Piastri and Norris score McLaren 1-2 at Spanish GP to extend F1 lead. Verstappen 10th after penalty
Associated Press
MONTMELO, Spain (AP) — McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris moved closer to making this Formula 1 season a simple question of which one of them will come out on top after finishing the Spanish Grand Prix one-two on Sunday.
That sense of dominance was aided by a late-race collapse by Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team. Verstappen was bearing down on Norris until a late safety car led to him having slower tires. He was quickly passed by Charles Leclerc and George Russell before the defending champion made it much worse by colliding with Russell's Mercedes.
The resulting 10-second penalty for Verstappen sent him plummeting down to a 10th-placed finish in Spain.
Things got testy from there.
Russell called the move 'deliberate" and said Verstappen set a bad example.
Verstappen replied that 'next time I will bring a tissue.'
Piastri won the race with poise from pole position and ended Verstappen's run of three consecutive wins at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Piastri has 186 points, 10 more than Norris. Verstappen dropped to 49 points behind the leader.
Where does that leave the title race with still a long way to go?
Verstappen appears ready to focus on 2026 when the F1 rulebook will be rewritten — or for McLaren to mess up big time.
'I never said that I was in a championship fight,' Verstappen said. 'First of all, I think every race so far it's been tough. You know when they get their things right, they're unbeatable. And I think that's quite clear this season.' Breakthrough campaign for Piastri
While Verstappen was in misery, Piastri was relishing another victory in a breakthrough campaign for the 24-year-old Australian who so far is handling the pressure of being the front-runner with aplomb.
'It has been a great year and this weekend has been exactly the kind of weekend I've been looking for,' said Piastri. 'It is a lot of fun winning races at the moment.'
It was the third McLaren one-two of the season and the team's seventh win in nine races, with Piastri taking five of those victories.
This was the first time in a decade that a driver other than Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton won the event held near Barcelona, whose future is in question with the addition of a race in Madrid next year. Norris recovers from a bad start
Last year in Spain, Norris had started from pole only for Verstappen to jump past him on his way to winning. This time, Verstappen slipped past Norris to move from third to second after Turn 1.
But Norris only had to wait 12 laps before he closed down on Verstappen who told his team that he had 'no grip' as he was sliding on his tires. Norris screamed past with the DRS boost on the straightaway to again put the orange cars in front.
'Oscar drove a very good race today, (I) didn't quite have the pace to match him but we gave it our best shot,' Norris said about finishing second.
Leclerc was third as he again bettered Hamilton, his new Ferrari teammate. Another bad outing for Hamilton
Hamilton had another difficult day for Ferrari, being told to pull over for a faster Leclerc early on and then being passed by Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber on the final laps.
The seven-time world champion has yet to reach the podium in a grand prix since leaving Mercedes for the Italian team.
Hamilton was visibly disappointed by the performance, saying his car was unbalanced.
'That was the worst race I have experienced, balance-wise," he told reporters. Great drive by Hulk
Hulkenberg had the drive of the day as he moved up from a 15th-spot start to finish a season-best fifth, right ahead of Hamilton.
"I saw Hulkenberg finished fifth, which is pretty impressive so well done to him,' Piastri said.
Rookie Isack Hadjar was seventh for Racing Bulls, followed by Pierre Gasly of Alpine.
Fernando Alonso finally got in the points this season to thrill home fans with a ninth-placed finish for Aston Martin. Alonso's teammate Lance Stroll withdrew due to pain in his hand and wrist.
Verstappen's teammate Yuki Tsunoda started from last place after a disastrous qualifying session for Red Bull's second driver and managed to finish 13th.
Kimi Antonelli was in the points when his Mercedes appeared to have trouble and he ended up in the gravel, causing the late yellow flag and safety car.
The race attracted several soccer celebrities including members of England's soccer squad along with coach Thomas Tuchel. Among those in attendance, Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka and others toured the paddock shortly after they arrived in Barcelona to prepare for a World Cup qualifier against Andorra next weekend.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Brazil soccer great Roberto Carlos were also there, along with Barcelona players Ferran Torres and Éric García. Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski was in Red Bull's garage on Saturday for qualifying.
Next up is the Canadian GP in two weeks.
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
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