Oracle Red Bull Racing

Max Takes Second In Tactical Barcelona Battle

Podium 46 for Max as Checo brings his Bull back fifth in Spain.

Max

Spanish Grand Prix 2021: Race

Taking The Lead Into Turn One

The Mexican Makes Move On Lap One

Leading The Pack Behind The Safety Car

Another Action-Packed Grand Prix

Rolling In For Some Fresh Rubber

In For Softs And A Fastest Lap Attempt

Thanking The Team For Today's Effort

Max Starts Strong In Spain

Checo Gets Up To P6 At The Start

Leading The Pack In Spain

Sergio Sends It Into P5

Max Leads Lewis During His Medium Stint

Crossing The Line In P2 And Fastest Lap Point

P2 And Podium 46 For Max

Starting from second on the grid behind the Mercedes driver, Max made a brilliant start to draw alongside Hamilton on the long run to turn one. The Dutch driver got a nose ahead as they turned in and he powered into the lead as they swept through the following corners.

In taking the lead, Max forced Hamilton wide and as he recovered the Mercedes man held up teammate Valtteri Bottas and that allowed Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to sneak past and steal third.

Behind Bottas, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo climbed from seventh on the grid to fifth at the start and Checo too rose up the order passing Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.

On lap nine Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri slowed and the Japanese driver was forced to stop at the edge of the circuit at turn 10. That brought out the safety car but when racing resumed on lap 11 Max controlled the re-start well and kept his lead ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc, who soon began to draw away from Bottas.

Checo meanwhile was soon inside DRS range of Ricciardo but couldn’t find a way past the McLaren driver.

Max-imum Effort In Barcelona

Max made his first pit stop at the end of lap 24 but the halt was a slow one as a problem with the rear left kept the Dutchman in the box for 4.2 seconds. He re-joined in third but began to claw back time on Hamilton, who now led.

Mercedes didn’t immediately respond and Hamilton stayed out for a further five laps before making his pit stop for medium tyres. He resumed six seconds behind Max but armed with fresher tyres he quickly began to reel in the Red Bull and at half distance he pulled into DRS range.

Behind the front pair, Bottas had jumped Leclerc during the pit stop phase and on lap 36 was 14.5 seconds ahead of the Monegasque driver. Ricciardo held fifth ahead of Checo and even though the Mexican was within DRS range of the McLaren he still couldn’t find a way past in the turbulent air.

At the front Max was managing the gap to Hamilton, though the time difference between the two was a nervy, tight single second. But then, at the end of lap 42 Hamilton arrowed into the pit lane and took on a second set of medium tyres.

The Mercedes driver emerged in P3 behind Bottas and 23 seconds behind Max who stayed out on track to keep track position and hope his rapidly ageing medium tyres would hold enough pace to keep Hamilton at bay.

The Team Watch On In The Garage

Checo, meanwhile, at last found a way past Ricciardo. The Mexican got DRS at the start of lap 47 and pulled off a good move around the outside of the Australian driver in turn one.

At the front, Hamilton was rapidly closing in on Max. With 15 laps to go he’d halved the gap to the Dutchman and a handful of laps later the gap was down to 3.0s. Max was now struggling and on lap 60 Hamilton got DRS on the pit straight and powered past the helpless Dutchman into turn one.

With the win now beyond Max, the Team pitted the Dutchman at the end of lap 60 for a new set of soft tyres and on lap 62 he set a lap of 1:18.149 the bag the point for fastest lap.

Four laps later, Hamilton crossed the line to take his 98th win and his third of the season ahead of Max, while Bottas held third ahead of Leclerc and Sergio. Ricciardo took P6 ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, while McLaren’s Lando Norris took eighth place. Ninth place in the race went to Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and the final point on offer went to AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.

Second In Spain For Max

WhatWasSaid

Max

“I tried everything I could today and took the lead at Turn 1 but from there we were just lacking a bit of pace to Mercedes. Of course we wanted to win but I cannot feel too disappointed as I did everything I could out there and maximized the opportunities. Even if we had looked at another strategy and done a two stop and pitted before them, we wouldn’t have made the time up as they were just faster than us. I know how fast I can go and where the limit of the car is and when they can do a free stop behind it is easy for them to do a different strategy.

It was just a day where we lacked a bit of pace and second was the best result possible.

Max Verstappen

"I pretty much knew that when he pitted for the second time that he would come back at me on the new tyres a bit like Hungary 2019 and although I did everything I could I was a bit of a sitting duck. The pace difference on the tyres made it an easy pass for Lewis and then I was able to at least keep second place and take Fastest Lap. It was just a day where we lacked a bit of pace and second was the best result possible so now we need to look at why they seem to have jumped ahead a bit in terms of race pace.”

Checo

“This isn’t an easy track to overtake on which made for a tough race. We had a good first lap and made up some positions but it took me quite a long time to get past Daniel. The McLaren was extremely fast on the straights so it was really hard to try a move but we made it work around the outside of Turn 1. I knew what I had to do, I pushed on and managed to make it work but we didn’t have much tyre life left afterwards so it was tough.

"I’m getting more confident with the car now and every time I get to the end of a weekend, I think, ‘I wish the weekend was just starting now.’ Also every circuit is different so what I learn here will be different to what I need in Monaco but the main thing is that I am still adapting and hopefully soon we can be 100%. I am excited for Monaco, especially with this car as historically it’s been competitive and I think we have a chance of winning.”

ChristianHorner

It was a great start by Max and he was fully committed into Turn 1 and grabbed the opportunity to take the lead.

Christian Horner CBE

“It was a great start by Max and he was fully committed into Turn 1 and grabbed the opportunity to take the lead – it was full Max Verstappen spec. He positioned the car fantastically well, hit the brakes later and ran the car wide to take the race lead. Unfortunately we had a slow pit stop after a miscommunication meant Max pitted a lap earlier than we expected but fortunately quick thinking and fast reactions from the pit wall and the pit crew meant we lost minimal time and recovered incredibly well.

Once Lewis caught up and got past, all we could do with Max was go for the Fastest Lap which he achieved.

Christian Horner CBE

"We couldn’t have done anything differently today, Lewis and Mercedes were quicker than us and able to follow Max so closely without hurting their tyres. We were able to hold track position but when the field opens up to the degree it did behind, Lewis gains a free pit stop which leaves you in the horrible position as race leader trying to brave it out to the end instead of sacrificing track position. Once Lewis caught up and got past, all we could do with Max was go for the Fastest Lap which he achieved.

Checo did a good job to recover to fifth after qualifying eighth yesterday, making a bold move on Daniel.

Christian Horner CBE

"Checo did a good job to recover to fifth after qualifying eighth yesterday, making a bold move on Daniel around the outside of Turn 1, and banking solid points for the Team. It’s full focus on Monaco now and continuing work back at the factory to find more performance and catch up to Mercedes.”

SpanishGrandPrixTop10

Position	Driver	Team
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Lewis Hamilton	Max Verstappen	Valtteri Bottas	Charles Leclerc	Sergio Pérez	Daniel Ricciardo	Carlos Sainz	Lando Norris	Esteban Ocon	Pierre Gasly
Mercedes	Red Bull Racing Honda	Mercedes	Ferrari	Red Bull Racing Honda	McLaren	Ferarri	McLaren	Alpine	AlphaTauri