The W14 looked impressively strong in the opening stint of the race, with both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell storming through the field. George Russell was noted for leaving the track and gaining an advantage over Oscar Piastri at Turn 1, not the first of the Mercedes driver’s Sunday struggles with him having taken a trip through the gravel during his lap to the grid. At lap 5, the gap between Verstappen and Sainz was already 1.9 seconds, seeing the Championship leader fall into his usual pattern of battling with nobody but himself from early on. Lando Norris was forced to box for a new front wing after contact with Lewis Hamilton saw his endplate among other debris go flying. Verstappen was quick off the line, matched by Carlos Sainz who almost capitalised on the Red Bull’s slipstream into Turn 1įor those marginally behind in P3 and P4, it was a scrappy start to the Spanish Grand Prix. For us it was the same, sixth and seventh, same points so bringing it home seemed the right choice.”.Extending his Championship lead, Max Verstappen cruised home to a dominate first-place finish in Barcelona ahead of the Mercedes duo in a simple Spanish Grand Prix. “I didn’t want that he damaged a floor either, by defending. “I damaged one floor yesterday already, I didn’t want to damage another one today,” said the Spaniard, who had finished five of the previous six races on the podium. Sainz was fifth, and said it was the best he could do, with the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso sixth and seventh.Īlonso was 10th after his final stop but made a charge back up the order before settling in behind Stroll and assuring the Canadian he was no threat. “You are just putting in those lap times and comparing it to the guys around you - the Ferraris and Astons - and you are going quicker and quicker.”

“It definitely feels better,” he said of the car. Russell went off into the gravel on his way to the grid, where he lined up 12th, but his car was undamaged and his pace strong.

This is a real showing for all your hard work. “Thank you so much to everyone back at the factory, continuing to push. “Mega job guys, mega job,” said Hamilton over the radio. Mercedes moved up to second in the championship on 152 points to runaway Red Bull’s 287 and with Aston Martin dropping to third on 134.

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