Verstappen holds off Norris for win in Spain

Max Verstappen held off a late charge from Lando Norris to secure victory at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Norris charged hard in the final laps as he tried to overhaul the reigning champion, but he ran out of laps.

Lewis Hamilton completed the top three after a late pass on teammate George Russell.

Norris immediately came under pressure from Verstappen, but it was Russell who got the best start of all, going around the outside of the duo to take the lead at turn one.

Russell couldn’t defend against the Red Bull though once DRS was activated, with Verstappen easing ahead of the Mercedes before quickly pulling away at the front of the field.

Russell and Verstappen came in for new tyred, but Norris continued at the front of the field, looking to make the most of being in clean air.

Russell’s pitstop was slow, leaving Carlos Sainz on his rear wing as the pair returned to the track, but the Briton did enough to kepe the Ferrari driver behind, before Lewis Hamilton moved ahead of Sainz.

When Norris eventually pitted, he dropped down to sixth, but being on fresher tyres than those around him allowed him to climb back up to third, pressuring Russell for second.

With 20 laps remaining, Verstappen made his second stop, leaving Norris in free air again. He stayed out several laps longer than the Dutchman, but a slow step meant he only just got back out on track ahead of Russell.

On fresher tyres, Norris did close the gap, getting within 3 seconds with two laps to go, but he couldn’t find the extra pace needed to overhaul Verstappen’s advantage.

Hamilton, on newer tyres than his teammate, manage to overtake Russell in the closing stages, securing his first podium of the season.

Provisional classification:

1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

2. Lando Norris (McLaren)

3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

4. George Russell (Mercedes)

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

7. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

8. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

10. Esteban Ocon (Apline)

11. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

12. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

13. Guanyu Zhou (Sauber)

14. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

15. Daniel Ricciardo (VCARB)

16. Valtteri Bottas (Sauber)

17. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

18. Alex Albon (Williams)

19. Yuki Tsunoda (VCARB)

20. Logan Sargeant (Williams)