After two back-to-back weekends of racing, Formula One arrived in Spain for the conclusion of the season’s second triple-header. The cars and drivers were at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the FORMULA 1 ARAMCO GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA 2025. This marks the final time the circuit will host the Spanish Grand Prix, with an upcoming circuit in Madrid set to take over the event next season. This circuit will remain on the calendar next season, but its future beyond that is uncertain.
Only 19 cars took the start of the race, with Lance Stroll withdrawing due to medical issues. The Canadian had qualified P14, but had hand and wrist pain potentially related to his bike accident in 2023.
Oscar Piastri had an excellent start from pole position, pulling well clear of the cars behind on the run to the first corner. Lando Norris has a much weaker start, falling prey to Max Verstappen, who overtook him around the outside in the first corner. Verstappen began pressuring Piastri in the opening laps, but quickly fell back as the McLaren’s tyres came up to temperature.
Norris slowly nibbled away at the gap to Verstappen, getting within DRS range of the Red Bull. He overtook Verstappen to return to P2 on lap 13. Red Bull decided to pit Verstappen at the end of the lap, taking an early pit stop to go to the alternate strategy. He exchanged his soft tyres for a new set of softs. He sliced his way through the cars ahead, climbing back into P3 to take the lead when the two McLarens pitted for mediums roughly ten laps later.
Both Ferrari drivers pitted for medium tyres around lap 17. Lewis Hamilton pitted first, and then Charles Leclerc did the following lap. Both drivers had managed to overtake George Russell on the opening lap. With better tyres, Leclerc had much more pace in the opening stint, eventually leading to team orders that swapped positions on lap 9.
The expected pit preferred pit strategy was a two-stop, but Verstappen made his second stop for medium tyres on lap 30. This left him to run more than half the race on that tyre, putting him on the three-stop strategy. He rejoined the race between the two Ferraris, eventually overtaking Leclerc on lap 36 for P3.
After only 18 laps, Verstappen returned to the pits for the third time to take a set of soft tyres. He exited the pit lane directly into a battle between teammate Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon, both of whom were a lap down. Tsunoda was quick to jump out of the way, but it still cost Verstappen a little bit of time. This potentially cost him a chance at undercutting Norris. The Brit rejoined narrowly ahead of the Red Bull when he pitted the following lap.
Norris managed to increase the gap to Verstappen slightly, but more lapped traffic would slow Norris and Verstappen. This time, it was Liam Lawson and Esteban Ocon fighting over the final points scoring position. When they got by, Verstappen was nearly within DRS range of Norris.
Nearly ten laps from the end, the safety car made an appearance to spice things up. Kimi Antonelli suffered an engine failure and ran into the gravel. This triggered a final round of pit stops for most of the field. This included Verstappen, who made his fourth pit stop of the afternoon. Having made so many pit stops, Verstappen’s only option was the hard tyres.
The race restarted with six laps remaining. There was spectacular drama from the very start. Verstappen suffered a huge snap of oversteer in the final corner, doing an amazing job of saving the Red Bull. This put him on the back foot to Leclerc, who was alongside the Dutchman as they came to the line. Leclerc overtook easily, and the two made contact slightly on the main straight as Leclerc attempted to move to the left of the circuit.
Verstappen fell under pressure from Russell at the first corner. Russell bumped Verstappen, and he ran wide through the runoff area. Verstappen was immediately on the radio complaining about being hit on the straight and in the first corner. Ultimately, the team told him to give the position to Russell. With three laps remaining, Verstappen slowed into turn five, appearing to allow Russell to overtake. Russell overtook, but Verstappen immediately slammed into the side of the Mercedes, in what seemed to be a deliberate retaliation against Russell.
Although he came home in P5, the stewards awarded Verstappen a ten-second penalty for causing a collision. This dropped him down to P10, costing him many points in his championship bid. They will investigate the other restart collisions after the race.
Piastri crossed the line in P1, having dominated the race. Norris followed behind to make a McLaren 1-2 finish ahead of Leclerc. Further back, Nico Hulkenberg did a stellar job to finish in the top five, coming from absolutely nowhere in the closing laps. Fernando Alonso was another happy driver, scoring his first points of the season despite running wide into the gravel early in the race.
Everyone will have two weeks to unpack this thrilling race before Formula One returns to action in Canada. The race at the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve will be held on June 15.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 66 | 1:32:57.375 | 25 |  | |
| 2 | 66 | +2.471 | 18 | ||
| 3 | 66 | +10.455 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 66 | +11.359 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 66 | +13.648 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 66 | +15.508 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 66 | +16.022 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 66 | +17.882 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 66 | +21.564 | 2 | ||
| 10 | 66 | +21.826 | 1 | ||
| 11 | 66 | +25.532 | |||
| 12 | 66 | +25.996 | |||
| 13 | 66 | +28.822 | |||
| 14 | 66 | +29.309 | |||
| 15 | 66 | +31.381 | |||
| 16 | 66 | +32.197 | |||
| 17 | 66 | +37.065 | |||
| DNF | 53 | ||||
| DNF | 27 |
| 1 | O. Piastri | 186 |  | |
| 2 | L. Norris | 176 | -10 | |
| 3 | M. Verstappen | 137 | -49 | |
| 4 | G. Russell | 111 | -75 | |
| 5 | C. Leclerc | 94 | -92 | |
| 1 | McLaren | 362 | | |
| 2 | Ferrari | 165 | -197 |  |
| 3 | Mercedes | 159 | -203 |  |
| 4 | Red Bull | 144 | -218 | |
| 5 | Williams | 54 | -308 | |
