Red Bull Motorsports
F1
F1 to 10: What really happened at the Spanish Grand Prix
Max Verstappen takes control in Catalunya to win his third successive Grand Prix, while Oracle Red Bull Racing team-mate Sergio Pérez charges home to finish fourth from 11th on the grid.
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1. Spain in exactly 74 words*
Max Verstappen won his third Formula One race in succession by winning the Spanish Grand Prix for the third time. Oracle Red Bull Racing's reigning world champion leading every lap from pole to boost his championship advantage to 53 points. Lewis Hamilton was second for Mercedes – the 35th time Verstappen and Hamilton have finished 1-2 in a race – while his Mercedes team-mate George Russell surged from 12th on the grid to complete the rostrum.
*2023 is the 74th season of the F1 world championship
2. The Spanish GP in six pics
Verstappen had to get his elbows out to stop Sainz at the start
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
It's all pointing in the right direction for Max and the team
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Pérez's late pit stop saw him charge towards Russell for third
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Verstappen was understandably delighted with his maiden Spanish GP pole
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
3. Max brings the pain in Spain
From first practice onwards, Verstappen was in complete control
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
It had been some time since Formula One raced on a conventional racetrack after five straight races on street circuits. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya's signature sweeping curves helped Red Bull generally – and Verstappen in particular – to demonstrate the true pace of the RB19 this season.
From the very first laps of the weekend, the reigning world champion established himself as the benchmark. Verstappen led all three practice sessions, topped qualifying with a circuit-record lap (1m 12.272s), and then led for all 66 laps on Sunday, setting the fastest race lap with five laps remaining to lead Hamilton home by 24 seconds.
Verstappen's 40th career win wasn't completely smooth sailing – starting on the medium-compound tire, he had to defend with some gusto from a fast-starting Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) on soft tires into the first corner – while in the shadows of the chequered flag, Verstappen was told he'd exceeded track limits three times in the race and was issued with a black and white flag, indicating any further breaches would result in a five-second time penalty. Two laps later, he set the fastest lap of the race, simply underlining his reserve speed.
For the second Grand Prix in succession, Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Pérez was left with plenty to do after an off in qualifying saw him out of position on the starting grid; the Mexican ran wide into the gravel at Turn 5 and had to scramble to get another lap in to make the top 10, but overheating tires saw him miss Q3 by just 0.051s and line up in 11th place.
Unlike the previous weekend in Monaco, where passing is next to impossible, Pérez moved forward steadily and was in prime position for an attack on the podium's final step, hunting Russell down on soft tires after his final pit stop on Lap 51. In the end, he fell three seconds short, finishing in fourth place.
4. Tsunoda pays a heavy price
Tsunoda's battling drive was denied a points finish
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
A robust first lap by Scuderia AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda saw the Japanese muscle his way into points contention from 15th on the grid, but a late-race battle with Zhou Guanyu saw Tsunoda issued with a five-second time penalty for forcing the Alfa Romeo driver off the track as they battled through Turns 1-2. Tsunoda crossed the line in ninth place but was demoted to 12th and out of the points in a bitter end to a battling race.
Tsunoda's team-mate Nyck De Vries was again the leading AlphaTauri driver in qualifying, the Dutchman lining up 14th on the grid, and he finished in the same place after 66 laps, only occasionally looking likely to sneak into the top 10 in a race where all 20 drivers saw the checkered flag.
5. The number you need to know
73: that's the percentage of races at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya that have been won from pole position (24 of 33) since the track first hosted F1 in 1991 – a greater pole-to-win ratio than any other circuit, even Monaco.
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6. The word from the paddock
It's a big pleasure to drive with a car like this, and it showed again today. Again, a win here ... it's incredible
7. The stats that matter
Drivers' championship top 5
Position
Driver
Team
Points
Gap
1
Max Verstappen
Oracle Red Bull Racing
170
-
2
Sergio Pérez
Oracle Red Bull Racing
117
-53
3
Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin
99
-71
4
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
87
-83
5
George Russell
Mercedes
65
-105
Constructors' championship top 5
Position
Team
Points
Gap
1
Oracle Red Bull Racing
287
-
2
Mercedes
152
-135
3
Aston Martin
134
-153
4
Ferrari
100
-187
5
Alpine
40
-247
8. Away from the track
Max Verstappen, Sergio Pérez and Daniel Ricciardo. The Monaco harbor. And a remote-controlled boat race. You'll never believe it – this was absolute chaos… Watch the video below to see it for yourself.
9. Where to next, and what do I need to know?
Round 8 (Canada), June 16-18
Circuit name/location: Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montreal
Length/laps: 4.361km, 70 laps
Grands Prix held/debut: 41, 1978
Most successful driver: Lewis Hamilton (seven wins)
Most successful team: Ferrari (11 wins)
2022 podium: 1st: Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing), 2nd: Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 3rd: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
10. Inside the wide world of Red Bull Motorsports
Abdo Feghali on the F1 circuit in Jeddah
© Naim Chidiac/Red Bull Content Pool
Power sliding around corners on full opposite lock with front wheels facing away from the curbs and smoke billowing from the rears ... drifting is a spectacular test of driving skill and one of the world’s fastest-growing motorsports.
With events like Red Bull Car Park Drift growing in popularity, get the lowdown on everything you need to know about drifting.
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