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Mercedes show signs of life with double-podium as Max Verstappen dominates Spanish Grand Prix
By Tom Morgan, Sports News Correspondent, in Barcelona
The eureka moment came deep into Friday night ahead of a Spanish Grand Prix that may have secured Lewis Hamilton’s future at Mercedes.
Earlier that day, the seven-time champion had been so pessimistic about his car’s big upgrade package he forecast a top half spot to be a “struggle”.
Yet Mercedes engineers had one last secret tweak up their sleeve to try that evening and, from nowhere, Hamilton emerged with what he now describes as his best car since 2021.
As Toto Wolff declared: “Let’s keep our expectations real.” The imperious Max Verstappen edges unstoppably towards another championship after a fifth win from seven. But, on the evidence of Sunday, Red Bull’s old rival has jolted from its slumber at the precise moment it needed to show out-of-contract Hamilton he has unfinished business with the Brackley team.
A first double podium finish since Brazil last year was celebrated like one of Hamilton’s 103 career wins and for the first time in weeks, there were no whispers of a switch to Ferrari. Instead, the sport’s most recognisable star will sit down for coffee with Wolff confident that his Mercedes can once again go toe-to-toe with Red Bull by the end of this season. Both played down the significance of talks, but Wolff sounded optimistic. “We just need some time and to sit over coffee,” he said. “That’s going to take half an hour.”
Hamilton, meanwhile, pulled on a pair of large dark sunglasses midway through his press conference but there was no hiding the beaming smile on his face at the significance of what now appears possible. “It felt the best yesterday and today than it has felt for the past 15 months so it is super encouraging not only for me but for everyone an the team,” he said of his car. “This is a big boost for everybody’s morale and we are going to take that energy on to developing the car.”
The upgrade had been unveiled in Monaco less than a fortnight ago, and he hinted there could be further improvements to the car in the coming weeks. “I know we have something in the pipeline moving forward,” he added.
The other half of Mercedes’ day of resurgence was a scintillating drive from third-placed George Russell, who vastly outpaced Ferrari to weave through the field from 12th.
There had been a “misunderstanding” during qualification as Russell and Hamilton collided, but any tensions were smoothed out a the elder Briton twice singled out his team-mate for praise over a “mega job”.
Hamilton and Norris make contact on the opening lap! 😱 pic.twitter.com/NuReDDVWuo
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 4, 2023
After ending the opening lap in seventh, Russell had cleared Fernando Alonso, before slipstreaming his way ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. On lap 15, Sainz stopped for rubber, promoting Hamilton to second, with Verstappen eight seconds up the road.
Nine laps later, Hamilton made his first stop, dropping him back behind Sainz, with Russell pitting for fresh rubber on the next lap. But the Mercedes men, in their upgraded machines, were flying on new tyres, and on lap 28, Hamilton roared past Sainz to assume second position.
Seven laps later, Russell was also ahead of the Ferrari man following a fine move down the Spaniard’s inside at Turn 1. “Solid work,” was the verdict of Russell’s race engineer, Marcus Dudley. “Just solid?” replied Russell. Wolff was next on the radio. “It was pretty good,” the Austrian said.
Mercedes hauled Hamilton and Russell in for a second pit-stop, but the team-mates hung on to second and third on the road, with both Verstappen and Perez also needing a second change of tyres.
Verstappen, of course, will not be looking over his shoulder just yet. He led all 66 laps at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya to record his fifth win to extend his championship lead while barely breaking sweat. “Masterclass,” the Red Bull team told Verstappen on the radio.
“It is a big pleasure to drive a car like this,” said Verstappen. “It showed again today. A win here is incredible. I had another strong weekend and that is what I like and hopefully we can keep that up throughout the year.”
Down the field, it proved a chastening afternoon for the other popular Briton, Lando Norris. The McLaren driver had been delighted with his third place on the grid after a brilliant qualifying session, but his hard work was undone on just the second turn of the race as he ran into the back of Hamilton and had to pit for a new front wing, dropping him to last.
Red Bull, however, remains on course for a clean sweep of race wins, having won all seven rounds this year, and 17 of the last 18 races contested. Their stranglehold on the sport shows few signs of easing, but Mercedes are significantly closer today than they have been for months.
Wolff will talk up the potential to Hamilton on Monday as he attempts to get him to put pen to paper. But for everyone else, the plan from here is to manage expectations. “There is such a long way to go to catch Red Bull,” he said. “We just need to grind away.”
Spanish Grand Prix, as it happened
04:20 PM
The next race
The next race is the Canadian Grand Prix which takes place at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The race weekend runs from Friday June 16 until Sunday June 18 and you can follow our live coverage throughout qualifying and the race. Last year’s winner was Max Verstappen, who led home Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes.
04:05 PM
Hamilton as Driver of the Day is probably a fair assessment
#F1DriverOfTheDay
It's Lewis!!! #SpanishGP @salesforce pic.twitter.com/p6RoPxiQlh— Formula 1 (@F1) June 4, 2023
03:55 PM
Toto Wolff speaks to Sky Sports F1
“We took some decisions to go in another direction. We changed so many parts that... maybe we don’t understand. We pushed forward and we’ve got a good race car. I think we just needed the shock at the beginning of the season to understand that this was not going forward. There are lead times, you need to design parts and produce them. The team back at the base did a mega job.
“It was just concentrating on what we think we know well, it’s all down to the engineering work in operations. The wake-up call at the beginning of the season was good.
“I think the learnings is that we had a good race car. Lewis probably came out a good five or six seconds behind Max when he cleared Carlos and I think we are much closer. You see the benchmark, it was 25 seconds, maybe it was 15 in reality...
“I think it was less, Lewis was cruising at the end... probably it’s just sub-15 seconds but over 66 laps that is a lot.”
“We have that advantage in terms of aero time, but we need to be realistic today, the temperatures really suited us, it was not too hot and not too cold, it was [in the window].”
03:47 PM
Updated constructor standings
Mercedes move into second with a fairly healthy lead over Aston Martin now.
03:45 PM
Updated driver standings: Top 10
Leclerc actually just missed out on a point as he did not pass Gasly. A painful weekend. Maybe he’ll share his woes with Lando Norris, who finished way down in 17th.
52 points the gap in the standings at the very top now. A rotten couple of weekends for Perez, but most of the damage was done in Monaco.
03:42 PM
Mercedes drivers react to their podiums
Hamilton first:
“What a result for our team, we definitely didn’t expect the result we had today. A big thank you to everyone back at the factory to bring us closer to the bulls but this is an amazing result. I think this [RB19] is a little bit too quick at the moment but we’re working on it. One step at a time.”
Russell second:
“Kudos to the team for giving me a really great car today... that was a fun race for us. A sign of things to come for us. We know we’ve brought some more downforce to our car, we know things are in a better window.”
03:39 PM
I am not entirely sure Alonso was fully intending to overtake Stroll
Fernando Alonso says Hola 👋 pic.twitter.com/BlWW2lqMKY
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 4, 2023
03:38 PM
Just utter dominance from Verstappen
Nothing more than that.
03:36 PM
Spanish Grand Prix - Classification
VER 26pts
HAM 18pts
RUS 15pts
PER 12pts
SAI 10pts
STR 8pts
ALO 6pts
OCO 4pts
ZHO 2pts
GAS 1pt
LEC
TSU
PIA
DEV
HUL
ALB
NOR
MAG
BOT
SAR
03:34 PM
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE 2023 SPANISH GRAND PRIX
As dominant as everyone else feared. Hamilton second, Russell third, Perez fourth and Sainz fifth. Mercedes best result and their best performance, comfortably, of the year. Still nearly 25 seconds adrift of the lead Red Bull, though, but both ahead of the second Red Bull...
“Very well controlled, even if you went over the white lines a few times,” Christian Horner says to Verstappen on the team radio.
03:32 PM
FINAL LAP
Russell and Perez have some backmarkers to contend with but I don’t think they are going to play a part, really.
Verstappen rounds the final few corners to take another win, three wins in three and extends his championship lead.
03:31 PM
Lap 65 of 66 - Perez doesn't have the pace
Were Leclerc to get Gasly for 11th here, that would mean a point with Tsunoda’s five-second penalty. A point, huh.
Verstappen cruising to a win and Hamilton cruising to a win of his own, in a way, for a comfortable second place.
03:30 PM
Lap 64 of 66 - Verstappen leads Hamilton by 19.8s
Leclerc in 12th and charging on Gasly for 11th. Perez within three seconds of Russell but surely does not have enough laps...
03:29 PM
Lap 63 of 66 - Tsunoda gets a five-second penalty for forcing Zhou off track
He’s had a good race but that would drop him out of the points...
"He pushed me off!" 🤜
Zhou Guanyu is not happy with Yuki Tsunoda 😮 pic.twitter.com/xDIR85DRLY— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 4, 2023
03:28 PM
Lap 62 of 66 - Verstappen leads Hamilton by 18.8s
“Okay, now can you bring it home within the white lines?” Verstappen is asked. “Yeah, yeah,” he replies.
Hamilton sets his fastest lap of the race but it’s a few tenths slower than Verstappen’s best.
Perez told to go flat out. The gap is 4.7s currently. Not sure he has the pace at the moment, without a Russell mistake. He needs more than 0.4s a lap which is what he’s currently going at. Another poor weekend for Perez.
03:26 PM
Lap 61 of 66 - Perez not making the headway he needs to
He was nearly four-tenths slower than him the last time around. Still trails Russell in third by 5.3s with six laps left.
Verstappen asks what his fastest lap of the race is and is told not to push due to the black and white flag. He doesn’t care, though, and sets a 1:16.330 to take the provisional fastest lap point and extend his lead to 19 seconds over Hamilton.
03:25 PM
Lap 60 of 66 - Top 10 and gaps
VER
HAM +18.6
RUS +26.1
PER +31.9
SAI +39.2
STR +53.2
ALO +54.3
OCO +59.5
TSU +60.7
ZHO +62.3
03:24 PM
Lap 59 of 66 - Alonso within 1.5s of Stroll but says he's not going to overtake?
“Tell Lance not to worry, I just want to build a gap to the cars behind in case of rain,” he says. Not sure. He’s really quite close now.
03:23 PM
Lap 58 of 66 - Verstappen gets a black and white flag for track limits
It will be a five-second penalty if he does it again. He is nearly 18 seconds in the lead, though, but it does show that he’s not exactly cruising around.
“No risks required,” he is told.
03:21 PM
Lap 57 of 66 - That's more like it from Perez
He takes nearly a second out of Russell. The gap now just 5.1s.
Hamilton has slipped back to 17.7s adrift of Verstappen. I think that benchmark of being within 25 seconds of Verstappen today should be fine. It’s not exactly where Mercedes want to be, but it is an improvement.
03:19 PM
Lap 56 of 66 - Perez 0.357s faster than Russell on the last lap
He needs a bit more than that. Just under seven seconds the gap to Russell in third. As I said I don’t think he has the pace to challenge Hamilton.
03:18 PM
Lap 55 of 66 - Full order
VER
HAM
RUS
PER
SAI
STR
ALO
OCO
TSU
ZHO
GAS
LEC
PIA
DEV
HUL
ALB
MAG
SA
NOR
BOT
No retirements yet.
03:16 PM
Lap 54 of 66 - Verstappen leads Hamilton by 16.6s
Russell a further five seconds behind. It’s still dry out there. Let’s watch Perez’s lap times.
03:15 PM
Lap 53 of 66 - Perez gets Sainz for fourth...
...and with it the fastest lap of the race so far. He has nine seconds to George Russell ahead and then another five or so seconds to Hamilton ahead. I think second might be a bit much for him here but third is definitely on.
03:14 PM
Lap 52 of 66 - Verstappen pits
He wasn’t happy on the old hard tyres and has moved onto a new set of soft tyres. And he had plenty of a gap behind to do that. He now leads Hamilton by 16.8s which is where he was before they both pitted.
03:13 PM
Lap 51 of 66 - No sign of that rain
I think we’ll be ending in dry conditions. A flurry of pit stops at the front. Hamilton pits from second and goes onto the soft tyres and Sergio Perez does the same from fifth. Hamilton retains second with Russell five seconds behind.
Ocon with a bit of a questionable move on the pit straight defending from Fernando Alonso, who does get through up the inside heading into turn one. Alonso in seventh now and Lance Stroll only three seconds ahead.
Alonso and Ocon nearly collide! 😳
Brundle 🎙️ "That's too late. You can't do that. You have to place your car earlier than that." pic.twitter.com/p7aMFDk3Gf— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 4, 2023
Perez flying on his new tyres...
03:11 PM
Lap 50 of 66 - Top 10 and gaps
VER
HAM +16.1
PER +35.2
RUS +45.2
SAI +54.1
STR +65.4
OCO +68.4
ALO +68.9
TSU +70.9
ZHO +71.7
03:11 PM
Lap 49 of 66 - Alonso gets Tsunoda for eighth
Ocon only another second up the road. Maybe sixth and seventh for Aston Martin today. That would have been a fantastic result last year. Not so much in 2023.
03:09 PM
Lap 48 of 66 - Russell with another fastest lap of the race
Took 1.3s out of Perez ahead in third on that lap!
03:08 PM
Lap 47 of 66 - Not a great deal of action in this race so far
A decent amount of overtaking but Verstappen has cruised it so far. Russell sets the new fastest lap of the race to close to within 12.7s of Perez.
03:06 PM
Lap 46 of 66 - Russell goes onto the soft tyres and comes out in fourth
13.5s the gap to Perez, who has inherited third.
Verstappen extends his lead to 16.4s but his lap times are largely comparable to Hamilton. More encouragement for Mercedes. Verstappen gets a warning for track limits at turn five, his second. Running too far wide on the outside of the corner exit.
03:05 PM
Lap 45 of 66 - Perez currently in fourth
He could well go to the end on this hard tyre that he’s on. He is lapping slower than both Mercedes cars, though. Alonso stops for a second time, goes onto the hard tyres and comes out in 10th behind Zhou and Tsunoda. Bit of a tough weekend for him.
Second stop of the race for Fernando, who switches from the Softs to Hard tyres. 20 laps remaining and he’s back out in P10. #SpanishGP 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/tvGlX7Vrl8
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) June 4, 2023
Russell told to come into the pits...
03:02 PM
Lap 44 of 66 - Verstappen says the current tyre is "not amazing"
His lap times do kind of indicate that a little. He hasn’t really pulled much time on Hamilton in the last few laps despite Hamilton having one-lap older medium tyres than Verstappen’s hards.
03:01 PM
Lap 43 of 66 - Verstappen leads Hamilton and Russell
Alonso, who has gone soft-soft on his tyre strategy, is now fifth. A good recovery so far. Leclerc is still struggling down in 14th. What a miserable weekend.
03:00 PM
Lap 42 of 66 - Russell currently holds the fastest lap bonus point
He is lapping similarly to Hamilton ahead of him and is now six seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz, who dives into the pit lane now to change his tyres again.
02:58 PM
Lap 41 of 66 - Top 10 and gaps
VER
HAM +15.6
RUS +25.6
SAI +30.2
PER +33.9
ALO +44.7
LEC +56.7
STR +60.5
OCO +63.2
TSU +64.4
A few differing strategies going on, though, so this isn’t really the “net” order.
02:57 PM
Lap 40 of 66 - Tom Morgan, on the ground in Barcelona...
He reports that “as dark clouds descend over the circuit, the forecast is that the track will be getting a soaking in the next ten minutes.”
That’d be good.
02:56 PM
Lap 39 of 66 - Gasly closing in on Piastri for seventh
Not much potential action elsewhere on track in the points at the moment...
02:55 PM
Lap 38 of 66 - Remember I posted those average gaps...
...from the leading Red Bull to the leading Mercedes. Well, the gap is currently 15 seconds with about 60 per cent of the race gone. Reckon anything within 25 seconds will be good for Mercedes.
02:54 PM
Lap 37 of 66 - Piastri doing a decent job in seventh
Norris has finally moved out of last but is about to be lapped by Verstappen... ouch.
02:53 PM
Lap 36 of 66 - Verstappen extends his lead to 14.8s over Hamilton
Fair to say we haven’t seen much of him on the TV broadcast.
02:51 PM
Lap 35 of 66 - Sainz looking vulnerable to Russell behind him
Russell gets a great exit from the final corner, closes, closes and closes into the first corner and then nails his line and braking point to take the final podium position.
LAP 35/66
Super pass by Russell on Sainz down the inside at Turn 1! He's up to P3
No sweat 😉#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/HCQ0laZumZ— Formula 1 (@F1) June 4, 2023
The Ferrari doesn’t really have the pace today, it seems. Meanwhile, Stroll stops and moves onto the hard tyres, probably going until the end. He is in 13th now.
02:49 PM
Lap 34 of 66 - Race in a bit of a lull now
Verstappen leads Hamilton by 13.6s with Sainz a further six or so seconds behind with Russell now within 1.4s of him...
02:48 PM
Lap 33 of 66 - Full order at half distance
VER
HAM
SAI
RUS
STR
OCO
PER
TSU
ALO
ZHO
PIA
GAS
LEC
DEV
BOT
HUL
ALB
SAR
MAG
NOR
02:48 PM
Lap 32 of 66 - A bad day for Lando Norris so ar
He has now stopped twice and is dead last on the track, 6.1s behind 19th-placed man Kevin Magnussen.
02:46 PM
Lap 31 of 66 - Verstappen leads Hamilton by 13.4s
Russell says it might be sweat from the inside of his helmet, rather than rain as first thought...
02:46 PM
Lap 30 of 66 - Top 10 and gaps
VER
HAM +13.0
SAI +16.6
RUS +20.5
STR +26.1
OCO +28.1
TSU +29.6
PER +33.6
ALO +33.8
ZHO +37.7
02:44 PM
Lap 29 of 66 - Russell responds with another fastest lap
I think Mercedes will be buoyant after today. There are in contention for a double podium today. They look to have the pace to beat Ferrari and Aston Martin comfortably but the question for them is whether they can beat Sergio Perez. Perez is now down in ninth but will be in contention for a podium spot you would have thought.
02:42 PM
Lap 28 of 66 - Hamilton gets Sainz and moves into second
Easy as you like. That Mercedes is working pretty well today. Russell has the fastest lap of the race, but then Verstappen beats it by a tenth or two. The rain, if it is here, does not look especially heavy.
Lewis Hamilton breezes past Carlos Sainz 👇 pic.twitter.com/24E5iPRhj5
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 4, 2023
02:41 PM
Lap 27 of 66 - Verstappen stops
And comes out 7.4s ahead of his team-mate Perez who has yet to pit.
Russell says there’s rain at turn five...
And Perez does pit.
02:39 PM
Lap 26 of 66 - Russell stops, Verstappen continues
So Verstappen leads Perez, also yet to stop, and then Carlos Sainz. Hamilton has 2.3s to make up on Sainz but has tyres that are 10 laps fresher. Leclerc gets De Vries into turn one.
02:37 PM
Lap 25 of 66 - Hamilton to make his first stop
He goes onto a set of medium tyres. A three-second stop. Can he get out ahead of Sainz? Nope. He will be about 2.5s behind him, but should be set up for a late charge for second. Russell now in second.
02:36 PM
Lap 24 of 66 - Verstappen leads Hamilton by 11.2s
George Russell is a further 8.8s behind his team-mate. The two Mercedes men are the only drivers who started on the softs that are still on them.
02:35 PM
Lap 23 of 66 - Gasly making hay after that stop
No sign of that rain yet. Think we might get to the end of the race without it.
02:35 PM
Lap 22 of 66 - A third distance or so
Verstappen extends his lead over Hamilton to more than 10 seconds.
02:32 PM
Lap 21 of 66 - Russell asks if a one-stop strategy is possible
He is told it is not impossible. It’s an option, it’s definitely an option. Hamilton loses a bit of time each lap to Verstappen now; half a second the last time around.
Bit of a slow stop for Gasly, though. He’s now out in 15th.
LAP 20: Pierre’s turn to be called in for his stop, also fitting a set of Mediums. #Alpine #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/UkMG5jJ6E4
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) June 4, 2023
02:31 PM
Lap 20 of 66 - Top 10 and gaps
VER
HAM +8.5
RUS +17.1
PER +24.8
SAI +30.1
STR +38.5
OCO +41.0
TSU +42.6
ZHO +45.3
ALO +45.9
02:29 PM
Lap 19 of 66 - Verstappen leads Hamilton by 7.9s
Verstappen on the mediums, Hamilton on the softs. Russell, meanwhile, says he has “a lot more pace in these tyres”.
02:27 PM
Lap 18 of 66 - Full order
VER
HAM
RUS
ALP
PER
PIA
GAS
SAI
STR
OCO
TSU
SAR
ZHO
HUL
MAG
DEV
BOT
LEC
NOR
ALB
02:27 PM
Lap 17 of 66 - Leclerc stops
Strange. He was on the hard compound tyre and has now moved onto the... soft tyres, I think. Yes.
02:26 PM
Lap 16 of 66 - Weather latest
LATEST RADAR — Light rain to the east of the circuit (near Montmelo), heavier rain to the northwest, and more storms developing far to the northeast over the mountains.
It's going to be an afternoon of radar watching 🌦️#F1 | #SpanishGP 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/wQkqfhbW9M— MeteoMotorsport (@MeteoMotorsport) June 4, 2023
Sainz comes into the pits and will go onto the mediums. A decent stop, 2.9s. Not stellar by any means. Sainz was a bit unsure as to why they stopped him but Hamilton was about to nab him for second anyway. Sainz comes out behind Leclerc and surely the Monegasque driver will get out of the way for his team-mate.
Hamilton says his car feels “really good”. He sets his fastest lap of the race, a 1:19.733 which was a few tenths faster than Verstappen. Nice.
02:24 PM
Lap 15 of 66 - Stroll stops from fourth
That means Mercedes are third and fourth. Stroll comes out in 12th, ahead of Ocon. A good scrap between Tsunoda, Hulkenberg and Zhou for 14th.
02:23 PM
Lap 14 of 66 - Verstappen extends his lead to seven seconds
Hamilton now within DRS range of Sainz... surely only a matter of time.
02:22 PM
Lap 13 of 66 - Verstappen leads Sainz by 6.3s
Surely some tyre and pace management from Verstappen, who was six-tenths faster than Sainz the last time around. Ocon now comes into the pits to get rid of his soft compound tyres.
This would be a fascinating race were it not for Verstappen...
02:21 PM
Lap 12 of 66 - A few early stoppers for non-damage related reasons
Hulkenverg, Zhou, Tsunoda, Bottas, Magnussen and De Vries among them. Stroll’s race pace in fourth is not great. Neither is Alonso’s in fairness. Should be a matter of laps, I reckon, before Mercedes are in third and fourth.
02:19 PM
Lap 11 of 66 - Russell into fifth now
He gets Ocon at turn one and is within three seconds of Stroll ahead of him. Hamilton has better pace than Sainz at the moment and is around 1.6s off the lead Ferrari driver.
Verstappen’s pace has settled down a bit now, but he is comfortably faster than Sainz every lap. 5.6s the gap now.
02:17 PM
Lap 10 of 66 - Top 10 and gaps
VER
SAI +4.7
HAM +6.8
STR +9.0
OCO +11.5
RUS +12.2
ALO +14.3
PER +15.2
TSU +17.5
PIA +19.6
02:16 PM
Lap 9 of 66 - No further action on Russell
So he stays sixth and is closing in on Ocon. Verstappen took nearly a second out of Sainz on the last lap...
02:15 PM
Lap 8 of 66 - Hamilton up into third!
He uses DRS and goes around the outside of Stroll at turn one and is up into the podium spots! Let’s see if Hamilton can close down Carlos Sainz now.
Verstappen’s lead is now four seconds...
02:14 PM
Lap 7 of 66 - Russell ahead of Alonso now
Mercedes cars fourth and sixth. Russell with the fastest first sector. Verstappen’s lead continues to grow, currently lapping around 0.3-0.4sec faster than the Ferrari behind. Charles Leclerc up to 16th now with a move on Alexander Albon.
02:12 PM
Lap 6 of 66 - Perez gets Hulkenberg for ninth
Verstappen’s lead has grown to 2.7s after five laps... Russell is still hassling Alonso. Russell went wide at turn one and two and took the escape road which helped him move up the field. He has been noted for that.
02:10 PM
Lap 4 of 66 - Top 10
VER
SAI
STR
HAM
OCO
ALO
RUS
HUL
ZHO
PER
02:09 PM
Lap 3 of 66 - Verstappen leads Sainz and Stroll
The gap has grown to 1.9s at the front.
Norris just ran into the back of Hamilton going around turn two. A first-lap racing incident, for sure, not that it’ll make the McLaren driver feel any better about it. Norris had lost the spot to Hamilton at turn one, not really being aggressive enough and then Hamilton moved across at turn two and that was that.
Lando's view of that contact with Lewis 👀#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/LGqOGeHF3V
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 4, 2023
02:07 PM
Lap 2 of 66 - Verstappen leads Sainz by 1.5s
A slow stop for Norris, who goes onto the hard tyres. It’s a 17-second stationary stop for the McLaren with a front wing change and all the hard work of yesterday has been undone.
Gasly also down to 14th...
Alonso has made his way up to sixth and is trying to fend off George Russell.
02:06 PM
THE 2023 SPANISH GRAND PRIX IS GO!
It’s a fine start by both drivers. Sainz gets a bit of a slipstream on the run down to turn one and tries to go around the outside but Verstappen holds his line and the lead!
Hamilton and Norris make contact on the opening lap! 😱 pic.twitter.com/NuReDDVWuo
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 4, 2023
A bit behind them Hamilton and Norris collide! Norris has damage and has dropped down to sixth and is coming in to change his front wing. Hamilton stays in fourth with Stroll in third.
02:04 PM
The formation lap is under way
And soon the actual race will be, too.
Off the drivers go on the formation lap 👉👉👉#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/27uxRypbBf
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 4, 2023
02:01 PM
Starting tyre types
Only Verstappen in the top 10 on the mediums, everyone else on used softs. Perez also on fresh mediums. Then Leclerc in the pit lane on fresh hards and Sargeant, also in the pit lane, on fresh mediums.
It has also just got a fair bit darker...
01:58 PM
Still no sign of that rain...
Plenty of time left for a little downpour, though.
01:55 PM
What chance of a Spanish win?
If Verstappen finishes, then very slim.
Imagine the scenes if either Carlos or Fernando win today! 🤩🇪🇸#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/LYpZaMxfrN
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 4, 2023
Alonso has normally been the best of the rest but he starts down in ninth today. I am not sure, then, who might finish behind him. A Mercedes? A Ferrari? Lance Stroll?
01:53 PM
There was, until recently, a bit of work going on on Lando Norris's car
He starts third, so fingers crossed everything is okay.
01:51 PM
For a long time this Spanish Grand Prix was not that well attended
You cannot say that now...
01:43 PM
How each driver fares vs his team-mate in qualifying this season
Some tight contests out there. Some not so tight. With Stroll out-qualifying Alonso for the first time this season, Alex Albon is the only driver with a 100 per cent record against his team-mate. Good to see Nyck de Vries putting in a decent couple of showings in the last few races, too.
01:37 PM
What will the strategy be?
A, a potential two stopper! Fantastic. Looks like soft is clearly the starting tyre type of choice, though I am sure we will see someone, somewhere try something different. Maybe not, though.
What will the winning strategy be for the #SpanishGP? 🇪🇸
A variety of two-stop strategies look likely – but a three-stop could be attempted 🧮 #Fit4F1 pic.twitter.com/UKwWqRm43J— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) June 4, 2023
01:34 PM
Starting grid for today
1. VER 2. SAI
3. NOR 4. HAM
5. STR 6. OCO
7. HUL 8. ALO
9. PIA 10. GAS
11. PER 12. RUS
13. ZHO 14. DEV
15. TSU 16. BOT
17. MAG 19. ALB
PIT LANE: LEC, SAR
01:33 PM
Charles Leclerc starts from the pit lane today
Ferrari have changed a fair few components on the rear of his Ferrari and that incurs a pit-lane start penalty. Not the best season for him so far.
01:24 PM
How quick are the teams relative to one another in qualifying?
This takes the average of each team’s fastest lap in qualifying and compares it to the overall fastest of the weekend as a percentage. The lower the percentage the better, in other words.
There is currently a clear top five and then everyone else is within 0.348 per cent of one another. Not bad, considering the gap from Red Bull to Ferrari is a little under that.
01:20 PM
Replays showing Russell running off into the gravel downhill at turn five
On his lap to the grid. Locked up the front and went straight on. A bit of an odd one on a dry track, no doubt.
George Russell takes a trip through the gravel 🪨 pic.twitter.com/0QBu74xHEW
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 4, 2023
01:18 PM
Another perspective on the weather
This is the weather radar for lights out (3pm local)
👀🌧
[@AlbertFabrega]#F1 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/iTGchRjYDJ— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) June 4, 2023
01:14 PM
Weather update...
It’s looking pretty dark out towards the back of the track towards Granollers. According to the Met Office, there is around a 40 per cent chance of rain for every hour from now until 6pm local time...
It is currently sunny, though.
01:12 PM
Gap from leading Red Bull to leading Mercedes so far in 2023
Bahrain: 50.977sec
Saudi Arabia: 25.866sec
Australia: 0.179sec (safety car finish)
Azerbaijan: 46.165sec
Miami: 33.229sec
Monaco: 39.062sec
In races without a SC finish that amounts to a 39 second gap on average...
01:07 PM
Hamilton was at least slightly upbeat after yesterday's qualifying
“I’m generally really happy,” he said. “I think we’ve made some really great progress in the car today..... We did some great work overnight and the car really felt so much better this morning.
“I just had so much more confidence in the car – these upgrades have definitely worked, and so we are thankful. It’s massively encouraging.”
Starting fourth, he has an excellent shot at finishing on the podium today. That would be something. The key test of the Mercedes upgrades, though, is how far behind the lead Red Bull they finish. A bit more on that shortly...
12:57 PM
Current constructor standings
12:54 PM
Current driver standings - Top 10
Looks like Verstappen is going to extend his championship lead today. Perez starts just outside of the top 10, but will probably have the pace to make his way into the top six.
12:48 PM
Watch: Hamilton and Russell's coming together
This could have been so much worse. A bit of an odd one, really. Russell was sleeping but surely his team should have told him? Anyway...
"It was really just so unlucky and it was no one's fault"
Nico Rosberg reflects on the Mercedes' making contact at the end of Q2 in Barcelona 👇 pic.twitter.com/mzg3SicHAJ— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 4, 2023
12:42 PM
Times after qualifying
Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1min 12.272secs
Carlos Sainz Jr (Spa) Ferrari 1:12.734
Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:12.792
Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:12.816
Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:12.818
Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:12.994
Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:13.083
Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Haas F1 Team 1:13.229
Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:13.507
Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:13.682
Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:13.334
George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:13.447
Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:13.521
Nyck de Vries (Ned) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:14.083
Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:14.477
Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:13.977
Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 Team 1:14.042
Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:14.063
Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:14.079
Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams 1:14.699
12:20 PM
Good afternoon F1 fans
And welcome to our coverage for the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Yesterday’s qualifying session promised to be interesting, largely because of the showers that were around the circuit on Saturday afternoon. It ended up being interesting for differing reasons, though.
In the end it was Max Verstappen who took pole position again (his fourth of the season), but it would have been difficult to predict the order behind him. For the last few seasons, Carlos Sainz has been Spain’s No 1 driver but Fernando Alonso has put that under threat this year at Aston Martin. The crowds on Thursday that came to see him were a bit of a throwback to the glory days of 2005 and 2006. It was the younger man, though, who found the pace to get his car on the front row as Alonso struggled to ninth: his worst qualifying session of the year.
There were a few other men who can be delighted with their Saturday afternoons. Lando Norris somehow managed to put his McLaren third, which is his best qualifying performance by a good four places. He himself seemed surprised, too. It might be a task to keep his McLaren in the higher points-scoring positions, though.
Pierre Gasly put in a superb lap to finish fourth, Lance Stroll out-qualified his Aston Martin team-mate Alonso for the first time this season and Nico Hulkenberg put his Haas in the top 10, some nine places ahead of team-mate Kevin Magnussen. Well done to them, though Gasly took two three-place grid penalties for impeding other drivers in qualifying, which means he will now start in 10th.
There were a few others who suffered, though. Charles Leclerc had a baffling session, failing to get out of Q1 and finishing 19th. George Russell and Sergio Perez failed to get into Q3 with their team-mates. Perez started the season superbly but has since hit an awful run of form.
Lewis Hamilton looked like he might be able to challenge for the front row and was in contention before the last runs, but could only find a lap that was half-a-second off Verstappen and will start in fourth after Gasly’s penalty. And that came after a collision at high-speed with his Mercedes team-mate Russell. Not the best session, but a podium looks possible from there. It should also be a good chance to judge this upgraded Mercedes W14.
Anyway, the race begins at 2pm BST and we will be here for all the build-up, live updates and reaction to the Spanish Grand Prix.
