Verstappen Thwarts Lando Norris’s Comeback to Claim Victory

Max Verstappen held off a strong challenge from Lando Norris to secure a commanding win at the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix, extending his lead in the F1 world championship.

Norris, starting from pole, regretted a slow start that saw him fall to third as George Russell of Mercedes impressively took the lead from fourth place. Norris tried to regain his position by strategically delaying his pit stops in comparison to Verstappen’s timely stops.

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  2024 Spanish GP FP1: Norris Heads Off Versappen

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  2024 Spanish GP FP3: Sainz Ahead of Norris and Lelerc

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  2024 Spanish GP Qualifying: Lando Takes His Second Pole

Despite a promising chase in the latter part of the race, Norris couldn’t close the gap enough and finished 2.2 seconds behind Verstappen at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as Verstappen clinched his seventh victory of a fiercely contested season.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton achieved his first podium of 2024, finishing third with a solid performance.

Although Hamilton initially fell behind his quickly advancing teammate at the start, he managed to overtake Russell with a striking move around the outside at Turn One after their second pit stops.

Russell, who opted for the hard compound tyres during his second stint and struggled with their performance compared to others like Hamilton who chose softs, ultimately finished just ahead of Charles Leclerc in fifth place.

For Ferrari, Leclerc’s fifth place and Carlos Sainz’s sixth, both over 20 seconds behind the leaders, marked a letdown, especially following their lack of points at the previous race in Canada.

Sainz had a particularly challenging home race. Despite overtaking Leclerc at the start of lap four—a move that led to a heated exchange after they touched wheels—he was later overtaken by Leclerc in the final stint. Struggling on the hard compound tyres, Sainz relinquished fifth place to Leclerc, who was faster on his soft tyres. Additionally, Sainz expressed frustration over an incident with Hamilton, accusing the Mercedes driver—his future replacement in 2025—of forcing him off the track.

While the Mercedes and Ferrari teammates finished closely on the track, the story was different for the teams at Red Bull and McLaren. Oscar Piastri, in the second McLaren, wrapped up a disappointing weekend in seventh place, and Sergio Perez finished eighth for Red Bull after starting 11th, adopting a three-stop strategy that reflected a challenging Barcelona event for him.

However, there was positive news for Alpine, which enjoyed a strong performance at one of F1’s most demanding circuits, securing their first double-points finish of the season with Pierre Gasly in ninth and Esteban Ocon in tenth.

In the Drivers’ Championship following this first leg of the season’s initial triple-header, Verstappen has extended his lead to a season-high 69 points, with Norris moving up to second place for the first time in his career, surpassing Leclerc.

Spanish GP Results

2024 Spanish Grand Prix, 23 June 2024