in the second Mercedes – the “Silver Arrows” gave a sign of life in Spain. Verstappen’s stable rival Sergio Perez had to settle for fourth place.

Verstappen, who had started from pole position, also set the fastest lap of the race and further extended his lead over Perez in the championship standings. For Red Bull Racing it was the 99th Formula 1 victory – the Austro-British team could celebrate number 100 in two weeks in Montreal.

When driving to the first corner after the start, Verstappen was close, but stayed ahead of Sainz. Behind them, Lando Norris suffered a damaged wing after a slight contact and had to have it replaced. His chance of participating in the award ceremony was gone. What followed was a lonely race for Verstappen, while the pursuers tried their luck with a wide variety of strategies. Hamilton put pressure on Carlos Sainz early on, prompting the Ferrari driver to pit for medium tires.

Perez quickly managed to work his way up from eleventh on the grid to fourth. Russell, who had started from twelfth place, made up more places in the second Mercedes and was suddenly third behind Hamilton – both Mercedes were driving soft. “Tire degradation is less than expected,” said Mercedes communications chief Bradley Lord after 20 laps. Shortly thereafter, Hamilton turned into the pit lane anyway, Russell followed one lap later. Sainz was back in front of the “Silver Arrows” for a short time. Hamilton then overtook the Spaniard on track, and Russell did the same a few minutes later.

Both Mercedes and Perez made a second pit stop at the finish. Hamilton stayed ahead of his teammate while Russell successfully defended third place against Perez. For the Brit it was the first podium of the year. Verstappen meanwhile received a warning for disregarding the track limit.