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Charles Bradley

F1 results: Verstappen wins Spanish GP, Mercedes takes 2-3

Verstappen dominated the race after fending off a first-corner challenge for Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari.

Mercedes had the second-fastest car in the race, and Lewis Hamilton and George Russell filled the podium spots, ahead of the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez, who rose from 11th to finish fourth.

2023 F1 Spanish GP race results

Cla Driver Chassis Engine Gap Interval
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Red Bull    
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 24.090 24.090
3 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes Mercedes 32.389 8.299
4 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull Red Bull 35.812 3.423
5 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari Ferrari 45.698 9.886
6 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin Mercedes 1'03.320 17.622
7 Spain Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Mercedes 1'04.127 0.807
8 France Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 1'09.242 5.115
9 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1'11.878 2.636
10 France Pierre Gasly Alpine Renault 1'13.530 1.652
11 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari Ferrari 1'14.419 0.889
12 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri Red Bull 1'15.416 0.997
13 Australia Oscar Piastri McLaren Mercedes    
14 Netherlands Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri Red Bull    
15 Germany Nico Hulkenberg Haas Ferrari    
16 Thailand Alex Albon Williams Mercedes    
17 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes    
18 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari    
19 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari    
20 United States Logan Sargeant Williams Mercedes    
 

How the 2023 F1 Spanish GP was won

Verstappen, who started on medium-compound tyres, just held his pole position advantage on the run to Turn 1, fending off the soft-shod Sainz’s attack around the outside of the first corner. Behind them, third-placed qualifier Lando Norris (McLaren) and a fast-starting Hamilton touched at Turn 2, and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) passed Hamilton moments later for third at Turn 5.

Hamilton settled into fourth place, ahead of Esteban Ocon’s Alpine, but Norris was forced to pit at the end of the opening lap for a new nose section. Russell passed Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin for sixth on lap seven.

Hamilton repassed Stroll for third on lap eight, and Russell gained another place from Ocon on lap 11 to run fifth.

After a disastrous Q2 stranded him in 11th on the grid, Sergio Perez moved through the field in the second Red Bull and ran eighth by lap 10.

With Hamilton closing in, Sainz pitted for mediums on lap 16, and the Mercedes duo were happy to run longer on the softs. Hamilton pitted nine laps later, rejoining behind Sainz, but on much fresher mediums and Russell stopped a lap later, staying just ahead of Ocon.

Verstappen pitted on lap 27, switching his mediums for hards, while Perez ran a lap longer and rejoined back in ninth.

Hamilton passed Sainz for second at Turn 1 on lap 28, but was already 12s behind Verstappen by this point, as Russell passed Stroll for fourth. Just after half distance, Russell also passed Sainz to make it a Mercedes 2-3, while Perez carved his way up to fifth on his fresh rubber.

Sainz made his second pitstop just before two-third’s distance on lap 42, switching to hards.

Russell pitted for softs on lap 46, and Hamilton followed suit five laps later. Perez also stopped for softs, rejoining 3s behind Sainz. That allowed Verstappen to make a comfort stop for softs for the run to the finish too – despite getting a black and white flag for exceeding track limits on three occasions.

Alonso passed Ocon with 14 laps to go, albeit only just after the Frenchman made a hard defensive move on the run to Turn 1. A lap later, Perez passed Sainz for fourth and set off after the Mercedes but ran out of time to catch Russell.

Sainz finished fifth, ahead of the Astons of Stroll and Alonso. Ocon was eighth from Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) – who got a 5s penalty for forcing a car off track – and Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo).

Due to Tsunoda's penalty, Gasly got the final point in 10th.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc started from the pitlane on hard tyre, after the rear-end of his car was changed following his terrible qualifying performance, behind Logan Sargeant’s Williams.

He went on an aggressive tyre strategy, switching to softs on lap 17 and back to hards on lap 43, but he could only finish 12th.

2023 F1 Spanish GP fastest laps

Cla Driver  Car/Engine   Time   Delay 
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'16.330  
11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'16.666 0.336
44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'16.676 0.346
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'17.182 0.852
63 George Russell Mercedes 1'17.875 1.545
20 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1'18.069 1.739
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'18.083 1.753
77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'18.242 1.912
16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'18.357 2.027
10  10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'18.375 2.045
11  55 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1'18.403 2.073
12  21 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'18.594 2.264
13  81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'18.679 2.349
14  18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'18.722 2.392
15  24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'18.753 2.423
16  27 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1'18.776 2.446
17  22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'18.904 2.574
18  31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'18.946 2.616
19  23 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1'19.133 2.803
20  2 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1'19.247 2.917

2023 F1 Spanish GP pitstops

Cla Driver 1 2 3 4
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen M 26 H 26 S 16    
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton S 27 M 26 S 19    
3 United Kingdom George Russell S 25 M 20 S 24    
4 Mexico Sergio Perez M 27 H 23 S 16    
5 Spain Carlos Sainz S 18 M 26 H 25    
6 Canada Lance Stroll S 17 S 23 H 32    
7 Spain Fernando Alonso S 22 S 28 H 22    
8 France Esteban Ocon S 16 M 22 H 31    
9 China Zhou Guanyu S 9 H 27 H 30    
10 France Pierre Gasly S 22 M 20 H 27    
11 Monaco Charles Leclerc H 16 S 25 H 50    
12 Japan Yuki Tsunoda S 10 H 24 M 32    
13 Australia Oscar Piastri S 19 H 22 M 26    
14 Netherlands Nyck de Vries S 9 H 29 M 27    
15 Germany Nico Hulkenberg S 11 M 18 H 17 M 22
16 Thailand Alex Albon S 16 H 21 M 28    
17 United Kingdom Lando Norris S 3 H 21 M 28 S 18
18 Denmark Kevin Magnussen S 10 M 14 H 18 M 23
19 Finland Valtteri Bottas S 5 H 34 H 26    
20 United States Logan Sargeant M 17 H 19 H 29    
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