Max Verstappen overtook George Russell in the opening exchanges and managed proceedings to record a third consecutive win at Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix.
The Dutchman was imperious from the moment he got into the lead as polesitter Lando Norris’ challenge was dented when his McLaren fell to third on the first lap.
The entire field went with Pirelli’s pre-race prediction and started on the Soft compound, except for Alex Albon’s Williams deciding to use the middle-ranged Medium.
Verstappen made a better start than Norris and was pushed onto the grass as he pulled to the inside, giving Russell a clean run to the outside to pass both into first.
Russell’s surging start to dispatch Verstappen and Norris meant Lewis Hamilton dropped a position to fourth, with the two Ferrari drivers line astern in fifth and sixth.
Nico Hulkenberg made a blistering start to move up three positions up into ninth, with Perez remaining in 11th and Fernando Alonso slipping back two spots to 12th.
Verstappen was told that his best chance to overtake Russell would come in the opening stages and the Dutchman used the slipstream and DRS to line up the Briton.
Russell moved towards the inside line to cover Verstappen, but the Red Bull racer darted round the outside with expert precision to take over the lead on the third lap.
Leclerc had maintained his position over Sainz as the lead Ferrari until the Spaniard muscled his SF-24 round the outside at Turn 1, despite taking to the run-off area.
Both drivers remonstrated over the team radio about the other’s actions, with Leclerc claiming he was squeezed while Sainz argued that his team-mate touched him.
Alonso’s home showing was going from bad to worse as Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas capitalised on DRS down the start-finish straight and blasted past the Aston Martin.
Verstappen was stretching his legs out in the lead to harbour a two-second plus advantage over Russell, who was leading a train that contained second to sixth spot.
Several drivers had come into the pit lane to discard their degrading Softs to move onto the Medium – including both Haas and Sauber drivers and Yuki Tsunoda’s RB.
Perez had been unable to make up ground from his starting berth and Red Bull used that as the trigger to box the Mexican to attempt an undercut on the cars ahead.
Red Bull’s decision would prove successful as Alpine’s desire to cover Perez saw Pierre Gasle sustain a sluggish 6.7s stop, which also put him behind his team-mate.
Mercedes was also feeling the heat down in the pit lane as Russell was handed a 5.3s stop, placing Sainz on his tail and the pair raced on the pit exit towards Turn 1.
Hamilton would detour into the pits on the next lap and emerged behind his team-mate and Sainz’s Ferrari, while Verstappen came in the next time around on Lap 17.
Sainz was under intense pressure from Hamilton and the Ferrari driver was made to go defensive up the hill into Turn 4 to prevent the Mercedes from regaining sixth.
Hamilton was in DRS range and sent one down the inside into Turn 1 on the next lap to repass Sainz as the Ferrari ended up pinched onto the kerb and compromised.
Oscar Piastri was not involved in the podium contest and running long left him powerless to stop Verstappen from overtaking the McLaren to climb into the top three.
Piastri utilised his newer rubber to pass Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas into Turn 10 to move back into the points places, while team-mate Norris pitted from first on Lap 23.
Leclerc was the last remaining driver from the lead pack to have not stopped, but that changed come Lap 24 as he pitted and came on the track out in seventh place.
Sainz was informed that there would be no investigation into his tussle with Hamilton much to his disgust, but his concern was now shifting to Norris closing behind.
Norris with much fresher tyres didn’t need a second invitation using DRS to overtake Sainz on Lap 27, while Leclerc managed to pass Gasly for sixth place with ease.
Perez was starting to struggle on Softs and that allowed Piastri to come through with DRS to take ninth, which became eighth when he overtook Ocon on the next lap.
Hamilton came up short in getting DRS on team-mate Russell ahead and that made him vulnerable to Norris, who surged through on the start-finish straight for third.
Norris had to wait to have a chance at passing Russell on Lap 35 but swooped around the outside into Turn 3, but the Mercedes driver returned the favour into Turn 4.
However, Norris was able to get the cutback line at Turn 5 to have the inside going into the next corner to take second, though Verstappen was now 9.1s up the road.
Russell’s battle with Norris placed Hamilton right on his team-mate’s rear, but Mercedes prevented a potential clash from unfolding as the lead car headed to the pits.
The Briton was informed that his race would be close with Hamilton at the end, but the seven-time champion did not come into the pits until Lap 43 to switch to Softs.
Verstappen then followed suit on Lap 44, prompting McLaren to tell Norris that this would prove to be a pivotal moment in the race as he carried on and into the lead.
Hamilton’s superior pace on the Soft compound meant he stormed past Sainz and was now tracking down his team-mate, who was dissatisfied with his Hard rubber.
Both Norris and Leclerc were the final ones to come in for their second pit stop on Lap 47, with the McLaren emerging with a near eight-second deficit to Verstappen.
Perez was back into the pits for the third time to mount a late charge on the Softs that commenced with a comfortable overtake on Esteban Ocon to move up to ninth.
Hamilton had been creeping ever closer towards Russell with each passing lap and he took over third position with an overtake round the outside of Turn 1 on Lap 52.
Likewise, Leclerc was lapping much quicker than Sainz and Ferrari used team orders to swap the cars as the marque spied a chance to chase down Russell for fourth.
Verstappen had declared that second on the grid demonstrated that Red Bull must extract more pace, but the Dutchman managed to come home 2.2s clear of Norris.
Norris ensured he would be involved in the podium festivities again with another second place, while Lewis Hamilton clinched his maiden podium this term with third.
Russell had enough pace in hand to resist the late Ferrari threat, with Leclerc coming home on his tail in fifth. Sainz sauntered home a distant sixth in the other Ferrari.
Piastri helped McLaren to cut the gap to Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship with seventh place, as Perez made a late pass on Gasly to recover to eighth place.
Esteban Ocon made it two Alpine cars home inside the points places for the second consecutive weekend to extend the Enstone-based squad’s margin over Williams.
