Live text
Formula 1
Spanish GP
F1 Spanish GP Live Commentary and Updates - race day
Minute-by-minute updates for F1's Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona.
Live AppleTV Race Audio
Formula 1 returns to the Barcelona circuit for its sixth round of the championship, with Charles Leclerc taking his fourth pole of the season after recovering from a spin on his first hot lap.
The Ferrari driver rallied for his second and final flyer, posting a 1m18.750s - three tenths clear of Max Verstappen - to take first place on the grid as the Red Bull driver had to contend with a DRS issue.
Home favourite Carlos Sainz leads the second row alongside George Russell on Sunday's grid, as Mercedes showed improved performance having got on top of its porpoising concerns from the start of the season.
Fernando Alonso starts at the back of the grid in his home race, having taken a new power unit beyond his allocation.
Live Standings
presented by
Stopped
Summary
Live Text
Sort by
"You're on a different strategy to Max," Perez's engineer Hugh Bird says. "If he's faster, let him pass." "That's very unfair but okay," he says, as Verstappen passes for the lead at Turn 4.
Verstappen's already brought the gap to Perez down to 1.8s, so it's been a circuitous road to what's shaping up to be a familiar result. Sainz gets back into the top six with a move on Ocon.
Pit stop
Sainz has completed his third and final stop, returning to the circuit in seventh place on soft rubber.
Fresh mediums for Verstappen, and he's already looking to close down the five-second gap to Perez.
Vettel, on those fresh mediums, gets by Gasly with ease at Turn 1 to take 13th place. He's got nearly 20 seconds to find to reach the points, so it might be too big an ask with 20 laps to go.
And Verstappen does indeed do his third stop, and gets out ahead of Russell to emerge second. 21 laps remain.
Hamilton now gets shown the black and white flag for exceeding track limits too many times. He keeps being pinged for the offence at Turn 12, which is where Norris fell foul and lost his best Q2 time yesterday.
Perez is keeping the gap to Verstappen at about 16.5s, as Verstappen's tyres look a little ragged at this point. Checo wants to win today, but has to brace himself for a late charge...
Pit stop
At the end of lap 42 Vettel finally pits again, taking on fresh mediums, and comes out in 14th place.
Pastor Maldonado comes onto the screen - to paraphrase Football Cliches, 'there's a man who knows a thing or two about winning in Spain'.
Albon has been shown the black and white flag for track limits.
A small moment of joy for Magnussen on a tough afternoon as he passes Albon for 17th place. But it probably won't be celebrated too hard on the Haas pitwall.
It's lap 40. Verstappen is 17s up the road from Perez, although there's two different strategies for them. Russell's a further 4.5s back, and Bottas is now watching Sainz get closer in his mirrors.
Norris overtakes Vettel with DRS at Turn 1, with the German yet to make a second pitstop, to see the McLaren driver take eighth place and continue his chase of Ocon.
Breaking news
An "unidentified PU issue" has been determined as the route cause behind Leclerc's retirement.
Pit stop
Perez bins off the one-stop strategy and grabs the medium compound of tyre to potentially cover off a charge from Russell. We're expecting Verstappen to three-stop today.
Pit stop
Russell denies Verstappen the satisfaction of making the pass on him by diving into the pits for his second stop. There's some mediums for Russell, so we anticipate a two-stop there.
Pit stop
Ocon comes in for his second stop - coming out on softs in seventh behind Lewis Hamilton, who's been on a charge today.
Meanwhile the various pitstops and troubles ahead have lifted Hamilton to seventh for the time being. Alonso, who started last remember, is into the points in 10th place overtaking Tsunoda at Turn 1.
Bottas conducts stop number 2, onto the medium tyres. He drops behind Ocon but ahead of Sainz - so that's P5. Should any fate befall the top three, Bottas could be on for a podium today.
Pit stop
Magnussen is on the lesser-spotted hard tyres. Well, running a distant last place he doesn't have much to lose so is going to the end on those.
Pit stop
Norris calls in for his second stop from sixth place, which will bring Sainz back up to the top six. Soft boots for the McLaren.
Verstappen's continuing to chase after Russell, as he's the quickest driver on track right now. Second quickest? Lewis Hamilton, who's got up to eighth.
Pit stop
The second pitstop cycle is rotating as Alonso and Ricciardo head in for fresh tyres at the end of lap 32.
Pit stop
Sainz pits for his second stop, just before half distance and he claims another set of mediums.
Verstappen also makes light work of Bottas, around the outside of Turn 12 and gets up to third!
Stopwatch
Verstappen's out on softs after his second stop - setting a 1m25.732s! But will those tyres last more than half of the race in this heat?
Mechanical problem
Zhou has become the second Spanish GP retirement as he pits to end his race. It looks like another Ferrari-powered car going pop.
Russell vs Perez now, for P1. Perez is having none of his team-mate's DRS issues, and gets a good run out of the final corner to follow the Mercedes and dive down the outside for the lead!
Stroll's Gasly-enforced spin has dropped him to 15th place. Meanwhile, Gasly pits and duly serves his penalty at the same time.
Hugs and embraces for Leclerc in a dejected Ferrari garage. What a shame, he'd done everything right.
Penalty
Gasly has been given a five-second penalty for causing the clash with Stroll. Yeah, that was expected.
Pit stop
Verstappen now pits for the second time, with a bid to undercut Russell here. Red Bull smells victory here.
Crash
Ah, that wasn't the fight we predicted. Stroll and Gasly clash at the exit of Turn 1, spinning the Aston Martin driver around as the AlphaTauri defended the inside line. The incident has been noted by the stewards.
Leclerc was dominating this encounter, and he's had to call it a day as the power unit squeaks its last at Turn 9 - shades of Bahrain in 2019. The Russell/Verstappen tussle is now a battle for the lead!
Mechanical problem
Leclerc's going slowly! They're clearing the garage as Leclerc's lost power from an absolute canter out in front! Heartbreak for the Ferrari driver.
The gaps across the midfield are starting to stabilise, with Stroll looking to get by Gasly for 14th place. Further back Albon pits for a second time and rejoins in last place.
Quote
"Get me Max out of the way so I can overtake quickly," Perez says over the radio, having absolutely scythed into the battle between the cars again. "Why don't you let me by," he says after Red Bull's follow-up.
Sainz, after his earlier excursion, has made it back into the top six and he's 8s behind Bottas in fifth.
Lap 25, and no repeat between Russell and Verstappen this time as the Red Bull DRS flutters open but closes again.
By: autosport.com
Published:
Page:
