Piastri wins Spanish GP; Verstappen finishes 10th

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri with the Spanish Grand Prix winner’s trophy at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo, Spain, yesterday. Pic/AFP

Oscar Piastri won the Spanish Grand Prix ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris as the Woking-based outfit continued its dominance of the F1 championship on Sunday.

Piastri flew away from his pole position and executed a flawless race to win for the fifth time this season.

Norris crossed the chequered flag in second place after recovering from a bad start. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari finished third.

Max Verstappen crossed the line in fifth but was dropped to 10th after he was given a 10-second penalty for colliding with fourth-place finisher George Russell of Mercedes late in the race.

It was the third McLaren one-two of the season and the team's seventh win in nine races.

"Very hard to complain. It has been a great year. We executed everything we needed to. I am really enjoying it," said Piastri.

The Australian now leads the drivers's championship table with 186 points. His teammate, Norris, sits 10 points behind him (176 pts).

Verstappen, who now has 137 points, suffered a major blow to his championship hopes late in the race after the safety car was brought out by Mercedes's Kimi Antonelli. By then the Dutchman had used up all his soft-compound tires and was forced to use the hards. Unsurprisingly, he was caught out after racing resumed, dropping from third to fifth before he lost his cool and rammed Russell thus invoking the FIA stewards's ire.

Meanwhile, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton finished sixth after he was surprisingly overtaken by Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg soon after the safety
car restart.

Other notable results included Fernando Alonso picking up his first points of the season with a ninth-place finish in his home race.

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