Storm in Barcelona - Spanish Grand Prix 2024

Overtaking is traditionally tricky at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but there were plenty of passes this time around, including some that were a little too close for comfort. While some left Spain happy and soaked in champagne, others couldn't wait to get to Austria for the next one. Lawrence Barretto picks his winners and losers from the Spanish Grand Prix.

Winner: Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen may have graced the top step of the podium again (for the seventh time in 11 races, no less) – but this one will have been one of the sweetest of the year given how hard he had to work for it.

The reigning world champion lost out on pole to Lando Norris, but while he got him back into Turn 1, their squabble allowed George Russell to sweep into the lead.

A decisive pass on the Mercedes reclaimed the lead and put air between him and Norris. It was a move that enabled victory and helped extend his lead in the championship to 69 points.

The Dutchman took the championship lead after winning the Spanish GP in 2022 and has not lost it since – a run of 763 days on top of the pile. 

Detailed results:

THE DRIVER RANKINGS AFTER THE BARCELONA GRAND PRIX

What happened in the match?

Lando Norris started from pole position ahead of Max Verstappen, but the two didn't count out George Russell, who made his attempt from fourth place and stole the lead. A little later it was Max Verstappen, who went first on the third lap and stayed there even after the first pitstops.

Russell would eventually fall behind, with Norris for most of the race tantalizingly close to Verstappen but unable to make the winning move. The McLaren driver looked to be the fastest on track for much of the race, but his slow start, early laps where he couldn't get past Russell's Mercedes and a late final pit stop combined to reduce his chances of victory The Match.

We also had a "battle" between the two Mercedes drivers with Lewis Hamilton beating George Russell for third place.

"Great job guys. It was a big surprise to get these points here. Let's keep pushing. We are almost where we want to be." These were Hamilton's words at the finish.

On the other side disappointed was Lando Norris "I should have won but I managed to make a lot of mistakes in the first laps"

Max Verstappen admitted: "They were definitely all faster than us out there today, but we all did our jobs right."

F1 Spanish GP qualifying: Impressive pole position for Lando Norris

Lando Norris took the second pole position of his career in Barcelona with an impressive time in the final qualifying session. 2nd Verstappen.

Twenty thousandths was enough for Lando Norris to "steal" pole position from Max Verstappen in one of the most lopsided qualifying tests we've seen this year, proceedings at the Barcelona circuit for the Spanish Grand Prix emerged.

Norris with McLaren went through the two previous legs of qualifying without showing that he had the ability to threaten for the lead, but it was only on his last lap, in the third leg, that he managed to overtake the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, who already had makes a very impressive time.

This was the third consecutive Grand Prix in which Max Verstappen has not taken pole, after 7 in a row at the start of the season. At the same time, Norris takes only the 2nd first place at the start, after the race in Russia in 2021.

In general, however, in Barcelona all the contenders for first place at the start were very close to each other. Behind Norris and Verstappen was Lewis Hamilton, who with his performances in Spain confirmed the development in a positive direction for Mercedes.

The same was essentially true of George Russell who followed from 4th place, just two thousandths of a second behind. In the next two places were the Ferraris also with a very small difference between them. In front and therefore fifth is Charles Leclerc, followed by Carlos Sainz in front of his home crowd.

Alpine's Pierre Gasly was 474mm off the top and was seventh, while Sergio Perez with the other Red Bull finished with the eighth fastest time but will drop three places at the start of the race due to the penalty he carries from Canada.

The top ten was completed by Esteban Ocon with the other Alpine and Oscar Piastri with the second McLaren who lost control in one of the last corners of his good lap, as a result of which he ended up with no time in Q3.

Formula 1 returns to Europe as the Spanish Grand Prix kicks off a triple header of action – but what does the weather have in store in Barcelona?

The elements certainly played their part last time out in Canada, but in Spain the drivers look to be facing a much drier weekend though there could be a slight chance of a shower or two.

2024 Spanish Grand Prix weekend weather forecast

FRIDAY, JUNE 21 – FP1 AND FP2
Conditions: Mostly sunny at first then becoming slightly unsettled on the hills around with a slight chance of one shower from late morning until mid-afternoon. Light southeasterly wind with gusts up to 30 kph during FP2. FP1: 26°C // FP2: 24°C
Maximum temperature expected: 17 Celsius
Minimum temperature expected: 26 Celsius
Chance of rain: 20%

SATURDAY, JUNE 22 – FP3 AND QUALIFYING
Conditions: Sunny at first becoming cloudy with high level clouds from midday. Slight chance of one shower spreading from the hills around in the afternoon. Light southerly breeze with gusts up to 35 kph. FP3: 27°C // Q: 26°C
Maximum temperature expected: 17 Celsius
Minimum temperature expected: 27 Celsius
Chance of rain: 20%

SUNDAY, JUNE 23 – RACE WEATHER
Conditions: Mostly cloudy with a moderate chance of showers in the morning. Improvement expected for race hours. Light southerly breeze with gusts up to 30 kph during the race. RACE: 24°C
Maximum temperature expected: 18 Celsius
Minimum temperature expected: 24 Celsius
Chance of rain: 40%