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Formula 1
Spanish GP
F1 Spanish GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2023 Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix.
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Max Verstappen took pole position for Red Bull by beating Ferrari rival Carlos Sainz and McLaren's Lando Norris.
Verstappen will look to extend his 39-point lead in the standings over Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, who missed out on a Q3 berth following an off in qualifying and will start 11th.
Also out of position is George Russell in 12th, after a struggles with porpoising on his Mercedes W14, and last year's polesitter Charles Leclerc who starts from the pitlane after being eliminated in Q1.
The race starts at 3pm BST.
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And it's a copycat move from Hamilton starting lap eight as he takes third from Stroll.
After gaining positions through pitstops for Norris and Bottas, Leclerc has finally made his first overtake of the race to pass Albon for P16.
It's a decisive move around the outside of the Aston into Turn 1 from Russell, and Hamilton is now looking to do the same to Stroll in what is developing into a proper battle over third.
Russell has the investigation looming over him, but is pressing on for now and takes sixth from Alonso.
Verstappen was seven tenths quicker than Sainz on lap five. The gap continues to stretch out as those on soft tyres begin to consider saving their tyres. Verstappen has the luxury of being able to push on with the more durable rubber.
An early stop for Bottas to ditch his soft tyres and fit the hard compound. He drops to P19, ahead only of Norris.
Russell has been noted for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at the opening chicane. He climbed five positions on that lap, although the early impression is that he made these gains on the start straight.
Stroll is under no threat for his third place from Hamilton, who may be assessing the impact of that floor damage.
Verstappen is wasting no time stamping his authority on this race. Despite his less grippy tyres, he's pulled his lead to over two seconds over Sainz and was over half a second faster on the last lap around.
It has been a disastrous race for Gasly so far. The Frenchman qualified fourth but was penalised six grid slots for a pair of impeding offences. After a poor start, he is now down to 14th.
Norris had already lost third to Hamilton into Turn 1, but tried to cut back on his inside into Turn 2 as the Mercedes was slowed by the two cars ahead running wide into Turn 1. Looks like a big chunk of Hamilton's floor was also damaged in that contact
Verstappen has already broken clear of DRS range out front, and is 1.5s clear of Sainz at the end of lap two.
Ocon holds fifth ahead of Alonso, who has moved ahead of Hulkenberg.
But Perez only had to wait for a few moments longer before making his move. Due to Norris' stop, Perez is now into the top 10 positions.
It's been a fantastic opening lap for the Aston drivers. Stroll took advantage of the British drivers coming together and moves up to third ahead of Hamilton.
Nose damage for Norris brings him into the pits.
Perez is attempting to climb through the order but fails with a lunge on Piastri for P11.
It's a good start from Verstappen, who holds his nerve and ushers Sainz wide at the first corner. Behind, there's contact between Hamilton and Norris as the Mercedes comes around the outside of the McLaren at Turn 2.
So can Verstappen get to the first corner first with a slightly less grippy tyre? If Sainz can get the jump on him, then we will really have a race on our hands...
He and Perez in fact are the only drivers starting from the grid with anything other than the soft tyre. Leclerc (on the hard) and Sargeant (also on mediums) are starting from the pits.
Verstappen is the lone runner on the medium tyres among the top half of the grid.
The grid clears and the formation lap gets underway.
Seven different cars in the top seven positions to start this race, with Red Bull leading off Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, Aston Martin, Alpine and Haas. Who is ready for the Spanish GP?
The risk of rain for today, we're informed, is 40%. Enough of a chance not to rule it out, but not enough to count on it. Teams will be keeping an eye on the radar just to make sure though.
Max Verstappen is gunning for his third Spanish GP win at the scene of his first F1 victory in 2016, and is also the defending winner. Lewis Hamilton is the joint most successful driver in Spanish GP history with six, while Fernando Alonso has two wins to his name from 2006 and 2013.
We're informed by McLaren that some repair work was needed on the right rear of Norris's car, and has now been completed.
Drivers are now getting their helmets on. Nearly time to get this afternoon's seventh round of the world championship going.
It's set to be a long afternoon ahead for Charles Leclerc, who rather than making his way back to his car on the grid heads down the pitlane to his Ferrari garage. It was a disastrous qualifying for last year's poleman, who could only manage 19th and was eliminated in Q1. He will start from the pits after the team elected to change the rear end of his car: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/leclerc-to-start-spanish-gp-from-pitlane-as-ferrari-replaces-rear-end-/10478386/
We're also having a dramatic rendition of the anthem of Catalunya on a remarkable grand piano that I reckon will take quite a few people to shift. Wonder how heavy that is compared to an F1 car?
Drivers and dignitaries have gathered at the front of the grid for the Spanish national anthem.
Sun
The grandstands are filling up and there is thankfully no sign of the rain that disrupted FP3 and qualifying yesterday. Air temperature is 23.6 °C, with track temperatures of 41.8 °C.
As ever, the grid is a busy place to be. Cameras have spotted PSG footballer Kylian Mbappe on the grid milling around the Ferrari mechanics.
A little under half an hour to go now until the Spanish Grand Prix, and the cars are now on the grid under sunny skies. There's plenty of attention going on to the right-rear corner of Norris's McLaren though.
Another driver out of position going by recent form is Fernando Alonso, the Aston Martin driver doing well to make Q3 considering he'd picked up floor damage in a Q1 off. Alonso will start eighth, but believes second was possible without a mistake on his final Q3 lap, and Aston Martin has now explained the extent of the damage he'd suffered: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/aston-martin-explains-extent-of-damage-to-alonsos-f1-floor/10478449/
Another Q2 casualty was Sergio Perez, who missed the cut by 0.051s to Nico Hulkenberg's Haas. It followed a Turn 5 off for the second Red Bull driver, which team boss Christian Horner believes "unsettled" his charge and leaves him to start 11th: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/horner-q2-off-left-perez-unsettled-ahead-of-final-f1-qualifying-run/10478349/
It was far from a clean qualifying yesterday though for Hamilton. He had a clash with George Russell on the pit straight during Q2 when Russell revealed he was "not aware" of his team-mate's presence. Hamilton suffered a broken front wing but still progressed to Q3 where Russell missed out in 12th: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/russell-not-aware-of-hamilton-in-spanish-gp-f1-qualifying-clash/10478035/
Lewis Hamilton voiced concern on Friday that he wouldn't reach Q3 unless drastic changes were made overnight, and they duly were effected to help the six-time Spanish GP winner into fourth on the grid. He initially qualified fifth behind Alpine's Pierre Gasly, but he had a double demotion due to two three-place grid penalties for impeding. You can read the full story on that here: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/gasly-handed-two-grid-penalties-for-impeding-in-barcelona-f1-qualifying/10478158/
It's a usual suspect on pole then, but behind him the grid its a very mixed bag. Carlos Sainz is second for Ferrari, as the team gives a debut to its new sidepod updates, but who would have expected to see Lando Norris third for McLaren? Alex Kalinauckas explains how the papaya team caused a shock on F1's toughest aero track: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/why-mclaren-shocked-on-f1s-toughest-aero-track/10478369/
The race gets going at 2pm BST, and Max Verstappen will be starting from pole in his Red Bull. The combination has proven devastating this year, and as Matt Kew explains here, was ominously set for an even faster time on his second Q3 run before lack of improvements elsewhere prompted a request from the pitwall to abort: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/how-verstappens-lost-lap-would-have-extended-his-barcelona-f1-dominance/10478376/
Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us on Autosport's live text coverage of the Spanish Grand Prix from Barcelona. We'll be with you for the next three hours bringing you all the updates as they unfold.
By: Autosport Staff
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