Formula One was back in Europe for the FORMULA 1 ARAMCO GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA 2024, the first of a triple-header that will take us to July 7. Lando Norris earned the second pole position of his career, hoping to convert that into a second victory.
Lando Norris got away well from the initial start but he was not far enough ahead to cover off Max Verstappen down the long run to the first corner. He squeezed Verstappen partially onto the grass adjacent to the pit lane, which was noted but never investigated by the stewards. This put the duo side-by-side into the first corner.
But George Russell stole the show, sweeping around the outside of the first corner, taking the lead. He had a fantastic start from the second row of the grid, while teammate Lewis Hamilton had a horrible start and lost positions off the start. Norris was caught in the middle in the first corner, backing out and conceding P2 to Verstappen.
In the opening laps, the two Ferrari drivers were battling hard with each other. Carlos Sainz overtook Charles Leclerc around the outside of the first corner but squeezed him too much. The two touched, causing Sainz to run wide and cut the second corner. Sainz kept his lead, but the move frustrated Leclerc and there was no love lost between the teammates.
Russell’s lead was shortlived, with Verstappen overtaking the Mercedes on the third lap. The Red Bull closed the gap with DRS down the main straight. Russell went defensive into the first corner, covering off the inside line, but the speed difference was too large and Verstappen made a comfortable overtake around the outside.
Russell was the first of the leading cars to pit on lap 16. There were issues on the rear tyre, causing a slow 5.3-second pit stop. He narrowly beat Carlos Sainz, who had followed the Mercedes into the pit lane. Verstappen pitted the following lap to cover off the undercut attempt.
When asked if he wanted to cover off the undercut from the cars behind or take a gamble that would give him a chance to challenge for the race lead, the choice was clear for Norris: challenge for the lead. The strategy was to extend the first stint on the soft tyres, hoping other teams would be forced to make a third stop later in the race and that the fresher rubber would give them the advantage. He finally pitted on lap 23, rejoining the race in a net P5.
Charles Leclerc also extended his first stint, pitting a lap later than Norris.
During the second stint, Norris fought his way through the field. He got by Sainz then Hamilton and finally Russell, finding himself P2 on lap 35. Russell didn’t make it easy, fighting side-by-side through most of the first half of the lap.
Russell was the first of the leaders to take his second stop on lap 37, followed into the pit lane by Sainz. Both drivers opted to take the hard compound tyre to the end of the race, which would prove to be a much slower compound compared to the soft tyres that the rest of the leaders would take.
Hamilton pitted next on lap 43 to take the softs and Verstappen did the same the following lap. Although his medium tyres were newer and he could have gone longer into the race, Norris had to respond to the challenge from the cars who pitted. He pitted for soft tyres on lap 47, rejoining the race narrowly ahead of Russell to take P2.
There was an 8-second gap separating Norris from race leader Verstappen. Although Norris gained some time while Verstappen carved his way through lapped traffic, he fell 2.2 seconds short when the checkered flag dropped.
Max Verstappen earned his 61st career victory at the Circuit de Barcelona, with Lando Norris being forced to settle for second position and an extra point for the fastest lap. Lewis Hamilton earned his first podium of the year, overtaking Russell late in the race.
Next on the schedule is the home of Red Bull. The lights will go out at the Austrian Grand Prix on June 30.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 66 | 1:28:20.227 | 25 | ||
| 2 | 66 | +2.219 | 19 |  | |
| 3 | 66 | +17.790 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 66 | +22.320 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 66 | +22.709 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 66 | +31.028 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 66 | +33.760 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 66 | +59.524 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 66 | +62.025 | 2 | ||
| 10 | 66 | +71.889 | 1 | ||
| 11 | 66 | +79.215 | |||
| 12 | 65 | +1 Lap | |||
| 13 | 65 | +1 Lap | |||
| 14 | 65 | +1 Lap | |||
| 15 | 65 | +1 Lap | |||
| 16 | 65 | +1 Lap | |||
| 17 | 65 | +1 Lap | |||
| 18 | 65 | +1 Lap | |||
| 19 | 65 | +1 Lap | |||
| 20 | 64 | +2 Laps |
