Live: F1 Spanish Grand Prix commentary and updates

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.

By: Jake Boxall-Legge, Haydn Cobb, Lewis Duncan

Summary

Leaderboard

Verstappen, Red Bull
Perez, Red Bull
Russell, Mercedes
Sainz, Ferrari
Hamilton, Mercedes
Bottas, Alfa Romeo
Ocon, Alpine
Norris, McLaren
Alonso, Alpine
Tsunoda, AlphaTauri

Verstappen wins Spanish GP despite early off and DRS issues
Russell gets Mercedes onto the podium in third
Leclerc forced out by engine issue while leading
Hamilton recovers to fifth after lap-one collision

Status: Stopped

18:07 And that's all from us - we'll see you next weekend for the Monaco Grand Prix! Take it easy.

18:06 Here's the race report, if you fancy a recap of events from Barcelona: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/spanish-f1-gp-race-report-verstappen-wins-leclerc-retires/10309015/

17:59

17:58

17:50 Perez: "I've been feeling a lot of support! Happy to be on the podium for the first time at the Spanish Grand Prix. I think it was close, but in the end it's a great team result."

17:49 Verstappen: "At first I went off, I had a lot of tail-wind. I was in the train and tried to pass but DRS was not always working. But we did our own race and eventually won the race."

17:47 Russell: "Today was very tough, I gave it everything I could to hold Max off, he did a great job. When I saw the Red Bull in my mirrors I did the maximum to hold him off."

17:44 "I'm happy for the team, but we need to speak later," Perez says. So he's not totally happy, then...

17:42 Ocon is seventh, ahead of a unwell Norris who claims eighth, as Alonso and Tsunoda complete the top 10.

17:42 Carlos Sainz bags a late fourth, as Hamilton dropped to fifth earlier after Mercedes was worried about losing both cars. Bottas collects sixth.

17:41 Sergio Perez follows his Red Bull team-mate home to claim second, as Russell cruises to the finish to collect third place and a podium.

17:40 Max Verstappen wins the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix!

17:40 Final lap, and Verstappen's working his way through the last corners.

17:39 "DNF risk," both Mercedes drivers are told, as they're asked to lift and coast. Sainz pounces to clear Hamilton for fourth, as Toto Wolff looks pensive in the Mercedes garage.

17:39 Ricciardo gets by Schumacher for 12th place, the Haas driver is really limping home now.

17:37 Ah, Latifi proves us wrong, as he gets by Magnussen to take 16th place with a classic DRS-aided Turn 1 divebomb.

17:35 We've not seen much of it but Albon's had a race to forget. He's pitted four times and is 44s off team-mate Latifi, with both Williams drivers the last running cars.

17:34 Five laps remaining, and Verstappen is 19.5s up the road from Perez.

17:33 Vettel gets by Schumacher for 11th place, with the Haas really struggling on old mediums, as he's over three seconds a lap off the pace.

17:32 Lap 60, and Hamilton evades Sainz's defence and steams around the outside at Turn 1 - not a bad recovery given his lap 1 travails.

17:31 For fans of the Schumacher-Vettel bromance, take a deep breath. Once again the pair are coming close to each other with the elder German catching the Haas for 11th place. After Miami please play nice, guys.

17:30 Bottas thus complains that the strategy wasn't right, but he's about 30s up the road from Ocon at the moment with eight laps left.

17:29 Sainz dips past Bottas at Turn 1 on lap 58, claiming fourth, and Hamilton then dispatches his former team-mate by cruising around the outside of Turn 3.

17:28 Sainz has caught up to Bottas now, as the aged mediums on the Alfa Romeo continue to dwindle in usefulness. Hamilton's on the back of Sainz now too.

17:27 Perez posts a 1m24.108s to ensure the gap to Verstappen isn't as heavy as it was recently - and to pick up the provisional fastest lap point.

17:27 And that's Schumacher's potential for his first F1 points gone for another race, as he loses 10th place to Tsunoda who had DRS and fresher tyres.

17:26 Alonso makes quick work of getting back by Schumacher, who is struggling on his old medium tyres, for ninth place. Tsunoda is bearing down on the pair now.

17:25 Sainz is hacking out large swathes of time from Bottas in fourth, going 1.5s faster on the previous lap. 10 laps remaining.

17:24 Alonso has a slow stop of 5.9s and comes out behind Schumacher but still ahead of Tsunoda. A sticky front-right wheel leaves the Alpine pitcrew fuming.

17:23 Perez covers off Russell by pitting for softs, with a big margin. "This will be your shot at fastest lap," Perez is told.

17:23 Ocon pits to cover off Norris, while Tsunoda pits on the same lap which sees him drop behind Schumacher in the fight for 10th place.

17:22 Didn't take much for Russell to clear Bottas, and indeed duly does so to claim back third place. Bottas is starting to see the end of his medium tyres.

17:21 Norris the next to pit and drops back to 10th place with fresh softs.

17:21 It's now a 1m24.253s for Hamilton, who's looking to usurp Sainz for fifth. Hefty pace.

17:20 Russell comes in for pitstop number three, taking soft tyres. Bottas moves up to third, but there'll be a significant tyre off-set in these closing 14 laps.

17:19 Hamilton also dropped the fastest lap so far with a 1m25.106s on that lap, so he's got great pace.

17:18 Just like that, Hamilton gets ahead of Ocon with DRS into Turn 1 to take sixth place.

17:18 Hamilton should be able to reel in Ocon but with Sainz next up the road, sixth place could be as good as it gets for Hamilton this afternoon. It is where he started, after all.

17:16 Hamilton completes his final scheduled stop of the day, onto the soft tyres. He rejoins in P7, behind Ocon.

17:16 In truth, Tsunoda is pulling away from the rest of the midfield behind him so his 10th place looks safe for now. Those ahead are chopping and changing places, mind.