Max Verstappen’s antics overshadowed another impressive win for Oscar Piastri on Sunday at the Spanish Grand Prix.
While Piastri sprinted away to earn his fifth victory of the season, and teammate Lando Norris made it a 1-2 McLaren finish, the Red Bull of Verstappen was all the rage at the Barcelona Catalunya circuit in Montmelo.
It looked like Verstappen would follow the leaders and earn the third spot on the podium until Kimi Antonelli experienced an engine issue late in the race that forced him to retire his Mercedes and bring out the safety car. McLaren pulled off a double-stack pit stop to keep their drivers in front on fresher soft tires. Verstappen, who was on a different tire strategy to begin with, was fitted with the only set Red Bull had left: new hards. That meant less grip and struggles ahead.
After the restart with six laps to go, Verstappen had already fallen behind (and tangled with) Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc when Red Bull asked him to give up a position to George Russell of Mercedes to avoid a penalty due to using the escape route to stay ahead.
As it turned out, the FIA reviewed that incident and determined no further action would be taken. Neither Red Bull nor Verstappen knew that at the time, though, leading to one unhappy driver. When Verstappen slowed down, he banged into the side of Russell’s car.
Neither car sustained critical damage; however, it’s still unacceptable behaviour. It’s also not the first time Verstappen caused a collision when he was told to concede a place. Flashback to the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP when Hamilton believed Verstappen “brake-checked” him. That resulted in a 10-second time penalty for Verstappen, a moot point considering he still finished the race in second place behind Hamilton.
Verstappen received an identical penalty Sunday, but dropped from fifth to 10th this time, costing him nine points in the championship. The four-time reigning world champion is now 49 points behind Piastri for the lead, putting a dent in his “drive for five” consecutive titles.
Still, regardless of whether or not Verstappen admits to ramming into Russell on purpose, race stewards believed his actions “undoubtedly caused” the collision and should have issued a stiffer penalty. Considering Russell received a drive-through penalty last week in Monaco for cutting a corner, you’d think causing a collision that could have put both drivers, and potentially others, in danger would warrant harsher discipline. A disqualification would have been a more fitting punishment for the crime and would have sent a message that such actions are not tolerated.
“It felt very deliberate, to be honest,” Russell told reporters. “It is something I have … never (seen) before in a Formula 1 race.
“It is a bit of a shame because Max is clearly one of the best in the world, but manoeuvres like that are totally unnecessary and let him down. And it is a shame for the kids looking up and aspiring to be Formula One drivers.”
Further discipline could come in a roundabout way. Verstappen was also handed three penalty points, bringing his total to 11 over a 12-month period. One more and Verstappen will receive an automatic one-race ban. Expect Verstappen to be on his best behaviour next time out at the Canadian Grand Prix in two weeks, as Red Bull wouldn’t want to have its star driver suspended for its home race later this month in Austria.
McLaren flexes muscles, not front wings
McLaren was unstoppable all weekend as Piastri and Norris locked out the front row during qualifying and completed their third 1-2 finish of the season.
It was also the eighth consecutive podium for Piastri, putting the 24-year-old Australian driver in an exclusive group with Ayrton Senna (1988) and Lewis Hamilton (2007) among McLaren drivers who have accomplished that feat. That’s quite the company.
McLaren is allowing its drivers to race each other — “Papaya rules” are not in place favouring one or the other (yet) — but we still haven’t seen them battle it out on the track.
As Piastri took off from pole position on the opening lap, Norris struggled at the start and dropped behind Verstappen. By the time Norris recovered and retook second place 12 laps later, Piastri was already in cruise control.
Even with the late safety car bunching up the field, Piastri took the checkered flag with a 2.471-second gap over Norris while Leclerc finished a whopping 10.455 seconds back in third.
The FIA’s clampdown on front wing flexibility this weekend didn’t appear to faze the McLaren cars, with CEO Zak Brown even throwing a cheeky comment on social media.
Ferrari finally jumps Mercedes
Ferrari overtook Mercedes for second in the constructors’ championship thanks to a second consecutive podium finish for Leclerc, who has outperformed new teammate Lewis Hamilton in all but one grand prix this season. Hamilton has fared better in the sprint races; however, there have been only two of those so far.
Hamilton was dealing with balance issues during Sunday’s race and finished sixth after Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg overtook the seven-time world champion. Sure, Hulkenberg was on fresher tires, but in what bizarro world is a Sauber passing a Ferrari driven by Hamilton? Most illogical.
Ferrari needs to figure out what has been plaguing Hamilton’s car, as the team still has a long way to go to catch McLaren. The gap between Ferrari and McLaren (197 points) is greater than the gap between Ferrari and last-place Alpine (154).
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso broke his unlucky streak by picking up points for the first time this season — and at his home race, no less.
The two-time world champion surged after the restart, passing Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson for the final points-paying position and finishing ninth following Verstappen’s penalty.
That extended Alonso’s record to 21 seasons with at least one point. You have to go all the way back to his rookie year in 2001 with Minardi when Alonso was held pointless through a season.
Alonso was also a one-man army as teammate Lance Stroll withdrew on the eve of Sunday’s race due to pain in his hand and wrist following qualifying. Stroll underwent surgery in early 2023 following a cycling accident, and his medical consultant believes the issue is related to that. The Montreal driver will undergo a procedure that could put him in doubt for his home race.
If Stroll isn’t able to go, Felipe Drugovich could make his F1 debut. The 25-year-old Brazilian driver has served as Aston Martin’s test and reserve driver since 2022, the same year he won the F2 championship. Drugovich was ineligible to hop in the car Sunday, as drivers are required to complete at least one session (e.g. practice or qualifying) before the race.
• Hulkenberg’s P5 was his best finish since the 2019 Italian GP when he raced for Renault. His result also helped Sauber escape the basement in the constructors’ championship, moving up two spots into eighth place. Now at the bottom? That would be the aforementioned Renault squad, now called Alpine.
• Hats off to Isack Hadjar: The 20-year-old rookie posted the best result in a Red Bull-powered car Sunday with his seventh-place finish for B-team Racing Bulls. Hadjar continues to impress with points in five races and has moved up to ninth in the championship.
• Verstappen’s teammate on the main squad, Yuki Tsunoda, is on the hot seat and not just because of the temperatures in Barcelona. Tsunoda qualified last and finished outside of the points again, in 13th place. Tsunoda will have to step it up or soon face the same fate as his predecessors in the second Red Bull car.
“I’ve done that before … in Mario Kart!” — Norris in the cooldown room after watching a replay of Verstappen’s collision with Russell.
Yes, that’s the second Mario Kart reference in as many weeks. Guess we know who’s playing Mario Kart World when the Nintendo Switch 2 drops Thursday.