04 June 2023 , 14:31
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The fight for Spanish Grand Prix victory might have been very exciting if Max Verstappen didn't exist. But he does – and it's clear there's no-one on the Formula 1 grid who can touch him.
From the moment the lights went out in Barcelona, it was clear the victory was his. The real excitement came with the fight to be best of the rest, and it was a battle won by Lewis Hamilton on an excellent day that Mercedes have waited a long time for.
George Russell finished third behind him with both Brits really finding a rhythm with their cars. This race was the first test of how much of a difference the W14's upgrades have made and, on this evidence, the switch back to a conventional sidepod design appears to be working wonders.
The balance, pace and low tyre degradation from the Mercedes cars was a message to the rest of the grid that they are finally making progress back to where they want to be. But, judging by the gap to Verstappen throughout the race, there is still a long way to go before they can match the Dutchman in a straight fight.
Carlos Sainz started second but was powerless to prevent both Mercedes from roaring past at the midway point of the race, while Charles Leclerc also struggled to make his way through the pack after starting in the pit lane. Clearly, Ferrari are far from getting over their tyre degradation and race pace issues.
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Even Fernando Alonso could not find the sort of pace he has demonstrated all season so far. A poor qualifying was followed by a race in which he found progress difficult, and the Spaniard was beaten by Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll for the first time.
Lewis Hamilton will be delighted with his weekend's work in Barcelona (Hasan Bratic/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)Lando Norris started third on the grid and would have hoped to convert that into a much-needed podium for McLaren, but got off to a horrible start. He made contact with Hamilton which caused damage, leading to a front wing replacement after the first lap and a very slow stop which ended his top-three chances.
Russell went off the track a few corners in but, other than that, enjoyed an excellent start. The stewards investigated whether he had gained an advantage by leaving the circuit but there was no penalty and the Brit was enjoying life up in fifth place by lap 11 after starting 12th.
Perez had not made as much progress after his own disappointing qualifying. At the same stage he was only up to eighth from 11th despite one of those places coming courtesy of Norris' woes. And another came because Zhou Guanyu, who had made an impressive start himself, went into the pits for an early tyre change.
Third place in qualifying was the highlight of Lando Norris' weekend (Getty Images)Pole-sitter Verstappen had started well and was soon well up the road from Sainz. The Spaniard might have dreamt about battling for the win but soon got a reminder that his real fight was with what was behind him – on this occasion, Hamilton.
Ferrari were the first to call their man into the pits, while the seven-time world champion sounded thrilled with how his tyres were holding up over the radio. Hamilton was also loving the balance of his car in an indication that the upgrades brought by the team seem to be having the desired effect.
Similar noises were coming out of the other Mercedes. Both drivers were hinting at perhaps trying to do a one-stop race, while most other teams were committed to two trips to the pits per car. Tyre degradation was clearly not as bad as expected for the Silver Arrows and that fact was confirmed by the team's communications director Bradley Lord.
The new-look Mercedes cars were working well in Barcelona (AP)Ferrari have suffered with that problem more than their rivals so far this year and it was the same story in Barcelona. Starting from the pit lane, Leclerc might have expected to rocket up the standings on his soft tyres – but he was finding it much more difficult than others to cut through the field.
At the front, Verstappen's advantage by lap 27 was so huge that he came in for his change of tyres and was still comfortably ahead of team-mate Perez who was in second place but the only driver still yet to visit the pit lane by that point of the race.
The only thing that looked like it might threaten the Dutchman was rain. Russell warned that he had felt some drops of water, but he was soon told by his race engineer: "Sounds like it's just you that's reporting rain – I suspect it might be sweat."
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Fernando Alonso did not enjoy the Barcelona race weekend he would have wanted (Getty Images)Not that he needed to perspire with no-one ever threatening stop the two Silver Arrows. Perez had made his way up to fourth place but was not close enough to those two Brits to threaten the podium, while Sainz had to settle for fifth ahead of the two Aston Martins.
Alonso will not have enjoyed finishing seventh on home soil, but he was in good enough mood to tell his team over the radio that he would not be fighting Stroll in front of him. The 41-year-old was content to play the team game and bring the points home.
Esteban Ocon crossed the line eighth with Yuki Tsunoda one place behind him and Zhou 10th. But Tsunoda had the points taken away from him with a late five-second time penalty for contact with Zhou, meaning Pierre Gasly inherited 10th place.
Full 2023 Spanish Grand Prix result
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull
- Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
- George Russell – Mercedes
- Sergio Perez – Red Bull
- Carlos Sainz – Ferrari
- Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
- Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
- Esteban Ocon – Alpine
- Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo
- Pierre Gasly – Alpine
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
- Yuki Tsunoda – AlphaTauri*
- Oscar Piastri – McLaren
- Nyck de Vries – AlphaTauri
- Nico Hulkenberg – Haas
- Alex Albon – Williams
- Lando Norris – McLaren
- Kevin Magnussen – Haas
- Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo
- Logan Sargeant – Williams
*Tsunoda dropped from ninth to 12th with a five-second time penalty.