Race Recap: Brits Reign Supreme in Spain as Slow Start for Norris Hands Verstappen the Win
25 June 2024While McLaren’s Lando Norris once again came painfully close to securing another victory against the ever-dominant Max Verstappen, he and fellow brits Lewis Hamilton and George Russell locked out three of the top four places in Spain. Still insisting he’s in with a chance at the Drivers’ title, Norris is a firm favourite ahead of his home race in Silverstone on July 7, alongside Hamilton and Russell, who have bounced back into conversation after a successful race in Spain. Here’s all the highlights and what we learned from the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix.
Brits reign supreme in Spain
For British F1 fans, the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix will be one to remember as Poleman Lando Norris looked to be in with a strong chance of sealing the win in Spain. Unfortunately, a bad start for the McLaren frontman dashed his chances of victory as the ever-dominant Verstappen slipped by and held onto first.
Backing up the Brit and making a miraculous return to the podium was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who finished third, in the same position he started the race in. While Hamilton’s third place finish marked the end of a 238-day hiatus from the podium, he now has 18 consecutive seasons with a podium finish, extending his F1 record.
Five seconds behind Hamilton was his teammate George Russell, who finished fourth overall in front of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The pair’s performance saw Mercedes finish three-four for the second consecutive race this season.
Slow start costs Norris the win despite in-race battle
Norris’ poor launch from pole caused immediate disruption to the starting order, with Mercedes George Russell jumping into the lead from fourth, while the McLaren driver dropped from Pole to slot in behind Verstappen in third. Behind them, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc’s advance was halted as he had to break hard to avoid Norris at the start, after which the Monegasque driver failed to make up any ground.
“I should have won. F'd up the start,” said Norris, clearly frustrated over the radio on the cool down lap. Taking advantage of the McLaren driver’s bad start, Verstappen started to build up an advantage, with another straightforward victory for the Dutchman looking certain until McLaren's in-race strategy would put that in doubt.
While Verstappen and most of the lead group had pitted by lap 18, Norris and Leclerc stayed out, continuing to lap on their starting soft compounds, until Norris pitted on lap 24, emerging sixth. With new tyres, Norris quickly gained ground, catching up to the Dutchman, despite his nine second seconds lead.
Over time, Norris trimmed the gap between him and Verstappen down to 5.5 seconds with ten laps remaining. By the time there were five laps to go, the brit had shortened Verstappen’s lead to just 4.3 seconds and by the final lap, the gap was just 2.5 seconds.
Eventually crossing the line in first, the Dutchman took his seventh win of the season by only 2.2 seconds, proving Norris is a match for the mighty Red Bull driver. Crossing the line deflated, Norris once again missed out on victory to Verstappen by seconds. With a better start and a more efficient first pit stop, Verstappen edged the win in Spain but, crucially, the Dutchman didn’t show a clear pace advantage in Spain. All eyes will be on the Brit as he looks for redemption in Austria and in front of a home crowd at Silverstone.
Mercedes bounce back to the podium
After a notable absence from the podium this season, Lewis Hamilton and teammate George Russell returned the German powerhouse to a degree of respectability with a third and fourth place finish in Spain.
While Mercedes still has a long way to rise, the team’s success in Spain was no doubt helped by the weakness of Ferrari, which has failed to live up to the promise it showed in Monaco only weeks ago.
In Spain, Hamilton put on a convincing show in qualifying, which was enough to see him start the race in third. During the race, the Brit pitted for soft tyres with 22 laps to go, which powered him past Sainz and his teammate to ensure he finished the race in the same position he started it, albeit 18-seconds behind race winner Verstappen.
While the team proved it was good enough to lead the race with Russell at the start, and competitive enough to fight for position, it’s still a long way off finding its form.
Sainz short on time to secure 2025 seat
One of the most interesting drivers to watch in 2024 has been Carlos Sainz, mainly due to the mystery surrounding the soon-to-be ex-Ferrari driver’s next steps. The Spaniard maintains he's close to making up his mind about his future but a comment in the build-up to the race last weekend suggested it was taking its toll.
"I don't want to wait any longer,” admitted Sainz. “I think it's getting to the point where it's taking space out of my head for quite a few weeks now and months. It's time to make a decision."
The proven race-winner is believed to be choosing between a future as an Audi works team driver, Williams and, more recently, Alpine.
"Guessing now in 2024 about who is going to be performing better [in 2026] is almost impossible," said Sainz. "It's a bit of a lottery or coin toss to see who is going to be quicker in 2026.
"Trying to understand the power unit side, the team dynamics, all these factors come into play when taking a decision.
"That's why it's taking so long and taking time for me to find some time within myself to take the decision."
While Sainz says he needs space to make a decision, time is running out for one of the brightest sparks in the F1 paddock.
