Piastri Wins Ahead Of Teammate Norris & Leclerc Finishes P3, Ahead Of George Russell
Oscar Piastri extended his title lead over his teammate Lando Norris by winning the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix. Max Verstappen, the main title rival of the papaya team, received a penalty for his incident with George Russell after a dramatic safety car restart. Charles Leclerc capitalised on a bad restart for Verstappen and secured the final podium step.
Currently, Norris and Piastri have a 10-point gap, setting the stage for a tantalising prospect of a titanic championship battle.
The Race Start
FIA introduced a technical directive against the flexi wings, potentially resulting in a performance change. However, McLaren maintained the same performance as they secured a 1-2 finish in Spain after 25 years.
Piastri had a cracking start from pole position. However, Max Verstappen overtook Lando Norris, who started P2, causing Norris to lose the position. The Redbull driver later lost the position in the pit stops as he was trying a 3-stop strategy.
McLaren felt very nervous about Verstappen’s ability to overtake both drivers on fresher soft tyres. However, Kimi Antonelli suffered an engine problem, triggering a safety car. This made most of the grid pit for fresher soft tyres, and that included Verstappen.
Safety Car Restart
The Dutch driver had only the hard compound available, which takes time to get heated. On the restart, Verstappen slid off and caused Charles Leclerc to overtake him. George Russell was the next to try, and that caused Verstappen to go off-track and keep the position.
However, Max was told by Redbull to give the position back, which angered the Dutch driver. Verstappen made a rogue move driving into George whilst giving the position to Russell. This resulted in a 10-second penalty and dropped him to P10.
This makes Verstappen 49 points away from Piastri. He was also handed three penalty points, bringing the accrued points to 11, which is just one point away from a race ban. What’s interesting is that Redbull could’ve avoided handing the position to Russell, as the stewards had deemed it a racing incident.
Nico Hulkenberg Vs Lewis Hamilton
Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber also had the day of days where, in the hands of Nico Hulkenberg, they scored a P5 finish. Hulkenberg was able to save a set of fresh soft tyres, optimal for the last stint after a disappointing qualifying. Lewis Hamilton was overtaken by the Sauber driver and finished P6, struggling for grip.
Isack Hadjar & Fernando Alonso
Isack Hadjar finished P7, having a fruitful Grand Prix as well. Fernando Alonso also had a great home race as he was able to score his first points of the season, finishing P9. Pierre Gasly finished P8 but it was not sufficient for the Alpine F1 Team to prevent falling to the last place in the constructors’ championship.
