Oscar Piastri wins Spanish GP as Max Verstappen pays penalty for late collision

The National

2 days ago

Oscar Piastri extended his lead in the Formula One title race after winning the Spanish Grand Prix in style ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris on Sunday.
The Australian, who started in pole position, produced a flawless performance at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya, taking the chequered flag with Norris second and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in third.
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.
Four-time champion Max Verstappen was demoted from fifth to 10th place after being given a 10-second penalty for colliding with fourth-place finisher George Russell of Mercedes late on.
'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,' said Piastri, who extended his lead over Norris in the drivers' championship from three to 10 points.
'It wasn't the best first practice and then we got our stuff together, it's a nice way to bounce back from Monaco, it's been a superb weekend.
'[It] has been exactly the kind of weekend I was looking for, we executed everything we needed to when it counted and that's all we could ask for.
'The team gave me a great car once again, it's a lot of fun winning races at the moment and I've been enjoying it and I hope the team are too.'
Norris admitted his teammate 'drove a very good race' with the Briton having started and finished in second, despite being overtaken by Verstappen at the start.
'I didn't quite have the pace to match [Piastri]. 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.'
There was controversy late on, tough, after Leclerc fought his way past Verstappen following a late safety car restart to seal his spot on the podium.
'Max [Verstappen] wanted to bring me towards the inside where there was all the rubber, so I didn't want to go there,' added Leclerc. 'I was trying to push him to the left, there was a little bit of contact. Fortunately, for us there were no consequences.'
However, Verstappen accused Leclerc of driving into him as the two made slight contact on the straight and then fell off the road as he attempted to defend from Russell.
Verstappen was advised to give the position to Russell to avoid a penalty, and while he seemed set to let the Briton through, he then appeared to drive into the Mercedes.
Russell crossed the line in fourth, with Verstappen fifth. However, Verstappen was hit with a 10-second penalty by the stewards, dropping him to 10th which leaves him 49 points behind Piastri in the standings.
Russell said he believed the collision with Verstappen 'felt deliberate in the moment' but said the final decision was down to the stewards.
'I mean I was as surprised as you guys were. I've seen the manoeuvres before on simulator games and go karting but never in F1,' said the Briton.
'Max is such an amazing driver and so many people look up to him it's a shame that something like that continues to occur, seems totally unnecessary and never seems to benefit himself.'
Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg finished a surprising and morale-boosting fifth for the future Audi team after passing Ferrari's seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap.
Hamilton was a disappointing sixth, Isack Hadjar seventh for Racing Bulls and Pierre Gasly eighth for Renault-owned Alpine.
Home hero Fernando Alonso scored his first points of the season with Aston Martin, who had only one car on the grid due to Lance Stroll's withdrawal through injury after Saturday's qualifying.