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SPANISH GP – Oscar Piastri beats Lando Norris by two and a half seconds to win in Barcelona

Testing & Race Reports
Jack
1-06-2025

Oscar Piastri drove a brilliant race to beat his teammate Lando Norris by just under two and a half seconds to win the Spanish Grand Prix. The Australian won the start and then managed to hold his teammate behind to take his fifth win of the season, as he delivered another clinical execution as he managed to hold off his teammate.

Piastri always looked in control as he cemented the lead while Norris as left battling Max Verstappen, but while he fended off and retook the position he never looked to be seriously challenged by Norris.

McLaren continued their strong form with much of the race an exclusive battle between them, as Norris fended off and pulled away from Charles Leclerc. Leclerc dropping eight seconds behind the two McLaren’s as they dominated the race further underlining their status as favourites for a title fight between their two drivers and the Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya tends to favour championship-winning teams.

Piastri’s fifth win of the season moves him into a ten-point lead over Norris in the championship, but Verstappen’s eventful final few laps has left him forty-nine points behind the Australian.

Piastri wins the Spanish Grand Prix: “It was a bit of a surprise to see Max Verstappen try a three-stop and it nearly worked for him, so yeah it was a great weekend overall though. The overall pace was really good and we could turn it on when we needed to and just very proud of the work we’ve done this weekend.”

Norris said, “Oscar drove a very good race today. I didn’t quite have the pace to match him. We gave it our best shot. It’s a long race, anything could have happened at the end of the race. We both got pretty sideways with the safety car restart. It was a good, fun race and for us as a team to finish one-two is even better.”

Leclerc speaking after he finished in third: “It was a battle for track position to get the slipstream from the guys in front. Max [Verstappen] wanted to bring me towards the inside where there was all the rubber, so I didn’t want to go there. I was trying to push him to the left, there was a little bit of contact. Fortunately, for us there were no consequences.”

In the closing six-lap sprint to the flag, like they had done at the start Piastri and Norris surged clear leaving Max Verstappen and George Russell to fight, when they collided. The four-time champion had put the pressure on the McLarens using a three-stop before a safety car caused by Kimi Antonelli suffering an engine failure.

Russell was fourth finishing nearly nine tenths behind Leclerc and two seconds ahead of Nico Hulkenberg. Verstappen had finished the race fifth, but dropped to tenth following a penalty for causing a collision with Russell.

Russell then tried to make a move down the inside of Verstappen, with the Red Bull running wide but coming back on track and staying ahead of the Mercedes. The Red Bull pit wall soon told the Dutchman to give the place back to Russell but, just as he appeared to do so, the two cars made contact as the Mercedes made its move on the outside.

Verstappen complained that Russell had pushed him off, but his engineer Giampiero Lambiase ordered him to give the position back, citing the rules on racing which say that a driver on the inside trying an overtaking move has the right to the corner if he is far enough alongside going in.

But he had appeared to move over to the inside and give space to Russell to pass him on the outside on the entry to Turn Four with two laps to go, as Russell went around him, Verstappen suddenly appeared back on the inside and speared into his car.

Stewards took a dim view of Verstappen’s driving and swiftly issued the four-time world champion with a ten-second time penalty, dropping him from fifth to tenth.

Red Bull took the gamble on a three stop race to try and pass the McLarens, but Antonelli stopping on track meant the field managed to close up and with him forced onto the hard tyres after the team ran out of mediums and softs, it made him effectively a sitting duck and he fell down the order to tenth with the rest of the top ten on softs.

Verstappen then struggled at the restart when he was running third, first having a wobble out of the final corner, allowing Leclerc to pull alongside him and pass before Russell dived down the inside through the opening corners of the lap overtaking the Dutchman.

Nico Hulkenberg was fifth in a very strong result for Haas the German finishing two seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time champion had at one stage been asked to release Leclerc as he struggled with a lack of rear grip, as the Ferrari’s at that stage of the race were fighting Verstappen who was struggling with a clutch issues and grip.

Isack Hadjar finished seventh half a second behind Hamilton and ahead of Pierre Gasly by nearly two seconds, while Fernando Alonso’s run as ‘unluckiest driver’ came to an end as he scored his first points of the season. Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll did not start because of recurring pain to his right hand and wrist.

A statement from Aston Martin confirmed that the Canadian had been suffering wrist and hand pain over the course of the past six weeks – deemed by his medical consultant to be in relation to the procedure he underwent in 2023 following a pre-season cycling accident, which saw him miss that years Bahrain Test.

Liam Lawson finished eleventh following early contact with Alex Albon which caused the Williams driver to retire. The Racing Bull finishing just over four seconds ahead of Gabriel Bortoletto, while the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda was nearly three seconds behind. The Japanese driver had started from the pit lane after set up changes.

Albon’s teammate Carlos Sainz was three tenth ahead of Franco Colapinto. Esteban Ocon was nearly five seconds ahead of Haas teammate ollie Bearman, they were the final classified finishers in sixteenth and seventeenth.

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